Richard Penniman, more commonly known as Little Richard,
is one of the most iconic and influential rock-and-roll artists of all time.
This is mainly due to the fact that he actually “helped invent rock-and-roll”
(Watrous, “Back to Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last”). The 1950s was a
time of major change in America, as well as in the rest of the world. During
this time, the Civil Rights Movement was becoming more and more active,
especially with the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. The Board of Education,
which made the concept of “separate but equal” illegal in schools. The shift in
musical genres greatly attested to this change in the American individual.
As an African American, Little Richard proved “that
African Americans could lead in music when [his song] ‘Tutti Frutti’ hit the
air” (Kirby 145). Little Richard “made a strain of American extremism, all
Saturday-night hysteria, a regular part of international mass culture”
(Watrous). Little Richard’s incredible ability to entertain and perform allowed
him to arise “as a cultural icon” (Kirby 150), which gave him the opportunity
to transform pop culture through the emergence of rock-and-roll. Little Richard’s
fame and success is not only socially important due to the fact that he is an
African American who paved the way for the success of other African American artists,
but he also influenced many white artists, such as The Beatles. Thus, Little
Richard was not only successful in the African American community, but he was
successful in the white community as well. He even appeared, as himself, in a
few films in the 1950s.
The success and influence of Little Richard’s
music allows him to be considered as “the architect of rock-and-roll” (Watrous).
So, without Little Richard, rock-and-roll may have never been created. Since rock-and-roll
of the 1950s influenced the emergence of so many other genres of music that are
present today, it is plausible to conclude that without Little Richard, music
today would not be the same.
Sources:
Watrous, Peter. "Back to
Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 08 Dec. 1992. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/arts/back-to-basics-little-richard-is-happy-at-last.html>.
Kirby, David. Little
Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. New York: Continuum International
Group, 2009. Print.
"Tutti Frutti"
"Long Tall Sally"
"Ready Teddy"
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