The Big Life of Little Richard

by Mark Ribowsky

Overview

The first major biography of Little Richard, a rollicking, nuanced celebration of the late singer/songwriter’s life and his role in the history of American music—gospel, soul, rock, and more





“Tutti Frutti” • “Rip It Up” • “Good Golly Miss Molly” • “Lucille” • “Long Tall Sally” • “You Keep A-Knockin’”





Little Richard blazed the trail for generations of musicians—The Beatles, James Brown, the Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Prince . . . the list seems endless. He was “The Originator,” “The Innovator,” and the self-anointed “King and Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll.” When he died on May 9, 2020, The Big Life of Little Richard—a nearly-completed book—was immediately updated to cover the international response to his death. It is the first major biography of Macon, Georgia’s Richard Wayne Penniman, who was, until his passing, the last rock god standing.





Mark Ribowsky, acclaimed biographer of musical icons—the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding—takes readers through venues, gigs, and studios, conveying the sweaty energy of music sessions limited to a few tracks on an Ampex tape machine and vocals sung along with a live band. He explores Little Richard’s musicianship; his family life; his uphill battle against racism; his interactions with famous contemporaries and the media; and his lifelong inner conflict between his religion and his sexuality.





The Big Life of Little Richard not only explores a legendary stage persona, but also a complex life under the makeup and pomade, the neon-lit duds and piano pyrotechnics, along with a full-body dive into the waters of sexual fluidity.





By 2020, eighty-seven-year-old Little Richard’s electrifying smile was still intact, as were his bona fides as rock’s kingly architect: the ’50s defined his reign, and he extended elder statesmanship ever since. His biggest smash, “Tutti Frutti,” is one of history’s most covered songs—a staple of the pre-Invasion Beatles—and Elvis pivoted from country to blues rock after Little Richard made R&B’s sexual overtones a fundament of the new musical order. Even Hendrix, the greatest instrumentalist in rock history, toured with him before launching a meteoric solo career.





Whenever someone pushes the music and culture of rock to its outer borders, one should turn to Little Richard for assurance that anything is possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635767223
Publisher:	Diversion Books
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,075,157
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Mark Ribowsky is the New York Times acclaimed author of The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal; He's a Rebel: Phil Spector—Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer; Don't Look Back: Stachel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball; and Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder. He has written for SPORT magazine and Inside Sports, TV Guide, Playboy, and Penthouse. Ribowsky has appeared on Dateline NBC, Primetime Live (ABC), Connie Chung, Geraldo Rivera, The Tavis Smiley Show, and many other network and cable TV shows. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Table of Contents

Prologue xi

1 Prettiest Thing in the Kitchen 1

2 Ain't Nothin' Happening 15

3 Right Rhythmic Rock and Roll Music 35

4 Tutti Frutti 47

5 Whole Lot of Rhythm Goin' 'Round 63

6 A Higher Calling 81

7 I'm Quittin' Show Business 97

8 In and Out of the Shadows 111

9 Revival 127

10 Do Whatever You Feel 147

11 Snatched from the Burning 165

Epilogue 199

Bibliography 205

Index 209

About the Author 223

Editorial Reviews

07/27/2020

Ribowsky (The Supremes) rips it up with raucous prose in this affectionate biography of Little Richard (1932–2020). Ribowsky chronicles the life of Richard Wayne Penniman from his childhood in Macon, Ga., to his death in May 2020 at his home outside Nashville, Tenn. When Richard was 10, Ribowsky writes, he would sing gospels to sick people and touch them, and they’d swear they felt better. (Indeed, throughout his career, Little Richard claimed his music could “make the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf and dumb hear and talk.”) Ribowsky recounts how Richard wrote some of his biggest hits—“Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly”—while washing dishes at the Macon Greyhound bus station, and chronicles the ups and downs of Richard’s early record deal with Specialty Records in 1955 and his later, brief relationship with Vee-Jay Records. At the core of the book is Little Richard’s legendary stage persona, which influenced Elvis, James Brown, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Otis Redding. Richard, Ribowsky astutely writes, combined gospel with the grittiness of blues and then amped it up with his fiery piano playing and singing. This entertaining, fast-paced biography will thrill fans of Little Richard and early rock and roll. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Big Life of Little Richard





“We had the great pleasure of performing with Little Richard. He opened the door for Elvis Presley, James Brown, Chuck Berry, and all the greats that came thereafter. This is a must-read for music lovers.”


—Dr. Otis Williams, founding member of The Temptations





“Little Richard kicked open the doors to a new world of wonder for everyone from Dylan to Hendrix to Led Zeppelin to Prince—to everything we now take for granted when we think of the most extraordinary music of the late 20th century. Mark Ribowsky tells the whole tutti-frutti story in a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop style.”


—Mick Wall, bestselling author of When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin



"Ribowsky rips it up with raucous prose in this affectionate biography of Little Richard.... Richard, Ribowsky astutely writes, combined gospel with the grittiness of blues and then amped it up with his fiery piano playing and singing. This entertaining, fast-paced biography will thrill fans of Little Richard and early rock and roll."
—Publishers Weekly





“Few artists in the history of rock ’n’ roll personified the raw rhythm and rebelliousness of the musical genre like Little Richard. In The Big Life of Little Richard, author Mark Ribowsky has matched a rockin’ prose style with an in-depth exploration of the man and his musicianship. This book should be in every rock fan’s library.”


—John Glatt, author of Live at the Fillmore East and West: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends





"[Ribowsky] follows Richard’s career through a succession of hits, his surprise decision to quit his music career to become a preacher (a move repeated several times), and his latter-day status as a celebrity/provocateur on talk shows and in 1950s rock revivals. Ribowsky effectively conveys the ambiance of the era, bringing in many of the stars and other public figures with whom Richard interacted over the decades.... An easy, bright read about a seminal figure in the soundtrack of modern music."


—Kirkus Reviews





"[Y]ou’ll have to read Mark Ribowsky’s book to find out more about the salacious bits of Richard’s story. As for the dynamic and flamboyant performer’s late career, the author offers praise and perspective."


—360° Sound





"Ribowsky cuts through the gossip and mythologizing and delivers a welcome clear-eyed assessment of the larger-than-life character who boasted he was 'King of the Blues—and the Queen, too!'"


—Goldmine Magazine





Praise for Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul





“Subtly passionate. . . . What Mark Ribowsky has done here is to describe someone who was, not divine, but as godlike as a human can be.”


—Wall Street Journal





“A fascinating tale of the artist and his musical era.”


—Washington Post





“Evokes the fire of Redding and his Memphis label, Stax Records, the cradle of Southern soul. . . . Ribowsky tells the story with nonstop energy, while always probing for the larger social and musical pictures. He vividly evokes locales . . . as well as the Stax sound and Redding’s art. . . . his insightfulness and story­telling gift trump all.”


—New York Times Book Review





“The best. . . . Otis Redding biography to date.”


—Popmatters





“Ribowsky provides colorful descriptions of Macon's cultural history, including how Redding drew considerable inspiration from its other famous son, Little Richard. . . . Ribowsky—a veteran chronicler of musical and athletic heroes—also combines thorough descriptions of Redding's songs, and global audiences' growing appreciation for soul, with the social changes of the 1960s.”


—Chicago Tribune





Praise for The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success and Betrayal





“A powerful biography.”


—Midwest Book Review





“A dishy, insider look at Berry Gordy's making of the Supremes…Ribowsky nicely intersperses some hindsight reflections by the main players…In this engaging, vivacious account, Ribowksy energetically and thoroughly underscores the Supremes' significance as one of the first crossover successes.”


—Publishers Weekly





“[Ribowsky] unearths the incredible, real-life drama of Motown’s biggest female stars…An extensively researched history of one of the most successful female musical groups of all time.”


—African American Family Magazine





“A narrative so vivid that you would believe [Ribowsky] was there to witness it firsthand . . . Ribowsky succeeds in constructing a definitive account of the group from its humble and seedy origins to its anticlimactic demise.”


—Elmore Magazine





Praise for Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams





“A timely biography . . . Ribowsky has taken on a truly harrowing life . . . [and] spends a significant amount of time on the music.”


—New York Times Book Review





“A compassionate yet clear-eyed study of the iconic country star. . . . It’s to [Ribowsky’s] credit that he gets as close to Williams as any writer could.”


—Washington Post





“A new biography that exhumes the strange case of the poet and the peckerwood. . . . [and] offers a feast of juicy anecdotes and sharp analysis that should satisfy devotees and attract newcomers to the fold.”


—Wall Street Journal





Praise for Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder





“Ribowksy's exploration of Wonder's music is first-rate.”


—Publishers Weekly





“A fluid and lively read, critical and celebratory.”


—Time Out





Praise for He's a Rebel: Phil Spector—Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer





“Perfect…The virtue of Ribowsky's book is that he brings the story down to earth without sacrificing its drama. Relying on frank and extensive interviews…Ribowsky spends time on details other writers have taken for granted.”


—Greil Marcus





“A rich, racy inside-show-biz story, with enough backstabbing to dye the Borgias' drapes and a madman cast ranging from John Lennon and Lenny Bruce to Sonny Bono. . . . [Ribowsky] springs terrific quotes from Spector's few friends and many foes.”


—Vanity Fair





“Everything you've ever heard about Specter comes to life in this book.”


—Billboard





“A fascinating account of Spector's staggering list of professional accomplishments. . . . He’s a Rebel [is] such great place to start exploring the life of this talented and tormented man. Ribowsky sees the tragic truth of the story that he's telling: Phil Spector is a terrible man who made wonderful music.”


—Popmatters





Praise for Howard Cosell: The Man, The Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports





“Brilliant . . . entertaining . . . a thought-provoking portrayal of the multi-faceted Howard Cosell in all his glory and enmity.”


—Wall Street Journal





“Skillfully resuscitates [Cosell] . . . Ribowsky, who seems to have read just about everything on Cosell, is a deft narrator . . . All this Ribowsky describes vividly, with a critical eye and an awareness of his subject’s hypocrisies.”


—New York Times Book Review





“Ribowsky's clear-eyed take on the broadcaster who built his career on ’telling it like it is’ reveals the insecurities that fueled Cosell's bravado, charting his ascension from growing up in a middle-class home in Brooklyn to a short-lived career as a lawyer before elbowing his way into radio and TV and becoming the most influential―and controversial―sports commentator in America.”


—Sports Illustrated

From the Publisher

2020-07-14
A breezy biography of one of rock’s most flamboyant founders.

Richard Penniman (1932-2020) was born in Macon, Georgia, a city with a lively music scene. His father, Bud, was a mason, bootlegger, bar owner, and sometime preacher. His mother, Leva Mae, was a churchgoing woman with whom her son identified at an early age, “painting his face with her makeup and dousing himself with her rosewater perfume. He would imitate her speech, in a girlish, high-pitched voice.” Richard was singing at an early age, at first in church and gospel groups. One of his first influences was Sister Rosetta Tharpe, an important precursor of rock music. Ribowsky goes on to trace how Richard paid his dues in local R&B clubs and on the “chitlin’ circuit” of venues catering to Black artists, sometimes wearing drag. A relentless self-promoter, he pushed his way into a couple of small record deals—with disappointing results—before finding his way to Specialty Records in New Orleans, where he recorded his first hits in 1955. The author follows Richard’s career through a succession of hits, his surprise decision to quit his music career to become a preacher (a move repeated several times), and his latter-day status as a celebrity/provocateur on talk shows and in 1950s rock revivals. Ribowsky effectively conveys the ambiance of the era, bringing in many of the stars and other public figures with whom Richard interacted over the decades. His task was undoubtedly complicated by his subject’s lifelong habits of embellishing facts and contradicting himself, and the musical analysis is not on par with some of Ribowsky’s previous books. In the final chapter, the author summarizes Richard’s impact on the many who came after him—a fitting tribute to a unique figure.

An easy, bright read about a seminal figure in the soundtrack of modern music.

Kirkus Reviews