I got to see Little Richard one time. He headlines a Dick Clark Oldies Show at Milwaukee Summerfest in 1971. Following the lead of the declining Beatles (“Get Back”) and reborn Rolling Stones (“Brown Sugar”) and the periodical hood ornament light of Creem magazine, we were migrating to rocknroll and glad to be in the presence of the pioneer spirit Richard, who had begun to go on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show to be outrageous. Now he has left this world. May 9, 2020. So, Richard was top of the bill, but that was a tough one, cause it was quite a bill. I am sure he would be hard to follow, but on the other hand it wasn’t easy for him to follow the Drifters, Coasters, Bo Diddley (who I got to talk to through the chain link fence at the foot of the stage) and Chuck Berry. Chuck really hit a home run. As a result, Little Richard was kind of anti-climatic. He went straight to ‘acting up’ and he kept repeating that he was the greatest, the prettiest, the thingiest and so on. He how...
