Macon Magazine

in 1956 – and everyone wound up commingled and sweaty on the dance floor. is was the best of human nature, this organic desegregation, and it terrified the establishment, who looked for any way to undermine Little Richard's popularity. Milquetoast Pat Boone recorded a bland cover of "Tutti Frutti" that somehow out-charted Little Richard's version. Not to be outdone, Richard wrote his next hit, "Long Tall Sally," faster and wilder, so squares like Boone couldn't keep up. Boone still recorded a cover, but this time Little Richard trounced him on the charts. In a 1990 Rolling Stone interview, Richard graciously referred to Boone's covers of his songs as a "blessing." ey were played on white radio stations, and helped more white audiences learn who Richard was and what he was doing. "I believe (Boone) opened the highway that would've taken a little longer for acceptance, so I love Pat for that," Richard said. Jamie Weatherford, who co-owns Macon's Rock Candy Tours along with his wife, Jessica Walden, tells another story of Richard's generosity and influence: During a Little Richard performance in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1955, a young gospel band hopped onstage during intermission and began to play. Most artists would be infuriated at the attempt to steal the show, but not Richard. Instead, he told the bandmates about his manager in Macon, Mr. Clinton Brantley, a music promoter who also owned the Two Spot at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets. at next week, the Gospel Starlighters showed up (unannounced, yet again) to perform for Mr. Brantley, who liked them so much – especially their energetic lead singer, a young man named James Brown – that he signed them on the spot. 'AND THE WINNER IS ... ME!' After casually annihilating the dominant paradigm of the day, inspiring the most exceptional entertainers of our time and creating the template for rock 'n' roll in the process, Little Richard, gripped by religious guilt, retired at the height of his fame in 1957. He earned a degree in theology, was ordained a minister in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, got married, adopted a son and started recording gospel music. Neither his renunciation nor his marriage lasted too long, and in the early 1960s he was on the road again, backed by a band that included Jimi Hendrix on guitar, and supported by the then- unknown Beatles, who adored and absorbed Richard's every move. Little Richard was never able to recapture the frenzy of his earliest days on the music scene, but he didn't need to. He sold more than 30 million records worldwide. e imprint had been made, the influence was – and is – apparent. As all superstars do, Little Richard stayed in the spotlight for decades, charming hosts and audiences alike on late-night talk shows, singing the theme song for "e Magic School Bus," taking a critically acclaimed turn onscreen in 1986's "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," popping up as a guest star on "Full House" or "e Simpsons," and hamming it up in commercials for Geico or Taco Bell. Little Richard always stole the show, whatever the show happened to be. In 1986, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame chose Little Richard to be one of its inaugural inductees; at that time, he'd never won a Grammy. Two years later, while onstage to present the Best New Artist award at the 1988 Grammies, he took the opportunity to speak his mind. Teasing the envelope open, Little Richard saucily declared, "And the winner is ... me! I have never received nothing!" e audience leapt to their feet, cheering and applauding, as Richard went on, "Y 'all ain't never gave me no Grammy, and I have been singing for years!" His bemused tone had an obvious sharp edge behind it – he often felt a deep sense of injustice as a result of not getting the credit he knew he was owed. Richard would go on to win a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, three years after Paul McCartney won his. Paul McCartney was on record saying that Little Richard taught him everything he knows, and sat under Richard's tutelage practicing that signature woooo! until he got it down-pat – just listen to his cover of "Long Tall Sally," you'll hear it. Despite this mentorship, McCartney didn't mention Little Richard once in his acceptance speech, and that stung. "I just don't understand some things sometimes," Richard said. "I was sitting there in front of him, and he didn't say nothing. It makes you feel like crying, you know?" PHOTOS COURTESY LOWERY MUSIC GROUP ARCHIVES JUNE/JULY 2020 | maconmagazine.com 37

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