Little Richard - 20 Greatest Hits
Richard Pennington grew up the son of a pentecostal Georgia preacher so screamin' an' hollerin' was normal. I never saw Little Richard 'live' but I had all his records and he was on TV shows a lot. I was as amazed by his personality as I was by his music. He was overtly out of the box gay before it was fashionable and the straight people trying to interview him were guaranteed to be caught totally off guard by his wackiness. He wore gobs of eye liner and makeup at a time when it was totally shocking! It was always a howl to watch him yank their chains. And don't underestimate his musicianship - or his lyrics! "Tutti fruiti, allrootey! Tutti fruiti, allrootey! Whoooo... Tutti fruiti, allrootey! Tutti fruiti, allrootey! Tutti fruiti, allrootey! A whop baba loo bop ah whop bam boom!" Now that's some kinda lyrics!