December 5, 1932 - May 9, 2020
Little Richard always knew his true worth and was more than aware of his legend. “I am the originator, I am the emancipator, I am the architect of rock’n’roll,” he informed me with all due modesty back in 1996. “I am the engineer, I am the one that brought the train to the city… What a pity.”
There was no ‘off’ switch on the self-styled Quasar Of Rock. He’d learned his craft drumming up business for snake oil salesmen, and he never forgot how to dazzle. He beamed, his eyes wide, seemingly bordering on frenzy; a pompadoured, cosmetics-drenched, star-spangled vision. He was - depending on who you spoke to - either the King or the Queen Of Rock’N’Roll, King Of The Blues, Creator Of Soul and, back in the early 1950s when the young James Brown was engaged as his tour support, customarily introduced as ‘The Hardest-Working Man In Show Business’. And that extraordinary voice, soft and charming in conversational repose, had an explosive power that was way beyond the reach of his peers. An irresistible clarion call that united both black and white audiences, even in the segregated US South, it rang out across the world and changed the face of popular music forever.