#587 Little Richard - Here's Little Richard

Now this is what I expect from Rock and Roll.

The epitome of rollicking, this is a lot more fun than Elvis, or just about any of the other rock howlers of the era. the vocals are the highlight, just unhinged and unrestrained, auguring James Brow's nonverbal ululations.The swinging boogie beats, bluesy structures, and energetic horns complete the package.

Here's the interesting thing about this though: I don't know that there's a single guitar on it. Bass, drums, and some rock-sounding singing sure, but its all horn filling in the crunchy textures, shreiking accents, and wild solos. Is it rock and roll? The case could be made that it's hard R&B or jump blues, and it might be those things also. But this is too rock not to be rock. Listen to Little Richard gasp for breath on Jenny Jenny and stammer out the hook on Long Tall Sally and tell me that's not a man making rock music.

It's sloppy, and so high energy to actually be kind of grating in long doses, but man, when you're up for it, its up for you 4.5/5