Even if I was not a fan of Little Richard, I decided to watch the movie. It happened that I saw the poster the other day on the street when we were walking and made a mental note to go to the cinema to see it. Yesterday was, to put it mildly, strange. To make up for a sleepless night I slept for two hours after lunch, had a cup of coffee and in those moments I remembered about the movie projection. Should I go?
Why not? I knew almost nothing about Little Richard (I just vaguely had an image of a man playing the piano while standing) and having a documentary about his life can be an interesting way to learn about his legacy.
I don't regret it. I went alone but there was a little four-legged furry creature who made me company in front of the cinema. He is the owner's dog who is around your legs when you are buying the ticket. I have never tried to enter this cinema without a ticket... I would not risk it, with this doorkeeper!
Let's enter and see the movie now.
The documentary was directed by Lisa Cortes and it combined archive video footage with the artist himself, his photos and expert interviews with Mick Jagger, Billy Porter, John Waters and others. It was easy to follow the idea that the director was building through the movie, and although it mainly went chronologically through his life and career I could also feel a free form in going back to moments from his youth and jumping to the later period of his life.
Little Richard said:
“I am the originator. I am the emancipator. I am the architect of rock ’n’ roll.”
The movie showed me the real impact he made, but I didn't know it before the movie. How many of you would respond to the question who was the originator of rock and roll with his name?
I would probably say Elvis Presley or Chuck Berry but I would not remember to mention Little Richard. Shame on me, or it is just that he was not recognized as he had to be?
Sorry for these blurred photos, but he was playing and dancing so quickly. It was difficult to catch him and his fingers calm. There was no calmness in his performances of rock and roll. It was frenetic. I saw the way he played the piano, we could say that he was hitting the keys without control. However, that was his rebellion, his energy, maybe his frustration, his happiness, the scream of freedom and many emotions mixed together. It was euphoria.
As a child who was singing gospel in the church, music and expression were already in his blood but he was not allowed to sing as he wanted. They also wanted to teach him to play the piano, and he really liked to learn but he didn't want to learn the notes. The family background was not easy, there were eleven children in the marriage of his parents. Maybe the most painful thing that can happen to a child is not to be accepted by his own father, and that is what he had to go through when he showed he was different in certain ways. Kicked out from the family home at 15, he had to find his way of living and building his musical career.
Some musicians had a great influence on him, they were like mirrors where he saw himself and then his talent exploded. The first performance he had was with Rosetta Tharpe and from that moment he decided he would shine. He would make a difference, what he indeed did but at what price?
The first hit that rocketed his name into the skies was Tutti Frutti, with censored lyrics as the original text was not suitable for the audience. Being a black musician in the fifties in the USA, with a highly pronounced legal racial segregation, and expressing his sexual orientation that was not accepted, could not be easy. But what he made was different to anything that was heard before.
His music was charged with fervour and intensity. It sounded explosive and with the desire to be free, to give happiness. Young people, black and white people, all wanted to be free, but society would not allow black music to educate the youngsters. It was then Elvis Presley and Pat Boone who were singing his songs.
The influence he had on many other musicians was huge. And not just musicians but also people who were scared to come out of the closet. It was mentioned by a few people that he liberated the path of many but he could not liberate himself. The great hits and successes were followed by his internal fights and moral questions. After one tour they made in Australia, he went to the other extreme. He renounced secular music, especially rock and roll, his sexuality and hedonism and turned himself to God. He wanted to dedicate his life to the ministry.
His life was going from one extreme to another; marriage, divorce, back to rock and roll and tours, making a huge impact on The Beatles, Mick Jagger and hundreds of other musicians, drugs, falls, conversions, resignations, prayers, gospel... His real shine and talent, together with his struggles, frustrations and sadness were not just in the extremes but also in the shades.
This documentary clearly shows that one of the most painful things for him was the fact he was never recognized for the real influence he had. That he was the one who brought a huge difference to popular music. But on top of it, what I felt through this documentary is the internal fight that one human being can have, who has too much to show and shine, but the pressures can be too strong. Especially in the music industry.
Well, I know there were too many spoilers here, but for my excuse, it was a documentary. And maybe you all already knew about these events from his life and music career. If not and you got the trigger to watch this movie, even if you don't like this genre of music, one hour and 42 minutes can be dedicated to Little Richard, the man who called himself the architect of rock and roll.
