An influx of documentaries about Brooke Shields, Judy Blume, Michael J. Fox and Little Richard offer a chance to reflect on the possibilities and limitations of the form.
Yeah, I sort of recognize now that I gave a fairly cynical introduction while basically liking all four documentaries! (Albeit with reservations here and there.) You're right to hone in on Still. That one was my favorite of the four.
It funny, "this is magazine article" pretty common critique in book publishing too. But me will very happily make case that writing article about Little Richard is like trying to describe what cookie taste like by drawing stick figure. You have to be able to hear music, and you have to be able to see his energy on stage.
And he was absolutely central figure in rock and roll. He, Elvis, and Chuck Berry all started recording basically simultaneously, but if you need origin story for rock and roll, this is that story:
In 1955, struggling gospel singer had been dropped from record label for failing to produce follow-up to his one minor hit. He had been thrown out of his parents' house for being gay. He had no money, no support, was working as dishwasher and doing sleazy nightclub act to pay rent. He had auditioned for several new record labels and been turned down. He was down to last name on list, Specialty Records, best known for Fats Domino.
Richard auditioned playing alongside Domino's backup band. He played some gospel numbers, and he knew label heads not were going for it. He was blowing his last chance. So with nothing to lose, he pulled out up-tempo number from his nightclub act. It was very explicit song about gay sex, but it had lot of energy and he thought it might get label excited. But band was used to playing Fats Domino's stately melodies, and they had trouble with this fast song and energetic singer. In particular, drummer not could get drum intro right. He tried again and again, until a frustrated Richard shouted it at him: A wop bop a loo bop, a wop bam boom!
And that, friends, is moment rock and roll came into being.
Just curious if Esquerita is mentioned in the Little Richard doc. There’s some confusion over who influenced whom between those two. Definitely think Little Richard had the better discography.
A little misdirection in the opening paragraphs! By the end, you had made me want to snack on all four of these, but especially Still.
Yeah, I sort of recognize now that I gave a fairly cynical introduction while basically liking all four documentaries! (Albeit with reservations here and there.) You're right to hone in on Still. That one was my favorite of the four.
you were more generous to a couple of these than I was expecting!
It funny, "this is magazine article" pretty common critique in book publishing too. But me will very happily make case that writing article about Little Richard is like trying to describe what cookie taste like by drawing stick figure. You have to be able to hear music, and you have to be able to see his energy on stage.
And he was absolutely central figure in rock and roll. He, Elvis, and Chuck Berry all started recording basically simultaneously, but if you need origin story for rock and roll, this is that story:
In 1955, struggling gospel singer had been dropped from record label for failing to produce follow-up to his one minor hit. He had been thrown out of his parents' house for being gay. He had no money, no support, was working as dishwasher and doing sleazy nightclub act to pay rent. He had auditioned for several new record labels and been turned down. He was down to last name on list, Specialty Records, best known for Fats Domino.
Richard auditioned playing alongside Domino's backup band. He played some gospel numbers, and he knew label heads not were going for it. He was blowing his last chance. So with nothing to lose, he pulled out up-tempo number from his nightclub act. It was very explicit song about gay sex, but it had lot of energy and he thought it might get label excited. But band was used to playing Fats Domino's stately melodies, and they had trouble with this fast song and energetic singer. In particular, drummer not could get drum intro right. He tried again and again, until a frustrated Richard shouted it at him: A wop bop a loo bop, a wop bam boom!
And that, friends, is moment rock and roll came into being.
Just curious if Esquerita is mentioned in the Little Richard doc. There’s some confusion over who influenced whom between those two. Definitely think Little Richard had the better discography.