September 3, 2010

Tutti Frutti, good booty/if it don't fit, don't force it.


As a boy, they called him War Hawk for his singing voice. At 10 he became a faith healer, before joining the circus to perform as "drag baby" Princess Lavonne. Women threw their panties at him on stage and his mixed race, hotel room orgies have become the stuff of legend. They say he had a threesome with Buddy Holly. When he played, white kids were leaping off the balconies to get down into the dancing, shouting, black crowd in the segregated floor seats. At 25, he quit secular music to become a preacher, and when he came back to rock, The Beatles opened for his return tour. All before 1965. Elvis? Elvis was a talented puppet, a cover artist, an acceptable rebel. Little Richard Penniman fucked gospel and r&b and blues and honky tonk and gave birth to rock'n'roll.

I don't know who took this picture, and I wish I did.
If you have the details on it, please let me know.

8 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

Amen, brother. Amen. With his mind and his pretty face he changed the world.

A said...

Great photo. Wonder if any exist from his faith healer childhood. Interesting progression, from faith healer to joining the circus....
The steering wheel reminds me of the movie Big Night...

May said...

I love the picture, and i love what you wrote.

That Hank said...

Mama: and his rockin piano.

A: I'd love to see some pictures of him as a kid.

May: easy to write about somebody that cool.

Sarcastic Bastard said...

Fucker was a pretty pretty boy. I love him.

That Hank said...

Me, too, even hiss flipping back and forth between rock and the lord.

white rabbit said...

So you know the original words to 'Tutti Frutti' too....

Filthy or what?

That Hank said...

Of course it was dirty. All good rock'n'roll is dirty.