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[upbeat piano playing]
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♪ Ow!♪
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[music ends]
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Interviewer: Little Richard,
it's now 16 years
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since you had
your first hits.
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Oh, yes.
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Uh, do you realize that...
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Well, you must realize
that at your performances,
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00:00:54,590 --> 00:00:56,030
now there are people
who weren't even alive
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when you first began?
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Yes,
but I have woke them up now.
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Everybody that wasn't alive
when I started and was gone,
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I have brought the spirit
and put it on them. [chuckles]
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Were you always so shy?
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No, I'm not. [chuckles]
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A lot of people say I'm shy,
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but I let it all hang out,
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every bit.
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The love, the gentleness,
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the tenderness, the kindness.
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You ain't supposed to hide them.
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You got it, God gave it,
show it to the world.
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Audience: [cheering]
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Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen,
if you will,
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a man who's become a legend
in his own time,
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Little Richard!
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Crowd: [cheering]
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[upbeat piano playing]
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Audience: [cheering]
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♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪
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♪ Sure like to ball ♪
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Jagger: That music,
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that beat, his voice.
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The...
[sings] ♪ Oooh! ♪
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"My God, who is that?"
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"Who is that?"
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♪ Can't hear your mama call ♪
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00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:03,440
♪ Oooh ♪
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♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪
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I'd never seen any of it before.
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♪ Sure like to ball ♪
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♪ Oooh
Good golly, Miss Molly ♪
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Jagger: Just, like, taking
your clothes off.[chuckles]
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♪ And when you're rockin'... ♪
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Jagger: If there's a piano,
get on it.
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He was everything.
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♪ Ow ♪
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He spit on every rule
there was in music.
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[music fades]
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[gentle music playing]
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King: He created the template
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for the rock 'n' roll icon.
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Porter: Sorry, y'all.
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It wasn't Elvis.
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Crowd: [cheering]
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Jones: He was like
a meteor arriving.
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Woman: A comet.
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Man: A quasar.
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King: His DNA is everywhere.
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It's like,
how do you refer to the air?
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How do you refer to the sky?
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Crowd: [cheering]
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Little Richard:
I'm the emancipator.
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I'm the architect.
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I'm the one that
started it all.
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Crowd: [cheering, applauding]
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[inspirational music playing]
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[music fades out]
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- Let it all hang out!
- Audience: [laughing]
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With the beautiful
Little Richard
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from down in Macon, Georgia.
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I want you all to know
that I am the bronze Liberace.
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- Shut up.
- Audience: [laughing]
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[delicate music playing]
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Crawley: Typically we speak of
legacy in the laudatory.
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The legacy of Little Richard
is complex.
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- Please, please.
- Audience: [cheering]
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00:04:12,530 --> 00:04:14,840
I'd rather do it myself.
[laughs]
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00:04:15,050 --> 00:04:16,840
Watching his interviews
over the decades,
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00:04:17,270 --> 00:04:19,840
you can see
the various different versions.
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I'm not conceited.
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Audience: [shouts indistinctly]
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- I'm convinced. [laughs]
- Audience: [laughing]
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You could see him
crafting his legacy,
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presenting his story
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over and over again
in different ways.
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I was gay all my life.
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I believe I was one of the first
gay people to come out.
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00:04:34,590 --> 00:04:37,820
But God let me know that he made
Adam to be with Eve, not Steve.
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[dramatic music playing]
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Crawley: What was his life
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that he experienced
such delight...
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Little Richard: [vocalizing]
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♪ He's coming ♪
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Crawley: ...and such terror
at the same time?
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00:04:54,570 --> 00:04:56,310
Little Richard: You know,
I would get up off an orgy
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and go pick up my Bible.
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Newman: It's almost like having
a split personality.
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King: He's too much.
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He's too much for everyone.
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00:05:07,500 --> 00:05:09,500
Glenn: People want it
to be a thing.
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Richard really didn't have
a thing.
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As the progeny...
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Audience: [cheering]
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...we must understand
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00:05:19,340 --> 00:05:21,210
what kind of spirit he was
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and how this thing
tore him asunder sometimes.
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Whoo!
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- King: He opened up a way.
- [hooting]
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King: The opening
that says something like,
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"We can get to this place,
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but I may not
get there with you."
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[bell dinging]
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Little Richard:
I'm from a little country town.
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[train whistle blows]
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Little Richard: Macon, Georgia.
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- [bell dinging]
- [train whistle blowing]
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Everybody was wondering
what was I,
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who was I,
and where was I going?
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But I knew all the time.
[laughs]
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I wanted to be a star.
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- [tapping rhythmically]
- Little Richard: [scatting]
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When I was a little boy,
there wasn't any rock 'n' roll.
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[Rooster crowing]
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♪ Save my soul ♪
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You know, everybody, you know,
that was that old thing.
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And I thought that was
the best thing
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I ever heard in my life.
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00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:41,460
My mother would be in the
backyard washing our clothes
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00:06:41,630 --> 00:06:43,460
on what you call
a rubboard.
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[water splashing]
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♪ ["Step It Up and Go"
by Blind Boy Fuller plays] ♪
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- [rooster crows]
- [laughter]
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Little Richard:
There was a lot of blues.
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Walking down the streets,
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00:06:55,170 --> 00:06:57,690
you would see Black singers
playing the guitar.
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♪ See my woman,
tell her hurry home ♪
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00:07:01,130 --> 00:07:02,660
♪ Ain't had no lovin'
since she been gone ♪
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00:07:03,130 --> 00:07:05,090
♪ Got to step it up and go ♪
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00:07:05,270 --> 00:07:07,360
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
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[bubbling]
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[song fades]
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Little Richard:
My mother had 12 children.
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We had to sleep on pallets
on the floor. And...
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And my mother had to
cook beans every day.
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We couldn't get enough.
You know, 'cause it's 12 kids.
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A big old pot
of rice and collard greens.
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My mother was so...
she was so sweet to me.
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[chuckles]
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[piano playing]
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Little Richard:
My granddad had a old piano,
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but I couldn't play.
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I just hit every key,
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and everybody'd be about to say,
"Oh!"
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He was always banging
on the piano
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- every time you see him.
- [grunts]
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We would always sneak down there
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and be looking in
the kitchen window.
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- [piano playing]
- Little Richard: Everybody
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wanted to help me to play,
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but I just didn't know
how to memorize those keys.
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[upbeat tune playing]
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I used to hang out
with his brothers,
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the younger ones,
and sisters.
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His daddy,
Charles "Bud" Penniman,
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was very strict on him,
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very strict.
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00:08:01,930 --> 00:08:05,410
He was a minister
who owned a small nightclub
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and had a bootleg house
at the same time.
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00:08:08,850 --> 00:08:10,720
Little Richard:
He sold stump whiskey.
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And, you know, the White people
called it Black Thunder.
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The Black people called it
White Lightning,
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- you know?
- Interviewer: [laughing]
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Little Richard: That's the way
we had our food
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and paid the rent.
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He didn't want Richard
shouting out loud
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some of the gospel stuff.
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He wanted him to sing soft.
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♪ Yeah! ♪
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Little Richard:
I wanted to be a minister
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when I was a little boy.
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Do you want to go to heaven?
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But you got to be holy.
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Jackson: Macon is known
for its churches.
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It's the conservative
religious town.
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Choir: [singing]
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00:08:44,930 --> 00:08:46,760
Jackson: Sundays, his mother
would get him up
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and he'd attend the Baptist
church with her at New Hope.
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Collier: If you sat
in the Baptist church,
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you don't move at all.
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Jackson: And then it would be
time for him
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to go to the A.M.E. Church
with his father.
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[upbeat music playing]
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00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:01,380
Collier: You sit
in the holy roller,
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00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:02,950
you don't sit down at all.
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00:09:05,820 --> 00:09:08,610
♪ Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord ♪
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Little Richard: All the children
would go to this church.
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00:09:11,780 --> 00:09:13,920
♪ Oh, Jesus ♪
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00:09:14,090 --> 00:09:15,830
- Choir: [sings]
- ♪ Oh ♪
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00:09:16,220 --> 00:09:18,100
Little Richard: I would
get there and I would sing.
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00:09:19,100 --> 00:09:20,920
But they wouldn't let me
sing that much
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'cause I wouldn't stop.
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00:09:23,620 --> 00:09:25,710
And then people started
hearing little turns
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00:09:25,890 --> 00:09:28,060
and things in my voice
and started requesting me.
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00:09:30,370 --> 00:09:32,020
People used to come to me
when I was a little boy
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00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:33,630
for me to pray for them.
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And my mother used to say
that you're crazy.
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Robinson: I will say this
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a hundred thousand times,
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00:09:42,380 --> 00:09:45,560
the South is the home
of all things queer,
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00:09:46,380 --> 00:09:49,870
of the different,
of the non-normative,
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00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,480
of the other side,
of the Gothic, of the grotesque.
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00:09:53,650 --> 00:09:56,350
Note that queerness is not...
214
00:09:57,180 --> 00:09:58,610
just about sexuality,
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00:09:58,790 --> 00:10:01,400
but about a presence in a space
216
00:10:01,570 --> 00:10:04,140
that is different
from what we require
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00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:05,450
or expect,
218
00:10:05,970 --> 00:10:07,450
different from the norm.
219
00:10:08,670 --> 00:10:10,190
Little Richard: And, you know,
back in that day,
220
00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:11,500
you have Sunday clothes.
221
00:10:12,150 --> 00:10:14,150
So I would take
my mother's Sunday pins,
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00:10:14,330 --> 00:10:15,500
her little brooches and things,
223
00:10:15,810 --> 00:10:18,070
and put them on
my Monday jacket.
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00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,160
[laughs] And my Tuesday shirt.
225
00:10:21,030 --> 00:10:22,420
I wore my mother's curtains,
226
00:10:22,590 --> 00:10:24,860
the sheets,
put on some makeup on my face.
227
00:10:25,030 --> 00:10:26,340
My daddy'd like to kill me.
228
00:10:26,510 --> 00:10:28,730
They called him a sissy,
a punk, a faggot.
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00:10:29,780 --> 00:10:31,080
Jackson: When he came to town
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00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,170
and whites were exposed to him,
it was kind of a shock.
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00:10:37,090 --> 00:10:39,740
♪ I am tired ♪
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00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,440
Little Richard: My dad didn't
like my actions and my ways.
233
00:10:42,610 --> 00:10:44,400
I was born deformed
from a child.
234
00:10:45,490 --> 00:10:47,750
One of my legs was long
and one of them's small.
235
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,230
And this is my long arm
and this is my short arm.
236
00:10:50,710 --> 00:10:52,890
From... I... He...
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00:10:54,190 --> 00:10:55,190
[sobs] It was just...
238
00:10:57,720 --> 00:10:59,370
I never could do nothing good.
239
00:11:01,940 --> 00:11:03,720
He told me to get out of
the house,
240
00:11:03,900 --> 00:11:05,940
that he didn't...he didn't
want me there no more,
241
00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:07,550
that he hated me.
242
00:11:08,730 --> 00:11:10,600
He says that
"I wanted seven boys,
243
00:11:10,770 --> 00:11:11,770
and you are messing it up."
244
00:11:12,510 --> 00:11:13,650
Because I was gay,
245
00:11:15,300 --> 00:11:16,560
he put me out.
246
00:11:17,170 --> 00:11:18,740
Porter: I can only imagine.
247
00:11:18,910 --> 00:11:20,910
I've lived through
my versions of that.
248
00:11:21,740 --> 00:11:24,700
It's debilitating.
It's soul crushing.
249
00:11:26,350 --> 00:11:28,310
And it can be deadly.
250
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,360
[song fades]
251
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:43,720
[engine starts]
252
00:11:47,940 --> 00:11:51,860
Collier: Ann and her husband
actually took Richard in,
253
00:11:52,030 --> 00:11:53,600
let him stay upstairs.
254
00:11:53,770 --> 00:11:56,600
A white club in my hometown
called Ann's Tic Toc.
255
00:11:56,860 --> 00:11:58,430
Jackson: You know, what we would
think of as quote,
256
00:11:58,600 --> 00:11:59,740
"a gay club."
257
00:12:00,470 --> 00:12:02,130
It was kind of like a speakeasy.
258
00:12:02,870 --> 00:12:05,700
You had to know where to go
and how to get in.
259
00:12:06,650 --> 00:12:07,870
Little Richard:
I used to play there,
260
00:12:08,050 --> 00:12:09,660
and I was singing blues
261
00:12:09,830 --> 00:12:11,180
and I was singing gospel.
262
00:12:11,790 --> 00:12:13,010
♪ All in my room ♪
263
00:12:14,530 --> 00:12:16,140
♪ Music everywhere ♪
264
00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,670
My favorite singer was
Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
265
00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:25,760
This Black woman could play.
266
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,980
The mother of rock 'n' roll.
267
00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:30,370
There is no other mother.
268
00:12:31,940 --> 00:12:34,510
Sister Rosetta Tharpe shifted
269
00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:37,560
a lot of what we thought
was possible for Black sound
270
00:12:37,730 --> 00:12:39,170
outside of the church.
271
00:12:39,340 --> 00:12:40,380
Sister Rosetta: Come on now!
272
00:12:40,820 --> 00:12:42,520
♪ Everywhere that I go ♪
273
00:12:42,690 --> 00:12:44,080
♪ Everywhere that I be ♪
274
00:12:44,260 --> 00:12:46,220
Robinson: The purpose is to drum
275
00:12:46,390 --> 00:12:48,170
on the piano or on the guitar
276
00:12:49,740 --> 00:12:51,440
until you get to
the mountaintop,
277
00:12:52,310 --> 00:12:54,750
until you reach
the ecstatic space.
278
00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,010
♪ Whoa ♪
279
00:12:58,180 --> 00:12:59,710
Robinson:
When the spirit comes...
280
00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:01,410
♪ Sing in the morning,
sing in the evening ♪
281
00:13:01,580 --> 00:13:03,190
♪ Sing in the middle
of the day ♪
282
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:04,840
Robinson: ...that is the rockin'
and the rollin'.
283
00:13:05,020 --> 00:13:08,500
♪ Jesus is born ♪
284
00:13:09,630 --> 00:13:11,890
Audience: [cheering, applauding]
285
00:13:16,030 --> 00:13:17,460
Little Richard: One night,
286
00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:18,860
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
came through.
287
00:13:20,340 --> 00:13:22,430
[suspenseful music playing]
288
00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:30,260
Stewart: The Macon City
Auditorium is a venue
289
00:13:30,430 --> 00:13:32,830
that many people played
in the height of their careers.
290
00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:38,660
[gentle music playing]
291
00:13:40,790 --> 00:13:42,580
Richard worked there
as a teenager.
292
00:13:44,580 --> 00:13:45,750
Little Richard:
And I went backstage.
293
00:13:47,970 --> 00:13:50,320
And I was singing
a Sister Rosetta Tharpe song
294
00:13:50,500 --> 00:13:52,590
called "Strange Things
Happening Every Day."
295
00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:56,370
And Sister Tharpe said,
"I have a little boy,
296
00:13:56,550 --> 00:13:58,240
and he said he could
beat me singing."
297
00:13:58,850 --> 00:14:00,200
And she brought me out there.
298
00:14:00,380 --> 00:14:01,680
My mother said, "Go on, boy."
299
00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,770
♪ Jesus is the holy life ♪
300
00:14:05,380 --> 00:14:07,820
♪ Turning darkness into light ♪
301
00:14:08,430 --> 00:14:12,080
♪ There are strange things
happening every day ♪
302
00:14:12,260 --> 00:14:13,870
♪ Na, na, na, na, mm ♪
303
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:15,830
♪ And every day ♪
304
00:14:16,050 --> 00:14:18,050
Little Richard: That's the first
time I ever was on stage.
305
00:14:20,350 --> 00:14:23,100
And I was up there
just screaming and singing.
306
00:14:23,270 --> 00:14:25,450
♪ Happening every day ♪
307
00:14:27,490 --> 00:14:31,710
♪ There are strange things
Happening every day ♪
308
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:35,670
Little Richard:
That was the greatest thing
309
00:14:35,850 --> 00:14:36,760
ever happened to me.
310
00:14:38,940 --> 00:14:41,330
And so I had to
get out of Macon.
311
00:14:43,250 --> 00:14:45,120
Plus I was ready to shine.
312
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,080
Crowd: [shouting indistinctly]
313
00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,170
Little Richard: I went with
Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show.
314
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,610
He was selling snake oil.
315
00:14:55,390 --> 00:14:57,040
I would play the
piano and sing.
316
00:14:57,220 --> 00:14:59,610
Jordan: ♪ Caldonia, Caldonia ♪
317
00:14:59,780 --> 00:15:01,480
♪ What makes your big head
so hard? ♪
318
00:15:02,740 --> 00:15:04,570
Little Richard: I sung
the Louis Jordan "Caldonia"
319
00:15:04,750 --> 00:15:06,570
every night 'cause
I didn't know no other song.
320
00:15:07,530 --> 00:15:09,970
And I went from there
to Belle Glade, Florida,
321
00:15:10,140 --> 00:15:11,880
with B. Brown and
his orchestra.
322
00:15:13,230 --> 00:15:15,370
Then changed my name
to Little Richard.
323
00:15:17,890 --> 00:15:20,940
And then I went with
Sugar Foot Sam from Alabam.
324
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,850
Hadley: There is this
touring circuit in place.
325
00:15:25,030 --> 00:15:27,380
We call it very often
the Chitlin' Circuit,
326
00:15:28,250 --> 00:15:30,470
where you have various
queer Black women
327
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,820
traveling with
gold-plated teeth,
328
00:15:32,990 --> 00:15:35,600
singing dirty blues
or gutbucket blues.
329
00:15:35,780 --> 00:15:37,950
♪ I got nipples on my titties ♪
330
00:15:38,130 --> 00:15:39,870
♪ Big as the end of my thumb ♪
331
00:15:40,220 --> 00:15:43,700
♪ I got something between
my legs'll make a dead man... ♪
332
00:15:43,870 --> 00:15:46,740
Her stuff can make
a listener blush today.
333
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:48,700
- [laughter]
- [cheering]
334
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,400
Hadley:
So we should not be surprised
335
00:15:51,580 --> 00:15:55,270
that Little Richard
as Princess LaVonne is possible
336
00:15:55,450 --> 00:15:58,360
and happened
at that point in time.
337
00:16:00,110 --> 00:16:02,370
King: I mean, this is
something that is a fact,
338
00:16:02,540 --> 00:16:04,500
but it's often not remembered.
339
00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:06,720
At that time,
there would be drag acts.
340
00:16:07,810 --> 00:16:10,680
And Little Richard not only sang
and performed in the shows,
341
00:16:10,860 --> 00:16:12,120
he also performed in drag.
342
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:14,770
Little Richard:
Sugar Foot Sam from Alabam,
343
00:16:15,430 --> 00:16:16,900
they had me dressed
all kind of ways.
344
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,390
He had a stage persona
called Princess LaVonne.
345
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:21,910
Is it LaVonné or is it...
I don't know.
346
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:23,520
I've never heard it
said out loud.
347
00:16:23,740 --> 00:16:25,480
Princess LaVonne.
348
00:16:25,650 --> 00:16:28,830
King: And so he would
put on makeup, wear a dress,
349
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:30,530
and he would perform
as a woman.
350
00:16:31,830 --> 00:16:33,440
Homosexuality is illegal.
351
00:16:34,530 --> 00:16:36,190
Cross-dressing is illegal.
352
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,150
It was seen as acceptable
only because of the context.
353
00:16:40,750 --> 00:16:42,930
Hadley: You know, this
is happening late at night.
354
00:16:43,110 --> 00:16:46,060
People are drinking,
and it allows for the lines
355
00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,150
of reality to become soft
356
00:16:48,630 --> 00:16:51,420
and for people to imagine
and to conjure.
357
00:16:52,980 --> 00:16:55,810
Nyong'o: So this traveling world
was crucial,
358
00:16:56,030 --> 00:16:59,300
particularly for any
gender-nonconforming,
359
00:16:59,470 --> 00:17:01,340
queer performer
360
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,130
who maybe didn't
really feel welcome
361
00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:06,740
in their home or
home community.
362
00:17:14,050 --> 00:17:16,010
Little Richard: I was working
in Atlanta, Georgia,
363
00:17:16,180 --> 00:17:17,230
at the Royal Peacock,
364
00:17:18,750 --> 00:17:20,580
and I met a singer
named Billy Wright.
365
00:17:20,750 --> 00:17:22,230
[upbeat piano playing]
366
00:17:22,410 --> 00:17:24,020
He wore green suits
and green and gold shoes.
367
00:17:24,190 --> 00:17:25,710
I'd never seen a man
dressed like that.
368
00:17:25,970 --> 00:17:29,150
♪ Yes, I remember ♪
369
00:17:29,930 --> 00:17:32,460
♪ All the things
that we used to do ♪
370
00:17:32,630 --> 00:17:33,810
Little Richard: I idolized him.
371
00:17:34,550 --> 00:17:35,980
It wasn't his voice
that got me.
372
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:37,550
I liked the way he looked.
373
00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:38,990
Billy Wright.
374
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:40,860
He had the high pompadour.
375
00:17:41,030 --> 00:17:42,510
The pancake makeup.
376
00:17:42,900 --> 00:17:45,820
Anthony: The mascara
and the little pencil mustache.
377
00:17:47,130 --> 00:17:49,170
He was also openly gay.
378
00:17:50,350 --> 00:17:52,090
Little Richard: I had already
started wearing the hair,
379
00:17:52,260 --> 00:17:55,000
but when I saw him, I started
sweeping it back on the side.
380
00:17:56,530 --> 00:17:58,400
Anthony:
And then Billy helped Richard
381
00:17:58,570 --> 00:18:00,010
get his first record deal.
382
00:18:00,790 --> 00:18:02,180
Little Richard: They recorded me
383
00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,270
in the lobby of
the radio station.
384
00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:05,930
Wasn't no studio.
385
00:18:06,100 --> 00:18:09,540
♪ Taxi, taxi
Take me anywhere ♪
386
00:18:09,710 --> 00:18:11,850
It was popular in Macon
and in Atlanta.
387
00:18:12,020 --> 00:18:13,630
♪ Taxi, taxi... ♪
388
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:15,330
King: Richard becomes
more famous in Macon,
389
00:18:15,500 --> 00:18:17,290
and his father starts
playing these songs
390
00:18:17,460 --> 00:18:19,110
around the clock at the club.
391
00:18:21,460 --> 00:18:23,070
Richard said
for the first time in his life,
392
00:18:23,250 --> 00:18:24,550
his father was proud of him.
393
00:18:25,730 --> 00:18:27,380
And Bud Penniman
actually welcomes
394
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,210
Richard back
into the family home.
395
00:18:31,170 --> 00:18:32,480
One night, I would sit there
all night
396
00:18:32,650 --> 00:18:34,350
and watch people
get off the bus, you know?
397
00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:35,430
You know, you understand.
398
00:18:36,090 --> 00:18:38,480
And he got off.
I said, "Oh, boy."
399
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,230
He said, "I play piano."
I said, "I sing."
400
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:44,570
So we got together.
401
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,190
King: He had a flamboyant,
wild-child style.
402
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:51,710
He would stand up
while playing piano.
403
00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,240
Hadley: Esquerita,
who is also queer,
404
00:18:55,410 --> 00:18:57,200
taught him how to play piano.
405
00:18:57,370 --> 00:18:59,200
He's a hard guy
to get along with,
406
00:18:59,370 --> 00:19:01,160
but he taught me how to play.
Thank you, Esquerita,
407
00:19:01,330 --> 00:19:02,550
wherever you are.
408
00:19:04,420 --> 00:19:06,290
Robinson: I think when people
talk about Billy Wright
409
00:19:06,470 --> 00:19:08,250
or Esquerita's influence,
they're like,
410
00:19:08,420 --> 00:19:10,900
"Oh, well, Little Richard
just stole his whole swag."
411
00:19:11,730 --> 00:19:15,000
I think that's not exactly
what's happening.
412
00:19:16,740 --> 00:19:19,350
It is another case of witness.
413
00:19:20,350 --> 00:19:24,180
They are kind of
like the mirrors
414
00:19:24,350 --> 00:19:28,140
that come into your life
to show you who you really are.
415
00:19:31,060 --> 00:19:32,580
[piano plays]
416
00:19:33,410 --> 00:19:34,490
Sounds so sad.
417
00:19:36,500 --> 00:19:37,800
Isn't that sad?
418
00:19:40,150 --> 00:19:41,850
Whoo-whee, it make you cry.
419
00:19:42,550 --> 00:19:44,330
That was my daddy's
favorite song.
420
00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:45,980
It was called "Chain of Love."
421
00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:50,420
King: Richard told his father
he could help take care
422
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,080
of the family financially,
423
00:19:52,250 --> 00:19:53,820
but he didn't have
a way to get around.
424
00:19:55,170 --> 00:19:57,120
So he told me
he was gonna help me get a car.
425
00:19:57,300 --> 00:19:59,170
But he died that Friday night.
426
00:19:59,340 --> 00:20:01,520
When I came from the club,
he was dead.
427
00:20:01,780 --> 00:20:03,310
[somber music playing]
428
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,090
King: Richard's best friend
shot him.
429
00:20:17,140 --> 00:20:18,970
In order to help
support his family,
430
00:20:19,150 --> 00:20:21,540
he's a dishwasher
at a Greyhound bus station.
431
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,280
[dishes clattering]
432
00:20:23,460 --> 00:20:25,150
Little Richard: I was
making $15 a week.
433
00:20:26,980 --> 00:20:28,240
And couldn't eat
in the restaurant
434
00:20:28,420 --> 00:20:29,900
where I was fixing the stuff.
435
00:20:30,070 --> 00:20:31,330
Interviewer:
They wouldn't let you eat?
436
00:20:31,510 --> 00:20:32,640
No, you couldn't eat there.
437
00:20:32,860 --> 00:20:33,510
You couldn't go
to the bathroom either.
438
00:20:35,290 --> 00:20:36,690
I loved my mother so much,
439
00:20:36,860 --> 00:20:38,860
and I was determined
to be something,
440
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:40,950
to make something out of myself
to help her.
441
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,000
Hadley: He's still working
the touring circuit.
442
00:20:52,660 --> 00:20:56,620
And he's part of groups that
are touring all over the South.
443
00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:01,890
Connor:
444
00:21:30,220 --> 00:21:31,520
[laughs]
445
00:21:52,630 --> 00:21:54,290
♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪
446
00:21:54,460 --> 00:21:57,160
♪ Hey, hey ♪
447
00:21:57,770 --> 00:21:59,420
Price: I was in Augusta,
Georgia,
448
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,950
and Richard came over with all
this makeup and this loud suit.
449
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:05,690
I'd never seen
anybody like Richard.
450
00:22:05,950 --> 00:22:07,520
He had run into Lloyd Price,
451
00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:09,910
a big hit record with
"Lawdy Miss Clawdy."
452
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:11,520
♪ ...feels so good today ♪
453
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:13,870
Price: I had this white
and red Cadillac.
454
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,310
He said, "I want a car
just like that."
455
00:22:16,660 --> 00:22:19,440
"I want to get out of Georgia.
You got to help me."
456
00:22:20,050 --> 00:22:21,830
And he says, "Make a demo
457
00:22:22,010 --> 00:22:25,230
and send it to Art Rupe
at Specialty Records."
458
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:26,580
Of course, the rest of it
is history.
459
00:22:26,750 --> 00:22:28,970
[applause]
460
00:22:29,150 --> 00:22:31,370
Little Richard: Ladies
and gentlemen, good evening.
461
00:22:35,810 --> 00:22:37,240
♪ Baby ♪
462
00:22:39,370 --> 00:22:42,770
♪ Don't you wish your man
had long hair like mine? ♪
463
00:22:43,070 --> 00:22:44,730
♪ Yeah ♪
464
00:22:45,210 --> 00:22:48,170
Vera: Art Rupe and his A&R man,
"Bumps" Blackwell,
465
00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:51,650
listened to Little Richard's
demo.
466
00:22:52,130 --> 00:22:53,130
Didn't think much of him.
467
00:22:55,300 --> 00:22:58,480
But Richard was constantly
pestering the secretaries.
468
00:22:58,650 --> 00:23:00,740
And the persistence paid off.
469
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,010
Rupe said, okay, meet him down
in New Orleans.
470
00:23:05,180 --> 00:23:06,580
He's playing down there.
471
00:23:06,750 --> 00:23:08,450
Do a session
at Cosimo's with him.
472
00:23:10,930 --> 00:23:12,280
The back of a furniture store
473
00:23:12,450 --> 00:23:13,840
on Rampart Street.
474
00:23:14,020 --> 00:23:15,890
That's where we were recording.
475
00:23:16,060 --> 00:23:17,930
Tyler: Very small place.
476
00:23:18,110 --> 00:23:20,020
It looked like a hot dog stand.
477
00:23:22,070 --> 00:23:23,900
Interviewer: When you first saw
and heard Little Richard,
478
00:23:24,070 --> 00:23:25,160
what your impressions
of him were?
479
00:23:25,330 --> 00:23:26,550
- Wow.
- Wow.
480
00:23:26,730 --> 00:23:28,860
Both: [laugh]
481
00:23:29,030 --> 00:23:30,510
I was beautiful.
482
00:23:30,690 --> 00:23:32,040
And they wasn't used to being
around no young,
483
00:23:32,210 --> 00:23:33,600
good-looking guy like me.
484
00:23:34,430 --> 00:23:35,870
I'm not conceited,
either.
485
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:40,040
Little Richard came in flitty,
running,
486
00:23:40,830 --> 00:23:43,260
and he was a very...
487
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,090
well, he was very beautiful.
488
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,140
Little Richard: When I went in,
489
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,450
they wanted me to sound like
Ray Charles and B.B. King.
490
00:23:51,580 --> 00:23:53,800
♪ I'm all alone ♪
491
00:23:55,450 --> 00:23:58,630
♪ Alone in this world ♪
492
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,110
♪ I'm all alone ♪
493
00:24:01,590 --> 00:24:04,370
They wouldn't let me sing
like Little Richard.
494
00:24:04,940 --> 00:24:07,900
They had me
imitating these people.
495
00:24:08,510 --> 00:24:11,470
But blues was not
what I really felt.
496
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:14,430
I wanted to sound different.
497
00:24:14,770 --> 00:24:16,380
Me and young kids, we was tired
of all that slow music.
498
00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:18,690
Blackwell: I just stopped
the session
499
00:24:18,860 --> 00:24:20,260
because we just were not
getting anywhere.
500
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,130
So they take a lunch break
501
00:24:23,300 --> 00:24:25,350
and they go over
to the Dew Drop Inn.
502
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:26,870
[cheering]
503
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,610
Blackwell: All of the boosters,
rounders, pimps, whores
504
00:24:29,790 --> 00:24:31,270
just hanging around,
505
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,580
and there was a piano.
506
00:24:34,270 --> 00:24:37,670
And that was when I began
to know and understand Richard.
507
00:24:38,230 --> 00:24:41,320
[cheering]
508
00:24:54,990 --> 00:24:56,990
Little Richard: They didn't know
that I play piano.
509
00:24:58,690 --> 00:25:01,300
So I started singing
"Tutti Frutti" loud as I can.
510
00:25:01,910 --> 00:25:04,300
♪ A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop
a-good-hot-damn ♪
511
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,560
♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪
512
00:25:06,740 --> 00:25:09,050
♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪
513
00:25:09,220 --> 00:25:11,260
♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪
514
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,880
♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪
515
00:25:14,050 --> 00:25:16,140
♪ If it don't fit,
don't force it ♪
516
00:25:16,310 --> 00:25:18,490
♪ You can grease it,
make it easy ♪
517
00:25:18,660 --> 00:25:20,140
[piano playing]
518
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:21,270
King: But the lyrics
to "Tutti Frutti"
519
00:25:21,450 --> 00:25:23,150
are about anal sex.
520
00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,540
That's what they're about.
They're about penetration.
521
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,280
[piano music continues]
522
00:25:27,450 --> 00:25:30,280
Vera: Bumps' ears prick up,
and he says
523
00:25:30,500 --> 00:25:32,240
"That sounds like
it could be a hit."
524
00:25:32,420 --> 00:25:33,640
♪ Tutti frutti ♪
525
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:35,810
Vera:
But the lyrics were too lewd
526
00:25:35,990 --> 00:25:38,340
to ever get airplay
on the radio.
527
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:41,730
So he spots Dorothy
across the room.
528
00:25:42,210 --> 00:25:44,470
Dorothy says, "You think
you could clean up this lyric?"
529
00:25:44,690 --> 00:25:45,860
Interviewer: Pretty nasty lyric?
530
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,000
Yes, nasty. Nasty, nasty.
531
00:25:48,170 --> 00:25:50,260
Dorothy said it was dirty.
Never nothing dirty.
532
00:25:50,430 --> 00:25:51,830
Dorothy,
they was not that dirty.
533
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,350
They were just as clean
as you were.
534
00:25:54,870 --> 00:25:56,140
They say I needed her,
535
00:25:56,310 --> 00:25:57,830
so I accepted the fact
that I did
536
00:25:58,010 --> 00:25:59,100
'cause I didn't know
the record business.
537
00:26:04,450 --> 00:26:05,710
[music ends]
538
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,500
Vera: So they go back for
the session in the afternoon,
539
00:26:11,110 --> 00:26:13,020
put Richard on the piano.
540
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,290
Palmer: Knew right off the bat
it was different
541
00:26:15,460 --> 00:26:17,460
when he said, "Wop bop a loo bop
a lop bom bom."
542
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,380
I said, "What the hell is that?"
543
00:26:19,550 --> 00:26:20,550
Both: [laughing]
544
00:26:21,420 --> 00:26:22,990
Vera: And they did
a couple of takes,
545
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,640
and he sends it
back to Rupe.
546
00:26:24,820 --> 00:26:26,860
And Rupe said "Yeah,
this is different, man."
547
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:28,390
Wasn't nothing out like it.
548
00:26:28,780 --> 00:26:30,520
And I was scared because
didn't nobody sound like that.
549
00:26:30,690 --> 00:26:32,430
I said, "Man,
they gonna laugh at me."
550
00:26:33,170 --> 00:26:35,570
Put it out and it... boom.
551
00:26:35,740 --> 00:26:37,480
♪ Wop bop a loo bop
a lop bom bom ♪
552
00:26:37,660 --> 00:26:39,790
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
553
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,140
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Whoa ♪
554
00:26:42,310 --> 00:26:44,010
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
555
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,490
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
556
00:26:46,660 --> 00:26:49,010
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
557
00:26:49,190 --> 00:26:52,150
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop ba ba ♪
558
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,800
Little Richard: One night
I was sitting at the house
559
00:26:53,980 --> 00:26:55,460
in Macon, Georgia,
my mama and them.
560
00:26:55,630 --> 00:26:57,940
WLAC from Nashville, Tennessee.
Gene Nobles.
561
00:26:58,110 --> 00:27:00,720
He said, "We got a new record
by a guy called Little Richard,
562
00:27:00,900 --> 00:27:03,330
and it's taken this country
by storm."
563
00:27:03,510 --> 00:27:05,730
He said "It's the most
requested record we ever had."
564
00:27:05,900 --> 00:27:07,380
I said, "Ma, that's me."
565
00:27:07,550 --> 00:27:09,210
They didn't know
I was Little Richard.
566
00:27:09,380 --> 00:27:10,780
[laughs]
567
00:27:10,950 --> 00:27:12,730
I said, "That's me, Ma."
I said I'm a star.
568
00:27:12,910 --> 00:27:14,430
She said,
"Shut your mouth, boy."
569
00:27:15,610 --> 00:27:17,090
I said "Mama, I'm a star."
570
00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:19,480
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop, whoo! ♪
571
00:27:19,740 --> 00:27:21,390
- [upbeat piano playing]
- [explosion]
572
00:27:24,220 --> 00:27:26,310
Little Richard: This Black
music was so intense,
573
00:27:26,490 --> 00:27:28,970
it was so full of power
and rhythm.
574
00:27:29,190 --> 00:27:32,800
It was so full of a fervency
and having fun.
575
00:27:33,020 --> 00:27:36,850
[upbeat piano continues]
576
00:27:45,380 --> 00:27:46,770
♪ Oh, tutti frutti ♪
577
00:27:46,940 --> 00:27:48,160
King: Sort of like the Big Bang.
578
00:27:48,330 --> 00:27:50,160
A shot out of a cannon.
579
00:27:50,340 --> 00:27:53,430
So explosive.
It's so ferocious.
580
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,120
♪ Oh, rootie ♪
581
00:27:55,300 --> 00:27:57,130
King: It just sounds
like nothing else.
582
00:27:57,300 --> 00:27:59,650
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop bam boo ♪
583
00:27:59,820 --> 00:28:02,700
[mellow music playing]
584
00:28:05,310 --> 00:28:08,490
Porter: Little Richard's music
is so infectious.
585
00:28:10,180 --> 00:28:12,490
Infused with so much joy.
586
00:28:16,060 --> 00:28:20,500
King: All of this
post-war aching, yearning
587
00:28:20,670 --> 00:28:26,160
teenage horniness and desire
to be erotically free.
588
00:28:26,330 --> 00:28:29,420
Put it into a musical form
that people could feel.
589
00:28:29,590 --> 00:28:31,160
Ooh-whee!
590
00:28:37,210 --> 00:28:38,340
When I came out with
"Tutti Frutti,"
591
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,210
it was considered race music
592
00:28:40,390 --> 00:28:42,080
only played on Black stations.
593
00:28:42,260 --> 00:28:44,650
Black records was played
for Black people only.
594
00:28:44,830 --> 00:28:47,350
There is music and then
there's Black music.
595
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:51,310
When Black people make music,
it's pejoratively characterized
596
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,140
and classified as race music.
597
00:28:53,310 --> 00:28:54,790
Black records
wasn't getting played
598
00:28:54,970 --> 00:28:56,880
on white stations
even at that period.
599
00:28:57,060 --> 00:28:59,540
Yeah, but you know what,
the kids found it.
600
00:28:59,710 --> 00:29:00,890
We're going to hit you with
601
00:29:01,190 --> 00:29:02,630
one of the top vocal groups
in the nation.
602
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:04,190
King: Part of that change
has to do with
603
00:29:04,370 --> 00:29:06,240
the rise of independent
deejays,
604
00:29:07,630 --> 00:29:10,550
of transistor radios,
which are in cars.
605
00:29:11,810 --> 00:29:13,640
And so you have white kids
driving in cars
606
00:29:13,810 --> 00:29:15,770
with new transistor radios,
607
00:29:15,940 --> 00:29:19,120
listening to deejays
who are playing Black music,
608
00:29:19,860 --> 00:29:21,860
which had previously been
a kind of underground music,
609
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:23,210
especially R&B.
610
00:29:23,910 --> 00:29:26,350
Freed: This is Alan Freed, kids,
rolling right along,
611
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,390
and they're really rockin'
and rollin' tonight.
612
00:29:28,570 --> 00:29:30,830
Hadley: People like Alan Freed
would go on to popularize,
613
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:32,700
he didn't invent,
but popularized
614
00:29:32,870 --> 00:29:34,480
the term rock 'n' roll.
615
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,140
Waters: All white kids
in Baltimore grew up
616
00:29:38,310 --> 00:29:40,930
listening to
the three Black stations,
617
00:29:41,100 --> 00:29:43,930
WEBB, WSID, WWIN.
618
00:29:44,100 --> 00:29:46,710
Even racists listened and loved
619
00:29:46,890 --> 00:29:48,720
all Black music
in teenage Baltimore.
620
00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:52,420
We haven't always had teenagers,
621
00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:53,850
strange as it sounds.
622
00:29:54,460 --> 00:29:58,120
The concept of the teenager
really didn't exist, per se,
623
00:29:58,290 --> 00:29:59,510
in the way that we know it now.
624
00:30:00,470 --> 00:30:02,990
This music is teens.
625
00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:05,380
[rock music playing]
626
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,910
Robinson: There's a freedom
being a teenager.
627
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,700
You should experiment.
628
00:30:11,870 --> 00:30:13,180
You should be different.
629
00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:16,790
And then you're supposed
to grow up
630
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:18,790
and get back
into the normative box.
631
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,310
But Little Richard is the icon
632
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,060
for that next generation
of teens who's like,
633
00:30:25,230 --> 00:30:26,840
"Oh, we're not getting
in the box."
634
00:30:27,020 --> 00:30:30,020
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop bam boom ♪
635
00:30:32,850 --> 00:30:36,550
King: By now, record labels
are looking to sign artists
636
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,460
who can speak to this
underground Black music
637
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,510
that is becoming popular
with white kids.
638
00:30:43,250 --> 00:30:44,730
Little Richard: They didn't want
that Black image
639
00:30:44,900 --> 00:30:46,690
- over their kids.
- [cash register chiming]
640
00:30:46,860 --> 00:30:48,170
Little Richard: They didn't want
the white kids looking up
641
00:30:48,340 --> 00:30:50,080
at this big old
greasy Black guy
642
00:30:50,260 --> 00:30:52,260
singing and screaming
and beaming and steaming.
643
00:30:52,430 --> 00:30:54,040
They said "No, no, no."
644
00:30:54,220 --> 00:30:55,960
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop bam boom ♪
645
00:30:56,130 --> 00:30:57,780
♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪
646
00:30:57,960 --> 00:30:59,350
Little Richard: And so
what they did was they said,
647
00:30:59,530 --> 00:31:01,220
"We're gonna put
the white butts on it."
648
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:03,880
♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪
649
00:31:04,050 --> 00:31:05,970
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop bam boom ♪
650
00:31:06,710 --> 00:31:09,450
When Elvis couldn't stop me,
they put Pat Boone on me.
651
00:31:09,620 --> 00:31:11,670
♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪
652
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:13,710
♪ She knows just what to do ♪
653
00:31:13,890 --> 00:31:16,370
♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪
654
00:31:16,540 --> 00:31:18,980
♪ Wop bop a loo bop
a lop bam boom ♪
655
00:31:19,150 --> 00:31:20,330
Audience: [laughing]
656
00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:22,160
It's hard
to keep a straight face
657
00:31:22,330 --> 00:31:24,030
when I talk about
the Pat Boone covers.
658
00:31:24,770 --> 00:31:27,380
I mean, it's no contest there,
659
00:31:27,550 --> 00:31:28,950
no matter what race you are.
660
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:31,430
Hadley:
This was a common practice,
661
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,690
and it says something profound
about American culture
662
00:31:34,870 --> 00:31:36,390
that I think is still true,
663
00:31:36,910 --> 00:31:38,350
that Black music
664
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:42,570
is the wellspring
of American popular music.
665
00:31:42,740 --> 00:31:44,350
But at the same time,
666
00:31:44,530 --> 00:31:46,660
these are industries
and societies
667
00:31:46,830 --> 00:31:49,920
that very often do not
value Black creators.
668
00:31:50,100 --> 00:31:51,660
♪ Wop bop a loo bop... ♪
669
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,190
Hadley: Or want the Blackness
toned down.
670
00:31:57,500 --> 00:32:01,200
I was very disgusted because
I was just coming on the scene
671
00:32:01,370 --> 00:32:04,110
and all the white girls
were screaming over me,
672
00:32:04,290 --> 00:32:06,420
and the system didn't like it.
673
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,030
I was not supposed to be
the hero for their kids.
674
00:32:10,950 --> 00:32:12,510
Host: And here to sing it
in person
675
00:32:12,690 --> 00:32:14,990
- is the man who made it a hit.
- [applause]
676
00:32:15,170 --> 00:32:17,260
Did you know that Elvis Presley
and Pat Boone
677
00:32:17,430 --> 00:32:19,820
sold more of "Tutti Frutti"
than I did?
678
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,960
Don't forget, Bumps and Richard
679
00:32:24,180 --> 00:32:27,310
were going to sell a million
or a million and a half records
680
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,440
if Pat Boone recorded that song.
681
00:32:29,790 --> 00:32:31,840
For which they would be
paid as songwriters.
682
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,140
I was getting a half a cent
a record, which was very low.
683
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,230
King: There were lots of
shenanigans at that time
684
00:32:37,410 --> 00:32:39,360
with royalty payments.
685
00:32:39,540 --> 00:32:41,150
Little Richard: I didn't
understand the contract.
686
00:32:41,410 --> 00:32:42,720
All I wanted to see
was "Little Richard."
687
00:32:42,890 --> 00:32:44,330
When I saw that, I said,
"I got a contract."
688
00:32:44,500 --> 00:32:45,630
I didn't even read
that little part.
689
00:32:46,630 --> 00:32:48,290
[mellow music playing]
690
00:32:52,550 --> 00:32:54,600
That's my house right there on
the left where I used to live.
691
00:32:54,770 --> 00:32:56,820
That's the first house
I ever bought, right there.
692
00:32:57,510 --> 00:33:00,080
Specialty Records
gave me an advance.
693
00:33:01,950 --> 00:33:03,740
I moved my mother
and my brothers and sisters
694
00:33:03,910 --> 00:33:05,220
to Riverside, California.
695
00:33:06,910 --> 00:33:08,350
It was just beautiful
696
00:33:08,740 --> 00:33:10,180
to have an opportunity to live
in a home like this.
697
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:12,830
It was a joy to give
them something
698
00:33:13,010 --> 00:33:14,700
that I never had before.
699
00:33:17,050 --> 00:33:19,060
That's where I met Richard.
700
00:33:21,670 --> 00:33:25,370
He looked at me and he said,
"Oh, we're gonna terrorize."
701
00:33:25,540 --> 00:33:26,720
[laughs]
702
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,150
Java: I look like a girl.
703
00:33:31,900 --> 00:33:33,940
And he was just...
704
00:33:36,470 --> 00:33:38,030
so out there.
705
00:33:38,210 --> 00:33:40,300
I couldn't explain Richard.
706
00:33:40,990 --> 00:33:42,820
He came to my show.
707
00:33:42,990 --> 00:33:45,390
I came out in a big cape,
708
00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:48,830
and I would drop the cape
to the floor.
709
00:33:50,130 --> 00:33:52,920
I was shaped a certain way.
710
00:33:53,220 --> 00:33:55,880
And they had never
seen it before.
711
00:33:56,790 --> 00:34:00,840
He said, "Oh, if I knew you
would turn out like that,
712
00:34:01,010 --> 00:34:04,540
me and you would have kicked it
a long time ago."
713
00:34:04,710 --> 00:34:06,800
[laughs]
714
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:11,670
I went to his house
and I met his mother,
715
00:34:11,850 --> 00:34:14,070
and that delighted me.
716
00:34:14,240 --> 00:34:16,510
She was such a beautiful person.
717
00:34:16,770 --> 00:34:20,860
She knew who he was
and what he was,
718
00:34:21,770 --> 00:34:24,210
and she loved him
in spite of it.
719
00:34:26,820 --> 00:34:28,210
[car honking]
720
00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:32,610
Vera: Richard was back
in New Orleans
721
00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:34,610
for a recording session.
722
00:34:35,790 --> 00:34:38,920
And he insisted upon
using his road band
723
00:34:39,090 --> 00:34:40,660
instead of these
724
00:34:40,830 --> 00:34:42,620
crème de la crème
musicians in New Orleans.
725
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:44,400
♪ Well, long, tall Sally ♪
726
00:34:44,580 --> 00:34:46,060
♪ She's built for speed,
she got ♪
727
00:34:46,490 --> 00:34:49,320
♪ Everything that Uncle John
need, oh, baby ♪
728
00:34:49,580 --> 00:34:51,710
♪ I saw Uncle John
with long, tall Sally ♪
729
00:34:51,890 --> 00:34:54,060
♪ He saw Aunt Mary comin'
and he went down the alley ♪
730
00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:56,500
♪ Oh, baby, yeah ♪
731
00:34:56,720 --> 00:34:57,940
We upped the tempo
732
00:34:58,110 --> 00:34:59,770
and we got the words
going so fast
733
00:34:59,940 --> 00:35:01,770
that Pat Boone couldn't get
his mouth together to do it.
734
00:35:03,030 --> 00:35:04,770
He couldn't
get that rhythm right.
735
00:35:05,030 --> 00:35:07,030
- Snyder: So nobody could do it?
- They couldn't... [laughs]
736
00:35:08,510 --> 00:35:10,650
Vera: "Long Tall Sally" became
an even bigger hit.
737
00:35:10,820 --> 00:35:13,080
And it actually became
a gold record.
738
00:35:13,260 --> 00:35:14,950
Sold a million copies.
739
00:35:17,090 --> 00:35:20,440
♪ Well, I saw Uncle John
with bald-head Sally ♪
740
00:35:20,610 --> 00:35:22,880
♪ He saw Aunt Mary comin' and
he ducked back in the alley ♪
741
00:35:23,050 --> 00:35:24,310
♪ Oh, baby ♪
742
00:35:24,490 --> 00:35:26,790
♪ Yes, baby ♪
743
00:35:26,970 --> 00:35:28,140
♪ Ooh ♪
744
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:30,140
[piano plays]
745
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,230
King: Little Richard has
an incredible string of hits.
746
00:35:34,150 --> 00:35:36,060
Little Richard: "Tutti Frutti,"
"Good Golly, Miss Molly,"
747
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:38,540
"Long Tall Sally,"
"Slippin' and Slidin',"
748
00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:41,420
"Jenny, Jenny," "Rip It Up,"
"Ready Teddy."
749
00:35:41,590 --> 00:35:43,980
[piano playing]
750
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,160
♪ Lucille ♪
751
00:35:49,340 --> 00:35:51,860
♪ Won't you do
your sister's will ♪
752
00:35:53,650 --> 00:35:55,340
♪ Lucille ♪
753
00:35:55,870 --> 00:35:59,830
♪ Won't you do
your sister's will ♪
754
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,700
♪ You ran off and married,
but I love you still ♪
755
00:36:05,350 --> 00:36:09,010
The first songs that you love
that your parents hate
756
00:36:09,180 --> 00:36:11,320
is the beginning
of the soundtrack of your life.
757
00:36:11,750 --> 00:36:14,880
And in my case, it was
most definitely "Lucille."
758
00:36:15,060 --> 00:36:17,190
♪ I asked my friends about her,
but all their lips were tight ♪
759
00:36:17,370 --> 00:36:18,840
♪ Lucille ♪
760
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,150
Little Richard gave me the fuel
to rebel really, really early.
761
00:36:22,330 --> 00:36:24,890
I definitely stole
some Little Richard records.
762
00:36:25,070 --> 00:36:26,070
I can't remember which,
763
00:36:26,770 --> 00:36:29,420
because I stole
lots of records.
764
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:34,640
King: Just on the level
of piano alone,
765
00:36:34,820 --> 00:36:36,250
Little Richard
is doing something
766
00:36:36,430 --> 00:36:38,650
that's really innovative
and really fascinating.
767
00:36:38,820 --> 00:36:40,740
He's doing boogie-woogie
on the left hand.
768
00:36:40,910 --> 00:36:43,130
[vocalizes] Right?
769
00:36:43,300 --> 00:36:45,000
On his right hand,
770
00:36:45,180 --> 00:36:49,220
he was influenced by hearing
the piano playing of Ike Turner.
771
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,180
[piano plays]
772
00:36:54,620 --> 00:36:57,580
King: Ike Turner played on one
of the most defining tracks
773
00:36:57,750 --> 00:36:59,150
of early rock 'n' roll music,
774
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:00,930
Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88."
775
00:37:02,890 --> 00:37:05,670
Ike Turner's right hand,
it's really percussive.
776
00:37:07,420 --> 00:37:09,290
Little Richard
was really inspired and said,
777
00:37:09,460 --> 00:37:10,640
"I want to do that."
778
00:37:11,030 --> 00:37:13,640
But he's doing it in this, like,
raucous tempo.
779
00:37:13,810 --> 00:37:14,990
The percussion
actually had to try
780
00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:16,510
to keep up with his right hand.
781
00:37:18,340 --> 00:37:20,300
Connor:
782
00:37:24,780 --> 00:37:25,960
[train chugging,
whistle blowing]
783
00:37:34,700 --> 00:37:36,050
Of course, on top of all of this
784
00:37:36,230 --> 00:37:38,180
is Little Richard's
incredible voice, right?
785
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,450
That sort of preacher,
786
00:37:40,620 --> 00:37:43,800
gravelly, hardcore sound.
787
00:37:43,970 --> 00:37:45,760
- ♪ You work it, you work it ♪
- Choir: [sings]
788
00:37:45,930 --> 00:37:47,850
- ♪ You can talk about me ♪
- Choir: [sings]
789
00:37:48,020 --> 00:37:49,980
King: You can hear
Brother Joe May,
790
00:37:50,150 --> 00:37:53,030
who Little Richard
was deeply influenced by.
791
00:37:53,770 --> 00:37:56,160
♪ And she shouted hallelujah ♪
792
00:37:56,330 --> 00:37:58,640
Hadley: You can hear Clara Ward
793
00:37:59,990 --> 00:38:02,510
as well as Marion Williams.
794
00:38:04,470 --> 00:38:05,950
♪ Ooh, yeah ♪
795
00:38:06,130 --> 00:38:08,000
Hadley: But he isn't only
796
00:38:08,170 --> 00:38:11,780
the amalgam of
these different references.
797
00:38:13,350 --> 00:38:16,750
He isn't just a collection
of things.
798
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,920
There is something that he does
799
00:38:20,100 --> 00:38:22,930
that makes this gumbo
of musical experiences
800
00:38:23,100 --> 00:38:24,580
uniquely his own.
801
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:28,150
Little Richard: I remember
when I played my first date,
802
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:30,850
they had me on this tour
called the Top Ten Show.
803
00:38:31,020 --> 00:38:34,070
Ruth Brown, Fats Domino,
LaVern Baker.
804
00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:37,070
But I was at the bottom
as an added attraction.
805
00:38:38,290 --> 00:38:40,160
And when the tour was over,
806
00:38:40,330 --> 00:38:42,730
I was the one headlining.
807
00:38:43,730 --> 00:38:45,690
♪ Come on, shake it up ♪
808
00:38:45,860 --> 00:38:47,340
Vera: Nobody could follow him,
809
00:38:47,690 --> 00:38:49,430
so he had to close the shows
everywhere he played.
810
00:38:50,870 --> 00:38:52,220
Little Richard:
Everybody was afraid of me
811
00:38:53,090 --> 00:38:54,520
because I was unpredictable.
812
00:38:54,700 --> 00:38:56,090
They didn't know
what I was going to do.
813
00:38:57,390 --> 00:38:59,090
I would go up in the balcony
of the auditorium
814
00:38:59,270 --> 00:39:00,700
and I would hide,
815
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:02,620
and when they said
"Little Richard,"
816
00:39:02,790 --> 00:39:04,100
I would jump out the back,
and the promoter would go,
817
00:39:04,270 --> 00:39:05,790
"Oh, Lord."
818
00:39:05,970 --> 00:39:08,140
And everybody'd be hollering
and screaming.
819
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:10,020
♪ Ready, set, go, man, go ♪
820
00:39:10,190 --> 00:39:11,930
♪ I got a gal that I love ♪
821
00:39:12,240 --> 00:39:13,240
Connor:
822
00:39:25,470 --> 00:39:28,430
Remember, in the 1950s,
there's legal segregation.
823
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,470
Black kids are not able
to listen to music
824
00:39:31,650 --> 00:39:33,300
in the same spaces
as white kids.
825
00:39:33,910 --> 00:39:35,480
Black and white musicians
weren't allowed
826
00:39:35,650 --> 00:39:36,560
- to play together.
- True.
827
00:39:36,910 --> 00:39:38,780
Connor:
828
00:39:48,710 --> 00:39:50,800
Little Richard: The white people
start leaping over the balcony,
829
00:39:50,970 --> 00:39:52,410
and they got down
with the Blacks.
830
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,710
My music broke down
the walls of segregation.
831
00:39:56,890 --> 00:39:58,720
[cheering,
clapping rhythmically]
832
00:39:58,890 --> 00:40:01,940
Vera: There's something about
this music
833
00:40:02,110 --> 00:40:06,160
that made Black and white kids
want to be together.
834
00:40:06,380 --> 00:40:09,640
[cheering]
835
00:40:14,250 --> 00:40:15,730
There are artists
before Little Richard
836
00:40:15,910 --> 00:40:17,390
who are able to cross over.
837
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:19,910
Fats Domino,
somebody who was also
838
00:40:20,090 --> 00:40:22,440
very much responsible
for the early rock 'n' roll,
839
00:40:22,610 --> 00:40:24,700
who was not threatening
840
00:40:24,870 --> 00:40:26,270
to a lot of young white kids.
841
00:40:27,270 --> 00:40:29,400
But Little Richard was danger.
842
00:40:29,570 --> 00:40:30,880
[upbeat music playing]
843
00:40:31,270 --> 00:40:33,140
King: Little Richard is somebody
who represented
844
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,450
a complete upheaval
845
00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:37,580
of the existing social system.
846
00:40:38,890 --> 00:40:40,320
He was singing about sex,
847
00:40:40,500 --> 00:40:42,190
and he was singing
about graphic sex.
848
00:40:42,370 --> 00:40:43,630
At the time,
you weren't allowed
849
00:40:43,810 --> 00:40:45,460
to talk about graphic sex
850
00:40:45,630 --> 00:40:47,770
in the way that we are today
in popular music.
851
00:40:47,940 --> 00:40:49,510
And so you had to code it.
852
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:51,420
♪ And ball tonight, ow! ♪
853
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,770
I mean, "Good Golly Miss Molly,
you sure like to ball."
854
00:40:54,950 --> 00:40:58,250
I mean, I don't know what
anybody else thinks it means,
855
00:40:58,430 --> 00:40:59,520
but I knew what it meant.
856
00:41:01,130 --> 00:41:03,170
He could project sex
857
00:41:03,690 --> 00:41:06,520
without being threatening.
858
00:41:08,050 --> 00:41:09,790
All my band boys
had a makeup kit.
859
00:41:10,610 --> 00:41:11,750
Connor:
860
00:41:26,940 --> 00:41:28,240
Everybody was looking beautiful.
861
00:41:28,410 --> 00:41:30,770
Everybody was glamorous
and looking good.
862
00:41:30,940 --> 00:41:32,940
The early 20th century word
was shake.
863
00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:36,210
If you were shake, you had,
like, really good hair,
864
00:41:36,380 --> 00:41:38,900
good skin, good makeup,
you know, eyelashes, whatever.
865
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,170
Like, the girls went crazy
for that, right?[chuckles]
866
00:41:42,340 --> 00:41:45,300
He had panties thrown at him
while he was performing.
867
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:47,090
Connor:
868
00:41:55,010 --> 00:41:56,310
[music ends]
869
00:41:56,490 --> 00:41:57,970
Snyder:
Here you came on Black...
870
00:41:58,140 --> 00:42:00,060
- Yes. Yes.
- ...and gay...
871
00:42:00,230 --> 00:42:01,710
- ...and talented...
- Little Richard: Yeah.
872
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:03,320
...and loud.
873
00:42:03,750 --> 00:42:05,020
But the one thing they wrote
about you when you came on,
874
00:42:05,190 --> 00:42:06,840
you were absolutely 100%
sure of yourself.
875
00:42:07,020 --> 00:42:08,280
Little Richard: That's right.
876
00:42:08,450 --> 00:42:09,760
Where did your confidence
come from?
877
00:42:09,930 --> 00:42:11,940
Well, see,
it wasn't just a gay thing.
878
00:42:12,110 --> 00:42:14,770
What it was is to be Black
879
00:42:14,940 --> 00:42:16,250
and to work for white girls,
880
00:42:16,420 --> 00:42:17,900
I had to look that way.
881
00:42:18,070 --> 00:42:20,730
If I didn't wear makeup
and look effeminate,
882
00:42:20,900 --> 00:42:22,250
I couldn't work the white clubs.
883
00:42:22,430 --> 00:42:23,990
They wouldn't let me
be with the white girls.
884
00:42:24,170 --> 00:42:26,430
- Snyder: You weren't a threat.
- Yes. I wore it all.
885
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,260
From wah-wah to whoo-whoo,
I had it all on me.
886
00:42:29,430 --> 00:42:30,650
- Snyder: [laughs]
- Sometimes boo-boo.
887
00:42:30,830 --> 00:42:32,130
That's the old Richard.
888
00:42:32,300 --> 00:42:34,180
- Ain't nothing to him.
- Both: [laughing]
889
00:42:34,350 --> 00:42:36,180
Ain't a thing to him.
890
00:42:38,270 --> 00:42:39,530
Snyder: [laughs]
891
00:42:40,270 --> 00:42:43,450
Intuitively, it doesn't really
quite make sense that the way
892
00:42:43,620 --> 00:42:46,230
that you would, like,
make yourself more safe
893
00:42:46,410 --> 00:42:47,840
in America of that era is by
894
00:42:48,020 --> 00:42:49,630
exaggerating
your queerness, right?
895
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:52,890
I said, "Richard,
aren't you afraid of, uh...
896
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:56,110
people thinking
that you're different?"
897
00:42:56,290 --> 00:42:59,200
And he said, "No. I don't give
a damn what they think."
898
00:42:59,380 --> 00:43:03,070
I know of the evil feeling
that you feel when you sing it
899
00:43:03,250 --> 00:43:04,340
and the beat.
900
00:43:04,510 --> 00:43:05,820
Man: That two-beat pattern
901
00:43:06,510 --> 00:43:09,340
is the music brought to
the United States of America
902
00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:12,780
by the Communist conspiracy
to corrupt teenagers.
903
00:43:12,950 --> 00:43:16,910
A means by which
the white man and his children
904
00:43:17,090 --> 00:43:19,130
can be driven
to the level with a Negro.
905
00:43:19,310 --> 00:43:21,310
It is obviously Negro music.
906
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:24,360
"That red boy gonna come to town
singing that Black music
907
00:43:24,530 --> 00:43:26,360
and gonna run our children
crazy."
908
00:43:29,750 --> 00:43:32,020
Little Richard: I'd be afraid
for a white girl to look at me.
909
00:43:33,150 --> 00:43:37,460
This is a radical, radical time.
910
00:43:37,630 --> 00:43:39,240
This is the same moment
as Emmett Till.
911
00:43:39,420 --> 00:43:41,160
[pensive music playing]
912
00:43:41,330 --> 00:43:42,460
Little Richard: Bunch of
white guys will follow you
913
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:44,070
and hang you in a tree.
914
00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:48,470
Nyong'o: So what's revolutionary
915
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,560
about this Black exuberance
916
00:43:51,730 --> 00:43:55,000
is this capacity
to own the right
917
00:43:55,170 --> 00:43:56,650
to be in the world
918
00:43:56,820 --> 00:44:00,090
that gets Emmett Till murdered.
919
00:44:02,350 --> 00:44:03,920
Hendryx: I remember doing shows
920
00:44:04,090 --> 00:44:06,180
where people would throw things
at us on stage.
921
00:44:07,790 --> 00:44:10,750
You were driving a lot at night
922
00:44:10,930 --> 00:44:13,880
from one town to the next,
923
00:44:14,490 --> 00:44:16,370
and you wanted to stop for gas,
924
00:44:16,540 --> 00:44:18,980
but you were not welcome.
925
00:44:20,540 --> 00:44:23,020
Being run out of restaurants
at gunpoint
926
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:24,810
because you walked in
the wrong door.
927
00:44:26,770 --> 00:44:29,510
Nyong'o: You could get thrown
in jail for having long hair.
928
00:44:30,290 --> 00:44:32,290
It happened to Little Richard
in Texas.
929
00:44:33,510 --> 00:44:35,910
King: Richard was arrested
many times.
930
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:37,730
Little Richard: I had the police
take me off stage
931
00:44:37,910 --> 00:44:39,610
in Augusta, Georgia,
a few miles from my hometown,
932
00:44:39,780 --> 00:44:41,090
and beat me with blackjacks.
933
00:44:42,870 --> 00:44:45,610
They said, "You're singing
nigger music to white kids."
934
00:44:48,090 --> 00:44:51,140
Porter: In the face of
insurmountable challenges,
935
00:44:51,310 --> 00:44:54,750
sometimes simply existing
is a revolutionary act.
936
00:44:56,490 --> 00:44:58,450
We built a hell of a highway.
937
00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:00,500
And people are still
driving on it.
938
00:45:00,670 --> 00:45:01,890
That's right.
939
00:45:02,060 --> 00:45:03,330
- And they ain't paying no toll.
- No.
940
00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:05,630
[laughs] Whoo!
941
00:45:05,810 --> 00:45:08,590
This is before the height
of the civil rights movement
942
00:45:08,770 --> 00:45:10,290
in the 1960s.
943
00:45:10,460 --> 00:45:12,770
They are concerned
that the old order of the day,
944
00:45:12,940 --> 00:45:16,120
the relationships between
Black and white teenagers,
945
00:45:16,290 --> 00:45:19,040
is going to become something
that they can no longer contain.
946
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:25,700
♪ If she walks by the men folks
get engrossed ♪
947
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:28,310
Waters: I used to go see
all the rock 'n' roll movies.
948
00:45:29,260 --> 00:45:31,180
The Girl Can't Help It
was the very first time
949
00:45:31,350 --> 00:45:32,830
I actually saw him live,
singing.
950
00:45:33,010 --> 00:45:35,140
♪ Ready, set, go, man, go ♪
951
00:45:35,310 --> 00:45:37,190
♪ I've got a gal
that I love so ♪
952
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:38,840
♪ I'm ready ♪
953
00:45:39,010 --> 00:45:40,750
♪ Ready, ready, Teddy
I'm ready ♪
954
00:45:40,930 --> 00:45:43,060
It made the music
even a thousand times better
955
00:45:43,230 --> 00:45:44,500
than it already was for me.
956
00:45:46,020 --> 00:45:48,410
He was gay, but I didn't
really know that then.
957
00:45:48,590 --> 00:45:50,370
I knew something was different.
958
00:45:51,110 --> 00:45:53,940
He just became part
of my identity.
959
00:45:54,590 --> 00:45:57,860
And Little Richard's mustache
I wear to this day
960
00:45:58,030 --> 00:46:01,730
for over 50 years
in a twisted tribute to him.
961
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,170
And soThe Girl Can't Help It
spread the word
962
00:46:06,340 --> 00:46:08,390
of rock 'n' roll to places
963
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:10,130
that it hadn't quite
gotten to yet.
964
00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:13,220
Jones: The film came to Britain.
965
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,790
And it was so different from
anything that I'd heard or seen.
966
00:46:20,490 --> 00:46:22,010
He was giving me
more confidence
967
00:46:22,190 --> 00:46:24,100
that that's what
I wanted to do.
968
00:46:26,710 --> 00:46:28,980
Because of
the rock 'n' roll films,
969
00:46:29,150 --> 00:46:32,110
Little Richard became one of
the main characters
970
00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:33,760
in rock 'n' roll.
971
00:46:33,940 --> 00:46:35,940
You know,
there was Fats Domino,
972
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:37,380
Chuck Berry,
973
00:46:37,850 --> 00:46:39,160
Elvis Presley
974
00:46:39,330 --> 00:46:40,730
and Jerry Lee Lewis,
975
00:46:41,250 --> 00:46:43,250
and then, of course,
Little Richard.
976
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:45,690
You know,
it's like the big five.
977
00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:47,520
But Richard was...
978
00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:49,340
was the strongest.
979
00:46:54,390 --> 00:46:55,740
Was there a lot of sex going on?
980
00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:58,310
- Oh, yes. Oh, night and day.
- [laughs]
981
00:46:58,480 --> 00:46:59,570
All night.
982
00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:03,790
I had all these orgies going on.
983
00:47:03,970 --> 00:47:07,140
Everybody liked to jack...
masturbate. Everybody loves to.
984
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,630
Everybody liked to go to orgies.
Everybody.
985
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,020
Some people wish
they never had to leave.
986
00:47:12,190 --> 00:47:14,540
You know, I don't know why
everybody said... [gasps] Oh.
987
00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:16,590
I just loved whatever came.
988
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:18,330
You know,
I didn't refuse nothing.
989
00:47:18,590 --> 00:47:21,510
If you knocked on my door,
and I wanted more, for sure.
990
00:47:22,770 --> 00:47:25,160
Little Richard:
Oh, she is a whupper.
991
00:47:26,030 --> 00:47:28,120
They should just keep Lee
and take Angel off.
992
00:47:28,300 --> 00:47:29,690
[laughs]
993
00:47:29,950 --> 00:47:31,950
Richard's fantasies
are the greatest on Earth.
994
00:47:32,740 --> 00:47:36,000
I believe that if he'd have been
a screenwriter,
995
00:47:36,170 --> 00:47:39,350
he would have
at least 9,988 films
996
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:41,610
that would be extreme hits now.
997
00:47:43,090 --> 00:47:47,230
He said, "I want you
to meet Lee Angel."
998
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:50,270
I said, "Do you really like her,
Richard?"
999
00:47:50,450 --> 00:47:53,100
He said, "Yeah.
She got some good stuff."
1000
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:54,800
Little Richard:
She's a wonderful girl.
1001
00:47:54,980 --> 00:47:56,150
You know, she's beautiful.
1002
00:47:56,320 --> 00:47:58,240
She's loving. She's kind.
1003
00:47:58,410 --> 00:48:00,370
But Angel is the girl.
She just enjoys sex.
1004
00:48:00,550 --> 00:48:01,460
And everybody does.
1005
00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:03,680
I said, "Oh."
1006
00:48:03,900 --> 00:48:06,600
"When'd you start
screwing women?"
1007
00:48:06,770 --> 00:48:08,640
Well, he slept with me.
1008
00:48:09,550 --> 00:48:11,690
And I guarantee I'm all woman.
1009
00:48:12,250 --> 00:48:14,260
Interviewer: How old were you
when you met Richard?
1010
00:48:14,430 --> 00:48:15,780
Sixteen.
1011
00:48:16,300 --> 00:48:19,740
I'm walking down
West Broad Street in Savannah,
1012
00:48:20,570 --> 00:48:22,700
and someone came over to me
and told me,
1013
00:48:22,870 --> 00:48:25,050
"Little Richard
wants to meet you."
1014
00:48:25,740 --> 00:48:29,180
My response was,
"Does he know I'm a girl?"
1015
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,100
He always introduced me
on the stage
1016
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,930
just as I was his lady,
1017
00:48:36,100 --> 00:48:38,110
and I would have to stand up.
1018
00:48:39,190 --> 00:48:40,890
He asked me to marry him.
1019
00:48:43,410 --> 00:48:44,760
I couldn't do it.
1020
00:48:46,110 --> 00:48:47,510
Seventeen.
1021
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:49,990
First time I was on my own.
1022
00:48:50,900 --> 00:48:52,120
He knew
1023
00:48:53,990 --> 00:48:57,560
that he had
something inside of him
1024
00:48:58,690 --> 00:49:00,080
that was hard to bring out.
1025
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:03,300
It was not going
to come out now.
1026
00:49:04,310 --> 00:49:06,350
It would come out eventually.
1027
00:49:20,630 --> 00:49:21,930
Little Richard: I had been a...
1028
00:49:22,110 --> 00:49:24,020
a flash of lightning
for two years.
1029
00:49:24,190 --> 00:49:25,630
- [thunder rumbling]
- Little Richard: In fact,
1030
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:27,200
you could just call me
the living flame.
1031
00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:30,460
I was at the height
to make the big money.
1032
00:49:31,590 --> 00:49:35,420
We headed on this tour
going to Sydney, Australia.
1033
00:49:40,430 --> 00:49:44,130
The engines of the plane
had turned red, really red.
1034
00:49:44,690 --> 00:49:46,650
To me,
I thought the plane was on fire.
1035
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:49,000
[melancholic music playing]
1036
00:49:50,440 --> 00:49:54,140
Robinson: He feels and sees that
1037
00:49:54,620 --> 00:49:57,580
angels are holding the plane up.
1038
00:49:58,710 --> 00:50:00,880
He's overcome by this vision,
1039
00:50:01,060 --> 00:50:02,800
and he's overcome by fear.
1040
00:50:04,580 --> 00:50:06,670
Little Richard:
Then, after arriving in Sydney,
1041
00:50:06,930 --> 00:50:08,850
I was appearing there
in a stadium,
1042
00:50:09,590 --> 00:50:12,330
and this ball of fire
came over the stadium.
1043
00:50:13,550 --> 00:50:15,330
[bell tolling]
1044
00:50:15,510 --> 00:50:16,640
Little Richard: I've always
heard from a little boy
1045
00:50:16,810 --> 00:50:18,120
that the world was going to end
1046
00:50:18,290 --> 00:50:19,640
and it was frightening,
you know?
1047
00:50:20,820 --> 00:50:23,820
I just felt that
God was speaking to me.
1048
00:50:26,690 --> 00:50:29,130
Robinson: Later,
they say this is Sputnik.
1049
00:50:30,130 --> 00:50:31,480
But it doesn't matter.
1050
00:50:31,650 --> 00:50:33,740
Little Richard said
he saw a fireball
1051
00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:35,960
after angels were holding up
the plane, period.
1052
00:50:37,490 --> 00:50:40,750
He's like,
"I got to cut this tour short."
1053
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:42,750
"I need to get out of here."
1054
00:50:43,930 --> 00:50:45,620
Little Richard: I said
"After these dates,
1055
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:47,360
I'm going to stop singing."
1056
00:50:47,540 --> 00:50:49,110
"I'm going with the Lord."
1057
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:52,670
One of the band boys said,
1058
00:50:52,850 --> 00:50:55,200
"If you're serious,
throw your rings in the water."
1059
00:50:56,330 --> 00:50:59,120
We got on the ferry,
and I threw them in the ocean.
1060
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:12,220
Williams: We knew he was
a rock 'n' roll star.
1061
00:51:12,870 --> 00:51:14,650
Why would he be
coming to Oakwood?
1062
00:51:15,700 --> 00:51:18,220
Word spread he's not coming
to give a concert.
1063
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:19,700
He's coming as a student.
1064
00:51:22,050 --> 00:51:23,490
Winslow:
Oakwood was the premiere
1065
00:51:23,660 --> 00:51:25,140
Black Seventh-day
Adventist school.
1066
00:51:26,530 --> 00:51:28,800
Very conservative.
1067
00:51:28,970 --> 00:51:29,800
I was a little boy.
1068
00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:32,800
My mother was a teacher.
1069
00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:35,800
I was old enough
to know who he was.
1070
00:51:35,980 --> 00:51:38,850
But we didn't have
rock 'n' roll on campus.
1071
00:51:39,020 --> 00:51:41,510
It was a sin
to listen to Richard's music.
1072
00:51:42,940 --> 00:51:44,200
Williams:
Shortly after he got there,
1073
00:51:44,380 --> 00:51:45,900
he gave his testimony.
1074
00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:48,950
He said he saw himself in hell.
1075
00:51:49,910 --> 00:51:52,730
He said he knew
he wasn't ready to see the Lord
1076
00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:56,090
with what he was singing
and how he was behaving.
1077
00:51:56,910 --> 00:51:58,390
He called it devil music.
1078
00:51:59,090 --> 00:52:00,480
Little Richard:
The Lord is coming soon,
1079
00:52:00,660 --> 00:52:02,400
and I want to dedicate
my life to God.
1080
00:52:02,570 --> 00:52:04,440
And I want to study,
so I can help other people
1081
00:52:04,620 --> 00:52:06,970
that are doing wrong
where they can be saved too.
1082
00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:10,400
Williams: He actually said
if you have any of his records,
1083
00:52:10,580 --> 00:52:12,100
he would buy them back.
1084
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:14,150
And he was going
to have a bonfire.
1085
00:52:14,890 --> 00:52:16,500
He burned the records.
1086
00:52:17,980 --> 00:52:19,330
Cut his hair.
1087
00:52:20,630 --> 00:52:23,500
We just accepted him
as a normal student.
1088
00:52:26,990 --> 00:52:29,070
Little Richard lived
in the dorm.
1089
00:52:30,030 --> 00:52:32,080
He always had on a suit jacket.
1090
00:52:32,250 --> 00:52:35,080
And he had a big Bible
that he carried with him.
1091
00:52:35,260 --> 00:52:37,130
And if you saw him coming,
1092
00:52:37,560 --> 00:52:40,480
you knew you might get stopped
to be prayed with.
1093
00:52:41,350 --> 00:52:42,180
I liked him.
1094
00:52:42,350 --> 00:52:45,050
He had a real burden
1095
00:52:45,220 --> 00:52:48,050
for the salvation of souls.
1096
00:52:48,660 --> 00:52:50,570
And he liked to tell his story.
1097
00:52:53,970 --> 00:52:56,150
"As I have repent,
you must repent."
1098
00:52:58,230 --> 00:52:59,800
Robinson: This is
kind of the beginning
1099
00:52:59,980 --> 00:53:03,590
of his period
with gospel music.
1100
00:53:04,150 --> 00:53:10,250
♪ Precious Lord ♪
1101
00:53:11,070 --> 00:53:15,730
♪ Take my hand ♪
1102
00:53:15,990 --> 00:53:19,950
Robinson: His vocal performance
is so dramatically different.
1103
00:53:21,210 --> 00:53:23,220
I want to say restrained.
1104
00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:28,220
I'm like, "You ain't even bring
the rock 'n' roll to the gospel
1105
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:30,400
like Sister Rosetta Tharpe
was doing."
1106
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:34,880
Maybe that was him
trying to be still.
1107
00:53:35,050 --> 00:53:37,530
♪ I'm so weak ♪
1108
00:53:37,710 --> 00:53:41,230
Java: He said that the Bible
would be his only love.
1109
00:53:42,540 --> 00:53:46,800
He was a caring, loving person,
1110
00:53:47,020 --> 00:53:49,330
and I was very proud of that.
1111
00:53:50,770 --> 00:53:53,420
Robinson: Even in the sphere
of sacred music,
1112
00:53:53,590 --> 00:53:57,120
he names an album
"The King of Gospel Singers,"
1113
00:53:57,730 --> 00:54:00,510
staking his claim
for where his voice fits
1114
00:54:00,690 --> 00:54:02,730
in the pantheon
of gospel singers.
1115
00:54:04,340 --> 00:54:06,220
Winslow: Richard met Ernestine,
1116
00:54:07,260 --> 00:54:10,570
and they got to be close
as friends.
1117
00:54:11,350 --> 00:54:13,270
And she wanted to marry him,
and he married her.
1118
00:54:19,620 --> 00:54:21,360
[song ends]
1119
00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:25,670
We were married at
Richard's home in Los Angeles.
1120
00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:30,070
It was a very quiet,
private service.
1121
00:54:31,240 --> 00:54:34,850
I didn't know anything
about Richard before I met him.
1122
00:54:36,160 --> 00:54:40,340
I sneaked away and listened
to some of his songs.
1123
00:54:41,510 --> 00:54:43,340
Richard was
the kind of husband that
1124
00:54:43,510 --> 00:54:47,340
most women would want
for a husband,
1125
00:54:47,950 --> 00:54:51,260
always positive, loving,
and caring.
1126
00:54:52,910 --> 00:54:55,870
Williams: I think Little Richard
wanted to do God's will,
1127
00:54:56,480 --> 00:54:59,010
but he lived a high lifestyle.
1128
00:54:59,180 --> 00:55:00,790
He had a nice home
that he bought
1129
00:55:00,970 --> 00:55:03,010
for his mother and his family,
1130
00:55:03,580 --> 00:55:05,800
and church wasn't paying him.
1131
00:55:05,970 --> 00:55:07,450
He wasn't an ordained minister.
1132
00:55:07,970 --> 00:55:09,060
He needed money.
1133
00:55:12,720 --> 00:55:15,940
Newman: I was in a band
called Sounds Incorporated.
1134
00:55:16,940 --> 00:55:18,550
We're told that
we're going on the road
1135
00:55:18,720 --> 00:55:20,250
and we're backing
Little Richard.
1136
00:55:20,990 --> 00:55:22,770
We're all saying
"This is just...
1137
00:55:22,940 --> 00:55:24,420
this is beyond belief."
1138
00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:26,900
We all figured that he'd retired
1139
00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:28,650
and we wouldn't
hear of him again.
1140
00:55:29,990 --> 00:55:31,740
All I can assume is
1141
00:55:31,910 --> 00:55:35,130
Don Arden told Richard
it was a gospel tour.
1142
00:55:35,300 --> 00:55:36,610
[laughs]
1143
00:55:37,220 --> 00:55:38,610
There's a rehearsal called.
1144
00:55:39,700 --> 00:55:42,620
He had a sweater on him.
I don't recognize him.
1145
00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:47,580
So we're not quite sure
what to expect the first night.
1146
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:50,490
So the band's riffing.
1147
00:55:50,670 --> 00:55:53,150
You know, "Now, from America,
ladies and gentlemen,
1148
00:55:53,320 --> 00:55:54,800
we have Little Richard,"
1149
00:55:54,980 --> 00:55:56,760
and he's not on stage.
1150
00:55:56,930 --> 00:55:58,070
He's not there.
1151
00:55:58,980 --> 00:56:00,720
From the balcony, we hear,
1152
00:56:00,900 --> 00:56:02,680
"I am an atom bomb,"
1153
00:56:02,850 --> 00:56:05,330
with eyes wide open and a cape,
1154
00:56:06,030 --> 00:56:07,990
and he jumps off the balcony,
1155
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,470
ran up to the stage, and...
1156
00:56:11,120 --> 00:56:12,690
♪ A whole lot of shakin' ♪
1157
00:56:12,860 --> 00:56:14,600
♪ A whole lot of shakin'
goin' on ♪
1158
00:56:14,780 --> 00:56:16,210
♪ Whoo ♪
1159
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:17,830
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
1160
00:56:18,390 --> 00:56:20,740
♪ A whole lot of shakin'
goin' on ♪
1161
00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:23,570
Newman: I was rocketed
into the fifth dimension.
1162
00:56:25,180 --> 00:56:26,960
I wasn't of this earth anymore.
1163
00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:31,140
All of a sudden,
Richard jumped off the piano,
1164
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:34,020
lying on the floor
as if he was dead.
1165
00:56:34,190 --> 00:56:35,760
"Is there a doctor
in the house?"
1166
00:56:35,930 --> 00:56:37,760
"Is there a doctor
in the house?"
1167
00:56:40,150 --> 00:56:42,280
Richard would wake up
all of a sudden
1168
00:56:42,850 --> 00:56:45,030
and play
"Good Golly, Miss Molly."
1169
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:47,460
♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪
1170
00:56:48,510 --> 00:56:50,160
♪ Sure like to ball ♪
1171
00:56:51,550 --> 00:56:53,730
Newman: Nearly every night,
it escalated
1172
00:56:53,900 --> 00:56:56,780
into a full-blown riot
in the theater.
1173
00:56:56,950 --> 00:56:58,430
[indistinct clamoring]
1174
00:56:58,610 --> 00:56:59,870
Newman: People have wrecked
the seats.
1175
00:57:00,820 --> 00:57:02,520
- [dogs barking]
- [cheering]
1176
00:57:02,700 --> 00:57:04,700
The police dogs are called.
1177
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,880
♪ Whoo!
Sure like to ball ♪
1178
00:57:08,050 --> 00:57:09,350
[cheering]
1179
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:11,490
Newman: I remember coming off
of that and thinking,
1180
00:57:11,660 --> 00:57:13,100
"Now, this is rock 'n' roll."
1181
00:57:19,060 --> 00:57:20,410
[music ends]
1182
00:57:20,580 --> 00:57:23,280
Crowd: [cheering, applauding]
1183
00:57:33,730 --> 00:57:35,160
[pensive music playing]
1184
00:57:36,340 --> 00:57:38,860
Little Richard: Brian Epstein
brought me to Liverpool.
1185
00:57:39,950 --> 00:57:42,950
And when I walked in, he said,
"Richard, I got four guys."
1186
00:57:43,130 --> 00:57:45,960
"Would you mind taking a picture
with my group?"
1187
00:57:46,130 --> 00:57:47,130
[camera shutter clicks]
1188
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:51,270
Little Richard:
And they was nervous.
1189
00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:54,490
He said they never met
no one famous before.
1190
00:57:57,190 --> 00:57:59,190
McCartney: Last day of school,
we used to bring our guitars,
1191
00:57:59,360 --> 00:58:01,580
and I used to stand on a desk
and do Little Richard.
1192
00:58:02,800 --> 00:58:04,110
Lennon: It's hard
for people to imagine
1193
00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:06,020
how thrilled
the four of us were.
1194
00:58:06,630 --> 00:58:09,460
We were just almost paralyzed
with adoration.
1195
00:58:10,290 --> 00:58:11,630
They had never made a record.
1196
00:58:11,810 --> 00:58:13,290
Didn't nobody know them
but their mothers.
1197
00:58:14,290 --> 00:58:17,470
I took them with me to Hamburg,
Germany, to the Star Club.
1198
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:20,080
Newman: That place was magical.
1199
00:58:20,300 --> 00:58:22,340
Wildness, debauchery,
if you wanted it.
1200
00:58:23,300 --> 00:58:25,780
Richard just absolutely
makes out.
1201
00:58:25,950 --> 00:58:27,480
Leather pants,
1202
00:58:27,650 --> 00:58:29,700
male stripper gear he had.
1203
00:58:30,830 --> 00:58:33,000
McCartney: Little Richard's
organist was Billy Preston.
1204
00:58:33,870 --> 00:58:35,440
One night, George said,
"Well, come on out here
1205
00:58:35,620 --> 00:58:37,010
and play
the organ with us, you know?"
1206
00:58:38,270 --> 00:58:40,180
I said no, 'cause Little Richard
would get mad, you know,
1207
00:58:40,360 --> 00:58:41,580
because he's the star.
1208
00:58:42,450 --> 00:58:43,800
McCartney: Hamburg,
that was the real time
1209
00:58:43,970 --> 00:58:45,230
we got to know Little Richard.
1210
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:47,540
We used to say,
"Is it true you threw
1211
00:58:47,710 --> 00:58:49,630
all your rings off the bridge?"
1212
00:58:49,800 --> 00:58:51,850
[imitates Little Richard] "Well,
of course it's true, child."
1213
00:58:52,410 --> 00:58:53,980
And we'd just sit there
for hours,
1214
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:56,460
like, kind of disciples
in the dressing room.
1215
00:58:57,110 --> 00:58:59,420
Newman: I'd see Paul
on the side of the stage
1216
00:58:59,600 --> 00:59:01,470
more than the rest of the band.
1217
00:59:02,600 --> 00:59:05,170
All my screaming numbers
were to do with him.
1218
00:59:06,080 --> 00:59:08,170
Little Richard: Paul was the one
that wanted to do the hollers.
1219
00:59:08,820 --> 00:59:11,430
I said, "Whoo,"
he would say, "Ooh, ooh."
1220
00:59:11,610 --> 00:59:13,830
[higher octave]
"Whoo, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh."
1221
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:15,570
Then next thing you know...
[high pitched] "Whoo!"
1222
00:59:17,830 --> 00:59:20,400
[gentle music playing]
1223
00:59:20,570 --> 00:59:22,010
Jagger:
It was one of my first tours,
1224
00:59:22,710 --> 00:59:25,580
and we were opening
for Little Richard.
1225
00:59:26,320 --> 00:59:27,670
We were basically a cover band.
1226
00:59:27,840 --> 00:59:29,060
You know,
we hadn't written much.
1227
00:59:29,230 --> 00:59:31,580
I would be by
the side of the stage,
1228
00:59:31,760 --> 00:59:33,060
like, every night to watch him.
1229
00:59:35,370 --> 00:59:37,890
English bands,
they were very static.
1230
00:59:39,940 --> 00:59:41,330
Watching Richard, see,
1231
00:59:41,510 --> 00:59:42,860
you don't have to stand there.
1232
00:59:43,030 --> 00:59:44,380
You use the whole stage.
1233
00:59:45,990 --> 00:59:47,900
Richard would work
that audience,
1234
00:59:48,080 --> 00:59:50,300
get them up
out of their seats,
1235
00:59:50,470 --> 00:59:52,740
swaying, shouting,
waving their arms.
1236
00:59:52,910 --> 00:59:54,820
- Well, all right!
- Audience: All right.
1237
00:59:55,000 --> 00:59:56,520
Jagger:
Calling and responding stuff.
1238
00:59:56,700 --> 00:59:57,960
Audience: All right!
1239
00:59:58,740 --> 01:00:01,350
Thirty dates, so I saw
Little Richard 30 times,
1240
01:00:01,530 --> 01:00:02,620
you know what I mean?
1241
01:00:04,490 --> 01:00:07,970
Later on, I realized
he was, like, doing church
1242
01:00:08,140 --> 01:00:10,320
in a theater in
northern England, basically.
1243
01:00:10,490 --> 01:00:11,670
[chuckles]
1244
01:00:15,450 --> 01:00:16,980
Crowd: [cheering, whistling]
1245
01:00:17,150 --> 01:00:18,670
We'd like to finish up
with Little Richard's
1246
01:00:18,850 --> 01:00:20,150
"Long Tall Sally."
1247
01:00:20,330 --> 01:00:22,330
Crowd: [cheering, applauding]
1248
01:00:22,500 --> 01:00:24,460
♪ Gonna tell Aunt Mary ♪
1249
01:00:24,720 --> 01:00:26,330
♪ 'Bout Uncle John ♪
1250
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:28,380
♪ He claim he has the misery,
but he's havin' a lot of fun ♪
1251
01:00:28,550 --> 01:00:31,910
♪ Oh, baby, yeah, my baby ♪
1252
01:00:32,170 --> 01:00:34,120
♪ Whoo ♪
1253
01:00:34,300 --> 01:00:35,780
♪ Baby ♪
1254
01:00:35,950 --> 01:00:38,650
♪ Some fun tonight, yeah ♪
1255
01:00:39,650 --> 01:00:42,350
Crowd: [cheering, applauding]
1256
01:00:42,520 --> 01:00:44,310
[upbeat music playing]
1257
01:00:44,870 --> 01:00:46,220
King:
Suddenly you had Black artists
1258
01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:48,010
who were displaced
from the charts.
1259
01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:51,580
The innovations that they
have brought have been stylized
1260
01:00:51,750 --> 01:00:54,060
and adopted by others who...
1261
01:00:54,230 --> 01:00:56,150
♪ Well, long, tall Sally ♪
1262
01:00:56,320 --> 01:00:58,930
♪ She's built for speed,
she got everything ♪
1263
01:00:59,540 --> 01:01:01,800
King: ...generate way more
success than they are able to.
1264
01:01:01,980 --> 01:01:02,890
♪ Yeah ♪
1265
01:01:04,980 --> 01:01:07,510
King: In America,
Little Richard is
1266
01:01:07,680 --> 01:01:11,510
nowhere near
where he was in the mid-1950s.
1267
01:01:11,680 --> 01:01:13,900
Hadley: This happens to a lot
of Black artists,
1268
01:01:14,080 --> 01:01:17,080
going back to teenagers
as fickle consumers.
1269
01:01:18,210 --> 01:01:21,430
We want fresh deliverers
1270
01:01:22,520 --> 01:01:24,650
of the innovation.
1271
01:01:28,140 --> 01:01:29,400
Hey, Richard. Welcome.
1272
01:01:29,570 --> 01:01:30,880
Audience: [cheering, applauding]
1273
01:01:33,140 --> 01:01:36,490
- [conversing indistinctly]
- [applause continues]
1274
01:01:37,620 --> 01:01:40,280
You and Chuck have kind of
taken England by storm.
1275
01:01:40,450 --> 01:01:42,980
How do you feel about other
people borrowing your material?
1276
01:01:43,590 --> 01:01:45,670
Well, Dick, I must be truthful.
1277
01:01:45,850 --> 01:01:47,200
I am very grateful to know
1278
01:01:47,370 --> 01:01:50,370
that my material
is the type of material
1279
01:01:50,550 --> 01:01:52,900
that the entertainers today
would like to use.
1280
01:01:54,070 --> 01:01:56,080
Vera: He had
a good body of work.
1281
01:01:56,250 --> 01:01:59,430
He had graduated to the level
of show business where
1282
01:02:00,470 --> 01:02:02,000
you don't need a hit record
1283
01:02:03,040 --> 01:02:04,520
to continue to work.
1284
01:02:04,780 --> 01:02:06,870
Little Richard: Want everybody
to sing back with me...
1285
01:02:07,040 --> 01:02:09,180
♪ Wop bop a loo bop
a lop bom bom ♪
1286
01:02:09,350 --> 01:02:11,350
Crowd: [cheering, applauding]
1287
01:02:11,530 --> 01:02:13,570
King: He and Ernestine
are divorced,
1288
01:02:13,750 --> 01:02:15,660
and he was back
to his old lifestyle.
1289
01:02:16,230 --> 01:02:17,620
He called up Bumps and says,
1290
01:02:17,880 --> 01:02:19,400
"I want to change my image."
1291
01:02:19,580 --> 01:02:21,840
"I want to come out
loud and gaudy
1292
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:23,670
as the living flame."
1293
01:02:25,150 --> 01:02:27,890
Winslow: We had a steamer trunk
full of these outfits.
1294
01:02:29,370 --> 01:02:32,420
Tassels and flamboyant,
pretty material.
1295
01:02:32,590 --> 01:02:33,980
Crowd: [cheering]
1296
01:02:34,160 --> 01:02:35,550
Winslow: And we played
with everybody.
1297
01:02:36,200 --> 01:02:38,640
Crowd: [cheering]
1298
01:02:39,680 --> 01:02:42,730
But no matter where we went,
Richard stole the show.
1299
01:02:44,040 --> 01:02:46,340
One time in Atlantic City,
1300
01:02:46,690 --> 01:02:49,830
Janis Joplin
was killing the audience.
1301
01:02:50,000 --> 01:02:53,660
She had gotten about
seven standing ovations,
1302
01:02:53,830 --> 01:02:56,090
and she literally passed out.
1303
01:02:56,270 --> 01:02:58,660
And I'm standing there saying,
"Man, Richard's in trouble."
1304
01:02:58,830 --> 01:03:01,010
Richard told me,
"Get back in the limousine."
1305
01:03:01,180 --> 01:03:04,320
"Go back to the hotel
and bring me my mirror suit."
1306
01:03:05,280 --> 01:03:06,620
They cut off all the lights,
1307
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:08,930
they put the spotlight on him,
1308
01:03:09,110 --> 01:03:11,800
and he spun around
like a glass ball.
1309
01:03:12,240 --> 01:03:14,420
And those lights went
everywhere.
1310
01:03:14,590 --> 01:03:16,940
[cheering]
1311
01:03:17,510 --> 01:03:20,550
[psychedelic music plays]
1312
01:03:24,340 --> 01:03:26,950
Winslow: And Janis Joplin,
I can still see her face.
1313
01:03:27,170 --> 01:03:28,950
And she said, "Oh, my God."
1314
01:03:29,870 --> 01:03:31,430
Richard told all of them.
1315
01:03:32,520 --> 01:03:33,650
Little Richard:
Let it all hang out...
1316
01:03:33,830 --> 01:03:35,000
Crowd: [cheering]
1317
01:03:35,180 --> 01:03:36,740
with
the beautiful Little Richard
1318
01:03:36,920 --> 01:03:38,830
from down in Macon, Georgia.
1319
01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:41,270
I want you all to know
1320
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:44,310
that I am
the king of rock 'n' roll.
1321
01:03:44,490 --> 01:03:45,530
[electric guitar playing]
1322
01:03:45,790 --> 01:03:47,360
♪ Lucille ♪
1323
01:03:48,060 --> 01:03:49,840
♪ Baby, satisfy my heart ♪
1324
01:03:51,970 --> 01:03:54,280
♪ Lucille ♪
1325
01:03:54,630 --> 01:03:57,150
♪ Baby, satisfy my heart ♪
1326
01:03:58,500 --> 01:04:00,810
♪ I played for it, baby ♪
1327
01:04:00,980 --> 01:04:02,990
♪ And gave you such
a wonderful start ♪
1328
01:04:03,160 --> 01:04:04,770
♪ Aaah! ♪
1329
01:04:06,340 --> 01:04:08,560
Jagger: Little Richard was
the first thing I remember,
1330
01:04:09,470 --> 01:04:10,860
as far as rock 'n' roll
was concerned.
1331
01:04:20,310 --> 01:04:21,700
[vocalizing]
1332
01:04:24,880 --> 01:04:27,660
Winslow: One time,
Elvis came backstage,
1333
01:04:27,840 --> 01:04:29,580
and Elvis said "Little Richard,
1334
01:04:29,750 --> 01:04:31,060
don't you ever worry
about anything."
1335
01:04:32,620 --> 01:04:35,060
♪ Please don't
leave it alone, yeah ♪
1336
01:04:35,760 --> 01:04:37,850
Winslow: "You will always be
1337
01:04:38,020 --> 01:04:39,980
the true king of
rock 'n' roll."
1338
01:04:40,720 --> 01:04:42,940
Crowd: [cheering]
1339
01:04:49,340 --> 01:04:52,170
Why is it, Richard,
after 26 years in the business,
1340
01:04:52,340 --> 01:04:53,820
you're as big
if not bigger than ever?
1341
01:04:53,990 --> 01:04:55,470
What's the secret to success?
1342
01:04:55,650 --> 01:04:58,870
I think it's because
I've been really doing it.
1343
01:04:59,690 --> 01:05:01,960
You know, the Bible says
you shall know the truth,
1344
01:05:02,130 --> 01:05:03,220
and the truth
shall make you free.
1345
01:05:03,390 --> 01:05:04,390
I've been free.
1346
01:05:04,570 --> 01:05:07,350
[applause]
1347
01:05:07,530 --> 01:05:09,360
I get beautiful and beautiful
every day. [chuckles]
1348
01:05:09,530 --> 01:05:10,660
Audience: [laughs]
1349
01:05:10,840 --> 01:05:12,010
- Shut up.
- Audience: [laughs]
1350
01:05:12,190 --> 01:05:13,660
Look at the beauty.
How you doing?
1351
01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:15,620
- Shut up.
- Audience: [laughs]
1352
01:05:15,800 --> 01:05:18,060
Little Richard popularized
the phrase "Shut up."
1353
01:05:18,230 --> 01:05:20,720
The first time I said that,
I was in Las Vegas.
1354
01:05:20,890 --> 01:05:22,280
They didn't like the way I look.
1355
01:05:22,940 --> 01:05:24,760
You know, they said, "We don't
want this man on our stage."
1356
01:05:24,940 --> 01:05:26,720
I didn't have on no suit,
no tie.
1357
01:05:26,900 --> 01:05:28,720
And all this beauty
was just shining forth.
1358
01:05:28,900 --> 01:05:30,030
Audience: [laughs]
1359
01:05:30,200 --> 01:05:31,380
- Shut up.
- Audience: [laughs]
1360
01:05:31,550 --> 01:05:33,420
People accept it from me
for some reason.
1361
01:05:33,600 --> 01:05:35,340
You know,
I travel all over the world,
1362
01:05:35,510 --> 01:05:37,820
and I think they can look at me
and see that I'm a love child.
1363
01:05:37,990 --> 01:05:39,730
Audience: [laughs quietly]
1364
01:05:39,910 --> 01:05:41,340
Host: You went into
the ministry, didn't...
1365
01:05:41,520 --> 01:05:42,520
[laughing]
1366
01:05:43,430 --> 01:05:45,700
Nyong'o: I don't think
you could imagine
1367
01:05:45,870 --> 01:05:47,660
almost any other rock star
1368
01:05:47,830 --> 01:05:49,350
being able to get away with
"Shut up."
1369
01:05:50,660 --> 01:05:52,400
King: Anybody looking
at Little Richard
1370
01:05:52,700 --> 01:05:54,580
in the throes of his career
1371
01:05:54,750 --> 01:05:57,490
could tell you that this man
was definitely not straight.
1372
01:05:58,450 --> 01:06:01,020
He was certainly queer
in all of the senses
1373
01:06:01,190 --> 01:06:02,540
of what that term means.
1374
01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:06,150
But he rarely spoke
about it openly.
1375
01:06:07,460 --> 01:06:10,110
And that was where
the complication came.
1376
01:06:10,680 --> 01:06:12,030
Winslow:
I'll be honest with you,
1377
01:06:12,200 --> 01:06:13,900
there were times I went
and slept in the bathtub
1378
01:06:14,070 --> 01:06:16,420
'cause the rest of the suite
was full of naked people.
1379
01:06:17,340 --> 01:06:18,640
He'd be sitting there
with the Bible
1380
01:06:18,820 --> 01:06:20,120
right there beside him.
1381
01:06:20,300 --> 01:06:21,780
And every now and then,
he'd quote us.
1382
01:06:23,080 --> 01:06:25,040
We had prayer every day.
1383
01:06:25,740 --> 01:06:27,170
Jagger: If you have that
drummed into you
1384
01:06:27,350 --> 01:06:28,480
since you were a child,
1385
01:06:29,090 --> 01:06:31,260
secular music,
that's the devil's music,
1386
01:06:31,740 --> 01:06:34,570
it can't be much fun
for the people involved in it
1387
01:06:34,750 --> 01:06:37,710
like Richard,
like Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
1388
01:06:38,920 --> 01:06:41,190
Winslow: Everybody
was into the excess.
1389
01:06:41,360 --> 01:06:43,150
[cheering]
1390
01:06:43,320 --> 01:06:45,410
Little Richard: It got so hectic
during concerts
1391
01:06:45,580 --> 01:06:48,190
and television
and every other thing.
1392
01:06:48,370 --> 01:06:51,200
[cheering, applauding]
1393
01:06:51,370 --> 01:06:52,850
Little Richard: One day,
I was getting ready
1394
01:06:53,030 --> 01:06:54,850
to go on the stage,
and I was so tired.
1395
01:06:57,420 --> 01:07:00,380
And a friend of mine
introduced me to cocaine.
1396
01:07:00,550 --> 01:07:01,900
[suspenseful music playing]
1397
01:07:02,160 --> 01:07:05,080
'73 and '74, they were coming
to my room
1398
01:07:05,250 --> 01:07:07,950
asking for money
that I couldn't account for.
1399
01:07:08,210 --> 01:07:09,740
[indistinct shouting]
1400
01:07:09,910 --> 01:07:11,170
Blackwell: And I knew
where it was going.
1401
01:07:12,170 --> 01:07:14,180
I didn't stick around much
after that.
1402
01:07:16,610 --> 01:07:18,350
Little Richard: I was just
doing everything.
1403
01:07:19,090 --> 01:07:21,400
PCP, cocaine, heroin.
1404
01:07:23,100 --> 01:07:25,360
He just wasn't the person
I knew anymore.
1405
01:07:28,320 --> 01:07:30,060
[music fades]
1406
01:07:30,240 --> 01:07:32,280
Little Richard: One night I was
appearing at Magic Mountains,
1407
01:07:32,460 --> 01:07:34,630
and a friend of mine
called to come to see me.
1408
01:07:34,810 --> 01:07:37,680
He was 21 years old.
He never did arrive.
1409
01:07:37,850 --> 01:07:40,720
He had gotten shot.
Later on that night, he died.
1410
01:07:41,680 --> 01:07:43,510
I had another friend of mine
that I went to his house
1411
01:07:43,680 --> 01:07:45,770
to get some cocaine.
He fell dead.
1412
01:07:45,950 --> 01:07:47,730
Another friend of mine,
some fellows
1413
01:07:47,910 --> 01:07:49,650
put in a trunk and cut him up
with a butcher knife.
1414
01:07:51,000 --> 01:07:53,960
My brother Tony said, "Richard,
I want to borrow some money."
1415
01:07:54,130 --> 01:07:55,960
And I had an engagement
in Miami, Florida.
1416
01:07:56,130 --> 01:07:58,220
I said, "Tony, when I get back,
I'll let you have it."
1417
01:07:59,400 --> 01:08:00,920
When I got back,
1418
01:08:01,090 --> 01:08:03,010
instead of going with Tony,
I met a man.
1419
01:08:03,180 --> 01:08:04,570
We were at the hotel
to have a party.
1420
01:08:05,580 --> 01:08:07,490
The next morning, somebody
pushed a note up under my door
1421
01:08:07,660 --> 01:08:08,970
saying, "Your brother's dead."
1422
01:08:09,880 --> 01:08:11,760
[somber music playing]
1423
01:08:14,980 --> 01:08:16,590
Little Richard: I tell you,
you talk about rock bottom,
1424
01:08:16,760 --> 01:08:19,110
I've been below the rocks
where it was no bottom.
1425
01:08:21,720 --> 01:08:23,850
God is talking to me
through my brother's death
1426
01:08:24,030 --> 01:08:26,160
and all of my friends
that died right in a row.
1427
01:08:28,120 --> 01:08:29,510
Oh, God.
1428
01:08:29,690 --> 01:08:31,950
Lord, please help me.
Please save me.
1429
01:08:32,120 --> 01:08:33,910
[piano playing]
1430
01:08:34,170 --> 01:08:39,440
♪ Uh-huh, it's me ♪
1431
01:08:41,960 --> 01:08:45,180
♪ It's me, oh, Lord ♪
1432
01:08:45,440 --> 01:08:47,400
♪ I am standing... ♪
1433
01:08:47,570 --> 01:08:49,620
Little Richard: It started me
to thinking more seriously
1434
01:08:49,790 --> 01:08:51,450
about my life
than I've ever thought.
1435
01:08:51,620 --> 01:08:56,840
♪ Oh, I'm standing
in the need of prayer ♪
1436
01:08:58,150 --> 01:09:01,110
♪ Not my mother... ♪
1437
01:09:01,280 --> 01:09:04,030
Little Richard: I opened
my Bible to Mark 8:36-37,
1438
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:06,200
said, "For what shall
it profit a man,
1439
01:09:06,380 --> 01:09:08,640
if he should gain
the whole world,
1440
01:09:08,810 --> 01:09:10,070
and lose his own soul?"
1441
01:09:10,900 --> 01:09:13,340
♪ But it's me ♪
1442
01:09:13,510 --> 01:09:17,260
♪ Oh, oh, Lord, yeah ♪
1443
01:09:17,430 --> 01:09:24,050
♪ I am standing
in the need of prayer ♪
1444
01:09:25,090 --> 01:09:26,920
Little Richard: The only rock
I've got now is the rock,
1445
01:09:27,090 --> 01:09:28,440
Christ Jesus.
1446
01:09:29,570 --> 01:09:30,970
I just let it all go.
1447
01:09:37,100 --> 01:09:39,320
[applause]
1448
01:09:44,330 --> 01:09:49,380
♪ Oh, that beautiful city ♪
1449
01:09:50,680 --> 01:09:55,160
♪ Where Jesus is waiting ♪
1450
01:09:55,340 --> 01:09:57,470
I said, "Well, Lord,
can I sing rock 'n' roll
1451
01:09:57,640 --> 01:09:58,910
and do both of them?"
1452
01:09:59,470 --> 01:10:02,430
God says, "You've got to be
all for me, or let me go."
1453
01:10:02,610 --> 01:10:04,870
When Tony died,
it really affected Richard.
1454
01:10:05,650 --> 01:10:07,130
He didn't want to be
one of those
1455
01:10:07,310 --> 01:10:09,570
who would die and burn in hell.
1456
01:10:09,740 --> 01:10:12,090
That's the way we were taught.
1457
01:10:12,270 --> 01:10:13,880
Little Richard: I'm just so glad
that God was able
1458
01:10:14,050 --> 01:10:15,400
to clean me up
and wash me up.
1459
01:10:15,580 --> 01:10:16,970
And thank you, Lord.
1460
01:10:17,360 --> 01:10:19,750
I'm not gay now. But, you know,
I was gay all my life.
1461
01:10:19,930 --> 01:10:21,970
I believe I was one of the first
gay people to come out.
1462
01:10:22,150 --> 01:10:25,890
But God let me know that he made
Adam to be with Eve, not Steve.
1463
01:10:26,150 --> 01:10:28,370
[somber music playing]
1464
01:10:28,540 --> 01:10:30,890
Oh, God, how can you save me?
I'm homosexual.
1465
01:10:31,070 --> 01:10:32,980
Oh, God.
I'm not just a dope addict.
1466
01:10:33,160 --> 01:10:35,250
I'm unnatural. I like men.
1467
01:10:36,770 --> 01:10:39,340
Not only did he take me
from dope...
1468
01:10:39,510 --> 01:10:41,470
King:
Richard continued his tour,
1469
01:10:41,640 --> 01:10:43,560
and he's renouncing
his queerness
1470
01:10:43,730 --> 01:10:45,470
even more fervently
than before.
1471
01:10:45,650 --> 01:10:47,780
Little Richard: He changed me
from homosexuality.
1472
01:10:49,040 --> 01:10:51,000
There's harm to communities
1473
01:10:51,180 --> 01:10:55,220
to have somebody speaking
on a public stage in that way.
1474
01:10:55,400 --> 01:11:00,840
I feel he betrayed gay people
by saying he's not.
1475
01:11:01,010 --> 01:11:02,930
But I do understand.
1476
01:11:03,710 --> 01:11:06,060
You're not strong enough
to take it.
1477
01:11:06,970 --> 01:11:08,540
I understand that.
1478
01:11:08,800 --> 01:11:11,500
Especially a person
like Little Richard,
1479
01:11:11,670 --> 01:11:15,500
who had so much to hold.
1480
01:11:16,680 --> 01:11:18,990
♪ As I look around ♪
1481
01:11:19,680 --> 01:11:21,550
♪ I can see ♪
1482
01:11:22,510 --> 01:11:24,250
♪ So many people ♪
1483
01:11:24,430 --> 01:11:27,950
King: When I hear his passionate
singing at this time,
1484
01:11:28,130 --> 01:11:30,040
especially at the MDA telethon,
1485
01:11:31,130 --> 01:11:34,740
it's hard to tell how much
is running towards God
1486
01:11:34,920 --> 01:11:37,270
versus running away
from himself.
1487
01:11:37,440 --> 01:11:39,920
♪ But I realize ♪
1488
01:11:40,440 --> 01:11:43,050
♪ That I ♪
1489
01:11:43,230 --> 01:11:45,800
♪ Should be grateful ♪
1490
01:11:45,970 --> 01:11:47,880
♪ Oh, so grateful ♪
1491
01:11:48,670 --> 01:11:50,540
King: I think of
how Little Richard fared
1492
01:11:50,710 --> 01:11:51,980
as a young person.
1493
01:11:52,500 --> 01:11:55,370
As a kid who came
from a church family
1494
01:11:55,940 --> 01:12:00,070
who was Black and queer
and femme and disabled,
1495
01:12:00,240 --> 01:12:03,420
who'd been bullied
by not only other kids,
1496
01:12:03,600 --> 01:12:05,550
but also his father.
1497
01:12:06,290 --> 01:12:08,210
There's a lot of violence
that attends
1498
01:12:08,380 --> 01:12:10,860
trying to live a queer life.
1499
01:12:11,040 --> 01:12:13,040
Here's the one and only
Little Richard.
1500
01:12:13,210 --> 01:12:14,870
[cheering and applause]
1501
01:12:17,910 --> 01:12:21,310
Newman: I guess he held himself
responsible for
1502
01:12:21,480 --> 01:12:24,010
the type of guys
that he figured that he brought
1503
01:12:24,230 --> 01:12:26,010
to the world, and yet,
1504
01:12:27,270 --> 01:12:29,320
what he brought us was freedom.
1505
01:12:29,490 --> 01:12:30,840
You ain't supposed
to hide nothing.
1506
01:12:31,010 --> 01:12:33,450
You got it, God gave it,
show it to the world.
1507
01:12:33,630 --> 01:12:35,240
No, I don't want to hide.
I love...
1508
01:12:35,410 --> 01:12:38,890
He was very, very good
at liberating other people
1509
01:12:39,070 --> 01:12:40,240
through his example.
1510
01:12:40,940 --> 01:12:42,900
He was not good at
liberating himself.
1511
01:12:43,070 --> 01:12:45,160
♪ I thank God ♪
1512
01:12:45,330 --> 01:12:50,860
♪ For all...
For all that He gave ♪
1513
01:12:51,030 --> 01:12:53,470
♪ That my God gave to me ♪
1514
01:12:53,650 --> 01:12:55,780
♪ There is someone ♪
1515
01:12:56,390 --> 01:13:03,000
♪ Worse off than I am ♪
1516
01:13:04,480 --> 01:13:05,570
Thank you, Jesus.
1517
01:13:05,750 --> 01:13:08,310
Audience: [applauds]
1518
01:13:17,060 --> 01:13:20,500
This Holy Bible is something
that they can treasure
1519
01:13:20,670 --> 01:13:22,680
and keep
throughout the years.
1520
01:13:22,850 --> 01:13:24,110
This is a beautiful Bible
1521
01:13:24,290 --> 01:13:26,810
and a wonderful Bible,
and it is yours.
1522
01:13:26,980 --> 01:13:28,380
Interviewer: At that time,
you were selling Bibles.
1523
01:13:28,550 --> 01:13:31,510
That's right,
and making $150 a week.
1524
01:13:32,770 --> 01:13:34,560
Winslow: He was doing
big church events.
1525
01:13:34,730 --> 01:13:36,690
And he was doing gospel shows.
1526
01:13:36,860 --> 01:13:38,260
Little Richard: I'm through
with rock 'n' roll
1527
01:13:38,430 --> 01:13:40,000
as far as me being a performer.
1528
01:13:41,040 --> 01:13:42,910
But it wasn't paying him
very well.
1529
01:13:43,650 --> 01:13:46,180
Little Richard: I looked around
and didn't have any money.
1530
01:13:47,350 --> 01:13:49,660
The record companies
paid me nothing, you know.
1531
01:13:49,830 --> 01:13:51,830
- Nobody had paid me a dime.
- Host: All those hits?
1532
01:13:52,010 --> 01:13:53,140
Little Richard: All those hits.
1533
01:13:53,360 --> 01:13:55,010
[somber music playing]
1534
01:13:55,230 --> 01:13:56,580
Winslow: Richard went down there
on Hollywood Boulevard
1535
01:13:56,750 --> 01:13:58,010
and picketed.
1536
01:13:58,360 --> 01:13:59,670
Interviewer:
Famous Little Richard did that?
1537
01:13:59,840 --> 01:14:00,840
Little Richard:
Famous Little Richard
1538
01:14:01,020 --> 01:14:02,500
trying to get that famous money
1539
01:14:02,800 --> 01:14:04,850
that he made so many years ago
that he's never seen.
1540
01:14:05,020 --> 01:14:06,630
Richard really wanted
to make money,
1541
01:14:06,810 --> 01:14:08,760
so that he could help
take care of his mother
1542
01:14:08,940 --> 01:14:10,550
and his brothers and sisters.
1543
01:14:10,720 --> 01:14:12,250
What were you doing wrong?
1544
01:14:12,420 --> 01:14:14,600
I didn't do nothing wrong.
They were just crooks.
1545
01:14:14,770 --> 01:14:17,640
They thought I was a little
Black fool from Macon, Georgia.
1546
01:14:19,210 --> 01:14:22,080
Vera: You have to remember that
Richard left Specialty Records
1547
01:14:22,260 --> 01:14:25,000
eighteen months
into a three-year contract.
1548
01:14:26,130 --> 01:14:28,700
Art Rupe said,
"There's a price to be paid."
1549
01:14:29,130 --> 01:14:32,310
"You forego any and all
future royalties."
1550
01:14:33,010 --> 01:14:36,440
So Richard never received
a penny after a time
1551
01:14:36,620 --> 01:14:38,750
from either his songs
or his recordings.
1552
01:14:40,140 --> 01:14:42,100
It was egregiously unfair.
1553
01:14:44,800 --> 01:14:46,590
Little Richard: I saw
all my friends on the hill
1554
01:14:46,760 --> 01:14:48,020
and I was still in the valley.
1555
01:14:49,150 --> 01:14:50,550
And it bothered me.
1556
01:14:54,240 --> 01:14:57,200
Hervey: Thirty years
after Little Richard breaks,
1557
01:14:57,770 --> 01:14:59,900
Black entertainers
were still being marginalized.
1558
01:15:00,120 --> 01:15:01,950
[rock music playing]
1559
01:15:02,910 --> 01:15:04,730
Hervey: MTV in 1981,
1560
01:15:05,470 --> 01:15:07,080
twenty-four hours of music.
1561
01:15:07,260 --> 01:15:08,740
And there are no Blacks on it.
1562
01:15:10,390 --> 01:15:12,260
King:
He didn't even get a Grammy
1563
01:15:12,440 --> 01:15:14,920
for his actual recordings
or his performances.
1564
01:15:16,480 --> 01:15:17,880
Little Richard:
I'm an innovator.
1565
01:15:18,230 --> 01:15:19,620
I'm the creator.
I'm the king of rock 'n' roll.
1566
01:15:21,970 --> 01:15:23,750
When I came along,
Elvis wasn't even out.
1567
01:15:24,800 --> 01:15:27,190
Elvis has never written
a song in his life.
1568
01:15:28,540 --> 01:15:30,800
He was white. I was Black.
1569
01:15:33,110 --> 01:15:34,810
Winslow:
That struggle's hard because,
1570
01:15:34,980 --> 01:15:37,030
you know, a lot of times
he might have felt that
1571
01:15:37,200 --> 01:15:38,590
he had to prove himself.
1572
01:15:41,380 --> 01:15:44,210
There are many Black artists
that helped build the building.
1573
01:15:44,380 --> 01:15:46,300
I'm just the architect.
1574
01:15:46,470 --> 01:15:48,390
Michael was inspired by me,
Prince.
1575
01:15:48,560 --> 01:15:51,170
James Brown, I discovered him.
He was my vocalist.
1576
01:15:51,350 --> 01:15:52,870
Jimi Hendrix
was my guitar player.
1577
01:15:53,040 --> 01:15:55,520
The Beatles. I love you, Paul.
Hello, Linda.
1578
01:15:55,700 --> 01:15:58,180
And David Bowie says
that I was his inspiration.
1579
01:15:59,920 --> 01:16:02,230
Rodgers: David Bowie said to me,
1580
01:16:02,400 --> 01:16:05,360
"I want my new album
to sound like this."
1581
01:16:06,010 --> 01:16:07,800
And it was a picture
of Little Richard.
1582
01:16:08,060 --> 01:16:09,890
♪ Never gonna fall for ♪
1583
01:16:10,840 --> 01:16:12,890
Rodgers:
He idolized Little Richard.
1584
01:16:14,540 --> 01:16:16,500
I never worked with an artist
1585
01:16:16,680 --> 01:16:19,810
that sort of let another artist
1586
01:16:19,980 --> 01:16:22,070
define what we
were going to do.
1587
01:16:23,290 --> 01:16:26,900
As a Black man, I knew
that there was only one lane
1588
01:16:27,080 --> 01:16:31,210
I could really drive down
and get commercial success.
1589
01:16:31,390 --> 01:16:33,560
David could do anything
he wanted to do.
1590
01:16:33,740 --> 01:16:35,220
[gentle music playing]
1591
01:16:35,610 --> 01:16:40,220
Hervey: Richard's struggle to me
was always unrealistic.
1592
01:16:41,660 --> 01:16:44,700
Society was never
going to accept him.
1593
01:16:44,880 --> 01:16:47,660
He was gay. He was Black.
1594
01:16:48,320 --> 01:16:51,840
He either wouldn't accept it
or he was afraid to accept it,
1595
01:16:52,010 --> 01:16:54,190
or he thought
that he could overcome it.
1596
01:16:58,410 --> 01:17:01,630
He asked me to manage him
and I thought,
1597
01:17:01,810 --> 01:17:03,940
"God, you know, it'd be great
to be responsible
1598
01:17:04,110 --> 01:17:06,030
for reviving his career."
1599
01:17:06,290 --> 01:17:08,990
♪ Didn't it rain, children ♪
1600
01:17:09,160 --> 01:17:11,900
♪ Talkin' about rain
Oh, my Lord ♪
1601
01:17:12,080 --> 01:17:13,470
Hervey: He didn't do his hits.
1602
01:17:14,340 --> 01:17:15,950
He would do like
a rock 'n' roll version
1603
01:17:16,130 --> 01:17:18,210
of some of his gospel records.
1604
01:17:19,170 --> 01:17:20,740
"The Life and Times
of Little Richard."
1605
01:17:20,910 --> 01:17:22,610
"The Quasar of Rock."
1606
01:17:23,610 --> 01:17:24,870
Interviewer:
What does that mean?
1607
01:17:25,050 --> 01:17:27,180
The brightest star
in the universe.
1608
01:17:27,350 --> 01:17:29,790
I don't think it was
Richard's idea to do the book.
1609
01:17:29,970 --> 01:17:32,360
I think he was approached
to do the book.
1610
01:17:32,530 --> 01:17:33,970
Host: A thousand dollars
a day on coke.
1611
01:17:34,360 --> 01:17:36,190
My nose is big enough
to park diesel trucks.
1612
01:17:36,360 --> 01:17:38,230
...Diesel trucks.
...Diesel trucks in.
1613
01:17:38,410 --> 01:17:40,980
And God got me off of it.
And he healed my body.
1614
01:17:41,150 --> 01:17:44,150
And now I am a man of God
with a new book called
1615
01:17:44,330 --> 01:17:45,760
"The Life and Times
of Little Richard."
1616
01:17:45,940 --> 01:17:48,070
Audience: [laughs]
1617
01:17:48,240 --> 01:17:51,470
He didn't exactly tell
the truth all the time.
1618
01:17:51,990 --> 01:17:53,770
He states that I did things that
1619
01:17:54,600 --> 01:17:56,640
I didn't know I did
until I read that book.
1620
01:17:56,820 --> 01:17:59,170
Oh, a close-up. Close-up.
1621
01:17:59,340 --> 01:18:03,040
Once he started to feel a buzz,
it all came back.
1622
01:18:03,220 --> 01:18:04,480
When I first wrote
"Tutti Frutti,"
1623
01:18:04,650 --> 01:18:06,180
it was "Tutti frutti,
good booty."
1624
01:18:08,570 --> 01:18:10,610
Audience: [cheering]
1625
01:18:10,830 --> 01:18:13,010
People want it to be a thing,
you know?
1626
01:18:13,180 --> 01:18:14,580
I mean, this night,
1627
01:18:14,750 --> 01:18:16,840
"Oh, he's got a thing.
But wait a minute."
1628
01:18:17,010 --> 01:18:19,620
"This night,
he's got another thing."
1629
01:18:19,800 --> 01:18:21,230
"If it don't fit,
1630
01:18:22,240 --> 01:18:23,670
don't force it."
1631
01:18:24,450 --> 01:18:25,540
Did you understand that one?
1632
01:18:25,720 --> 01:18:27,240
Yeah. That's carpentry.
1633
01:18:27,410 --> 01:18:28,760
[laughs]
1634
01:18:28,940 --> 01:18:30,460
- Yeah.
- No.
1635
01:18:30,630 --> 01:18:32,420
Richard really
didn't have a thing.
1636
01:18:32,590 --> 01:18:35,290
Richard was who he wanted to be
when he wanted to be
1637
01:18:35,470 --> 01:18:38,560
how he wanted to be
on what day he wanted to be it.
1638
01:18:38,730 --> 01:18:42,780
Well, I haven't been, uh,
involved in sex in 14 years.
1639
01:18:43,650 --> 01:18:45,480
It's been 14 years now.
1640
01:18:45,650 --> 01:18:48,910
That's not my main thing
in life, period, anymore.
1641
01:18:49,090 --> 01:18:51,440
My main thing in life now
is to be a messenger.
1642
01:18:51,740 --> 01:18:53,050
Whether you're homosexual
1643
01:18:53,220 --> 01:18:55,570
or whatever walk of life
a person may be,
1644
01:18:55,750 --> 01:18:56,920
God loves them.
1645
01:18:57,530 --> 01:18:59,360
He existed in contradiction.
1646
01:18:59,530 --> 01:19:02,140
He could be openly gay
in some ways,
1647
01:19:02,320 --> 01:19:03,710
probably to his circles.
1648
01:19:04,360 --> 01:19:06,150
This happened for decades.
1649
01:19:06,890 --> 01:19:08,850
Nyong'o:
As a queer person myself,
1650
01:19:09,020 --> 01:19:11,370
I think that queerness
is often...
1651
01:19:11,940 --> 01:19:16,380
misunderstood as
an individual identity, right?
1652
01:19:16,550 --> 01:19:18,770
The truth of one person,
right?
1653
01:19:18,940 --> 01:19:23,690
As if we have a single truth
that we can never change.
1654
01:19:23,860 --> 01:19:25,040
He was flamboyant
1655
01:19:26,430 --> 01:19:27,560
at all times.
1656
01:19:27,740 --> 01:19:29,390
But it was all in Jesus' name.
1657
01:19:29,560 --> 01:19:31,170
Everything was in Jesus' name.
1658
01:19:31,780 --> 01:19:33,570
Everything.
1659
01:19:33,740 --> 01:19:36,000
♪ Great God Almighty,
been a long time coming ♪
1660
01:19:36,180 --> 01:19:37,960
Glenn: He's very, very generous.
1661
01:19:39,310 --> 01:19:40,970
Was really close to all of us
in the band.
1662
01:19:42,710 --> 01:19:44,140
He would say to the crowd,
1663
01:19:44,930 --> 01:19:47,150
"I'd like y'all to
meet my son."
1664
01:19:47,840 --> 01:19:49,930
And that's what I would always
call him, my second dad.
1665
01:19:50,110 --> 01:19:52,150
He'd break me off $100,
break Keith off $100,
1666
01:19:52,330 --> 01:19:54,500
just give everybody $100
or something, you know?
1667
01:19:54,680 --> 01:19:56,110
Just glad to see us.
1668
01:19:56,420 --> 01:19:58,640
He'd sent people to school
and college and stuff.
1669
01:19:58,850 --> 01:20:01,640
Angel: He paid rent,
including mine.
1670
01:20:02,250 --> 01:20:03,770
Never bragged about it.
1671
01:20:06,030 --> 01:20:08,300
Richard was the love of my life.
1672
01:20:09,780 --> 01:20:12,560
And I believe
I was the love of his.
1673
01:20:12,740 --> 01:20:15,000
He calls us.
He calls our moms.
1674
01:20:15,170 --> 01:20:18,960
I've never met someone
that was so real.
1675
01:20:20,400 --> 01:20:22,050
Nyong'o: Queer communities
know this well,
1676
01:20:22,220 --> 01:20:25,230
this idea of creating
your own family.
1677
01:20:26,190 --> 01:20:28,670
Glenn: We all really loved him
and cared about
1678
01:20:29,710 --> 01:20:31,100
him being great.
1679
01:20:31,490 --> 01:20:33,580
- [indistinct chatter]
- [camera shutters clicking]
1680
01:20:35,320 --> 01:20:37,110
Reporter 1: Ten performers
who helped give birth
1681
01:20:37,280 --> 01:20:39,370
to rock 'n' roll
now have a permanent home.
1682
01:20:39,550 --> 01:20:40,590
Reporter 2:
It is the newly formed
1683
01:20:40,760 --> 01:20:42,330
Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
1684
01:20:42,510 --> 01:20:45,550
Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry,
the Everly Brothers,
1685
01:20:45,730 --> 01:20:49,690
Ray Charles, Little Richard,
James Brown, Fats Domino.
1686
01:20:51,040 --> 01:20:54,520
Nyong'o: There was a ceremony,
but Richard wasn't there.
1687
01:20:54,690 --> 01:20:58,350
[siren wailing]
1688
01:20:59,220 --> 01:21:03,400
Hervey: He had gotten in
a car accident in Hollywood.
1689
01:21:04,610 --> 01:21:06,310
Little Richard:
I was in my sports car.
1690
01:21:06,880 --> 01:21:08,180
I was really tired.
1691
01:21:10,010 --> 01:21:11,530
And I just blacked out.
1692
01:21:12,100 --> 01:21:14,100
Oh, oh! Oh, my God!
1693
01:21:14,890 --> 01:21:17,540
Reporter: It's believed that
he fell asleep at the wheel.
1694
01:21:19,930 --> 01:21:24,200
Hervey: They found a bag
with about $30,000 in it.
1695
01:21:25,550 --> 01:21:27,720
He had flown to London
1696
01:21:28,460 --> 01:21:30,680
and gotten a record offer.
1697
01:21:31,820 --> 01:21:33,250
[siren wailing]
1698
01:21:33,910 --> 01:21:35,950
Hervey: He didn't have a lawyer.
He did all this on his own.
1699
01:21:36,120 --> 01:21:38,430
[suspenseful music playing]
1700
01:21:41,520 --> 01:21:43,520
Man: He is very lucky
to have survived.
1701
01:21:44,960 --> 01:21:46,350
Nyong'o: I mean,
for Richard to have missed
1702
01:21:46,530 --> 01:21:48,140
the Hall of Fame ceremony,
1703
01:21:48,700 --> 01:21:52,050
it's the first and only time
he's been widely recognized.
1704
01:21:52,230 --> 01:21:53,530
That must have been
heartbreaking.
1705
01:21:54,800 --> 01:21:56,190
Interviewer: What's the most
important thing
1706
01:21:56,360 --> 01:21:57,800
in your life today?
1707
01:21:59,840 --> 01:22:00,930
Love.
1708
01:22:02,190 --> 01:22:04,240
That's what I want
so much to have.
1709
01:22:05,200 --> 01:22:09,770
I... I don't have it exactly...
exactly the way that I want to.
1710
01:22:09,940 --> 01:22:11,420
I don't have nobody but me,
1711
01:22:11,590 --> 01:22:14,160
and the great God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
1712
01:22:23,690 --> 01:22:25,390
[music fades]
1713
01:22:25,570 --> 01:22:28,660
Hadley: That first
induction class in 1986
1714
01:22:28,830 --> 01:22:30,570
of the Rock 'n' Roll
Hall of Fame
1715
01:22:30,740 --> 01:22:32,960
had this double-edged sword
1716
01:22:33,140 --> 01:22:34,970
to where it is recognition,
1717
01:22:35,140 --> 01:22:37,060
but in a weird way,
1718
01:22:37,230 --> 01:22:41,190
it can also be dismissal
as a relic of the past.
1719
01:22:41,840 --> 01:22:45,150
Yes, you created it,
you invented it,
1720
01:22:45,320 --> 01:22:47,070
you set the template for it.
1721
01:22:47,240 --> 01:22:50,240
But, you know, the people
who really made it what it is
1722
01:22:50,420 --> 01:22:53,200
are these younger bands
or these white artists.
1723
01:22:53,380 --> 01:22:55,200
Audience: [cheering, applauding]
1724
01:22:56,380 --> 01:22:57,550
What? [chuckles]
1725
01:22:57,730 --> 01:22:59,380
I used to wear
my hair like that.
1726
01:22:59,560 --> 01:23:01,120
Audience: [laughing]
1727
01:23:01,300 --> 01:23:03,340
They take everything I get,
they take it from me.
1728
01:23:03,520 --> 01:23:04,780
Whoo.
1729
01:23:04,950 --> 01:23:07,130
Hadley:
Because of his flamboyance,
1730
01:23:07,350 --> 01:23:11,920
people made the mistake
of not taking him seriously
1731
01:23:12,090 --> 01:23:16,830
always, as a musician,
as a human, as a performer.
1732
01:23:17,010 --> 01:23:19,050
And the best new artist is...
1733
01:23:21,530 --> 01:23:22,840
Audience: [laughing]
1734
01:23:23,010 --> 01:23:24,150
Me.
1735
01:23:24,320 --> 01:23:26,670
Audience: [laughing]
1736
01:23:26,840 --> 01:23:28,370
I have never received nothing.
1737
01:23:28,540 --> 01:23:30,330
Y'all ain't never
gave me no Grammy.
1738
01:23:30,850 --> 01:23:32,680
King: It's endearing.
It's funny.
1739
01:23:33,330 --> 01:23:35,770
But as a Black man
watching that,
1740
01:23:35,940 --> 01:23:39,680
I heard seething anger that
underwrites what he's saying.
1741
01:23:39,860 --> 01:23:41,250
Shut up.
1742
01:23:41,420 --> 01:23:43,120
"You have never given me
what is due to me."
1743
01:23:43,300 --> 01:23:45,600
"And since you don't know,
I'm going to tell you."
1744
01:23:46,820 --> 01:23:48,870
♪ I can't turn you loose ♪
1745
01:23:49,040 --> 01:23:51,610
♪ If I do
I'm going to lose my mind ♪
1746
01:23:52,520 --> 01:23:54,960
♪ I can't ever turn you loose ♪
1747
01:23:55,130 --> 01:23:58,310
♪ If I do
I'm gonna lose my mind ♪
1748
01:23:58,480 --> 01:24:01,010
King: He was just going to do
the induction speech
1749
01:24:01,180 --> 01:24:03,450
for Otis Redding,
who's passed away,
1750
01:24:03,620 --> 01:24:05,230
but he comes on stage,
1751
01:24:05,400 --> 01:24:07,230
and they're playing
"I Can't Turn You Loose"
1752
01:24:07,410 --> 01:24:09,020
by Otis.
1753
01:24:09,280 --> 01:24:11,540
♪ I'm gonna give you
everything you want ♪
1754
01:24:11,710 --> 01:24:13,330
♪ Gotta, gotta ♪
1755
01:24:13,500 --> 01:24:15,810
King: And he wants you to know
that he knows
1756
01:24:15,980 --> 01:24:17,720
that he's the root
of all of this.
1757
01:24:17,890 --> 01:24:20,330
And nobody else
can sing this song like he can.
1758
01:24:20,510 --> 01:24:22,640
♪ Everybody got to know, yeah ♪
1759
01:24:24,030 --> 01:24:28,210
♪ Whoo, ooh, ow, ow, ow, ow! ♪
1760
01:24:28,380 --> 01:24:31,080
Audience: [cheers, applauds]
1761
01:24:32,820 --> 01:24:34,040
[whistling]
1762
01:24:36,910 --> 01:24:38,440
Oh, my God.
1763
01:24:38,870 --> 01:24:41,740
See, you all should record me.
I don't know why you're not.
1764
01:24:41,920 --> 01:24:43,360
Audience: [laughing]
1765
01:24:43,530 --> 01:24:44,700
I'm still here,
1766
01:24:45,710 --> 01:24:47,230
and I look decent.
1767
01:24:47,400 --> 01:24:51,060
Audience: [laughing, cheering]
1768
01:24:51,230 --> 01:24:52,630
Whoo-whee.
1769
01:24:52,800 --> 01:24:53,670
Shut up.
1770
01:24:54,280 --> 01:24:55,500
Make my picture.
1771
01:24:55,930 --> 01:24:57,020
Audience: [laughs]
1772
01:24:58,410 --> 01:25:01,240
[laughs] Oh, I feel so real.
[clears throat]
1773
01:25:02,370 --> 01:25:08,210
I feel so unnecessary. [laughs]
1774
01:25:08,820 --> 01:25:10,950
On one hand,
they might be laughing at him.
1775
01:25:11,380 --> 01:25:12,730
And I'll tell you,
and when I first heard
1776
01:25:12,910 --> 01:25:15,170
Otis sing "Lucille,"
I thought it was me.
1777
01:25:15,340 --> 01:25:17,040
- Audience: [laughing]
- [laughs]
1778
01:25:17,220 --> 01:25:18,560
King:
They also might be laughing
1779
01:25:18,740 --> 01:25:20,220
because they're uncomfortable.
1780
01:25:20,390 --> 01:25:23,180
- He's speaking truth to power.
- Whoo!
1781
01:25:23,350 --> 01:25:24,920
King: And he is basically
telling them
1782
01:25:25,090 --> 01:25:26,530
what nobody really
wants to say,
1783
01:25:26,700 --> 01:25:28,050
but everyone should say.
1784
01:25:28,230 --> 01:25:29,530
What would it do
1785
01:25:30,100 --> 01:25:32,620
to the American mythology
of rock music
1786
01:25:32,800 --> 01:25:35,800
to say that its pioneers
were Black, queer people?
1787
01:25:36,760 --> 01:25:39,630
One of the greatest singers
ever lived,
1788
01:25:39,800 --> 01:25:42,280
one of the greatest
composers ever lived.
1789
01:25:43,240 --> 01:25:45,550
- That's including me...
- Audience: [laughing]
1790
01:25:45,810 --> 01:25:47,330
...and everybody else,
1791
01:25:47,510 --> 01:25:48,940
Jimi Hendrix and all of them
that's been with me,
1792
01:25:49,120 --> 01:25:52,340
James Brown,
The Beatles, and Mick Jagger.
1793
01:25:52,510 --> 01:25:54,600
He don't ever mention it,
but he was with me, too.
1794
01:25:54,770 --> 01:25:56,560
You're waiting for your turn,
you know?
1795
01:25:56,730 --> 01:25:58,650
You're waiting for,
"What's he gonna say about me?"
1796
01:25:59,740 --> 01:26:01,170
Mick, you remember that.
1797
01:26:03,040 --> 01:26:04,910
He's here. He know.
He was sleeping on the floor.
1798
01:26:05,090 --> 01:26:06,740
They didn't have no bed for him.
1799
01:26:06,920 --> 01:26:09,090
- Audience: [laughing]
- I know he can't forget.
1800
01:26:09,270 --> 01:26:11,750
That carpet's hard,
wasn't it, Mick? [laughing]
1801
01:26:16,400 --> 01:26:18,230
Jagger: Everyone was
beholden to him
1802
01:26:18,410 --> 01:26:21,060
for influencing them to start
playing rock 'n' roll.
1803
01:26:24,370 --> 01:26:25,940
Whoo-whoo!
1804
01:26:26,760 --> 01:26:29,160
- Whoo-whoo!
- Crowd: [cheering]
1805
01:26:29,330 --> 01:26:31,940
♪ Send me some lovin' ♪
1806
01:26:36,210 --> 01:26:38,950
♪ Send it, I pray ♪
1807
01:26:39,120 --> 01:26:41,780
Hadley: By the '80s
and into the '90s,
1808
01:26:41,950 --> 01:26:44,780
everything that Little Richard
had put in motion
1809
01:26:44,950 --> 01:26:48,700
was now just the oxygen
of American popular music.
1810
01:26:49,440 --> 01:26:52,090
♪ When you're so far away ♪
1811
01:26:52,270 --> 01:26:55,790
Hadley: When I started checking
out in college, bands like...
1812
01:26:55,970 --> 01:26:57,580
♪ Should I stay or
should I go now? ♪
1813
01:26:57,790 --> 01:26:58,790
Hadley: ...Living Colour,
1814
01:27:01,060 --> 01:27:02,150
Bad Brains,
1815
01:27:03,670 --> 01:27:05,020
Fishbone,
1816
01:27:05,190 --> 01:27:06,800
I heard, like,
rock 'n' roll is Black.
1817
01:27:07,670 --> 01:27:10,630
That sounded heretical to me,
which is terrible.
1818
01:27:10,850 --> 01:27:15,120
I was just blown away
by how much I hadn't been told
1819
01:27:15,290 --> 01:27:17,160
about the truth of
rock 'n' roll.
1820
01:27:17,340 --> 01:27:20,560
♪ Whee!
Pretend you are here ♪
1821
01:27:21,470 --> 01:27:22,780
Robinson:
We're using the wrong word
1822
01:27:22,950 --> 01:27:25,170
when we talk about
appropriation.
1823
01:27:25,340 --> 01:27:28,000
Think about it as obliteration.
1824
01:27:28,910 --> 01:27:32,920
When you take and then erase,
1825
01:27:33,090 --> 01:27:36,140
you remove
that entity's capacity
1826
01:27:36,310 --> 01:27:39,360
to be attached to this thing
that they created,
1827
01:27:39,530 --> 01:27:42,880
to make money from this thing
that they created.
1828
01:27:43,060 --> 01:27:44,620
♪ Don't you know, baby ♪
1829
01:27:44,800 --> 01:27:46,230
♪ I need you so much ♪
1830
01:27:46,410 --> 01:27:49,320
The infrastructure
of the culture does that.
1831
01:27:49,500 --> 01:27:50,500
It still does it today.
1832
01:27:52,500 --> 01:27:53,980
Robinson: Little Richard
cannot be erased
1833
01:27:54,150 --> 01:27:56,460
and has a loud mouth
and has a fire.
1834
01:27:56,640 --> 01:27:59,730
So if you try to
take his shit... [chuckles]
1835
01:27:59,900 --> 01:28:01,770
...he is going to battle you,
1836
01:28:01,940 --> 01:28:05,690
not just from a
"This is my song" sort of way,
1837
01:28:05,860 --> 01:28:11,130
but "This is my sound,
my rhythm, my being."
1838
01:28:11,300 --> 01:28:13,870
♪ I waited on you, yeah ♪
1839
01:28:14,040 --> 01:28:15,780
♪ Hey ♪
1840
01:28:16,960 --> 01:28:19,530
Crowd: [cheering, applauding]
1841
01:28:33,540 --> 01:28:34,670
[cheering]
1842
01:28:35,200 --> 01:28:36,630
Each year in presenting
1843
01:28:36,810 --> 01:28:39,070
the prestigious
American Music Award of Merit,
1844
01:28:39,240 --> 01:28:42,030
we tell you about someone
who has had an important
1845
01:28:42,200 --> 01:28:45,290
and ongoing impact
on contemporary music.
1846
01:28:45,470 --> 01:28:46,820
Audience: [applauding]
1847
01:28:46,990 --> 01:28:48,730
Hi, this is Keith Richards.
1848
01:28:49,430 --> 01:28:51,210
We were a bar band.
1849
01:28:51,390 --> 01:28:54,390
And at first tour,
I probably learned more
1850
01:28:54,560 --> 01:28:58,870
in that six weeks than I ever
had before or since.
1851
01:28:59,050 --> 01:29:01,610
Congratulations, Little Richard.
Give me a call, man.
1852
01:29:03,010 --> 01:29:07,230
Richard, you Georgia Peach.
Congratulations.
1853
01:29:07,490 --> 01:29:10,970
Thank you for helping
create rock music,
1854
01:29:11,140 --> 01:29:13,760
the greatest art form
of the 20th century.
1855
01:29:14,710 --> 01:29:15,800
God bless you, Richard.
1856
01:29:15,980 --> 01:29:17,760
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up
1857
01:29:17,930 --> 01:29:20,890
for the incredible
Little Richard!
1858
01:29:21,070 --> 01:29:22,760
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1859
01:29:23,550 --> 01:29:25,770
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1860
01:29:25,940 --> 01:29:28,510
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1861
01:29:28,770 --> 01:29:30,990
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1862
01:29:31,160 --> 01:29:33,780
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1863
01:29:33,950 --> 01:29:36,210
♪ Wop bop a loo bop
a lop bom bom ♪
1864
01:29:36,390 --> 01:29:38,520
♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪
1865
01:29:39,740 --> 01:29:41,350
♪ She knows just what to do ♪
1866
01:29:41,520 --> 01:29:44,090
♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪
1867
01:29:44,260 --> 01:29:46,530
♪ She knows just what to do ♪
1868
01:29:47,140 --> 01:29:49,530
♪ She rocks to the east,
she rocks to the west ♪
1869
01:29:50,270 --> 01:29:52,050
♪ But she's the gal
that I love best ♪
1870
01:29:52,230 --> 01:29:54,190
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1871
01:29:54,360 --> 01:29:56,710
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
1872
01:29:57,020 --> 01:29:59,670
I'm really glad
to get this award.
1873
01:29:59,850 --> 01:30:02,060
It's been a long time coming,
1874
01:30:02,240 --> 01:30:04,720
- and I've been waiting.
- Audience: [cheering]
1875
01:30:04,890 --> 01:30:07,720
And I'm just so grateful
that Dick Clark,
1876
01:30:07,900 --> 01:30:10,070
which is an old friend of mine,
he and his wife,
1877
01:30:10,250 --> 01:30:12,210
have seen fit
to make this tribute to me
1878
01:30:12,380 --> 01:30:14,340
while I'm still alive
in this world.
1879
01:30:14,510 --> 01:30:17,380
And... And I'm just glad that...
1880
01:30:18,080 --> 01:30:19,560
I'm glad that he saw
1881
01:30:19,730 --> 01:30:22,560
and he wants you to see
that I am the originator.
1882
01:30:22,740 --> 01:30:25,220
- Audience: [cheering]
- I am the emancipator.
1883
01:30:26,000 --> 01:30:28,350
I am the architect
of rock 'n' roll.
1884
01:30:28,870 --> 01:30:30,700
Rhythm and blues had a baby...
1885
01:30:30,880 --> 01:30:32,830
[over device] ...and somebody
named it rock 'n' roll.
1886
01:30:33,010 --> 01:30:35,180
[laughs]
1887
01:30:35,360 --> 01:30:36,620
Yes.
1888
01:30:38,190 --> 01:30:40,710
Oh. That was that night
all over again. Wow.
1889
01:30:41,970 --> 01:30:43,540
Interviewer: Where did you go?
What happened?
1890
01:30:44,280 --> 01:30:45,590
Uh...
1891
01:30:46,150 --> 01:30:50,460
I remember sitting back in
the back watching him get that.
1892
01:30:50,640 --> 01:30:53,590
And... And when I saw him
start to cry,
1893
01:30:53,770 --> 01:30:56,680
it... just like right now,
it made me cry.
1894
01:30:56,860 --> 01:30:59,990
[sobs]
1895
01:31:03,340 --> 01:31:04,300
[sniffles]
1896
01:31:06,560 --> 01:31:08,170
[breathes deeply]
1897
01:31:10,260 --> 01:31:13,660
Because, you know, he had
mentioned on the ride over,
1898
01:31:13,830 --> 01:31:15,050
you know, how...
1899
01:31:15,960 --> 01:31:19,270
uh, how he'd always felt
like he didn't get what,
1900
01:31:19,450 --> 01:31:21,580
you know, he didn't get
what he deserved and...
1901
01:31:22,140 --> 01:31:24,670
how he created all this music.
[sobs]
1902
01:31:24,840 --> 01:31:28,590
And nobody... nobody gave him
anything for it, you know?
1903
01:31:28,760 --> 01:31:30,070
And, uh...
1904
01:31:32,680 --> 01:31:35,640
Oh, man. [sighs]
Sorry, y'all.
1905
01:31:36,510 --> 01:31:40,640
I think more of us
should declare what we are.
1906
01:31:41,860 --> 01:31:43,380
Especially for people of color,
1907
01:31:43,560 --> 01:31:46,470
especially for queer people,
right, in this culture.
1908
01:31:46,650 --> 01:31:48,080
Don't shrink.
1909
01:31:48,560 --> 01:31:51,000
In a sort of more religious,
conservative religious space,
1910
01:31:51,170 --> 01:31:52,650
you don't declare who you are.
1911
01:31:53,520 --> 01:31:55,570
You don't declare what you did.
You...
1912
01:31:57,220 --> 01:31:59,140
give the glory to God.
1913
01:32:00,360 --> 01:32:02,790
And when Little Richard
is talking about
1914
01:32:02,970 --> 01:32:04,190
being the innovator,
1915
01:32:04,710 --> 01:32:07,100
and when he's talking about
being the originator,
1916
01:32:07,280 --> 01:32:11,540
he's saying,
"I am the god of this."
1917
01:32:13,940 --> 01:32:18,550
And that's one of those spaces
where I know that he knows
1918
01:32:19,680 --> 01:32:23,290
that when he is fully himself,
he's closest to God.
1919
01:32:23,470 --> 01:32:25,080
[upbeat piano playing]
1920
01:32:25,600 --> 01:32:27,990
Crowd: [clapping rhythmically]
1921
01:32:36,220 --> 01:32:38,390
♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪
1922
01:32:39,440 --> 01:32:41,310
♪ Sure like to ball ♪
1923
01:32:41,790 --> 01:32:44,180
♪ Oooh, Miss Molly ♪
1924
01:32:45,230 --> 01:32:46,620
♪ Sure like to ball ♪
1925
01:32:48,450 --> 01:32:50,320
♪ When you're rockin'
and a-rollin' ♪
1926
01:32:51,190 --> 01:32:52,710
♪ I can't hear
your mama call ♪
1927
01:32:53,710 --> 01:32:56,110
♪ Oooh, Miss Molly ♪
1928
01:32:57,150 --> 01:32:58,980
♪ Sure like to ball ♪
1929
01:32:59,590 --> 01:33:01,850
♪ Oooh, Miss Molly ♪
1930
01:33:03,460 --> 01:33:04,600
♪ Sure like to ball ♪
1931
01:33:06,250 --> 01:33:08,860
♪ When you're rockin'
and a-rollin' ♪
1932
01:33:09,030 --> 01:33:10,510
♪ I can't hear your mama call ♪
1933
01:33:10,690 --> 01:33:12,430
Guitar! Whoo!
1934
01:33:15,520 --> 01:33:16,870
Whoohoo!
1935
01:33:17,040 --> 01:33:18,610
Clark:
The architect of rock 'n' roll.
1936
01:33:18,780 --> 01:33:20,830
The one, the only,
Little Richard.
1937
01:33:21,740 --> 01:33:23,140
Little Richard: I am
the beautiful Little Richard,
1938
01:33:23,310 --> 01:33:24,620
and don't you ever forget it.
1939
01:33:24,790 --> 01:33:29,140
Whoo!
1940
01:33:29,320 --> 01:33:31,400
- Whoo!
- [cheering and applause]
1941
01:33:31,580 --> 01:33:33,930
- You're Little Richard.
- ♪ Whoo-ooh! ♪
1942
01:33:34,450 --> 01:33:36,630
Hey,
it's Little Richard on ice.
1943
01:33:37,060 --> 01:33:38,500
Hi, Pee-wee!
1944
01:33:38,670 --> 01:33:39,980
Whoo!
1945
01:33:40,980 --> 01:33:42,760
Jones: Any true performer,
1946
01:33:42,940 --> 01:33:45,420
that thing
doesn't ever leave you.
1947
01:33:46,460 --> 01:33:49,990
And I think he tried to hold on
to it as long as he could.
1948
01:33:52,340 --> 01:33:55,470
Crawley: For me, architecture
isn't about always answering
1949
01:33:55,650 --> 01:33:57,430
what will be done,
1950
01:33:58,390 --> 01:34:00,220
but what could be done?
1951
01:34:02,520 --> 01:34:05,480
And queerness
is the openness
1952
01:34:05,660 --> 01:34:07,750
to the expansive imagination.
1953
01:34:09,270 --> 01:34:13,270
Life does not happen
in opposites.
1954
01:34:13,750 --> 01:34:16,880
It happens in shades,
in gradations,
1955
01:34:17,670 --> 01:34:18,840
in spectra.
1956
01:34:21,370 --> 01:34:24,810
Rock 'n' roll is not
a part of Jesus.
1957
01:34:25,500 --> 01:34:28,420
Anything that is not of God
is not from God.
1958
01:34:28,590 --> 01:34:31,990
And his last days were calling
everybody he knew and saying,
1959
01:34:32,160 --> 01:34:34,820
"Get right with God
because the end of the world
1960
01:34:34,990 --> 01:34:37,910
could be any moment,
and you need to be ready."
1961
01:34:39,650 --> 01:34:41,560
Crawley: He was reflecting
on his mortality.
1962
01:34:41,740 --> 01:34:43,220
He was reflecting on
1963
01:34:43,390 --> 01:34:44,780
is there a way that I could
1964
01:34:44,960 --> 01:34:47,480
live something
of a joyful afterlife?
1965
01:34:49,700 --> 01:34:52,570
The last months of his life,
1966
01:34:52,750 --> 01:34:56,400
it was important for him
to tell people
1967
01:34:56,580 --> 01:34:58,400
that God is love
1968
01:34:58,580 --> 01:35:01,320
and that he loved all mankind.
1969
01:35:03,760 --> 01:35:05,370
I don't see the end as
1970
01:35:05,980 --> 01:35:07,980
the only place
where the meaning resides.
1971
01:35:09,500 --> 01:35:13,510
Java: I would never have taken
a chance to go into the clubs
1972
01:35:13,680 --> 01:35:15,120
in a dress
1973
01:35:15,290 --> 01:35:17,900
if it wasn't for Little Richard.
1974
01:35:18,160 --> 01:35:20,120
He gave me peace
1975
01:35:20,300 --> 01:35:22,560
that I could go and do
1976
01:35:22,730 --> 01:35:25,080
and be who I wanted to be.
1977
01:35:26,210 --> 01:35:28,170
Interviewer: If you could leave
just one legacy to the world,
1978
01:35:28,350 --> 01:35:29,960
would it rather be your music
1979
01:35:30,130 --> 01:35:32,000
or your preaching
and your church work?
1980
01:35:32,830 --> 01:35:35,140
Little Richard:
I think all that goes together.
1981
01:35:35,960 --> 01:35:37,920
I don't go to church
and sing "Long Tall Sally"
1982
01:35:38,100 --> 01:35:39,530
or "Good Golly Miss Molly."
1983
01:35:40,490 --> 01:35:42,880
But all of it's music,
and I love it.
1984
01:35:46,800 --> 01:35:49,760
[orchestral music playing]
1985
01:36:04,690 --> 01:36:08,470
He paved the way
for everything that followed.
1986
01:36:13,910 --> 01:36:17,700
Nyong'o: He taught me that
you could claim things
1987
01:36:17,880 --> 01:36:20,790
even when you weren't
supposed to.
1988
01:36:20,970 --> 01:36:22,790
I am the king of rock 'n' roll.
1989
01:36:22,970 --> 01:36:25,620
Ow-ow-ow! My, my, my.
1990
01:36:26,800 --> 01:36:30,320
Anthony: Little Richard gave
the world permission to be.
1991
01:36:30,500 --> 01:36:33,720
To be who you wanted to be,
who you were.
1992
01:36:41,420 --> 01:36:42,860
Porter:
The reason why I'm finally,
1993
01:36:43,030 --> 01:36:45,900
finally able,
as a Black queer man,
1994
01:36:46,080 --> 01:36:48,470
to show up
and do anything I want
1995
01:36:48,640 --> 01:36:49,990
is because of him.
1996
01:36:56,700 --> 01:36:58,570
Crawley: It's almost
as if everyone
1997
01:36:58,740 --> 01:36:59,660
is defined by Little Richard.
1998
01:37:01,880 --> 01:37:03,360
I don't want anything from them.
1999
01:37:03,530 --> 01:37:06,310
All I want them to do is
to spread what they got from me.
2000
01:37:06,490 --> 01:37:08,750
Just carry the good word
over the world, that's all.
2001
01:37:14,850 --> 01:37:16,460
[music fades]
2002
01:37:17,460 --> 01:37:19,890
♪ Wop bop a loo bop
a lop bom bom ♪
2003
01:37:20,070 --> 01:37:21,850
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2004
01:37:22,030 --> 01:37:24,160
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2005
01:37:24,330 --> 01:37:26,860
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2006
01:37:27,030 --> 01:37:29,120
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2007
01:37:29,290 --> 01:37:31,950
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2008
01:37:32,120 --> 01:37:34,130
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop ba boom ♪
2009
01:37:34,300 --> 01:37:36,780
♪ I got a girl named Sue ♪
2010
01:37:36,950 --> 01:37:39,090
♪ She knows just what to do ♪
2011
01:37:39,260 --> 01:37:41,740
♪ I got a girl named Sue ♪
2012
01:37:41,920 --> 01:37:44,180
♪ She knows just what to do ♪
2013
01:37:44,350 --> 01:37:46,920
♪ She rocks to the east,
rocks to the west ♪
2014
01:37:47,090 --> 01:37:49,050
♪ She's the girl
that I love best ♪
2015
01:37:49,230 --> 01:37:51,360
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2016
01:37:51,530 --> 01:37:53,970
♪ Tutti frutti,
oh rootie, ooh ♪
2017
01:37:54,150 --> 01:37:56,320
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2018
01:37:56,500 --> 01:37:58,930
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2019
01:37:59,110 --> 01:38:01,590
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2020
01:38:01,760 --> 01:38:04,020
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a lop bom bom ♪
2021
01:38:04,200 --> 01:38:06,200
♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪
2022
01:38:06,370 --> 01:38:08,590
♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪
2023
01:38:08,770 --> 01:38:11,250
♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪
2024
01:38:11,420 --> 01:38:13,820
♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪
2025
01:38:13,990 --> 01:38:16,340
♪ She knows how to love me
Yes, indeed ♪
2026
01:38:16,520 --> 01:38:18,780
♪ Boy, you don't know
what she do to me ♪
2027
01:38:18,950 --> 01:38:21,040
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2028
01:38:21,220 --> 01:38:23,700
♪ Tutti frutti,
oh rootie, ooh ♪
2029
01:38:23,870 --> 01:38:25,830
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2030
01:38:26,000 --> 01:38:28,310
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2031
01:38:28,480 --> 01:38:31,050
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2032
01:38:31,230 --> 01:38:34,270
♪ Wop bop a loo bop
a bop bop, ow! ♪
2033
01:38:37,540 --> 01:38:39,280
♪ Ah-ah-ah ♪
2034
01:38:42,500 --> 01:38:43,890
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
2035
01:38:47,550 --> 01:38:50,420
♪ Oh, tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2036
01:38:50,590 --> 01:38:53,030
♪ Tutti frutti,
oh rootie, ooh ♪
2037
01:38:53,200 --> 01:38:55,250
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2038
01:38:55,420 --> 01:38:57,860
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2039
01:38:58,040 --> 01:39:00,520
♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪
2040
01:39:00,690 --> 01:39:03,650
♪ A wop bop a loo bop
a bop bang boom ♪
2041
01:39:04,610 --> 01:39:06,910
[soft music playing]
2042
01:40:33,300 --> 01:40:35,350
[music concludes]
154514
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