The legend drew its last bow. Crazy artist, in every sense of the word, the legendary pianist and singer Little Richard has just died this Saturday, May 9 at the age of 87. This African-American has constantly moved the lines of music and society. The rock specialist Taulier Philippe Maneuver, an absolute fan of the interpreter of the hits "Tutti Frutti" and "Good Golly Miss Molly", tells us about the musician and his influence with major artists.
We have just learned of the disappearance of Little Richard, what is your first reaction?
PHILIPPE MANEUVRE. It's a massacre among the precursors of music right now, it's terrible. Even though he was old, there were no rumors about him. He lived very secluded, in the greatest secrecy of his house in Beverly Hills (California). He was a legend apart, fantastic, outrageous, openly gay. His career in music is crazy! Little Richard is the first major American artist to be extremely self-confident. He kept saying that he was the most beautiful, the strongest. He was always provocative and his fans loved it. He taught everything to Jimi Hendrix, who very young, accompanied him on guitar on tour. Behind him during his concerts, he observed him when he was only a stranger. He was greatly inspired by it.
What has it brought to the history of music?
He was one of the pioneers of rock'n'roll, at the time when in the South of the United States, we only listened to boogie. But there it is… Elvis Presley has arrived and the record labels have looked for major rivals to compete with him. And they found what we call the twelve rock pioneers, with Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran… And Little Richard! At the time, he had already written "Tutti Frutti", originally a sodomy song, for which he had invented a scream so peculiar then, that he followed by singing "take the vaseline so that it slides better " (laughs) . He performed this song at night in bars in front of people screaming with laughter. The song could not be released as is, but it was very good. Suddenly, a lyricist hastened to rewrite the words. And it has become a global title. Its success was colossal: two million copies were sold. He then went on to write songs and became a star.
Has he influenced major artists?
Verry much ! It was he who gave advice to Paul McCartney, while the Beatles were opening, especially during a legendary concert in Hamburg. With his incredible haircut and giant wick, his more eccentric outfits than the others - he went so far as to disguise himself as a pope - he made the gray costumes that we wore on stage at the time go wild . Without him, there would not have been the looks of Alice Cooper and even of Prince. And in France, of course Johnny and Eddy Mitchell, who is an absolute fan. All these artists have drawn something from his home.
What was his career like?
Her whole life was marked by ups and downs. He knew many phases where he wanted to stop because he said that he had sung the devil, sex too much ... And that up there, they were not going to be happy. In the middle of an Australian tour, he said on stage that he was stopping everything to devote himself to gospel (he explodes with laughter, note). Everyone screamed when they heard the news. He took over rock. His career is immense, he moved the lines by also being this gay black completely assumed in the 1950s. And "Tutti Frutti" is a huge hit that everyone still likes to take up today.