Little Richard was so big from the 1950s forward that a new documentary film about him is now available everywhere. And the one-word accolades on the super cool movie poster accurately reflect my feelings about why you should see it.
Born in Macon, Ga., Richard Penniman was one of 12 children born to a church deacon father who was also a brick mason and had a side hustle selling bootlegged moonshine. His mother belonged to the local Baptist church. Indeed, Little Richard’s musical entrée began in church settings. But his very religious upbringing would also create real struggle for him—not to mention segregation and the criminalization of homosexuality at the time.
As the self-proclaimed Architect of Rock ‘n’ Roll, the new film proves Little Richard right. It also uses an astronomical, spectral backdrop to demonstrate this. Thus, the audience hears various music scholars describe him first as a meteorite, then a comet, a quasar, and finally the Big Bang itself. Sputnik figures prominently here, too, but you’ll have to see for yourself.
Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Director Lisa Cortés does a remarkable job letting her star tell his own story, while balancing it nicely with other Black and queer artists who fully appreciate his legacy. These include Billy Porter and John Waters, who still sports a pencil-thin mustache as tribute to Little Richard.
What does Wanda Houston say about Little Richard?
Closer to home, I asked local music legend Wanda Houston how she understood the man who once called himself the “bronze Liberace” and others referred to as the “Negro Elvis Presley.” In an early morning email, she wrote:
“I had the opportunity to speak to Mr Richard back in the 80s when I was touring with The Marvelous Marvelettes. Today we would be called a tribute band but back then we played as if we were the actual group. Our manager was his cousin and we got to say hello. He was very nice.”
She continued, “Little Richard was the original glam Rock-n-Roller. He made the stage possible for The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis, Tina Turner, Elton John … the list goes on.”
“He was loud, extravagant and bold. It opened the possibilities for performers to be characters, extravagant and bold. I think he stretched the envelope for another kind of entertainment; something other than Jazz which was the mainstream.”
Finally, “My influences were more from the Jazz world, but I surely enjoyed seeing him perform. He allowed me to see that Black performers had options and were varied.”
In a mid-morning phone call, Wanda and I sussed this out further. We talked about documentary films in general and music documentaries in particular; how charismatic Little Richard was; and how all creative, eccentric, impactful lives are so ripe for the big screen.
“Little Richard: I Am Everything” offers something for everyone
What I loved most about “Little Richard: I Am Everything” are things I learned. For example, I never knew that Little Richard popularized the phrase “Shut up!,” or that The Rolling Stones were once the opening act for him.
I also appreciated some of the Architect’s memorable lines, such as, “I used to holler for the devil, now I’m singing for the Lord!” Or his assertion that, “My music broke down the walls of segregation.” Indeed, the list does go and on, and “Little Richard: I Am Everything” offers history and hope side by side.
Last but not least, because he died in the early months of COVID-19 when the whole world’s attention was elsewhere, this film is a fitting piece of poetic justice that pays tribute to a man who so clearly carried God within from the cradle to the grave—all 87 years of his trailblazing blessed life.
