1 00:00:23,899 --> 00:00:26,339 [upbeat piano playing] 2 00:00:29,599 --> 00:00:30,729 ♪ Ow!♪ 3 00:00:45,528 --> 00:00:47,008 [music ends] 4 00:00:47,178 --> 00:00:48,438 Interviewer: Little Richard, it's now 16 years 5 00:00:48,618 --> 00:00:49,578 since you had your first hits. 6 00:00:50,008 --> 00:00:51,008 Oh, yes. 7 00:00:51,188 --> 00:00:52,708 Uh, do you realize that... 8 00:00:52,878 --> 00:00:54,668 Well, you must realize that at your performances, 9 00:00:54,838 --> 00:00:56,277 now there are people who weren't even alive 10 00:00:56,447 --> 00:00:57,707 when you first began? 11 00:00:57,887 --> 00:00:59,667 Yes, but I have woke them up now. 12 00:01:00,537 --> 00:01:04,027 Everybody that wasn't alive when I started and was gone, 13 00:01:04,197 --> 00:01:06,197 I have brought the spirit and put it on them. [chuckles] 14 00:01:06,977 --> 00:01:08,117 Were you always so shy? 15 00:01:08,287 --> 00:01:09,727 No, I'm not. [chuckles] 16 00:01:09,897 --> 00:01:11,857 A lot of people say I'm shy, 17 00:01:12,077 --> 00:01:14,297 but I let it all hang out, 18 00:01:14,637 --> 00:01:15,727 every bit. 19 00:01:15,947 --> 00:01:16,987 The love, the gentleness, 20 00:01:17,167 --> 00:01:18,336 the tenderness, the kindness. 21 00:01:18,556 --> 00:01:19,946 You ain't supposed to hide them. 22 00:01:20,126 --> 00:01:22,296 You got it, God gave it, show it to the world. 23 00:01:22,476 --> 00:01:23,776 Audience: [cheering] 24 00:01:23,996 --> 00:01:25,306 Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, if you will, 25 00:01:26,436 --> 00:01:28,956 a man who's become a legend in his own time, 26 00:01:29,566 --> 00:01:31,396 Little Richard! 27 00:01:31,706 --> 00:01:33,396 Crowd: [cheering] 28 00:01:33,656 --> 00:01:36,576 [upbeat piano playing] 29 00:01:44,755 --> 00:01:46,545 Audience: [cheering] 30 00:01:46,805 --> 00:01:48,765 ♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪ 31 00:01:49,635 --> 00:01:51,285 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 32 00:01:52,065 --> 00:01:53,025 Jagger: That music, 33 00:01:53,195 --> 00:01:55,205 that beat, his voice. 34 00:01:55,375 --> 00:01:56,335 The... [sings] ♪ Oooh! ♪ 35 00:01:56,505 --> 00:01:57,595 "My God, who is that?" 36 00:01:59,115 --> 00:02:00,255 "Who is that?" 37 00:02:00,515 --> 00:02:02,424 ♪ Can't hear your mama call ♪ 38 00:02:02,604 --> 00:02:03,684 ♪ Oooh ♪ 39 00:02:03,864 --> 00:02:05,164 ♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪ 40 00:02:05,344 --> 00:02:06,434 I'd never seen any of it before. 41 00:02:06,604 --> 00:02:08,384 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 42 00:02:08,564 --> 00:02:10,434 ♪ Oooh Good golly, Miss Molly ♪ 43 00:02:10,604 --> 00:02:12,434 Jagger: Just, like, taking your clothes off.[chuckles] 44 00:02:13,874 --> 00:02:15,354 ♪ And when you're rockin'... ♪ 45 00:02:15,524 --> 00:02:16,874 Jagger: If there's a piano, get on it. 46 00:02:18,264 --> 00:02:19,484 He was everything. 47 00:02:19,664 --> 00:02:20,664 ♪ Ow ♪ 48 00:02:23,184 --> 00:02:26,663 He spit on every rule there was in music. 49 00:02:26,883 --> 00:02:29,063 [music fades] 50 00:02:29,233 --> 00:02:30,973 [gentle music playing] 51 00:02:31,153 --> 00:02:32,843 King: He created the template 52 00:02:33,023 --> 00:02:35,853 for the rock 'n' roll icon. 53 00:02:37,023 --> 00:02:38,543 Porter: Sorry, y'all. 54 00:02:39,243 --> 00:02:40,423 It wasn't Elvis. 55 00:02:41,903 --> 00:02:43,333 Crowd: [cheering] 56 00:02:43,513 --> 00:02:45,253 Jones: He was like a meteor arriving. 57 00:02:45,903 --> 00:02:47,032 Woman: A comet. 58 00:02:47,602 --> 00:02:48,602 Man: A quasar. 59 00:02:50,952 --> 00:02:52,822 King: His DNA is everywhere. 60 00:02:54,172 --> 00:02:56,782 It's like, how do you refer to the air? 61 00:02:57,822 --> 00:02:59,522 How do you refer to the sky? 62 00:03:01,572 --> 00:03:03,572 Crowd: [cheering] 63 00:03:08,141 --> 00:03:10,051 Little Richard: I'm the emancipator. 64 00:03:12,881 --> 00:03:14,231 I'm the architect. 65 00:03:17,931 --> 00:03:19,931 I'm the one that started it all. 66 00:03:20,111 --> 00:03:21,721 Crowd: [cheering, applauding] 67 00:03:23,811 --> 00:03:25,641 [inspirational music playing] 68 00:03:43,220 --> 00:03:44,570 [music fades out] 69 00:03:47,610 --> 00:03:49,700 - Let it all hang out! - Audience: [laughing] 70 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:51,490 With the beautiful Little Richard 71 00:03:51,660 --> 00:03:53,269 from down in Macon, Georgia. 72 00:03:53,749 --> 00:03:56,879 I want you all to know that I am the bronze Liberace. 73 00:03:57,059 --> 00:03:58,759 - Shut up. - Audience: [laughing] 74 00:03:59,319 --> 00:04:01,319 [delicate music playing] 75 00:04:01,499 --> 00:04:05,499 Crawley: Typically we speak of legacy in the laudatory. 76 00:04:06,889 --> 00:04:10,719 The legacy of Little Richard is complex. 77 00:04:10,979 --> 00:04:12,329 - Please, please. - Audience: [cheering] 78 00:04:12,769 --> 00:04:15,078 I'd rather do it myself. [laughs] 79 00:04:15,288 --> 00:04:17,078 Watching his interviews over the decades, 80 00:04:17,508 --> 00:04:20,078 you can see the various different versions. 81 00:04:20,248 --> 00:04:21,688 I'm not conceited. 82 00:04:21,868 --> 00:04:23,298 Audience: [shouts indistinctly] 83 00:04:23,478 --> 00:04:25,478 - I'm convinced. [laughs] - Audience: [laughing] 84 00:04:25,648 --> 00:04:27,218 You could see him crafting his legacy, 85 00:04:27,388 --> 00:04:28,438 presenting his story 86 00:04:29,088 --> 00:04:30,568 over and over again in different ways. 87 00:04:31,308 --> 00:04:32,528 I was gay all my life. 88 00:04:33,008 --> 00:04:34,658 I believe I was one of the first gay people to come out. 89 00:04:34,828 --> 00:04:38,057 But God let me know that he made Adam to be with Eve, not Steve. 90 00:04:38,267 --> 00:04:39,447 [dramatic music playing] 91 00:04:42,887 --> 00:04:44,797 Crawley: What was his life 92 00:04:45,497 --> 00:04:47,107 that he experienced such delight... 93 00:04:47,277 --> 00:04:49,147 Little Richard: [vocalizing] 94 00:04:49,327 --> 00:04:51,287 ♪ He's coming ♪ 95 00:04:51,457 --> 00:04:53,807 Crawley: ...and such terror at the same time? 96 00:04:54,807 --> 00:04:56,547 Little Richard: You know, I would get up off an orgy 97 00:04:56,727 --> 00:04:58,207 and go pick up my Bible. 98 00:04:58,726 --> 00:05:01,076 Newman: It's almost like having a split personality. 99 00:05:02,426 --> 00:05:03,556 King: He's too much. 100 00:05:04,686 --> 00:05:06,606 He's too much for everyone. 101 00:05:07,736 --> 00:05:09,736 Glenn: People want it to be a thing. 102 00:05:10,826 --> 00:05:12,786 Richard really didn't have a thing. 103 00:05:13,696 --> 00:05:16,006 As the progeny... 104 00:05:16,176 --> 00:05:17,216 Audience: [cheering] 105 00:05:17,396 --> 00:05:19,396 ...we must understand 106 00:05:19,576 --> 00:05:21,445 what kind of spirit he was 107 00:05:23,395 --> 00:05:26,015 and how this thing tore him asunder sometimes. 108 00:05:27,495 --> 00:05:28,975 Whoo! 109 00:05:29,145 --> 00:05:31,325 - King: He opened up a way. - [hooting] 110 00:05:31,795 --> 00:05:34,285 King: The opening that says something like, 111 00:05:34,455 --> 00:05:36,155 "We can get to this place, 112 00:05:37,715 --> 00:05:40,065 but I may not get there with you." 113 00:05:46,074 --> 00:05:47,594 [bell dinging] 114 00:05:53,034 --> 00:05:54,604 Little Richard: I'm from a little country town. 115 00:05:54,774 --> 00:05:58,604 [train whistle blows] 116 00:05:59,824 --> 00:06:01,044 Little Richard: Macon, Georgia. 117 00:06:06,613 --> 00:06:08,703 - [bell dinging] - [train whistle blowing] 118 00:06:09,483 --> 00:06:11,013 Everybody was wondering what was I, 119 00:06:11,183 --> 00:06:12,573 who was I, and where was I going? 120 00:06:12,753 --> 00:06:14,103 But I knew all the time. [laughs] 121 00:06:17,323 --> 00:06:18,543 I wanted to be a star. 122 00:06:19,323 --> 00:06:21,633 - [tapping rhythmically] - Little Richard: [scatting] 123 00:06:24,933 --> 00:06:27,242 When I was a little boy, there wasn't any rock 'n' roll. 124 00:06:27,422 --> 00:06:29,112 [Rooster crowing] 125 00:06:29,292 --> 00:06:31,162 ♪ Save my soul ♪ 126 00:06:31,332 --> 00:06:33,862 You know, everybody, you know, that was that old thing. 127 00:06:34,032 --> 00:06:35,952 And I thought that was the best thing 128 00:06:36,122 --> 00:06:37,382 I ever heard in my life. 129 00:06:39,512 --> 00:06:41,692 My mother would be in the backyard washing our clothes 130 00:06:41,862 --> 00:06:43,692 on what you call a rubboard. 131 00:06:43,872 --> 00:06:45,652 [water splashing] 132 00:06:45,832 --> 00:06:48,312 ♪ ["Step It Up and Go" by Blind Boy Fuller plays] ♪ 133 00:06:48,482 --> 00:06:49,961 - [rooster crows] - [laughter] 134 00:06:50,131 --> 00:06:51,571 Little Richard: There was a lot of blues. 135 00:06:53,181 --> 00:06:54,531 Walking down the streets, 136 00:06:55,401 --> 00:06:57,921 you would see Black singers playing the guitar. 137 00:06:59,011 --> 00:07:01,191 ♪ See my woman, tell her hurry home ♪ 138 00:07:01,361 --> 00:07:02,891 ♪ Ain't had no lovin' since she been gone ♪ 139 00:07:03,361 --> 00:07:05,321 ♪ Got to step it up and go ♪ 140 00:07:05,501 --> 00:07:07,591 ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ 141 00:07:07,761 --> 00:07:08,981 [bubbling] 142 00:07:09,411 --> 00:07:10,591 [song fades] 143 00:07:11,590 --> 00:07:13,240 Little Richard: My mother had 12 children. 144 00:07:13,420 --> 00:07:15,200 We had to sleep on pallets on the floor. And... 145 00:07:15,380 --> 00:07:17,070 And my mother had to cook beans every day. 146 00:07:17,250 --> 00:07:19,250 We couldn't get enough. You know, 'cause it's 12 kids. 147 00:07:19,420 --> 00:07:21,770 A big old pot of rice and collard greens. 148 00:07:23,170 --> 00:07:25,520 My mother was so... she was so sweet to me. 149 00:07:25,690 --> 00:07:26,740 [chuckles] 150 00:07:26,910 --> 00:07:28,220 [piano playing] 151 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,090 Little Richard: My granddad had a old piano, 152 00:07:30,260 --> 00:07:31,260 but I couldn't play. 153 00:07:32,180 --> 00:07:33,389 I just hit every key, 154 00:07:33,569 --> 00:07:35,269 and everybody'd be about to say, "Oh!" 155 00:07:35,439 --> 00:07:37,569 He was always banging on the piano 156 00:07:37,749 --> 00:07:39,569 - every time you see him. - [grunts] 157 00:07:39,749 --> 00:07:41,399 We would always sneak down there 158 00:07:41,579 --> 00:07:43,579 and be looking in the kitchen window. 159 00:07:43,749 --> 00:07:44,929 - [piano playing] - Little Richard: Everybody 160 00:07:45,099 --> 00:07:46,449 wanted to help me to play, 161 00:07:46,929 --> 00:07:48,319 but I just didn't know how to memorize those keys. 162 00:07:48,499 --> 00:07:49,759 [upbeat tune playing] 163 00:07:49,929 --> 00:07:51,019 I used to hang out with his brothers, 164 00:07:51,189 --> 00:07:54,019 the younger ones, and sisters. 165 00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:58,028 His daddy, Charles "Bud" Penniman, 166 00:07:58,198 --> 00:08:00,158 was very strict on him, 167 00:08:00,328 --> 00:08:01,378 very strict. 168 00:08:02,158 --> 00:08:05,638 He was a minister who owned a small nightclub 169 00:08:05,908 --> 00:08:08,078 and had a bootleg house at the same time. 170 00:08:09,078 --> 00:08:10,948 Little Richard: He sold stump whiskey. 171 00:08:11,648 --> 00:08:14,478 And, you know, the White people called it Black Thunder. 172 00:08:14,738 --> 00:08:16,048 The Black people called it White Lightning, 173 00:08:16,218 --> 00:08:17,568 - you know? - Interviewer: [laughing] 174 00:08:17,957 --> 00:08:19,267 Little Richard: That's the way we had our food 175 00:08:19,437 --> 00:08:20,437 and paid the rent. 176 00:08:21,357 --> 00:08:23,837 He didn't want Richard shouting out loud 177 00:08:24,007 --> 00:08:25,617 some of the gospel stuff. 178 00:08:25,787 --> 00:08:27,667 He wanted him to sing soft. 179 00:08:28,097 --> 00:08:29,967 ♪ Yeah! ♪ 180 00:08:31,497 --> 00:08:32,797 Little Richard: I wanted to be a minister 181 00:08:33,017 --> 00:08:33,927 when I was a little boy. 182 00:08:34,107 --> 00:08:35,537 Do you want to go to heaven? 183 00:08:35,717 --> 00:08:37,677 But you got to be holy. 184 00:08:38,327 --> 00:08:40,586 Jackson: Macon is known for its churches. 185 00:08:41,026 --> 00:08:42,986 It's the conservative religious town. 186 00:08:43,376 --> 00:08:44,986 Choir: [singing] 187 00:08:45,156 --> 00:08:46,986 Jackson: Sundays, his mother would get him up 188 00:08:47,156 --> 00:08:48,726 and he'd attend the Baptist church with her at New Hope. 189 00:08:49,686 --> 00:08:51,036 Collier: If you sat in the Baptist church, 190 00:08:51,516 --> 00:08:53,076 you don't move at all. 191 00:08:54,736 --> 00:08:56,296 Jackson: And then it would be time for him 192 00:08:56,476 --> 00:08:58,696 to go to the A.M.E. Church with his father. 193 00:08:58,866 --> 00:09:00,216 [upbeat music playing] 194 00:09:00,386 --> 00:09:01,606 Collier: You sit in the holy roller, 195 00:09:01,825 --> 00:09:03,175 you don't sit down at all. 196 00:09:06,045 --> 00:09:08,835 ♪ Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord ♪ 197 00:09:09,005 --> 00:09:11,055 Little Richard: All the children would go to this church. 198 00:09:12,005 --> 00:09:14,145 ♪ Oh, Jesus ♪ 199 00:09:14,315 --> 00:09:16,055 - Choir: [sings] - ♪ Oh ♪ 200 00:09:16,445 --> 00:09:18,325 Little Richard: I would get there and I would sing. 201 00:09:19,325 --> 00:09:21,145 But they wouldn't let me sing that much 202 00:09:21,325 --> 00:09:22,755 'cause I wouldn't stop. 203 00:09:23,845 --> 00:09:25,934 And then people started hearing little turns 204 00:09:26,114 --> 00:09:28,284 and things in my voice and started requesting me. 205 00:09:30,594 --> 00:09:32,244 People used to come to me when I was a little boy 206 00:09:32,424 --> 00:09:33,854 for me to pray for them. 207 00:09:34,034 --> 00:09:35,774 And my mother used to say that you're crazy. 208 00:09:37,994 --> 00:09:39,604 Robinson: I will say this 209 00:09:39,774 --> 00:09:41,084 a hundred thousand times, 210 00:09:42,604 --> 00:09:45,784 the South is the home of all things queer, 211 00:09:46,603 --> 00:09:50,093 of the different, of the non-normative, 212 00:09:50,263 --> 00:09:53,703 of the other side, of the Gothic, of the grotesque. 213 00:09:53,873 --> 00:09:56,573 Note that queerness is not... 214 00:09:57,403 --> 00:09:58,833 just about sexuality, 215 00:09:59,013 --> 00:10:01,623 but about a presence in a space 216 00:10:01,793 --> 00:10:04,363 that is different from what we require 217 00:10:04,543 --> 00:10:05,673 or expect, 218 00:10:06,193 --> 00:10:07,673 different from the norm. 219 00:10:08,892 --> 00:10:10,412 Little Richard: And, you know, back in that day, 220 00:10:10,582 --> 00:10:11,722 you have Sunday clothes. 221 00:10:12,372 --> 00:10:14,372 So I would take my mother's Sunday pins, 222 00:10:14,552 --> 00:10:15,722 her little brooches and things, 223 00:10:16,032 --> 00:10:18,292 and put them on my Monday jacket. 224 00:10:18,462 --> 00:10:20,382 [laughs] And my Tuesday shirt. 225 00:10:21,252 --> 00:10:22,642 I wore my mother's curtains, 226 00:10:22,812 --> 00:10:25,082 the sheets, put on some makeup on my face. 227 00:10:25,252 --> 00:10:26,562 My daddy'd like to kill me. 228 00:10:26,732 --> 00:10:28,952 They called him a sissy, a punk, a faggot. 229 00:10:30,002 --> 00:10:31,301 Jackson: When he came to town 230 00:10:31,821 --> 00:10:34,391 and whites were exposed to him, it was kind of a shock. 231 00:10:37,311 --> 00:10:39,961 ♪ I am tired ♪ 232 00:10:40,141 --> 00:10:42,661 Little Richard: My dad didn't like my actions and my ways. 233 00:10:42,831 --> 00:10:44,621 I was born deformed from a child. 234 00:10:45,711 --> 00:10:47,971 One of my legs was long and one of them's small. 235 00:10:48,141 --> 00:10:50,451 And this is my long arm and this is my short arm. 236 00:10:50,931 --> 00:10:53,110 From... I... He... 237 00:10:54,410 --> 00:10:55,410 [sobs] It was just... 238 00:10:57,940 --> 00:10:59,590 I never could do nothing good. 239 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:03,940 He told me to get out of the house, 240 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:06,160 that he didn't...he didn't want me there no more, 241 00:11:06,340 --> 00:11:07,770 that he hated me. 242 00:11:08,950 --> 00:11:10,820 He says that "I wanted seven boys, 243 00:11:10,990 --> 00:11:11,990 and you are messing it up." 244 00:11:12,730 --> 00:11:13,870 Because I was gay, 245 00:11:15,519 --> 00:11:16,779 he put me out. 246 00:11:17,389 --> 00:11:18,959 Porter: I can only imagine. 247 00:11:19,129 --> 00:11:21,129 I've lived through my versions of that. 248 00:11:21,959 --> 00:11:24,919 It's debilitating. It's soul crushing. 249 00:11:26,569 --> 00:11:28,529 And it can be deadly. 250 00:11:34,019 --> 00:11:35,579 [song fades] 251 00:11:42,418 --> 00:11:43,938 [engine starts] 252 00:11:48,158 --> 00:11:52,078 Collier: Ann and her husband actually took Richard in, 253 00:11:52,248 --> 00:11:53,818 let him stay upstairs. 254 00:11:53,988 --> 00:11:56,818 A white club in my hometown called Ann's Tic Toc. 255 00:11:57,078 --> 00:11:58,647 Jackson: You know, what we would think of as quote, 256 00:11:58,817 --> 00:11:59,957 "a gay club." 257 00:12:00,687 --> 00:12:02,347 It was kind of like a speakeasy. 258 00:12:03,087 --> 00:12:05,917 You had to know where to go and how to get in. 259 00:12:06,867 --> 00:12:08,087 Little Richard: I used to play there, 260 00:12:08,267 --> 00:12:09,877 and I was singing blues 261 00:12:10,047 --> 00:12:11,397 and I was singing gospel. 262 00:12:12,007 --> 00:12:13,227 ♪ All in my room ♪ 263 00:12:14,747 --> 00:12:16,357 ♪ Music everywhere ♪ 264 00:12:16,537 --> 00:12:18,887 My favorite singer was Sister Rosetta Tharpe. 265 00:12:23,976 --> 00:12:25,976 This Black woman could play. 266 00:12:26,936 --> 00:12:29,196 The mother of rock 'n' roll. 267 00:12:29,376 --> 00:12:30,586 There is no other mother. 268 00:12:32,156 --> 00:12:34,726 Sister Rosetta Tharpe shifted 269 00:12:34,896 --> 00:12:37,776 a lot of what we thought was possible for Black sound 270 00:12:37,946 --> 00:12:39,386 outside of the church. 271 00:12:39,556 --> 00:12:40,596 Sister Rosetta: Come on now! 272 00:12:41,036 --> 00:12:42,736 ♪ Everywhere that I go ♪ 273 00:12:42,905 --> 00:12:44,295 ♪ Everywhere that I be ♪ 274 00:12:44,475 --> 00:12:46,435 Robinson: The purpose is to drum 275 00:12:46,605 --> 00:12:48,385 on the piano or on the guitar 276 00:12:49,955 --> 00:12:51,655 until you get to the mountaintop, 277 00:12:52,525 --> 00:12:54,965 until you reach the ecstatic space. 278 00:12:56,655 --> 00:12:58,225 ♪ Whoa ♪ 279 00:12:58,395 --> 00:12:59,925 Robinson: When the spirit comes... 280 00:13:00,095 --> 00:13:01,625 ♪ Sing in the morning, sing in the evening ♪ 281 00:13:01,795 --> 00:13:03,405 ♪ Sing in the middle of the day ♪ 282 00:13:03,575 --> 00:13:05,054 Robinson: ...that is the rockin' and the rollin'. 283 00:13:05,234 --> 00:13:08,714 ♪ Jesus is born ♪ 284 00:13:09,844 --> 00:13:12,104 Audience: [cheering, applauding] 285 00:13:16,244 --> 00:13:17,674 Little Richard: One night, 286 00:13:17,854 --> 00:13:19,074 Sister Rosetta Tharpe came through. 287 00:13:20,554 --> 00:13:22,644 [suspenseful music playing] 288 00:13:28,773 --> 00:13:30,473 Stewart: The Macon City Auditorium is a venue 289 00:13:30,643 --> 00:13:33,043 that many people played in the height of their careers. 290 00:13:36,613 --> 00:13:38,873 [gentle music playing] 291 00:13:41,003 --> 00:13:42,793 Richard worked there as a teenager. 292 00:13:44,793 --> 00:13:45,963 Little Richard: And I went backstage. 293 00:13:48,183 --> 00:13:50,532 And I was singing a Sister Rosetta Tharpe song 294 00:13:50,712 --> 00:13:52,802 called "Strange Things Happening Every Day." 295 00:13:54,892 --> 00:13:56,582 And Sister Tharpe said, "I have a little boy, 296 00:13:56,762 --> 00:13:58,452 and he said he could beat me singing." 297 00:13:59,062 --> 00:14:00,412 And she brought me out there. 298 00:14:00,592 --> 00:14:01,892 My mother said, "Go on, boy." 299 00:14:02,372 --> 00:14:04,982 ♪ Jesus is the holy life ♪ 300 00:14:05,592 --> 00:14:08,032 ♪ Turning darkness into light ♪ 301 00:14:08,642 --> 00:14:12,291 ♪ There are strange things happening every day ♪ 302 00:14:12,471 --> 00:14:14,081 ♪ Na, na, na, na, mm ♪ 303 00:14:14,251 --> 00:14:16,041 ♪ And every day ♪ 304 00:14:16,261 --> 00:14:18,261 Little Richard: That's the first time I ever was on stage. 305 00:14:20,561 --> 00:14:23,311 And I was up there just screaming and singing. 306 00:14:23,481 --> 00:14:25,661 ♪ Happening every day ♪ 307 00:14:27,701 --> 00:14:31,921 ♪ There are strange things Happening every day ♪ 308 00:14:34,490 --> 00:14:35,880 Little Richard: That was the greatest thing 309 00:14:36,060 --> 00:14:36,970 ever happened to me. 310 00:14:39,150 --> 00:14:41,540 And so I had to get out of Macon. 311 00:14:43,460 --> 00:14:45,330 Plus I was ready to shine. 312 00:14:48,810 --> 00:14:50,290 Crowd: [shouting indistinctly] 313 00:14:50,850 --> 00:14:52,380 Little Richard: I went with Dr. Hudson's Medicine Show. 314 00:14:53,210 --> 00:14:54,820 He was selling snake oil. 315 00:14:55,599 --> 00:14:57,249 I would play the piano and sing. 316 00:14:57,429 --> 00:14:59,819 Jordan: ♪ Caldonia, Caldonia ♪ 317 00:14:59,989 --> 00:15:01,689 ♪ What makes your big head so hard? ♪ 318 00:15:02,949 --> 00:15:04,779 Little Richard: I sung the Louis Jordan "Caldonia" 319 00:15:04,959 --> 00:15:06,779 every night 'cause I didn't know no other song. 320 00:15:07,739 --> 00:15:10,179 And I went from there to Belle Glade, Florida, 321 00:15:10,349 --> 00:15:12,089 with B. Brown and his orchestra. 322 00:15:13,439 --> 00:15:15,579 Then changed my name to Little Richard. 323 00:15:18,098 --> 00:15:21,148 And then I went with Sugar Foot Sam from Alabam. 324 00:15:22,888 --> 00:15:25,058 Hadley: There is this touring circuit in place. 325 00:15:25,238 --> 00:15:27,588 We call it very often the Chitlin' Circuit, 326 00:15:28,458 --> 00:15:30,678 where you have various queer Black women 327 00:15:30,848 --> 00:15:33,028 traveling with gold-plated teeth, 328 00:15:33,198 --> 00:15:35,808 singing dirty blues or gutbucket blues. 329 00:15:35,988 --> 00:15:38,158 ♪ I got nipples on my titties ♪ 330 00:15:38,338 --> 00:15:40,077 ♪ Big as the end of my thumb ♪ 331 00:15:40,427 --> 00:15:43,907 ♪ I got something between my legs'll make a dead man... ♪ 332 00:15:44,077 --> 00:15:46,947 Her stuff can make a listener blush today. 333 00:15:47,127 --> 00:15:48,907 - [laughter] - [cheering] 334 00:15:49,087 --> 00:15:51,607 Hadley: So we should not be surprised 335 00:15:51,787 --> 00:15:55,477 that Little Richard as Princess LaVonne is possible 336 00:15:55,657 --> 00:15:58,567 and happened at that point in time. 337 00:16:00,317 --> 00:16:02,576 King: I mean, this is something that is a fact, 338 00:16:02,746 --> 00:16:04,706 but it's often not remembered. 339 00:16:04,886 --> 00:16:06,926 At that time, there would be drag acts. 340 00:16:08,016 --> 00:16:10,886 And Little Richard not only sang and performed in the shows, 341 00:16:11,066 --> 00:16:12,326 he also performed in drag. 342 00:16:13,286 --> 00:16:14,976 Little Richard: Sugar Foot Sam from Alabam, 343 00:16:15,636 --> 00:16:17,106 they had me dressed all kind of ways. 344 00:16:17,286 --> 00:16:20,596 He had a stage persona called Princess LaVonne. 345 00:16:20,766 --> 00:16:22,116 Is it LaVonné or is it... I don't know. 346 00:16:22,286 --> 00:16:23,726 I've never heard it said out loud. 347 00:16:23,945 --> 00:16:25,685 Princess LaVonne. 348 00:16:25,855 --> 00:16:29,035 King: And so he would put on makeup, wear a dress, 349 00:16:29,205 --> 00:16:30,735 and he would perform as a woman. 350 00:16:32,035 --> 00:16:33,645 Homosexuality is illegal. 351 00:16:34,735 --> 00:16:36,395 Cross-dressing is illegal. 352 00:16:37,125 --> 00:16:40,355 It was seen as acceptable only because of the context. 353 00:16:40,955 --> 00:16:43,135 Hadley: You know, this is happening late at night. 354 00:16:43,315 --> 00:16:46,264 People are drinking, and it allows for the lines 355 00:16:46,444 --> 00:16:48,354 of reality to become soft 356 00:16:48,834 --> 00:16:51,624 and for people to imagine and to conjure. 357 00:16:53,184 --> 00:16:56,014 Nyong'o: So this traveling world was crucial, 358 00:16:56,234 --> 00:16:59,504 particularly for any gender-nonconforming, 359 00:16:59,674 --> 00:17:01,544 queer performer 360 00:17:01,804 --> 00:17:04,334 who maybe didn't really feel welcome 361 00:17:04,504 --> 00:17:06,944 in their home or home community. 362 00:17:14,253 --> 00:17:16,213 Little Richard: I was working in Atlanta, Georgia, 363 00:17:16,383 --> 00:17:17,433 at the Royal Peacock, 364 00:17:18,953 --> 00:17:20,783 and I met a singer named Billy Wright. 365 00:17:20,953 --> 00:17:22,433 [upbeat piano playing] 366 00:17:22,613 --> 00:17:24,223 He wore green suits and green and gold shoes. 367 00:17:24,393 --> 00:17:25,913 I'd never seen a man dressed like that. 368 00:17:26,173 --> 00:17:29,353 ♪ Yes, I remember ♪ 369 00:17:30,133 --> 00:17:32,662 ♪ All the things that we used to do ♪ 370 00:17:32,832 --> 00:17:34,012 Little Richard: I idolized him. 371 00:17:34,752 --> 00:17:36,182 It wasn't his voice that got me. 372 00:17:36,362 --> 00:17:37,752 I liked the way he looked. 373 00:17:37,922 --> 00:17:39,192 Billy Wright. 374 00:17:39,362 --> 00:17:41,062 He had the high pompadour. 375 00:17:41,232 --> 00:17:42,712 The pancake makeup. 376 00:17:43,102 --> 00:17:46,022 Anthony: The mascara and the little pencil mustache. 377 00:17:47,332 --> 00:17:49,372 He was also openly gay. 378 00:17:50,552 --> 00:17:52,291 Little Richard: I had already started wearing the hair, 379 00:17:52,461 --> 00:17:55,201 but when I saw him, I started sweeping it back on the side. 380 00:17:56,731 --> 00:17:58,601 Anthony: And then Billy helped Richard 381 00:17:58,771 --> 00:18:00,211 get his first record deal. 382 00:18:00,991 --> 00:18:02,381 Little Richard: They recorded me 383 00:18:02,561 --> 00:18:04,471 in the lobby of the radio station. 384 00:18:04,651 --> 00:18:06,131 Wasn't no studio. 385 00:18:06,301 --> 00:18:09,741 ♪ Taxi, taxi Take me anywhere ♪ 386 00:18:09,911 --> 00:18:12,051 It was popular in Macon and in Atlanta. 387 00:18:12,221 --> 00:18:13,831 ♪ Taxi, taxi... ♪ 388 00:18:14,001 --> 00:18:15,530 King: Richard becomes more famous in Macon, 389 00:18:15,700 --> 00:18:17,490 and his father starts playing these songs 390 00:18:17,660 --> 00:18:19,310 around the clock at the club. 391 00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:23,270 Richard said for the first time in his life, 392 00:18:23,450 --> 00:18:24,750 his father was proud of him. 393 00:18:25,930 --> 00:18:27,580 And Bud Penniman actually welcomes 394 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,410 Richard back into the family home. 395 00:18:31,370 --> 00:18:32,680 One night, I would sit there all night 396 00:18:32,850 --> 00:18:34,550 and watch people get off the bus, you know? 397 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:35,630 You know, you understand. 398 00:18:36,290 --> 00:18:38,679 And he got off. I said, "Oh, boy." 399 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:43,429 He said, "I play piano." I said, "I sing." 400 00:18:43,639 --> 00:18:44,769 So we got together. 401 00:18:46,519 --> 00:18:49,389 King: He had a flamboyant, wild-child style. 402 00:18:49,559 --> 00:18:51,909 He would stand up while playing piano. 403 00:18:52,479 --> 00:18:55,439 Hadley: Esquerita, who is also queer, 404 00:18:55,609 --> 00:18:57,399 taught him how to play piano. 405 00:18:57,569 --> 00:18:59,398 He's a hard guy to get along with, 406 00:18:59,568 --> 00:19:01,358 but he taught me how to play. Thank you, Esquerita, 407 00:19:01,528 --> 00:19:02,748 wherever you are. 408 00:19:04,618 --> 00:19:06,488 Robinson: I think when people talk about Billy Wright 409 00:19:06,668 --> 00:19:08,448 or Esquerita's influence, they're like, 410 00:19:08,618 --> 00:19:11,098 "Oh, well, Little Richard just stole his whole swag." 411 00:19:11,928 --> 00:19:15,198 I think that's not exactly what's happening. 412 00:19:16,938 --> 00:19:19,548 It is another case of witness. 413 00:19:20,548 --> 00:19:24,377 They are kind of like the mirrors 414 00:19:24,547 --> 00:19:28,337 that come into your life to show you who you really are. 415 00:19:31,257 --> 00:19:32,777 [piano plays] 416 00:19:33,607 --> 00:19:34,687 Sounds so sad. 417 00:19:36,697 --> 00:19:37,997 Isn't that sad? 418 00:19:40,347 --> 00:19:42,047 Whoo-whee, it make you cry. 419 00:19:42,747 --> 00:19:44,526 That was my daddy's favorite song. 420 00:19:44,696 --> 00:19:46,176 It was called "Chain of Love." 421 00:19:49,006 --> 00:19:50,616 King: Richard told his father he could help take care 422 00:19:50,796 --> 00:19:52,276 of the family financially, 423 00:19:52,446 --> 00:19:54,016 but he didn't have a way to get around. 424 00:19:55,366 --> 00:19:57,316 So he told me he was gonna help me get a car. 425 00:19:57,496 --> 00:19:59,366 But he died that Friday night. 426 00:19:59,536 --> 00:20:01,716 When I came from the club, he was dead. 427 00:20:01,976 --> 00:20:03,506 [somber music playing] 428 00:20:03,676 --> 00:20:05,285 King: Richard's best friend shot him. 429 00:20:17,335 --> 00:20:19,165 In order to help support his family, 430 00:20:19,345 --> 00:20:21,735 he's a dishwasher at a Greyhound bus station. 431 00:20:21,955 --> 00:20:23,475 [dishes clattering] 432 00:20:23,655 --> 00:20:25,345 Little Richard: I was making $15 a week. 433 00:20:27,174 --> 00:20:28,434 And couldn't eat in the restaurant 434 00:20:28,614 --> 00:20:30,094 where I was fixing the stuff. 435 00:20:30,264 --> 00:20:31,524 Interviewer: They wouldn't let you eat? 436 00:20:31,704 --> 00:20:32,834 No, you couldn't eat there. 437 00:20:33,054 --> 00:20:33,704 You couldn't go to the bathroom either. 438 00:20:35,484 --> 00:20:36,884 I loved my mother so much, 439 00:20:37,054 --> 00:20:39,054 and I was determined to be something, 440 00:20:39,234 --> 00:20:41,144 to make something out of myself to help her. 441 00:20:48,154 --> 00:20:51,193 Hadley: He's still working the touring circuit. 442 00:20:52,853 --> 00:20:56,813 And he's part of groups that are touring all over the South. 443 00:20:59,553 --> 00:21:02,083 Connor: 444 00:21:30,412 --> 00:21:31,712 [laughs] 445 00:21:52,821 --> 00:21:54,481 ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ 446 00:21:54,651 --> 00:21:57,350 ♪ Hey, hey ♪ 447 00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:59,610 Price: I was in Augusta, Georgia, 448 00:21:59,790 --> 00:22:03,140 and Richard came over with all this makeup and this loud suit. 449 00:22:04,350 --> 00:22:05,880 I'd never seen anybody like Richard. 450 00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:07,710 He had run into Lloyd Price, 451 00:22:08,050 --> 00:22:10,100 a big hit record with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." 452 00:22:10,270 --> 00:22:11,710 ♪ ...feels so good today ♪ 453 00:22:12,190 --> 00:22:14,060 Price: I had this white and red Cadillac. 454 00:22:14,230 --> 00:22:16,500 He said, "I want a car just like that." 455 00:22:16,850 --> 00:22:19,629 "I want to get out of Georgia. You got to help me." 456 00:22:20,239 --> 00:22:22,019 And he says, "Make a demo 457 00:22:22,199 --> 00:22:25,419 and send it to Art Rupe at Specialty Records." 458 00:22:25,589 --> 00:22:26,769 Of course, the rest of it is history. 459 00:22:26,939 --> 00:22:29,159 [applause] 460 00:22:29,339 --> 00:22:31,559 Little Richard: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. 461 00:22:35,999 --> 00:22:37,429 ♪ Baby ♪ 462 00:22:39,559 --> 00:22:42,958 ♪ Don't you wish your man had long hair like mine? ♪ 463 00:22:43,258 --> 00:22:44,918 ♪ Yeah ♪ 464 00:22:45,398 --> 00:22:48,358 Vera: Art Rupe and his A&R man, "Bumps" Blackwell, 465 00:22:48,528 --> 00:22:51,838 listened to Little Richard's demo. 466 00:22:52,318 --> 00:22:53,318 Didn't think much of him. 467 00:22:55,488 --> 00:22:58,668 But Richard was constantly pestering the secretaries. 468 00:22:58,838 --> 00:23:00,928 And the persistence paid off. 469 00:23:02,627 --> 00:23:05,197 Rupe said, okay, meet him down in New Orleans. 470 00:23:05,367 --> 00:23:06,767 He's playing down there. 471 00:23:06,937 --> 00:23:08,637 Do a session at Cosimo's with him. 472 00:23:11,117 --> 00:23:12,467 The back of a furniture store 473 00:23:12,637 --> 00:23:14,027 on Rampart Street. 474 00:23:14,207 --> 00:23:16,077 That's where we were recording. 475 00:23:16,247 --> 00:23:18,117 Tyler: Very small place. 476 00:23:18,297 --> 00:23:20,207 It looked like a hot dog stand. 477 00:23:22,257 --> 00:23:24,086 Interviewer: When you first saw and heard Little Richard, 478 00:23:24,256 --> 00:23:25,346 what your impressions of him were? 479 00:23:25,516 --> 00:23:26,736 - Wow. - Wow. 480 00:23:26,916 --> 00:23:29,046 Both: [laugh] 481 00:23:29,216 --> 00:23:30,696 I was beautiful. 482 00:23:30,876 --> 00:23:32,226 And they wasn't used to being around no young, 483 00:23:32,396 --> 00:23:33,786 good-looking guy like me. 484 00:23:34,616 --> 00:23:36,056 I'm not conceited, either. 485 00:23:36,226 --> 00:23:40,226 Little Richard came in flitty, running, 486 00:23:41,016 --> 00:23:43,446 and he was a very... 487 00:23:43,626 --> 00:23:45,276 well, he was very beautiful. 488 00:23:46,585 --> 00:23:48,325 Little Richard: When I went in, 489 00:23:48,585 --> 00:23:50,635 they wanted me to sound like Ray Charles and B.B. King. 490 00:23:51,765 --> 00:23:53,985 ♪ I'm all alone ♪ 491 00:23:55,635 --> 00:23:58,815 ♪ Alone in this world ♪ 492 00:23:58,985 --> 00:24:01,295 ♪ I'm all alone ♪ 493 00:24:01,775 --> 00:24:04,555 They wouldn't let me sing like Little Richard. 494 00:24:05,125 --> 00:24:08,084 They had me imitating these people. 495 00:24:08,694 --> 00:24:11,654 But blues was not what I really felt. 496 00:24:13,264 --> 00:24:14,614 I wanted to sound different. 497 00:24:14,954 --> 00:24:16,564 Me and young kids, we was tired of all that slow music. 498 00:24:17,304 --> 00:24:18,874 Blackwell: I just stopped the session 499 00:24:19,044 --> 00:24:20,444 because we just were not getting anywhere. 500 00:24:21,664 --> 00:24:23,314 So they take a lunch break 501 00:24:23,484 --> 00:24:25,534 and they go over to the Dew Drop Inn. 502 00:24:25,704 --> 00:24:27,054 [cheering] 503 00:24:27,624 --> 00:24:29,794 Blackwell: All of the boosters, rounders, pimps, whores 504 00:24:29,974 --> 00:24:31,453 just hanging around, 505 00:24:32,063 --> 00:24:33,763 and there was a piano. 506 00:24:34,453 --> 00:24:37,853 And that was when I began to know and understand Richard. 507 00:24:38,413 --> 00:24:41,503 [cheering] 508 00:24:55,172 --> 00:24:57,172 Little Richard: They didn't know that I play piano. 509 00:24:58,872 --> 00:25:01,482 So I started singing "Tutti Frutti" loud as I can. 510 00:25:02,092 --> 00:25:04,482 ♪ A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop a-good-hot-damn ♪ 511 00:25:04,662 --> 00:25:06,742 ♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪ 512 00:25:06,922 --> 00:25:09,232 ♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪ 513 00:25:09,402 --> 00:25:11,442 ♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪ 514 00:25:11,622 --> 00:25:14,062 ♪ Tutti frutti, good booty ♪ 515 00:25:14,232 --> 00:25:16,321 ♪ If it don't fit, don't force it ♪ 516 00:25:16,491 --> 00:25:18,671 ♪ You can grease it, make it easy ♪ 517 00:25:18,841 --> 00:25:20,321 [piano playing] 518 00:25:20,501 --> 00:25:21,451 King: But the lyrics to "Tutti Frutti" 519 00:25:21,631 --> 00:25:23,331 are about anal sex. 520 00:25:23,541 --> 00:25:25,721 That's what they're about. They're about penetration. 521 00:25:25,941 --> 00:25:27,461 [piano music continues] 522 00:25:27,631 --> 00:25:30,461 Vera: Bumps' ears prick up, and he says 523 00:25:30,681 --> 00:25:32,421 "That sounds like it could be a hit." 524 00:25:32,601 --> 00:25:33,821 ♪ Tutti frutti ♪ 525 00:25:34,341 --> 00:25:35,991 Vera: But the lyrics were too lewd 526 00:25:36,171 --> 00:25:38,520 to ever get airplay on the radio. 527 00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:41,910 So he spots Dorothy across the room. 528 00:25:42,390 --> 00:25:44,650 Dorothy says, "You think you could clean up this lyric?" 529 00:25:44,870 --> 00:25:46,040 Interviewer: Pretty nasty lyric? 530 00:25:46,220 --> 00:25:48,180 Yes, nasty. Nasty, nasty. 531 00:25:48,350 --> 00:25:50,440 Dorothy said it was dirty. Never nothing dirty. 532 00:25:50,610 --> 00:25:52,010 Dorothy, they was not that dirty. 533 00:25:52,180 --> 00:25:53,530 They were just as clean as you were. 534 00:25:55,050 --> 00:25:56,320 They say I needed her, 535 00:25:56,490 --> 00:25:58,010 so I accepted the fact that I did 536 00:25:58,190 --> 00:25:59,279 'cause I didn't know the record business. 537 00:26:04,629 --> 00:26:05,889 [music ends] 538 00:26:07,979 --> 00:26:10,679 Vera: So they go back for the session in the afternoon, 539 00:26:11,289 --> 00:26:13,199 put Richard on the piano. 540 00:26:13,379 --> 00:26:15,469 Palmer: Knew right off the bat it was different 541 00:26:15,639 --> 00:26:17,639 when he said, "Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom." 542 00:26:17,819 --> 00:26:19,559 I said, "What the hell is that?" 543 00:26:19,729 --> 00:26:20,728 Both: [laughing] 544 00:26:21,598 --> 00:26:23,168 Vera: And they did a couple of takes, 545 00:26:23,338 --> 00:26:24,818 and he sends it back to Rupe. 546 00:26:24,998 --> 00:26:27,038 And Rupe said "Yeah, this is different, man." 547 00:26:27,218 --> 00:26:28,568 Wasn't nothing out like it. 548 00:26:28,958 --> 00:26:30,698 And I was scared because didn't nobody sound like that. 549 00:26:30,868 --> 00:26:32,608 I said, "Man, they gonna laugh at me." 550 00:26:33,348 --> 00:26:35,748 Put it out and it... boom. 551 00:26:35,918 --> 00:26:37,658 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom ♪ 552 00:26:37,838 --> 00:26:39,968 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 553 00:26:40,138 --> 00:26:42,318 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie Whoa ♪ 554 00:26:42,488 --> 00:26:44,187 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 555 00:26:44,617 --> 00:26:46,667 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 556 00:26:46,837 --> 00:26:49,187 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 557 00:26:49,367 --> 00:26:52,327 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop ba ba ♪ 558 00:26:52,497 --> 00:26:53,977 Little Richard: One night I was sitting at the house 559 00:26:54,157 --> 00:26:55,637 in Macon, Georgia, my mama and them. 560 00:26:55,807 --> 00:26:58,117 WLAC from Nashville, Tennessee. Gene Nobles. 561 00:26:58,287 --> 00:27:00,897 He said, "We got a new record by a guy called Little Richard, 562 00:27:01,077 --> 00:27:03,507 and it's taken this country by storm." 563 00:27:03,687 --> 00:27:05,906 He said "It's the most requested record we ever had." 564 00:27:06,076 --> 00:27:07,556 I said, "Ma, that's me." 565 00:27:07,726 --> 00:27:09,386 They didn't know I was Little Richard. 566 00:27:09,556 --> 00:27:10,956 [laughs] 567 00:27:11,126 --> 00:27:12,906 I said, "That's me, Ma." I said I'm a star. 568 00:27:13,086 --> 00:27:14,606 She said, "Shut your mouth, boy." 569 00:27:15,786 --> 00:27:17,266 I said "Mama, I'm a star." 570 00:27:17,436 --> 00:27:19,656 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop, whoo! ♪ 571 00:27:19,916 --> 00:27:21,566 - [upbeat piano playing] - [explosion] 572 00:27:24,396 --> 00:27:26,486 Little Richard: This Black music was so intense, 573 00:27:26,666 --> 00:27:29,145 it was so full of power and rhythm. 574 00:27:29,365 --> 00:27:32,975 It was so full of a fervency and having fun. 575 00:27:33,195 --> 00:27:37,025 [upbeat piano continues] 576 00:27:45,555 --> 00:27:46,945 ♪ Oh, tutti frutti ♪ 577 00:27:47,115 --> 00:27:48,335 King: Sort of like the Big Bang. 578 00:27:48,505 --> 00:27:50,334 A shot out of a cannon. 579 00:27:50,514 --> 00:27:53,604 So explosive. It's so ferocious. 580 00:27:53,774 --> 00:27:55,294 ♪ Oh, rootie ♪ 581 00:27:55,474 --> 00:27:57,304 King: It just sounds like nothing else. 582 00:27:57,474 --> 00:27:59,824 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boo ♪ 583 00:27:59,994 --> 00:28:02,874 [mellow music playing] 584 00:28:05,484 --> 00:28:08,664 Porter: Little Richard's music is so infectious. 585 00:28:10,354 --> 00:28:12,663 Infused with so much joy. 586 00:28:16,233 --> 00:28:20,673 King: All of this post-war aching, yearning 587 00:28:20,843 --> 00:28:26,333 teenage horniness and desire to be erotically free. 588 00:28:26,503 --> 00:28:29,593 Put it into a musical form that people could feel. 589 00:28:29,763 --> 00:28:31,333 Ooh-whee! 590 00:28:37,382 --> 00:28:38,512 When I came out with "Tutti Frutti," 591 00:28:38,692 --> 00:28:40,382 it was considered race music 592 00:28:40,562 --> 00:28:42,252 only played on Black stations. 593 00:28:42,432 --> 00:28:44,822 Black records was played for Black people only. 594 00:28:45,002 --> 00:28:47,522 There is music and then there's Black music. 595 00:28:47,692 --> 00:28:51,482 When Black people make music, it's pejoratively characterized 596 00:28:51,652 --> 00:28:53,312 and classified as race music. 597 00:28:53,482 --> 00:28:54,962 Black records wasn't getting played 598 00:28:55,142 --> 00:28:57,051 on white stations even at that period. 599 00:28:57,231 --> 00:28:59,711 Yeah, but you know what, the kids found it. 600 00:28:59,881 --> 00:29:01,061 We're going to hit you with 601 00:29:01,361 --> 00:29:02,801 one of the top vocal groups in the nation. 602 00:29:02,971 --> 00:29:04,361 King: Part of that change has to do with 603 00:29:04,541 --> 00:29:06,411 the rise of independent deejays, 604 00:29:07,801 --> 00:29:10,721 of transistor radios, which are in cars. 605 00:29:11,981 --> 00:29:13,811 And so you have white kids driving in cars 606 00:29:13,981 --> 00:29:15,941 with new transistor radios, 607 00:29:16,111 --> 00:29:19,290 listening to deejays who are playing Black music, 608 00:29:20,030 --> 00:29:22,030 which had previously been a kind of underground music, 609 00:29:22,210 --> 00:29:23,380 especially R&B. 610 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,520 Freed: This is Alan Freed, kids, rolling right along, 611 00:29:26,690 --> 00:29:28,560 and they're really rockin' and rollin' tonight. 612 00:29:28,740 --> 00:29:31,000 Hadley: People like Alan Freed would go on to popularize, 613 00:29:31,170 --> 00:29:32,870 he didn't invent, but popularized 614 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:34,650 the term rock 'n' roll. 615 00:29:36,530 --> 00:29:38,310 Waters: All white kids in Baltimore grew up 616 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,099 listening to the three Black stations, 617 00:29:41,269 --> 00:29:44,099 WEBB, WSID, WWIN. 618 00:29:44,269 --> 00:29:46,879 Even racists listened and loved 619 00:29:47,059 --> 00:29:48,889 all Black music in teenage Baltimore. 620 00:29:50,669 --> 00:29:52,589 We haven't always had teenagers, 621 00:29:52,759 --> 00:29:54,019 strange as it sounds. 622 00:29:54,629 --> 00:29:58,289 The concept of the teenager really didn't exist, per se, 623 00:29:58,459 --> 00:29:59,679 in the way that we know it now. 624 00:30:00,639 --> 00:30:03,158 This music is teens. 625 00:30:03,468 --> 00:30:05,548 [rock music playing] 626 00:30:06,688 --> 00:30:09,078 Robinson: There's a freedom being a teenager. 627 00:30:09,248 --> 00:30:11,868 You should experiment. 628 00:30:12,038 --> 00:30:13,348 You should be different. 629 00:30:15,348 --> 00:30:16,958 And then you're supposed to grow up 630 00:30:17,128 --> 00:30:18,958 and get back into the normative box. 631 00:30:19,528 --> 00:30:22,478 But Little Richard is the icon 632 00:30:23,088 --> 00:30:25,227 for that next generation of teens who's like, 633 00:30:25,397 --> 00:30:27,007 "Oh, we're not getting in the box." 634 00:30:27,187 --> 00:30:30,187 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom ♪ 635 00:30:33,017 --> 00:30:36,717 King: By now, record labels are looking to sign artists 636 00:30:36,887 --> 00:30:39,627 who can speak to this underground Black music 637 00:30:39,807 --> 00:30:41,677 that is becoming popular with white kids. 638 00:30:43,417 --> 00:30:44,897 Little Richard: They didn't want that Black image 639 00:30:45,067 --> 00:30:46,856 - over their kids. - [cash register chiming] 640 00:30:47,026 --> 00:30:48,336 Little Richard: They didn't want the white kids looking up 641 00:30:48,506 --> 00:30:50,246 at this big old greasy Black guy 642 00:30:50,426 --> 00:30:52,426 singing and screaming and beaming and steaming. 643 00:30:52,596 --> 00:30:54,206 They said "No, no, no." 644 00:30:54,386 --> 00:30:56,126 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom ♪ 645 00:30:56,296 --> 00:30:57,946 ♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪ 646 00:30:58,126 --> 00:30:59,516 Little Richard: And so what they did was they said, 647 00:30:59,696 --> 00:31:01,386 "We're gonna put the white butts on it." 648 00:31:02,046 --> 00:31:04,046 ♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪ 649 00:31:04,216 --> 00:31:06,136 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom ♪ 650 00:31:06,876 --> 00:31:09,615 When Elvis couldn't stop me, they put Pat Boone on me. 651 00:31:09,785 --> 00:31:11,835 ♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪ 652 00:31:12,005 --> 00:31:13,875 ♪ She knows just what to do ♪ 653 00:31:14,055 --> 00:31:16,535 ♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪ 654 00:31:16,705 --> 00:31:19,145 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom ♪ 655 00:31:19,315 --> 00:31:20,495 Audience: [laughing] 656 00:31:20,665 --> 00:31:22,325 It's hard to keep a straight face 657 00:31:22,495 --> 00:31:24,195 when I talk about the Pat Boone covers. 658 00:31:24,935 --> 00:31:27,545 I mean, it's no contest there, 659 00:31:27,715 --> 00:31:29,115 no matter what race you are. 660 00:31:29,805 --> 00:31:31,594 Hadley: This was a common practice, 661 00:31:31,764 --> 00:31:34,854 and it says something profound about American culture 662 00:31:35,034 --> 00:31:36,554 that I think is still true, 663 00:31:37,074 --> 00:31:38,514 that Black music 664 00:31:38,684 --> 00:31:42,734 is the wellspring of American popular music. 665 00:31:42,904 --> 00:31:44,514 But at the same time, 666 00:31:44,694 --> 00:31:46,824 these are industries and societies 667 00:31:46,994 --> 00:31:50,084 that very often do not value Black creators. 668 00:31:50,264 --> 00:31:51,824 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop... ♪ 669 00:31:52,004 --> 00:31:55,353 Hadley: Or want the Blackness toned down. 670 00:31:57,663 --> 00:32:01,363 I was very disgusted because I was just coming on the scene 671 00:32:01,533 --> 00:32:04,273 and all the white girls were screaming over me, 672 00:32:04,453 --> 00:32:06,583 and the system didn't like it. 673 00:32:07,363 --> 00:32:10,193 I was not supposed to be the hero for their kids. 674 00:32:11,113 --> 00:32:12,673 Host: And here to sing it in person 675 00:32:12,853 --> 00:32:15,152 - is the man who made it a hit. - [applause] 676 00:32:15,332 --> 00:32:17,422 Did you know that Elvis Presley and Pat Boone 677 00:32:17,592 --> 00:32:19,982 sold more of "Tutti Frutti" than I did? 678 00:32:20,202 --> 00:32:23,122 Don't forget, Bumps and Richard 679 00:32:24,342 --> 00:32:27,472 were going to sell a million or a million and a half records 680 00:32:27,642 --> 00:32:29,602 if Pat Boone recorded that song. 681 00:32:29,952 --> 00:32:32,002 For which they would be paid as songwriters. 682 00:32:32,562 --> 00:32:35,302 I was getting a half a cent a record, which was very low. 683 00:32:35,482 --> 00:32:37,391 King: There were lots of shenanigans at that time 684 00:32:37,571 --> 00:32:39,521 with royalty payments. 685 00:32:39,701 --> 00:32:41,311 Little Richard: I didn't understand the contract. 686 00:32:41,571 --> 00:32:42,881 All I wanted to see was "Little Richard." 687 00:32:43,051 --> 00:32:44,491 When I saw that, I said, "I got a contract." 688 00:32:44,661 --> 00:32:45,791 I didn't even read that little part. 689 00:32:46,791 --> 00:32:48,451 [mellow music playing] 690 00:32:52,711 --> 00:32:54,761 That's my house right there on the left where I used to live. 691 00:32:54,931 --> 00:32:56,981 That's the first house I ever bought, right there. 692 00:32:57,671 --> 00:33:00,240 Specialty Records gave me an advance. 693 00:33:02,110 --> 00:33:03,900 I moved my mother and my brothers and sisters 694 00:33:04,070 --> 00:33:05,380 to Riverside, California. 695 00:33:07,070 --> 00:33:08,510 It was just beautiful 696 00:33:08,900 --> 00:33:10,340 to have an opportunity to live in a home like this. 697 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:12,990 It was a joy to give them something 698 00:33:13,170 --> 00:33:14,860 that I never had before. 699 00:33:17,210 --> 00:33:19,220 That's where I met Richard. 700 00:33:21,829 --> 00:33:25,529 He looked at me and he said, "Oh, we're gonna terrorize." 701 00:33:25,699 --> 00:33:26,879 [laughs] 702 00:33:28,919 --> 00:33:30,309 Java: I look like a girl. 703 00:33:32,059 --> 00:33:34,099 And he was just... 704 00:33:36,629 --> 00:33:38,189 so out there. 705 00:33:38,369 --> 00:33:40,459 I couldn't explain Richard. 706 00:33:41,149 --> 00:33:42,978 He came to my show. 707 00:33:43,148 --> 00:33:45,548 I came out in a big cape, 708 00:33:45,848 --> 00:33:48,988 and I would drop the cape to the floor. 709 00:33:50,288 --> 00:33:53,078 I was shaped a certain way. 710 00:33:53,378 --> 00:33:56,038 And they had never seen it before. 711 00:33:56,948 --> 00:34:00,998 He said, "Oh, if I knew you would turn out like that, 712 00:34:01,168 --> 00:34:04,698 me and you would have kicked it a long time ago." 713 00:34:04,867 --> 00:34:06,957 [laughs] 714 00:34:08,917 --> 00:34:11,827 I went to his house and I met his mother, 715 00:34:12,007 --> 00:34:14,227 and that delighted me. 716 00:34:14,397 --> 00:34:16,667 She was such a beautiful person. 717 00:34:16,927 --> 00:34:21,017 She knew who he was and what he was, 718 00:34:21,927 --> 00:34:24,367 and she loved him in spite of it. 719 00:34:26,976 --> 00:34:28,366 [car honking] 720 00:34:30,766 --> 00:34:32,766 Vera: Richard was back in New Orleans 721 00:34:32,936 --> 00:34:34,766 for a recording session. 722 00:34:35,946 --> 00:34:39,076 And he insisted upon using his road band 723 00:34:39,246 --> 00:34:40,816 instead of these 724 00:34:40,986 --> 00:34:42,776 crème de la crème musicians in New Orleans. 725 00:34:43,036 --> 00:34:44,556 ♪ Well, long, tall Sally ♪ 726 00:34:44,736 --> 00:34:46,216 ♪ She's built for speed, she got ♪ 727 00:34:46,646 --> 00:34:49,475 ♪ Everything that Uncle John need, oh, baby ♪ 728 00:34:49,735 --> 00:34:51,865 ♪ I saw Uncle John with long, tall Sally ♪ 729 00:34:52,045 --> 00:34:54,215 ♪ He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he went down the alley ♪ 730 00:34:54,395 --> 00:34:56,655 ♪ Oh, baby, yeah ♪ 731 00:34:56,875 --> 00:34:58,095 We upped the tempo 732 00:34:58,265 --> 00:34:59,925 and we got the words going so fast 733 00:35:00,095 --> 00:35:01,925 that Pat Boone couldn't get his mouth together to do it. 734 00:35:03,185 --> 00:35:04,925 He couldn't get that rhythm right. 735 00:35:05,185 --> 00:35:07,185 - Snyder: So nobody could do it? - They couldn't... [laughs] 736 00:35:08,665 --> 00:35:10,805 Vera: "Long Tall Sally" became an even bigger hit. 737 00:35:10,975 --> 00:35:13,234 And it actually became a gold record. 738 00:35:13,414 --> 00:35:15,104 Sold a million copies. 739 00:35:17,244 --> 00:35:20,594 ♪ Well, I saw Uncle John with bald-head Sally ♪ 740 00:35:20,764 --> 00:35:23,034 ♪ He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley ♪ 741 00:35:23,204 --> 00:35:24,464 ♪ Oh, baby ♪ 742 00:35:24,644 --> 00:35:26,944 ♪ Yes, baby ♪ 743 00:35:27,124 --> 00:35:28,294 ♪ Ooh ♪ 744 00:35:28,474 --> 00:35:30,294 [piano plays] 745 00:35:30,474 --> 00:35:33,383 King: Little Richard has an incredible string of hits. 746 00:35:34,303 --> 00:35:36,213 Little Richard: "Tutti Frutti," "Good Golly, Miss Molly," 747 00:35:36,393 --> 00:35:38,693 "Long Tall Sally," "Slippin' and Slidin'," 748 00:35:38,873 --> 00:35:41,573 "Jenny, Jenny," "Rip It Up," "Ready Teddy." 749 00:35:41,743 --> 00:35:44,133 [piano playing] 750 00:35:47,313 --> 00:35:49,313 ♪ Lucille ♪ 751 00:35:49,493 --> 00:35:52,013 ♪ Won't you do your sister's will ♪ 752 00:35:53,803 --> 00:35:55,492 ♪ Lucille ♪ 753 00:35:56,022 --> 00:35:59,982 ♪ Won't you do your sister's will ♪ 754 00:36:00,152 --> 00:36:03,852 ♪ You ran off and married, but I love you still ♪ 755 00:36:05,502 --> 00:36:09,162 The first songs that you love that your parents hate 756 00:36:09,332 --> 00:36:11,472 is the beginning of the soundtrack of your life. 757 00:36:11,902 --> 00:36:15,032 And in my case, it was most definitely "Lucille." 758 00:36:15,212 --> 00:36:17,342 ♪ I asked my friends about her, but all their lips were tight ♪ 759 00:36:17,521 --> 00:36:18,991 ♪ Lucille ♪ 760 00:36:19,431 --> 00:36:22,301 Little Richard gave me the fuel to rebel really, really early. 761 00:36:22,481 --> 00:36:25,041 I definitely stole some Little Richard records. 762 00:36:25,221 --> 00:36:26,221 I can't remember which, 763 00:36:26,921 --> 00:36:29,571 because I stole lots of records. 764 00:36:32,831 --> 00:36:34,791 King: Just on the level of piano alone, 765 00:36:34,971 --> 00:36:36,401 Little Richard is doing something 766 00:36:36,581 --> 00:36:38,801 that's really innovative and really fascinating. 767 00:36:38,971 --> 00:36:40,890 He's doing boogie-woogie on the left hand. 768 00:36:41,060 --> 00:36:43,280 [vocalizes] Right? 769 00:36:43,450 --> 00:36:45,150 On his right hand, 770 00:36:45,330 --> 00:36:49,370 he was influenced by hearing the piano playing of Ike Turner. 771 00:36:49,550 --> 00:36:52,330 [piano plays] 772 00:36:54,770 --> 00:36:57,730 King: Ike Turner played on one of the most defining tracks 773 00:36:57,900 --> 00:36:59,300 of early rock 'n' roll music, 774 00:36:59,470 --> 00:37:01,080 Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88." 775 00:37:03,039 --> 00:37:05,819 Ike Turner's right hand, it's really percussive. 776 00:37:07,569 --> 00:37:09,439 Little Richard was really inspired and said, 777 00:37:09,609 --> 00:37:10,789 "I want to do that." 778 00:37:11,179 --> 00:37:13,789 But he's doing it in this, like, raucous tempo. 779 00:37:13,959 --> 00:37:15,139 The percussion actually had to try 780 00:37:15,309 --> 00:37:16,659 to keep up with his right hand. 781 00:37:18,489 --> 00:37:20,449 Connor: 782 00:37:24,928 --> 00:37:26,108 [train chugging, whistle blowing] 783 00:37:34,848 --> 00:37:36,198 Of course, on top of all of this 784 00:37:36,378 --> 00:37:38,328 is Little Richard's incredible voice, right? 785 00:37:38,508 --> 00:37:40,598 That sort of preacher, 786 00:37:40,768 --> 00:37:43,948 gravelly, hardcore sound. 787 00:37:44,118 --> 00:37:45,907 - ♪ You work it, you work it ♪ - Choir: [sings] 788 00:37:46,077 --> 00:37:47,997 - ♪ You can talk about me ♪ - Choir: [sings] 789 00:37:48,167 --> 00:37:50,127 King: You can hear Brother Joe May, 790 00:37:50,297 --> 00:37:53,177 who Little Richard was deeply influenced by. 791 00:37:53,917 --> 00:37:56,307 ♪ And she shouted hallelujah ♪ 792 00:37:56,477 --> 00:37:58,787 Hadley: You can hear Clara Ward 793 00:38:00,137 --> 00:38:02,657 as well as Marion Williams. 794 00:38:04,617 --> 00:38:06,097 ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ 795 00:38:06,277 --> 00:38:08,146 Hadley: But he isn't only 796 00:38:08,316 --> 00:38:11,926 the amalgam of these different references. 797 00:38:13,496 --> 00:38:16,896 He isn't just a collection of things. 798 00:38:17,066 --> 00:38:20,066 There is something that he does 799 00:38:20,246 --> 00:38:23,076 that makes this gumbo of musical experiences 800 00:38:23,246 --> 00:38:24,726 uniquely his own. 801 00:38:26,426 --> 00:38:28,296 Little Richard: I remember when I played my first date, 802 00:38:28,466 --> 00:38:30,995 they had me on this tour called the Top Ten Show. 803 00:38:31,165 --> 00:38:34,215 Ruth Brown, Fats Domino, LaVern Baker. 804 00:38:34,645 --> 00:38:37,215 But I was at the bottom as an added attraction. 805 00:38:38,435 --> 00:38:40,305 And when the tour was over, 806 00:38:40,475 --> 00:38:42,875 I was the one headlining. 807 00:38:43,875 --> 00:38:45,835 ♪ Come on, shake it up ♪ 808 00:38:46,005 --> 00:38:47,485 Vera: Nobody could follow him, 809 00:38:47,835 --> 00:38:49,575 so he had to close the shows everywhere he played. 810 00:38:51,015 --> 00:38:52,364 Little Richard: Everybody was afraid of me 811 00:38:53,234 --> 00:38:54,664 because I was unpredictable. 812 00:38:54,844 --> 00:38:56,234 They didn't know what I was going to do. 813 00:38:57,534 --> 00:38:59,234 I would go up in the balcony of the auditorium 814 00:38:59,414 --> 00:39:00,844 and I would hide, 815 00:39:01,024 --> 00:39:02,764 and when they said "Little Richard," 816 00:39:02,934 --> 00:39:04,244 I would jump out the back, and the promoter would go, 817 00:39:04,414 --> 00:39:05,934 "Oh, Lord." 818 00:39:06,114 --> 00:39:08,284 And everybody'd be hollering and screaming. 819 00:39:08,464 --> 00:39:10,164 ♪ Ready, set, go, man, go ♪ 820 00:39:10,334 --> 00:39:12,074 ♪ I got a gal that I love ♪ 821 00:39:12,384 --> 00:39:13,384 Connor: 822 00:39:25,613 --> 00:39:28,573 Remember, in the 1950s, there's legal segregation. 823 00:39:28,743 --> 00:39:31,613 Black kids are not able to listen to music 824 00:39:31,793 --> 00:39:33,443 in the same spaces as white kids. 825 00:39:34,053 --> 00:39:35,623 Black and white musicians weren't allowed 826 00:39:35,793 --> 00:39:36,702 - to play together. - True. 827 00:39:37,052 --> 00:39:38,922 Connor: 828 00:39:48,852 --> 00:39:50,942 Little Richard: The white people start leaping over the balcony, 829 00:39:51,112 --> 00:39:52,552 and they got down with the Blacks. 830 00:39:54,462 --> 00:39:56,852 My music broke down the walls of segregation. 831 00:39:57,032 --> 00:39:58,861 [cheering, clapping rhythmically] 832 00:39:59,031 --> 00:40:02,081 Vera: There's something about this music 833 00:40:02,251 --> 00:40:06,301 that made Black and white kids want to be together. 834 00:40:06,521 --> 00:40:09,781 [cheering] 835 00:40:14,391 --> 00:40:15,871 There are artists before Little Richard 836 00:40:16,051 --> 00:40:17,531 who are able to cross over. 837 00:40:17,701 --> 00:40:20,051 Fats Domino, somebody who was also 838 00:40:20,231 --> 00:40:22,580 very much responsible for the early rock 'n' roll, 839 00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:24,840 who was not threatening 840 00:40:25,010 --> 00:40:26,410 to a lot of young white kids. 841 00:40:27,410 --> 00:40:29,540 But Little Richard was danger. 842 00:40:29,710 --> 00:40:31,020 [upbeat music playing] 843 00:40:31,410 --> 00:40:33,280 King: Little Richard is somebody who represented 844 00:40:33,460 --> 00:40:35,590 a complete upheaval 845 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:37,720 of the existing social system. 846 00:40:39,030 --> 00:40:40,460 He was singing about sex, 847 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,330 and he was singing about graphic sex. 848 00:40:42,510 --> 00:40:43,769 At the time, you weren't allowed 849 00:40:43,949 --> 00:40:45,599 to talk about graphic sex 850 00:40:45,769 --> 00:40:47,909 in the way that we are today in popular music. 851 00:40:48,079 --> 00:40:49,649 And so you had to code it. 852 00:40:49,819 --> 00:40:51,559 ♪ And ball tonight, ow! ♪ 853 00:40:51,739 --> 00:40:54,909 I mean, "Good Golly Miss Molly, you sure like to ball." 854 00:40:55,089 --> 00:40:58,389 I mean, I don't know what anybody else thinks it means, 855 00:40:58,569 --> 00:40:59,659 but I knew what it meant. 856 00:41:01,269 --> 00:41:03,309 He could project sex 857 00:41:03,829 --> 00:41:06,658 without being threatening. 858 00:41:08,188 --> 00:41:09,928 All my band boys had a makeup kit. 859 00:41:10,748 --> 00:41:11,888 Connor: 860 00:41:27,077 --> 00:41:28,377 Everybody was looking beautiful. 861 00:41:28,547 --> 00:41:30,907 Everybody was glamorous and looking good. 862 00:41:31,077 --> 00:41:33,077 The early 20th century word was shake. 863 00:41:33,857 --> 00:41:36,347 If you were shake, you had, like, really good hair, 864 00:41:36,517 --> 00:41:39,037 good skin, good makeup, you know, eyelashes, whatever. 865 00:41:39,217 --> 00:41:42,307 Like, the girls went crazy for that, right?[chuckles] 866 00:41:42,477 --> 00:41:45,437 He had panties thrown at him while he was performing. 867 00:41:46,177 --> 00:41:47,227 Connor: 868 00:41:55,146 --> 00:41:56,446 [music ends] 869 00:41:56,626 --> 00:41:58,106 Snyder: Here you came on Black... 870 00:41:58,276 --> 00:42:00,196 - Yes. Yes. - ...and gay... 871 00:42:00,366 --> 00:42:01,846 - ...and talented... - Little Richard: Yeah. 872 00:42:02,016 --> 00:42:03,456 ...and loud. 873 00:42:03,886 --> 00:42:05,156 But the one thing they wrote about you when you came on, 874 00:42:05,326 --> 00:42:06,976 you were absolutely 100% sure of yourself. 875 00:42:07,156 --> 00:42:08,416 Little Richard: That's right. 876 00:42:08,586 --> 00:42:09,896 Where did your confidence come from? 877 00:42:10,066 --> 00:42:12,075 Well, see, it wasn't just a gay thing. 878 00:42:12,245 --> 00:42:14,905 What it was is to be Black 879 00:42:15,075 --> 00:42:16,385 and to work for white girls, 880 00:42:16,555 --> 00:42:18,035 I had to look that way. 881 00:42:18,205 --> 00:42:20,865 If I didn't wear makeup and look effeminate, 882 00:42:21,035 --> 00:42:22,385 I couldn't work the white clubs. 883 00:42:22,565 --> 00:42:24,125 They wouldn't let me be with the white girls. 884 00:42:24,305 --> 00:42:26,565 - Snyder: You weren't a threat. - Yes. I wore it all. 885 00:42:26,735 --> 00:42:29,395 From wah-wah to whoo-whoo, I had it all on me. 886 00:42:29,565 --> 00:42:30,785 - Snyder: [laughs] - Sometimes boo-boo. 887 00:42:30,965 --> 00:42:32,265 That's the old Richard. 888 00:42:32,435 --> 00:42:34,314 - Ain't nothing to him. - Both: [laughing] 889 00:42:34,484 --> 00:42:36,314 Ain't a thing to him. 890 00:42:38,404 --> 00:42:39,664 Snyder: [laughs] 891 00:42:40,404 --> 00:42:43,584 Intuitively, it doesn't really quite make sense that the way 892 00:42:43,754 --> 00:42:46,364 that you would, like, make yourself more safe 893 00:42:46,544 --> 00:42:47,974 in America of that era is by 894 00:42:48,154 --> 00:42:49,764 exaggerating your queerness, right? 895 00:42:49,934 --> 00:42:53,024 I said, "Richard, aren't you afraid of, uh... 896 00:42:54,334 --> 00:42:56,243 people thinking that you're different?" 897 00:42:56,423 --> 00:42:59,333 And he said, "No. I don't give a damn what they think." 898 00:42:59,513 --> 00:43:03,203 I know of the evil feeling that you feel when you sing it 899 00:43:03,383 --> 00:43:04,473 and the beat. 900 00:43:04,643 --> 00:43:05,953 Man: That two-beat pattern 901 00:43:06,643 --> 00:43:09,473 is the music brought to the United States of America 902 00:43:09,653 --> 00:43:12,913 by the Communist conspiracy to corrupt teenagers. 903 00:43:13,083 --> 00:43:17,043 A means by which the white man and his children 904 00:43:17,223 --> 00:43:19,262 can be driven to the level with a Negro. 905 00:43:19,442 --> 00:43:21,442 It is obviously Negro music. 906 00:43:21,612 --> 00:43:24,492 "That red boy gonna come to town singing that Black music 907 00:43:24,662 --> 00:43:26,492 and gonna run our children crazy." 908 00:43:29,882 --> 00:43:32,152 Little Richard: I'd be afraid for a white girl to look at me. 909 00:43:33,282 --> 00:43:37,592 This is a radical, radical time. 910 00:43:37,762 --> 00:43:39,372 This is the same moment as Emmett Till. 911 00:43:39,551 --> 00:43:41,291 [pensive music playing] 912 00:43:41,461 --> 00:43:42,591 Little Richard: Bunch of white guys will follow you 913 00:43:42,771 --> 00:43:44,201 and hang you in a tree. 914 00:43:45,811 --> 00:43:48,601 Nyong'o: So what's revolutionary 915 00:43:48,771 --> 00:43:51,691 about this Black exuberance 916 00:43:51,861 --> 00:43:55,131 is this capacity to own the right 917 00:43:55,301 --> 00:43:56,781 to be in the world 918 00:43:56,951 --> 00:44:00,221 that gets Emmett Till murdered. 919 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:04,050 Hendryx: I remember doing shows 920 00:44:04,220 --> 00:44:06,310 where people would throw things at us on stage. 921 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,880 You were driving a lot at night 922 00:44:11,060 --> 00:44:14,010 from one town to the next, 923 00:44:14,620 --> 00:44:16,500 and you wanted to stop for gas, 924 00:44:16,670 --> 00:44:19,110 but you were not welcome. 925 00:44:20,670 --> 00:44:23,150 Being run out of restaurants at gunpoint 926 00:44:23,330 --> 00:44:24,939 because you walked in the wrong door. 927 00:44:26,899 --> 00:44:29,639 Nyong'o: You could get thrown in jail for having long hair. 928 00:44:30,419 --> 00:44:32,419 It happened to Little Richard in Texas. 929 00:44:33,639 --> 00:44:36,039 King: Richard was arrested many times. 930 00:44:36,209 --> 00:44:37,859 Little Richard: I had the police take me off stage 931 00:44:38,039 --> 00:44:39,739 in Augusta, Georgia, a few miles from my hometown, 932 00:44:39,909 --> 00:44:41,219 and beat me with blackjacks. 933 00:44:42,999 --> 00:44:45,739 They said, "You're singing nigger music to white kids." 934 00:44:48,218 --> 00:44:51,268 Porter: In the face of insurmountable challenges, 935 00:44:51,438 --> 00:44:54,878 sometimes simply existing is a revolutionary act. 936 00:44:56,618 --> 00:44:58,578 We built a hell of a highway. 937 00:44:59,488 --> 00:45:00,628 And people are still driving on it. 938 00:45:00,798 --> 00:45:02,018 That's right. 939 00:45:02,188 --> 00:45:03,458 - And they ain't paying no toll. - No. 940 00:45:03,628 --> 00:45:05,758 [laughs] Whoo! 941 00:45:05,938 --> 00:45:08,717 This is before the height of the civil rights movement 942 00:45:08,897 --> 00:45:10,417 in the 1960s. 943 00:45:10,587 --> 00:45:12,897 They are concerned that the old order of the day, 944 00:45:13,067 --> 00:45:16,247 the relationships between Black and white teenagers, 945 00:45:16,417 --> 00:45:19,167 is going to become something that they can no longer contain. 946 00:45:23,687 --> 00:45:25,827 ♪ If she walks by the men folks get engrossed ♪ 947 00:45:26,087 --> 00:45:28,437 Waters: I used to go see all the rock 'n' roll movies. 948 00:45:29,387 --> 00:45:31,306 The Girl Can't Help It was the very first time 949 00:45:31,476 --> 00:45:32,956 I actually saw him live, singing. 950 00:45:33,136 --> 00:45:35,266 ♪ Ready, set, go, man, go ♪ 951 00:45:35,436 --> 00:45:37,316 ♪ I've got a gal that I love so ♪ 952 00:45:37,486 --> 00:45:38,966 ♪ I'm ready ♪ 953 00:45:39,136 --> 00:45:40,876 ♪ Ready, ready, Teddy I'm ready ♪ 954 00:45:41,056 --> 00:45:43,186 It made the music even a thousand times better 955 00:45:43,356 --> 00:45:44,626 than it already was for me. 956 00:45:46,146 --> 00:45:48,536 He was gay, but I didn't really know that then. 957 00:45:48,716 --> 00:45:50,496 I knew something was different. 958 00:45:51,236 --> 00:45:54,065 He just became part of my identity. 959 00:45:54,715 --> 00:45:57,985 And Little Richard's mustache I wear to this day 960 00:45:58,155 --> 00:46:01,855 for over 50 years in a twisted tribute to him. 961 00:46:03,725 --> 00:46:06,295 And soThe Girl Can't Help It spread the word 962 00:46:06,465 --> 00:46:08,515 of rock 'n' roll to places 963 00:46:08,685 --> 00:46:10,255 that it hadn't quite gotten to yet. 964 00:46:11,605 --> 00:46:13,345 Jones: The film came to Britain. 965 00:46:15,524 --> 00:46:18,914 And it was so different from anything that I'd heard or seen. 966 00:46:20,614 --> 00:46:22,134 He was giving me more confidence 967 00:46:22,314 --> 00:46:24,224 that that's what I wanted to do. 968 00:46:26,834 --> 00:46:29,104 Because of the rock 'n' roll films, 969 00:46:29,274 --> 00:46:32,234 Little Richard became one of the main characters 970 00:46:32,404 --> 00:46:33,884 in rock 'n' roll. 971 00:46:34,064 --> 00:46:36,064 You know, there was Fats Domino, 972 00:46:36,284 --> 00:46:37,503 Chuck Berry, 973 00:46:37,973 --> 00:46:39,283 Elvis Presley 974 00:46:39,453 --> 00:46:40,853 and Jerry Lee Lewis, 975 00:46:41,373 --> 00:46:43,373 and then, of course, Little Richard. 976 00:46:44,203 --> 00:46:45,813 You know, it's like the big five. 977 00:46:46,203 --> 00:46:47,643 But Richard was... 978 00:46:48,203 --> 00:46:49,463 was the strongest. 979 00:46:54,513 --> 00:46:55,863 Was there a lot of sex going on? 980 00:46:56,043 --> 00:46:58,432 - Oh, yes. Oh, night and day. - [laughs] 981 00:46:58,602 --> 00:46:59,692 All night. 982 00:47:02,002 --> 00:47:03,912 I had all these orgies going on. 983 00:47:04,092 --> 00:47:07,262 Everybody liked to jack... masturbate. Everybody loves to. 984 00:47:07,442 --> 00:47:09,752 Everybody liked to go to orgies. Everybody. 985 00:47:09,922 --> 00:47:12,142 Some people wish they never had to leave. 986 00:47:12,312 --> 00:47:14,662 You know, I don't know why everybody said... [gasps] Oh. 987 00:47:14,882 --> 00:47:16,712 I just loved whatever came. 988 00:47:16,882 --> 00:47:18,452 You know, I didn't refuse nothing. 989 00:47:18,712 --> 00:47:21,631 If you knocked on my door, and I wanted more, for sure. 990 00:47:22,891 --> 00:47:25,281 Little Richard: Oh, she is a whupper. 991 00:47:26,151 --> 00:47:28,241 They should just keep Lee and take Angel off. 992 00:47:28,421 --> 00:47:29,811 [laughs] 993 00:47:30,071 --> 00:47:32,071 Richard's fantasies are the greatest on Earth. 994 00:47:32,861 --> 00:47:36,121 I believe that if he'd have been a screenwriter, 995 00:47:36,291 --> 00:47:39,471 he would have at least 9,988 films 996 00:47:39,641 --> 00:47:41,731 that would be extreme hits now. 997 00:47:43,210 --> 00:47:47,350 He said, "I want you to meet Lee Angel." 998 00:47:47,520 --> 00:47:50,390 I said, "Do you really like her, Richard?" 999 00:47:50,570 --> 00:47:53,220 He said, "Yeah. She got some good stuff." 1000 00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:54,920 Little Richard: She's a wonderful girl. 1001 00:47:55,100 --> 00:47:56,270 You know, she's beautiful. 1002 00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:58,360 She's loving. She's kind. 1003 00:47:58,530 --> 00:48:00,490 But Angel is the girl. She just enjoys sex. 1004 00:48:00,670 --> 00:48:01,580 And everybody does. 1005 00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:03,800 I said, "Oh." 1006 00:48:04,020 --> 00:48:06,719 "When'd you start screwing women?" 1007 00:48:06,889 --> 00:48:08,759 Well, he slept with me. 1008 00:48:09,669 --> 00:48:11,809 And I guarantee I'm all woman. 1009 00:48:12,369 --> 00:48:14,379 Interviewer: How old were you when you met Richard? 1010 00:48:14,549 --> 00:48:15,899 Sixteen. 1011 00:48:16,419 --> 00:48:19,859 I'm walking down West Broad Street in Savannah, 1012 00:48:20,689 --> 00:48:22,819 and someone came over to me and told me, 1013 00:48:22,989 --> 00:48:25,169 "Little Richard wants to meet you." 1014 00:48:25,859 --> 00:48:29,298 My response was, "Does he know I'm a girl?" 1015 00:48:30,998 --> 00:48:33,218 He always introduced me on the stage 1016 00:48:33,918 --> 00:48:36,048 just as I was his lady, 1017 00:48:36,218 --> 00:48:38,228 and I would have to stand up. 1018 00:48:39,308 --> 00:48:41,008 He asked me to marry him. 1019 00:48:43,528 --> 00:48:44,878 I couldn't do it. 1020 00:48:46,228 --> 00:48:47,628 Seventeen. 1021 00:48:48,318 --> 00:48:50,107 First time I was on my own. 1022 00:48:51,017 --> 00:48:52,237 He knew 1023 00:48:54,107 --> 00:48:57,677 that he had something inside of him 1024 00:48:58,807 --> 00:49:00,197 that was hard to bring out. 1025 00:49:01,597 --> 00:49:03,417 It was not going to come out now. 1026 00:49:04,427 --> 00:49:06,467 It would come out eventually. 1027 00:49:20,746 --> 00:49:22,046 Little Richard: I had been a... 1028 00:49:22,226 --> 00:49:24,136 a flash of lightning for two years. 1029 00:49:24,306 --> 00:49:25,746 - [thunder rumbling] - Little Richard: In fact, 1030 00:49:25,916 --> 00:49:27,316 you could just call me the living flame. 1031 00:49:28,356 --> 00:49:30,576 I was at the height to make the big money. 1032 00:49:31,706 --> 00:49:35,535 We headed on this tour going to Sydney, Australia. 1033 00:49:40,545 --> 00:49:44,245 The engines of the plane had turned red, really red. 1034 00:49:44,805 --> 00:49:46,765 To me, I thought the plane was on fire. 1035 00:49:47,115 --> 00:49:49,115 [melancholic music playing] 1036 00:49:50,555 --> 00:49:54,255 Robinson: He feels and sees that 1037 00:49:54,735 --> 00:49:57,694 angels are holding the plane up. 1038 00:49:58,824 --> 00:50:00,994 He's overcome by this vision, 1039 00:50:01,174 --> 00:50:02,914 and he's overcome by fear. 1040 00:50:04,694 --> 00:50:06,784 Little Richard: Then, after arriving in Sydney, 1041 00:50:07,044 --> 00:50:08,964 I was appearing there in a stadium, 1042 00:50:09,704 --> 00:50:12,444 and this ball of fire came over the stadium. 1043 00:50:13,664 --> 00:50:15,444 [bell tolling] 1044 00:50:15,624 --> 00:50:16,754 Little Richard: I've always heard from a little boy 1045 00:50:16,924 --> 00:50:18,233 that the world was going to end 1046 00:50:18,403 --> 00:50:19,753 and it was frightening, you know? 1047 00:50:20,933 --> 00:50:23,933 I just felt that God was speaking to me. 1048 00:50:26,803 --> 00:50:29,243 Robinson: Later, they say this is Sputnik. 1049 00:50:30,243 --> 00:50:31,593 But it doesn't matter. 1050 00:50:31,763 --> 00:50:33,853 Little Richard said he saw a fireball 1051 00:50:34,033 --> 00:50:36,073 after angels were holding up the plane, period. 1052 00:50:37,603 --> 00:50:40,862 He's like, "I got to cut this tour short." 1053 00:50:41,032 --> 00:50:42,862 "I need to get out of here." 1054 00:50:44,042 --> 00:50:45,732 Little Richard: I said "After these dates, 1055 00:50:45,912 --> 00:50:47,472 I'm going to stop singing." 1056 00:50:47,652 --> 00:50:49,222 "I'm going with the Lord." 1057 00:50:50,872 --> 00:50:52,782 One of the band boys said, 1058 00:50:52,962 --> 00:50:55,312 "If you're serious, throw your rings in the water." 1059 00:50:56,442 --> 00:50:59,232 We got on the ferry, and I threw them in the ocean. 1060 00:51:09,671 --> 00:51:12,331 Williams: We knew he was a rock 'n' roll star. 1061 00:51:12,981 --> 00:51:14,761 Why would he be coming to Oakwood? 1062 00:51:15,811 --> 00:51:18,331 Word spread he's not coming to give a concert. 1063 00:51:18,511 --> 00:51:19,811 He's coming as a student. 1064 00:51:22,161 --> 00:51:23,601 Winslow: Oakwood was the premiere 1065 00:51:23,770 --> 00:51:25,250 Black Seventh-day Adventist school. 1066 00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:28,910 Very conservative. 1067 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:29,910 I was a little boy. 1068 00:51:30,950 --> 00:51:32,910 My mother was a teacher. 1069 00:51:33,430 --> 00:51:35,910 I was old enough to know who he was. 1070 00:51:36,090 --> 00:51:38,960 But we didn't have rock 'n' roll on campus. 1071 00:51:39,130 --> 00:51:41,620 It was a sin to listen to Richard's music. 1072 00:51:43,050 --> 00:51:44,310 Williams: Shortly after he got there, 1073 00:51:44,490 --> 00:51:46,009 he gave his testimony. 1074 00:51:47,229 --> 00:51:49,059 He said he saw himself in hell. 1075 00:51:50,019 --> 00:51:52,839 He said he knew he wasn't ready to see the Lord 1076 00:51:53,189 --> 00:51:56,199 with what he was singing and how he was behaving. 1077 00:51:57,019 --> 00:51:58,499 He called it devil music. 1078 00:51:59,199 --> 00:52:00,589 Little Richard: The Lord is coming soon, 1079 00:52:00,769 --> 00:52:02,509 and I want to dedicate my life to God. 1080 00:52:02,679 --> 00:52:04,549 And I want to study, so I can help other people 1081 00:52:04,729 --> 00:52:07,079 that are doing wrong where they can be saved too. 1082 00:52:07,509 --> 00:52:10,508 Williams: He actually said if you have any of his records, 1083 00:52:10,688 --> 00:52:12,208 he would buy them back. 1084 00:52:12,388 --> 00:52:14,258 And he was going to have a bonfire. 1085 00:52:14,998 --> 00:52:16,608 He burned the records. 1086 00:52:18,088 --> 00:52:19,438 Cut his hair. 1087 00:52:20,738 --> 00:52:23,608 We just accepted him as a normal student. 1088 00:52:27,098 --> 00:52:29,178 Little Richard lived in the dorm. 1089 00:52:30,137 --> 00:52:32,187 He always had on a suit jacket. 1090 00:52:32,357 --> 00:52:35,187 And he had a big Bible that he carried with him. 1091 00:52:35,367 --> 00:52:37,237 And if you saw him coming, 1092 00:52:37,667 --> 00:52:40,587 you knew you might get stopped to be prayed with. 1093 00:52:41,457 --> 00:52:42,287 I liked him. 1094 00:52:42,457 --> 00:52:45,157 He had a real burden 1095 00:52:45,327 --> 00:52:48,157 for the salvation of souls. 1096 00:52:48,767 --> 00:52:50,677 And he liked to tell his story. 1097 00:52:54,076 --> 00:52:56,256 "As I have repent, you must repent." 1098 00:52:58,336 --> 00:52:59,906 Robinson: This is kind of the beginning 1099 00:53:00,086 --> 00:53:03,696 of his period with gospel music. 1100 00:53:04,256 --> 00:53:10,356 ♪ Precious Lord ♪ 1101 00:53:11,176 --> 00:53:15,835 ♪ Take my hand ♪ 1102 00:53:16,095 --> 00:53:20,055 Robinson: His vocal performance is so dramatically different. 1103 00:53:21,315 --> 00:53:23,325 I want to say restrained. 1104 00:53:25,545 --> 00:53:28,325 I'm like, "You ain't even bring the rock 'n' roll to the gospel 1105 00:53:28,505 --> 00:53:30,505 like Sister Rosetta Tharpe was doing." 1106 00:53:33,065 --> 00:53:34,985 Maybe that was him trying to be still. 1107 00:53:35,155 --> 00:53:37,634 ♪ I'm so weak ♪ 1108 00:53:37,814 --> 00:53:41,334 Java: He said that the Bible would be his only love. 1109 00:53:42,644 --> 00:53:46,904 He was a caring, loving person, 1110 00:53:47,124 --> 00:53:49,434 and I was very proud of that. 1111 00:53:50,874 --> 00:53:53,524 Robinson: Even in the sphere of sacred music, 1112 00:53:53,694 --> 00:53:57,224 he names an album "The King of Gospel Singers," 1113 00:53:57,834 --> 00:54:00,613 staking his claim for where his voice fits 1114 00:54:00,793 --> 00:54:02,833 in the pantheon of gospel singers. 1115 00:54:04,443 --> 00:54:06,323 Winslow: Richard met Ernestine, 1116 00:54:07,363 --> 00:54:10,673 and they got to be close as friends. 1117 00:54:11,453 --> 00:54:13,373 And she wanted to marry him, and he married her. 1118 00:54:19,723 --> 00:54:21,462 [song ends] 1119 00:54:22,382 --> 00:54:25,772 We were married at Richard's home in Los Angeles. 1120 00:54:26,942 --> 00:54:30,172 It was a very quiet, private service. 1121 00:54:31,342 --> 00:54:34,952 I didn't know anything about Richard before I met him. 1122 00:54:36,262 --> 00:54:40,442 I sneaked away and listened to some of his songs. 1123 00:54:41,612 --> 00:54:43,441 Richard was the kind of husband that 1124 00:54:43,611 --> 00:54:47,441 most women would want for a husband, 1125 00:54:48,051 --> 00:54:51,361 always positive, loving, and caring. 1126 00:54:53,011 --> 00:54:55,971 Williams: I think Little Richard wanted to do God's will, 1127 00:54:56,581 --> 00:54:59,111 but he lived a high lifestyle. 1128 00:54:59,281 --> 00:55:00,891 He had a nice home that he bought 1129 00:55:01,071 --> 00:55:03,111 for his mother and his family, 1130 00:55:03,681 --> 00:55:05,900 and church wasn't paying him. 1131 00:55:06,070 --> 00:55:07,550 He wasn't an ordained minister. 1132 00:55:08,070 --> 00:55:09,160 He needed money. 1133 00:55:12,820 --> 00:55:16,040 Newman: I was in a band called Sounds Incorporated. 1134 00:55:17,040 --> 00:55:18,650 We're told that we're going on the road 1135 00:55:18,820 --> 00:55:20,350 and we're backing Little Richard. 1136 00:55:21,090 --> 00:55:22,870 We're all saying "This is just... 1137 00:55:23,040 --> 00:55:24,520 this is beyond belief." 1138 00:55:24,700 --> 00:55:26,999 We all figured that he'd retired 1139 00:55:27,179 --> 00:55:28,749 and we wouldn't hear of him again. 1140 00:55:30,089 --> 00:55:31,839 All I can assume is 1141 00:55:32,009 --> 00:55:35,229 Don Arden told Richard it was a gospel tour. 1142 00:55:35,399 --> 00:55:36,709 [laughs] 1143 00:55:37,319 --> 00:55:38,709 There's a rehearsal called. 1144 00:55:39,799 --> 00:55:42,719 He had a sweater on him. I don't recognize him. 1145 00:55:43,499 --> 00:55:47,679 So we're not quite sure what to expect the first night. 1146 00:55:48,899 --> 00:55:50,588 So the band's riffing. 1147 00:55:50,768 --> 00:55:53,248 You know, "Now, from America, ladies and gentlemen, 1148 00:55:53,418 --> 00:55:54,898 we have Little Richard," 1149 00:55:55,078 --> 00:55:56,858 and he's not on stage. 1150 00:55:57,028 --> 00:55:58,168 He's not there. 1151 00:55:59,078 --> 00:56:00,818 From the balcony, we hear, 1152 00:56:00,998 --> 00:56:02,778 "I am an atom bomb," 1153 00:56:02,948 --> 00:56:05,428 with eyes wide open and a cape, 1154 00:56:06,128 --> 00:56:08,088 and he jumps off the balcony, 1155 00:56:08,258 --> 00:56:10,568 ran up to the stage, and... 1156 00:56:11,217 --> 00:56:12,787 ♪ A whole lot of shakin' ♪ 1157 00:56:12,957 --> 00:56:14,697 ♪ A whole lot of shakin' goin' on ♪ 1158 00:56:14,877 --> 00:56:16,307 ♪ Whoo ♪ 1159 00:56:16,577 --> 00:56:17,927 ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ 1160 00:56:18,487 --> 00:56:20,837 ♪ A whole lot of shakin' goin' on ♪ 1161 00:56:21,017 --> 00:56:23,667 Newman: I was rocketed into the fifth dimension. 1162 00:56:25,277 --> 00:56:27,057 I wasn't of this earth anymore. 1163 00:56:28,497 --> 00:56:31,237 All of a sudden, Richard jumped off the piano, 1164 00:56:31,417 --> 00:56:34,116 lying on the floor as if he was dead. 1165 00:56:34,286 --> 00:56:35,856 "Is there a doctor in the house?" 1166 00:56:36,026 --> 00:56:37,856 "Is there a doctor in the house?" 1167 00:56:40,246 --> 00:56:42,376 Richard would wake up all of a sudden 1168 00:56:42,946 --> 00:56:45,126 and play "Good Golly, Miss Molly." 1169 00:56:45,296 --> 00:56:47,556 ♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪ 1170 00:56:48,606 --> 00:56:50,256 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 1171 00:56:51,646 --> 00:56:53,826 Newman: Nearly every night, it escalated 1172 00:56:53,996 --> 00:56:56,875 into a full-blown riot in the theater. 1173 00:56:57,045 --> 00:56:58,525 [indistinct clamoring] 1174 00:56:58,705 --> 00:56:59,965 Newman: People have wrecked the seats. 1175 00:57:00,915 --> 00:57:02,615 - [dogs barking] - [cheering] 1176 00:57:02,795 --> 00:57:04,795 The police dogs are called. 1177 00:57:05,095 --> 00:57:07,975 ♪ Whoo! Sure like to ball ♪ 1178 00:57:08,145 --> 00:57:09,445 [cheering] 1179 00:57:10,015 --> 00:57:11,585 Newman: I remember coming off of that and thinking, 1180 00:57:11,755 --> 00:57:13,195 "Now, this is rock 'n' roll." 1181 00:57:19,154 --> 00:57:20,504 [music ends] 1182 00:57:20,674 --> 00:57:23,374 Crowd: [cheering, applauding] 1183 00:57:33,824 --> 00:57:35,254 [pensive music playing] 1184 00:57:36,434 --> 00:57:38,954 Little Richard: Brian Epstein brought me to Liverpool. 1185 00:57:40,043 --> 00:57:43,043 And when I walked in, he said, "Richard, I got four guys." 1186 00:57:43,223 --> 00:57:46,053 "Would you mind taking a picture with my group?" 1187 00:57:46,223 --> 00:57:47,223 [camera shutter clicks] 1188 00:57:50,013 --> 00:57:51,363 Little Richard: And they was nervous. 1189 00:57:52,013 --> 00:57:54,583 He said they never met no one famous before. 1190 00:57:57,283 --> 00:57:59,283 McCartney: Last day of school, we used to bring our guitars, 1191 00:57:59,453 --> 00:58:01,672 and I used to stand on a desk and do Little Richard. 1192 00:58:02,892 --> 00:58:04,202 Lennon: It's hard for people to imagine 1193 00:58:04,372 --> 00:58:06,112 how thrilled the four of us were. 1194 00:58:06,722 --> 00:58:09,552 We were just almost paralyzed with adoration. 1195 00:58:10,382 --> 00:58:11,722 They had never made a record. 1196 00:58:11,902 --> 00:58:13,382 Didn't nobody know them but their mothers. 1197 00:58:14,382 --> 00:58:17,562 I took them with me to Hamburg, Germany, to the Star Club. 1198 00:58:17,732 --> 00:58:20,172 Newman: That place was magical. 1199 00:58:20,392 --> 00:58:22,432 Wildness, debauchery, if you wanted it. 1200 00:58:23,392 --> 00:58:25,871 Richard just absolutely makes out. 1201 00:58:26,041 --> 00:58:27,571 Leather pants, 1202 00:58:27,741 --> 00:58:29,791 male stripper gear he had. 1203 00:58:30,921 --> 00:58:33,091 McCartney: Little Richard's organist was Billy Preston. 1204 00:58:33,961 --> 00:58:35,531 One night, George said, "Well, come on out here 1205 00:58:35,711 --> 00:58:37,101 and play the organ with us, you know?" 1206 00:58:38,361 --> 00:58:40,271 I said no, 'cause Little Richard would get mad, you know, 1207 00:58:40,451 --> 00:58:41,671 because he's the star. 1208 00:58:42,541 --> 00:58:43,891 McCartney: Hamburg, that was the real time 1209 00:58:44,061 --> 00:58:45,321 we got to know Little Richard. 1210 00:58:45,890 --> 00:58:47,630 We used to say, "Is it true you threw 1211 00:58:47,800 --> 00:58:49,720 all your rings off the bridge?" 1212 00:58:49,890 --> 00:58:51,940 [imitates Little Richard] "Well, of course it's true, child." 1213 00:58:52,500 --> 00:58:54,070 And we'd just sit there for hours, 1214 00:58:54,250 --> 00:58:56,550 like, kind of disciples in the dressing room. 1215 00:58:57,200 --> 00:58:59,510 Newman: I'd see Paul on the side of the stage 1216 00:58:59,690 --> 00:59:01,560 more than the rest of the band. 1217 00:59:02,690 --> 00:59:05,260 All my screaming numbers were to do with him. 1218 00:59:06,170 --> 00:59:08,259 Little Richard: Paul was the one that wanted to do the hollers. 1219 00:59:08,909 --> 00:59:11,519 I said, "Whoo," he would say, "Ooh, ooh." 1220 00:59:11,699 --> 00:59:13,919 [higher octave] "Whoo, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh." 1221 00:59:14,089 --> 00:59:15,659 Then next thing you know... [high pitched] "Whoo!" 1222 00:59:17,919 --> 00:59:20,489 [gentle music playing] 1223 00:59:20,659 --> 00:59:22,099 Jagger: It was one of my first tours, 1224 00:59:22,799 --> 00:59:25,669 and we were opening for Little Richard. 1225 00:59:26,409 --> 00:59:27,759 We were basically a cover band. 1226 00:59:27,929 --> 00:59:29,149 You know, we hadn't written much. 1227 00:59:29,319 --> 00:59:31,668 I would be by the side of the stage, 1228 00:59:31,848 --> 00:59:33,148 like, every night to watch him. 1229 00:59:35,458 --> 00:59:37,978 English bands, they were very static. 1230 00:59:40,028 --> 00:59:41,418 Watching Richard, see, 1231 00:59:41,598 --> 00:59:42,948 you don't have to stand there. 1232 00:59:43,118 --> 00:59:44,468 You use the whole stage. 1233 00:59:46,078 --> 00:59:47,988 Richard would work that audience, 1234 00:59:48,168 --> 00:59:50,388 get them up out of their seats, 1235 00:59:50,558 --> 00:59:52,827 swaying, shouting, waving their arms. 1236 00:59:52,997 --> 00:59:54,907 - Well, all right! - Audience: All right. 1237 00:59:55,087 --> 00:59:56,607 Jagger: Calling and responding stuff. 1238 00:59:56,787 --> 00:59:58,047 Audience: All right! 1239 00:59:58,827 --> 01:00:01,437 Thirty dates, so I saw Little Richard 30 times, 1240 01:00:01,617 --> 01:00:02,707 you know what I mean? 1241 01:00:04,577 --> 01:00:08,057 Later on, I realized he was, like, doing church 1242 01:00:08,227 --> 01:00:10,407 in a theater in northern England, basically. 1243 01:00:10,577 --> 01:00:11,757 [chuckles] 1244 01:00:15,536 --> 01:00:17,066 Crowd: [cheering, whistling] 1245 01:00:17,236 --> 01:00:18,756 We'd like to finish up with Little Richard's 1246 01:00:18,936 --> 01:00:20,236 "Long Tall Sally." 1247 01:00:20,416 --> 01:00:22,416 Crowd: [cheering, applauding] 1248 01:00:22,586 --> 01:00:24,546 ♪ Gonna tell Aunt Mary ♪ 1249 01:00:24,806 --> 01:00:26,416 ♪ 'Bout Uncle John ♪ 1250 01:00:26,726 --> 01:00:28,466 ♪ He claim he has the misery, but he's havin' a lot of fun ♪ 1251 01:00:28,636 --> 01:00:31,996 ♪ Oh, baby, yeah, my baby ♪ 1252 01:00:32,256 --> 01:00:34,206 ♪ Whoo ♪ 1253 01:00:34,386 --> 01:00:35,866 ♪ Baby ♪ 1254 01:00:36,036 --> 01:00:38,735 ♪ Some fun tonight, yeah ♪ 1255 01:00:39,735 --> 01:00:42,435 Crowd: [cheering, applauding] 1256 01:00:42,605 --> 01:00:44,395 [upbeat music playing] 1257 01:00:44,955 --> 01:00:46,305 King: Suddenly you had Black artists 1258 01:00:46,485 --> 01:00:48,095 who were displaced from the charts. 1259 01:00:49,525 --> 01:00:51,665 The innovations that they have brought have been stylized 1260 01:00:51,835 --> 01:00:54,145 and adopted by others who... 1261 01:00:54,315 --> 01:00:56,235 ♪ Well, long, tall Sally ♪ 1262 01:00:56,405 --> 01:00:59,014 ♪ She's built for speed, she got everything ♪ 1263 01:00:59,624 --> 01:01:01,884 King: ...generate way more success than they are able to. 1264 01:01:02,064 --> 01:01:02,974 ♪ Yeah ♪ 1265 01:01:05,064 --> 01:01:07,594 King: In America, Little Richard is 1266 01:01:07,764 --> 01:01:11,594 nowhere near where he was in the mid-1950s. 1267 01:01:11,764 --> 01:01:13,984 Hadley: This happens to a lot of Black artists, 1268 01:01:14,164 --> 01:01:17,164 going back to teenagers as fickle consumers. 1269 01:01:18,294 --> 01:01:21,513 We want fresh deliverers 1270 01:01:22,603 --> 01:01:24,733 of the innovation. 1271 01:01:28,223 --> 01:01:29,483 Hey, Richard. Welcome. 1272 01:01:29,653 --> 01:01:30,963 Audience: [cheering, applauding] 1273 01:01:33,223 --> 01:01:36,573 - [conversing indistinctly] - [applause continues] 1274 01:01:37,703 --> 01:01:40,363 You and Chuck have kind of taken England by storm. 1275 01:01:40,533 --> 01:01:43,062 How do you feel about other people borrowing your material? 1276 01:01:43,672 --> 01:01:45,752 Well, Dick, I must be truthful. 1277 01:01:45,932 --> 01:01:47,282 I am very grateful to know 1278 01:01:47,452 --> 01:01:50,452 that my material is the type of material 1279 01:01:50,632 --> 01:01:52,982 that the entertainers today would like to use. 1280 01:01:54,152 --> 01:01:56,162 Vera: He had a good body of work. 1281 01:01:56,332 --> 01:01:59,512 He had graduated to the level of show business where 1282 01:02:00,552 --> 01:02:02,082 you don't need a hit record 1283 01:02:03,122 --> 01:02:04,602 to continue to work. 1284 01:02:04,861 --> 01:02:06,951 Little Richard: Want everybody to sing back with me... 1285 01:02:07,121 --> 01:02:09,261 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom ♪ 1286 01:02:09,431 --> 01:02:11,431 Crowd: [cheering, applauding] 1287 01:02:11,611 --> 01:02:13,651 King: He and Ernestine are divorced, 1288 01:02:13,831 --> 01:02:15,741 and he was back to his old lifestyle. 1289 01:02:16,311 --> 01:02:17,701 He called up Bumps and says, 1290 01:02:17,961 --> 01:02:19,481 "I want to change my image." 1291 01:02:19,661 --> 01:02:21,921 "I want to come out loud and gaudy 1292 01:02:22,441 --> 01:02:23,751 as the living flame." 1293 01:02:25,231 --> 01:02:27,970 Winslow: We had a steamer trunk full of these outfits. 1294 01:02:29,450 --> 01:02:32,500 Tassels and flamboyant, pretty material. 1295 01:02:32,670 --> 01:02:34,060 Crowd: [cheering] 1296 01:02:34,240 --> 01:02:35,630 Winslow: And we played with everybody. 1297 01:02:36,280 --> 01:02:38,720 Crowd: [cheering] 1298 01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:42,810 But no matter where we went, Richard stole the show. 1299 01:02:44,120 --> 01:02:46,420 One time in Atlantic City, 1300 01:02:46,770 --> 01:02:49,909 Janis Joplin was killing the audience. 1301 01:02:50,079 --> 01:02:53,739 She had gotten about seven standing ovations, 1302 01:02:53,909 --> 01:02:56,169 and she literally passed out. 1303 01:02:56,349 --> 01:02:58,739 And I'm standing there saying, "Man, Richard's in trouble." 1304 01:02:58,909 --> 01:03:01,089 Richard told me, "Get back in the limousine." 1305 01:03:01,259 --> 01:03:04,399 "Go back to the hotel and bring me my mirror suit." 1306 01:03:05,359 --> 01:03:06,699 They cut off all the lights, 1307 01:03:06,879 --> 01:03:09,009 they put the spotlight on him, 1308 01:03:09,189 --> 01:03:11,878 and he spun around like a glass ball. 1309 01:03:12,318 --> 01:03:14,498 And those lights went everywhere. 1310 01:03:14,668 --> 01:03:17,018 [cheering] 1311 01:03:17,588 --> 01:03:20,628 [psychedelic music plays] 1312 01:03:24,418 --> 01:03:27,028 Winslow: And Janis Joplin, I can still see her face. 1313 01:03:27,248 --> 01:03:29,028 And she said, "Oh, my God." 1314 01:03:29,948 --> 01:03:31,508 Richard told all of them. 1315 01:03:32,598 --> 01:03:33,727 Little Richard: Let it all hang out... 1316 01:03:33,907 --> 01:03:35,077 Crowd: [cheering] 1317 01:03:35,257 --> 01:03:36,817 with the beautiful Little Richard 1318 01:03:36,997 --> 01:03:38,907 from down in Macon, Georgia. 1319 01:03:39,997 --> 01:03:41,347 I want you all to know 1320 01:03:41,517 --> 01:03:44,387 that I am the king of rock 'n' roll. 1321 01:03:44,567 --> 01:03:45,607 [electric guitar playing] 1322 01:03:45,867 --> 01:03:47,437 ♪ Lucille ♪ 1323 01:03:48,137 --> 01:03:49,917 ♪ Baby, satisfy my heart ♪ 1324 01:03:52,047 --> 01:03:54,357 ♪ Lucille ♪ 1325 01:03:54,707 --> 01:03:57,226 ♪ Baby, satisfy my heart ♪ 1326 01:03:58,576 --> 01:04:00,886 ♪ I played for it, baby ♪ 1327 01:04:01,056 --> 01:04:03,066 ♪ And gave you such a wonderful start ♪ 1328 01:04:03,236 --> 01:04:04,846 ♪ Aaah! ♪ 1329 01:04:06,416 --> 01:04:08,636 Jagger: Little Richard was the first thing I remember, 1330 01:04:09,546 --> 01:04:10,936 as far as rock 'n' roll was concerned. 1331 01:04:20,385 --> 01:04:21,775 [vocalizing] 1332 01:04:24,955 --> 01:04:27,735 Winslow: One time, Elvis came backstage, 1333 01:04:27,915 --> 01:04:29,655 and Elvis said "Little Richard, 1334 01:04:29,825 --> 01:04:31,135 don't you ever worry about anything." 1335 01:04:32,695 --> 01:04:35,135 ♪ Please don't leave it alone, yeah ♪ 1336 01:04:35,835 --> 01:04:37,925 Winslow: "You will always be 1337 01:04:38,095 --> 01:04:40,054 the true king of rock 'n' roll." 1338 01:04:40,794 --> 01:04:43,014 Crowd: [cheering] 1339 01:04:49,414 --> 01:04:52,244 Why is it, Richard, after 26 years in the business, 1340 01:04:52,414 --> 01:04:53,894 you're as big if not bigger than ever? 1341 01:04:54,064 --> 01:04:55,544 What's the secret to success? 1342 01:04:55,724 --> 01:04:58,944 I think it's because I've been really doing it. 1343 01:04:59,764 --> 01:05:02,033 You know, the Bible says you shall know the truth, 1344 01:05:02,203 --> 01:05:03,293 and the truth shall make you free. 1345 01:05:03,463 --> 01:05:04,463 I've been free. 1346 01:05:04,643 --> 01:05:07,423 [applause] 1347 01:05:07,603 --> 01:05:09,433 I get beautiful and beautiful every day. [chuckles] 1348 01:05:09,603 --> 01:05:10,733 Audience: [laughs] 1349 01:05:10,913 --> 01:05:12,083 - Shut up. - Audience: [laughs] 1350 01:05:12,263 --> 01:05:13,733 Look at the beauty. How you doing? 1351 01:05:13,913 --> 01:05:15,693 - Shut up. - Audience: [laughs] 1352 01:05:15,873 --> 01:05:18,133 Little Richard popularized the phrase "Shut up." 1353 01:05:18,303 --> 01:05:20,793 The first time I said that, I was in Las Vegas. 1354 01:05:20,963 --> 01:05:22,353 They didn't like the way I look. 1355 01:05:23,013 --> 01:05:24,832 You know, they said, "We don't want this man on our stage." 1356 01:05:25,012 --> 01:05:26,792 I didn't have on no suit, no tie. 1357 01:05:26,972 --> 01:05:28,792 And all this beauty was just shining forth. 1358 01:05:28,972 --> 01:05:30,102 Audience: [laughs] 1359 01:05:30,272 --> 01:05:31,452 - Shut up. - Audience: [laughs] 1360 01:05:31,622 --> 01:05:33,492 People accept it from me for some reason. 1361 01:05:33,672 --> 01:05:35,412 You know, I travel all over the world, 1362 01:05:35,582 --> 01:05:37,892 and I think they can look at me and see that I'm a love child. 1363 01:05:38,062 --> 01:05:39,802 Audience: [laughs quietly] 1364 01:05:39,982 --> 01:05:41,412 Host: You went into the ministry, didn't... 1365 01:05:41,592 --> 01:05:42,592 [laughing] 1366 01:05:43,502 --> 01:05:45,771 Nyong'o: I don't think you could imagine 1367 01:05:45,941 --> 01:05:47,731 almost any other rock star 1368 01:05:47,901 --> 01:05:49,421 being able to get away with "Shut up." 1369 01:05:50,731 --> 01:05:52,471 King: Anybody looking at Little Richard 1370 01:05:52,771 --> 01:05:54,651 in the throes of his career 1371 01:05:54,821 --> 01:05:57,561 could tell you that this man was definitely not straight. 1372 01:05:58,521 --> 01:06:01,091 He was certainly queer in all of the senses 1373 01:06:01,261 --> 01:06:02,611 of what that term means. 1374 01:06:03,831 --> 01:06:06,221 But he rarely spoke about it openly. 1375 01:06:07,531 --> 01:06:10,180 And that was where the complication came. 1376 01:06:10,750 --> 01:06:12,100 Winslow: I'll be honest with you, 1377 01:06:12,270 --> 01:06:13,970 there were times I went and slept in the bathtub 1378 01:06:14,140 --> 01:06:16,490 'cause the rest of the suite was full of naked people. 1379 01:06:17,410 --> 01:06:18,710 He'd be sitting there with the Bible 1380 01:06:18,890 --> 01:06:20,190 right there beside him. 1381 01:06:20,370 --> 01:06:21,850 And every now and then, he'd quote us. 1382 01:06:23,150 --> 01:06:25,110 We had prayer every day. 1383 01:06:25,810 --> 01:06:27,240 Jagger: If you have that drummed into you 1384 01:06:27,420 --> 01:06:28,550 since you were a child, 1385 01:06:29,160 --> 01:06:31,329 secular music, that's the devil's music, 1386 01:06:31,809 --> 01:06:34,639 it can't be much fun for the people involved in it 1387 01:06:34,819 --> 01:06:37,779 like Richard, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe. 1388 01:06:38,989 --> 01:06:41,259 Winslow: Everybody was into the excess. 1389 01:06:41,429 --> 01:06:43,219 [cheering] 1390 01:06:43,389 --> 01:06:45,479 Little Richard: It got so hectic during concerts 1391 01:06:45,649 --> 01:06:48,259 and television and every other thing. 1392 01:06:48,439 --> 01:06:51,269 [cheering, applauding] 1393 01:06:51,439 --> 01:06:52,918 Little Richard: One day, I was getting ready 1394 01:06:53,098 --> 01:06:54,918 to go on the stage, and I was so tired. 1395 01:06:57,488 --> 01:07:00,448 And a friend of mine introduced me to cocaine. 1396 01:07:00,618 --> 01:07:01,968 [suspenseful music playing] 1397 01:07:02,228 --> 01:07:05,148 '73 and '74, they were coming to my room 1398 01:07:05,318 --> 01:07:08,018 asking for money that I couldn't account for. 1399 01:07:08,278 --> 01:07:09,808 [indistinct shouting] 1400 01:07:09,978 --> 01:07:11,238 Blackwell: And I knew where it was going. 1401 01:07:12,238 --> 01:07:14,247 I didn't stick around much after that. 1402 01:07:16,677 --> 01:07:18,417 Little Richard: I was just doing everything. 1403 01:07:19,157 --> 01:07:21,467 PCP, cocaine, heroin. 1404 01:07:23,167 --> 01:07:25,427 He just wasn't the person I knew anymore. 1405 01:07:28,387 --> 01:07:30,127 [music fades] 1406 01:07:30,307 --> 01:07:32,347 Little Richard: One night I was appearing at Magic Mountains, 1407 01:07:32,527 --> 01:07:34,697 and a friend of mine called to come to see me. 1408 01:07:34,877 --> 01:07:37,746 He was 21 years old. He never did arrive. 1409 01:07:37,916 --> 01:07:40,786 He had gotten shot. Later on that night, he died. 1410 01:07:41,746 --> 01:07:43,576 I had another friend of mine that I went to his house 1411 01:07:43,746 --> 01:07:45,836 to get some cocaine. He fell dead. 1412 01:07:46,016 --> 01:07:47,796 Another friend of mine, some fellows 1413 01:07:47,976 --> 01:07:49,716 put in a trunk and cut him up with a butcher knife. 1414 01:07:51,066 --> 01:07:54,026 My brother Tony said, "Richard, I want to borrow some money." 1415 01:07:54,196 --> 01:07:56,026 And I had an engagement in Miami, Florida. 1416 01:07:56,196 --> 01:07:58,286 I said, "Tony, when I get back, I'll let you have it." 1417 01:07:59,465 --> 01:08:00,985 When I got back, 1418 01:08:01,155 --> 01:08:03,075 instead of going with Tony, I met a man. 1419 01:08:03,245 --> 01:08:04,635 We were at the hotel to have a party. 1420 01:08:05,645 --> 01:08:07,555 The next morning, somebody pushed a note up under my door 1421 01:08:07,725 --> 01:08:09,035 saying, "Your brother's dead." 1422 01:08:09,945 --> 01:08:11,825 [somber music playing] 1423 01:08:15,045 --> 01:08:16,655 Little Richard: I tell you, you talk about rock bottom, 1424 01:08:16,825 --> 01:08:19,175 I've been below the rocks where it was no bottom. 1425 01:08:21,784 --> 01:08:23,914 God is talking to me through my brother's death 1426 01:08:24,094 --> 01:08:26,224 and all of my friends that died right in a row. 1427 01:08:28,184 --> 01:08:29,574 Oh, God. 1428 01:08:29,754 --> 01:08:32,014 Lord, please help me. Please save me. 1429 01:08:32,184 --> 01:08:33,974 [piano playing] 1430 01:08:34,234 --> 01:08:39,504 ♪ Uh-huh, it's me ♪ 1431 01:08:42,024 --> 01:08:45,243 ♪ It's me, oh, Lord ♪ 1432 01:08:45,503 --> 01:08:47,463 ♪ I am standing... ♪ 1433 01:08:47,633 --> 01:08:49,683 Little Richard: It started me to thinking more seriously 1434 01:08:49,853 --> 01:08:51,513 about my life than I've ever thought. 1435 01:08:51,683 --> 01:08:56,903 ♪ Oh, I'm standing in the need of prayer ♪ 1436 01:08:58,213 --> 01:09:01,173 ♪ Not my mother... ♪ 1437 01:09:01,343 --> 01:09:04,093 Little Richard: I opened my Bible to Mark 8:36-37, 1438 01:09:04,263 --> 01:09:06,262 said, "For what shall it profit a man, 1439 01:09:06,442 --> 01:09:08,702 if he should gain the whole world, 1440 01:09:08,872 --> 01:09:10,132 and lose his own soul?" 1441 01:09:10,962 --> 01:09:13,402 ♪ But it's me ♪ 1442 01:09:13,572 --> 01:09:17,322 ♪ Oh, oh, Lord, yeah ♪ 1443 01:09:17,492 --> 01:09:24,112 ♪ I am standing in the need of prayer ♪ 1444 01:09:25,152 --> 01:09:26,981 Little Richard: The only rock I've got now is the rock, 1445 01:09:27,151 --> 01:09:28,501 Christ Jesus. 1446 01:09:29,631 --> 01:09:31,031 I just let it all go. 1447 01:09:37,161 --> 01:09:39,381 [applause] 1448 01:09:44,391 --> 01:09:49,440 ♪ Oh, that beautiful city ♪ 1449 01:09:50,740 --> 01:09:55,220 ♪ Where Jesus is waiting ♪ 1450 01:09:55,400 --> 01:09:57,530 I said, "Well, Lord, can I sing rock 'n' roll 1451 01:09:57,700 --> 01:09:58,970 and do both of them?" 1452 01:09:59,530 --> 01:10:02,490 God says, "You've got to be all for me, or let me go." 1453 01:10:02,670 --> 01:10:04,930 When Tony died, it really affected Richard. 1454 01:10:05,710 --> 01:10:07,190 He didn't want to be one of those 1455 01:10:07,370 --> 01:10:09,630 who would die and burn in hell. 1456 01:10:09,800 --> 01:10:12,149 That's the way we were taught. 1457 01:10:12,329 --> 01:10:13,939 Little Richard: I'm just so glad that God was able 1458 01:10:14,109 --> 01:10:15,459 to clean me up and wash me up. 1459 01:10:15,639 --> 01:10:17,029 And thank you, Lord. 1460 01:10:17,419 --> 01:10:19,809 I'm not gay now. But, you know, I was gay all my life. 1461 01:10:19,989 --> 01:10:22,029 I believe I was one of the first gay people to come out. 1462 01:10:22,209 --> 01:10:25,949 But God let me know that he made Adam to be with Eve, not Steve. 1463 01:10:26,209 --> 01:10:28,429 [somber music playing] 1464 01:10:28,599 --> 01:10:30,949 Oh, God, how can you save me? I'm homosexual. 1465 01:10:31,129 --> 01:10:33,039 Oh, God. I'm not just a dope addict. 1466 01:10:33,218 --> 01:10:35,308 I'm unnatural. I like men. 1467 01:10:36,828 --> 01:10:39,398 Not only did he take me from dope... 1468 01:10:39,568 --> 01:10:41,528 King: Richard continued his tour, 1469 01:10:41,698 --> 01:10:43,618 and he's renouncing his queerness 1470 01:10:43,788 --> 01:10:45,528 even more fervently than before. 1471 01:10:45,708 --> 01:10:47,838 Little Richard: He changed me from homosexuality. 1472 01:10:49,098 --> 01:10:51,058 There's harm to communities 1473 01:10:51,238 --> 01:10:55,277 to have somebody speaking on a public stage in that way. 1474 01:10:55,457 --> 01:11:00,897 I feel he betrayed gay people by saying he's not. 1475 01:11:01,067 --> 01:11:02,987 But I do understand. 1476 01:11:03,767 --> 01:11:06,117 You're not strong enough to take it. 1477 01:11:07,027 --> 01:11:08,597 I understand that. 1478 01:11:08,857 --> 01:11:11,557 Especially a person like Little Richard, 1479 01:11:11,727 --> 01:11:15,557 who had so much to hold. 1480 01:11:16,737 --> 01:11:19,046 ♪ As I look around ♪ 1481 01:11:19,736 --> 01:11:21,606 ♪ I can see ♪ 1482 01:11:22,566 --> 01:11:24,306 ♪ So many people ♪ 1483 01:11:24,486 --> 01:11:28,006 King: When I hear his passionate singing at this time, 1484 01:11:28,186 --> 01:11:30,096 especially at the MDA telethon, 1485 01:11:31,186 --> 01:11:34,796 it's hard to tell how much is running towards God 1486 01:11:34,976 --> 01:11:37,326 versus running away from himself. 1487 01:11:37,496 --> 01:11:39,975 ♪ But I realize ♪ 1488 01:11:40,495 --> 01:11:43,105 ♪ That I ♪ 1489 01:11:43,285 --> 01:11:45,855 ♪ Should be grateful ♪ 1490 01:11:46,025 --> 01:11:47,935 ♪ Oh, so grateful ♪ 1491 01:11:48,725 --> 01:11:50,595 King: I think of how Little Richard fared 1492 01:11:50,765 --> 01:11:52,035 as a young person. 1493 01:11:52,555 --> 01:11:55,425 As a kid who came from a church family 1494 01:11:55,995 --> 01:12:00,125 who was Black and queer and femme and disabled, 1495 01:12:00,295 --> 01:12:03,474 who'd been bullied by not only other kids, 1496 01:12:03,654 --> 01:12:05,604 but also his father. 1497 01:12:06,344 --> 01:12:08,264 There's a lot of violence that attends 1498 01:12:08,434 --> 01:12:10,914 trying to live a queer life. 1499 01:12:11,094 --> 01:12:13,094 Here's the one and only Little Richard. 1500 01:12:13,264 --> 01:12:14,924 [cheering and applause] 1501 01:12:17,964 --> 01:12:21,364 Newman: I guess he held himself responsible for 1502 01:12:21,534 --> 01:12:24,063 the type of guys that he figured that he brought 1503 01:12:24,283 --> 01:12:26,063 to the world, and yet, 1504 01:12:27,323 --> 01:12:29,373 what he brought us was freedom. 1505 01:12:29,543 --> 01:12:30,893 You ain't supposed to hide nothing. 1506 01:12:31,063 --> 01:12:33,503 You got it, God gave it, show it to the world. 1507 01:12:33,683 --> 01:12:35,293 No, I don't want to hide. I love... 1508 01:12:35,463 --> 01:12:38,943 He was very, very good at liberating other people 1509 01:12:39,123 --> 01:12:40,293 through his example. 1510 01:12:40,993 --> 01:12:42,953 He was not good at liberating himself. 1511 01:12:43,123 --> 01:12:45,213 ♪ I thank God ♪ 1512 01:12:45,383 --> 01:12:50,912 ♪ For all... For all that He gave ♪ 1513 01:12:51,082 --> 01:12:53,522 ♪ That my God gave to me ♪ 1514 01:12:53,702 --> 01:12:55,832 ♪ There is someone ♪ 1515 01:12:56,442 --> 01:13:03,052 ♪ Worse off than I am ♪ 1516 01:13:04,532 --> 01:13:05,622 Thank you, Jesus. 1517 01:13:05,802 --> 01:13:08,361 Audience: [applauds] 1518 01:13:17,111 --> 01:13:20,551 This Holy Bible is something that they can treasure 1519 01:13:20,721 --> 01:13:22,731 and keep throughout the years. 1520 01:13:22,901 --> 01:13:24,161 This is a beautiful Bible 1521 01:13:24,341 --> 01:13:26,861 and a wonderful Bible, and it is yours. 1522 01:13:27,031 --> 01:13:28,431 Interviewer: At that time, you were selling Bibles. 1523 01:13:28,601 --> 01:13:31,560 That's right, and making $150 a week. 1524 01:13:32,820 --> 01:13:34,610 Winslow: He was doing big church events. 1525 01:13:34,780 --> 01:13:36,740 And he was doing gospel shows. 1526 01:13:36,910 --> 01:13:38,310 Little Richard: I'm through with rock 'n' roll 1527 01:13:38,480 --> 01:13:40,050 as far as me being a performer. 1528 01:13:41,090 --> 01:13:42,960 But it wasn't paying him very well. 1529 01:13:43,700 --> 01:13:46,230 Little Richard: I looked around and didn't have any money. 1530 01:13:47,400 --> 01:13:49,710 The record companies paid me nothing, you know. 1531 01:13:49,880 --> 01:13:51,880 - Nobody had paid me a dime. - Host: All those hits? 1532 01:13:52,059 --> 01:13:53,189 Little Richard: All those hits. 1533 01:13:53,409 --> 01:13:55,059 [somber music playing] 1534 01:13:55,279 --> 01:13:56,629 Winslow: Richard went down there on Hollywood Boulevard 1535 01:13:56,799 --> 01:13:58,059 and picketed. 1536 01:13:58,409 --> 01:13:59,719 Interviewer: Famous Little Richard did that? 1537 01:13:59,889 --> 01:14:00,889 Little Richard: Famous Little Richard 1538 01:14:01,069 --> 01:14:02,549 trying to get that famous money 1539 01:14:02,849 --> 01:14:04,899 that he made so many years ago that he's never seen. 1540 01:14:05,069 --> 01:14:06,679 Richard really wanted to make money, 1541 01:14:06,859 --> 01:14:08,809 so that he could help take care of his mother 1542 01:14:08,989 --> 01:14:10,599 and his brothers and sisters. 1543 01:14:10,769 --> 01:14:12,299 What were you doing wrong? 1544 01:14:12,469 --> 01:14:14,648 I didn't do nothing wrong. They were just crooks. 1545 01:14:14,818 --> 01:14:17,688 They thought I was a little Black fool from Macon, Georgia. 1546 01:14:19,258 --> 01:14:22,128 Vera: You have to remember that Richard left Specialty Records 1547 01:14:22,308 --> 01:14:25,048 eighteen months into a three-year contract. 1548 01:14:26,178 --> 01:14:28,748 Art Rupe said, "There's a price to be paid." 1549 01:14:29,178 --> 01:14:32,358 "You forego any and all future royalties." 1550 01:14:33,058 --> 01:14:36,487 So Richard never received a penny after a time 1551 01:14:36,667 --> 01:14:38,797 from either his songs or his recordings. 1552 01:14:40,187 --> 01:14:42,147 It was egregiously unfair. 1553 01:14:44,847 --> 01:14:46,637 Little Richard: I saw all my friends on the hill 1554 01:14:46,807 --> 01:14:48,067 and I was still in the valley. 1555 01:14:49,197 --> 01:14:50,597 And it bothered me. 1556 01:14:54,287 --> 01:14:57,247 Hervey: Thirty years after Little Richard breaks, 1557 01:14:57,817 --> 01:14:59,946 Black entertainers were still being marginalized. 1558 01:15:00,166 --> 01:15:01,996 [rock music playing] 1559 01:15:02,956 --> 01:15:04,776 Hervey: MTV in 1981, 1560 01:15:05,516 --> 01:15:07,126 twenty-four hours of music. 1561 01:15:07,306 --> 01:15:08,786 And there are no Blacks on it. 1562 01:15:10,436 --> 01:15:12,306 King: He didn't even get a Grammy 1563 01:15:12,486 --> 01:15:14,966 for his actual recordings or his performances. 1564 01:15:16,526 --> 01:15:17,926 Little Richard: I'm an innovator. 1565 01:15:18,276 --> 01:15:19,666 I'm the creator. I'm the king of rock 'n' roll. 1566 01:15:22,015 --> 01:15:23,795 When I came along, Elvis wasn't even out. 1567 01:15:24,845 --> 01:15:27,235 Elvis has never written a song in his life. 1568 01:15:28,585 --> 01:15:30,845 He was white. I was Black. 1569 01:15:33,155 --> 01:15:34,855 Winslow: That struggle's hard because, 1570 01:15:35,025 --> 01:15:37,075 you know, a lot of times he might have felt that 1571 01:15:37,245 --> 01:15:38,635 he had to prove himself. 1572 01:15:41,425 --> 01:15:44,254 There are many Black artists that helped build the building. 1573 01:15:44,424 --> 01:15:46,344 I'm just the architect. 1574 01:15:46,514 --> 01:15:48,434 Michael was inspired by me, Prince. 1575 01:15:48,604 --> 01:15:51,214 James Brown, I discovered him. He was my vocalist. 1576 01:15:51,394 --> 01:15:52,914 Jimi Hendrix was my guitar player. 1577 01:15:53,084 --> 01:15:55,564 The Beatles. I love you, Paul. Hello, Linda. 1578 01:15:55,744 --> 01:15:58,224 And David Bowie says that I was his inspiration. 1579 01:15:59,964 --> 01:16:02,274 Rodgers: David Bowie said to me, 1580 01:16:02,444 --> 01:16:05,403 "I want my new album to sound like this." 1581 01:16:06,053 --> 01:16:07,843 And it was a picture of Little Richard. 1582 01:16:08,103 --> 01:16:09,933 ♪ Never gonna fall for ♪ 1583 01:16:10,883 --> 01:16:12,933 Rodgers: He idolized Little Richard. 1584 01:16:14,583 --> 01:16:16,543 I never worked with an artist 1585 01:16:16,723 --> 01:16:19,853 that sort of let another artist 1586 01:16:20,023 --> 01:16:22,113 define what we were going to do. 1587 01:16:23,333 --> 01:16:26,942 As a Black man, I knew that there was only one lane 1588 01:16:27,122 --> 01:16:31,252 I could really drive down and get commercial success. 1589 01:16:31,432 --> 01:16:33,602 David could do anything he wanted to do. 1590 01:16:33,782 --> 01:16:35,262 [gentle music playing] 1591 01:16:35,652 --> 01:16:40,262 Hervey: Richard's struggle to me was always unrealistic. 1592 01:16:41,702 --> 01:16:44,742 Society was never going to accept him. 1593 01:16:44,922 --> 01:16:47,702 He was gay. He was Black. 1594 01:16:48,362 --> 01:16:51,881 He either wouldn't accept it or he was afraid to accept it, 1595 01:16:52,051 --> 01:16:54,231 or he thought that he could overcome it. 1596 01:16:58,451 --> 01:17:01,671 He asked me to manage him and I thought, 1597 01:17:01,851 --> 01:17:03,981 "God, you know, it'd be great to be responsible 1598 01:17:04,151 --> 01:17:06,071 for reviving his career." 1599 01:17:06,331 --> 01:17:09,031 ♪ Didn't it rain, children ♪ 1600 01:17:09,201 --> 01:17:11,940 ♪ Talkin' about rain Oh, my Lord ♪ 1601 01:17:12,120 --> 01:17:13,510 Hervey: He didn't do his hits. 1602 01:17:14,380 --> 01:17:15,990 He would do like a rock 'n' roll version 1603 01:17:16,170 --> 01:17:18,250 of some of his gospel records. 1604 01:17:19,210 --> 01:17:20,780 "The Life and Times of Little Richard." 1605 01:17:20,950 --> 01:17:22,650 "The Quasar of Rock." 1606 01:17:23,650 --> 01:17:24,910 Interviewer: What does that mean? 1607 01:17:25,090 --> 01:17:27,220 The brightest star in the universe. 1608 01:17:27,390 --> 01:17:29,830 I don't think it was Richard's idea to do the book. 1609 01:17:30,010 --> 01:17:32,400 I think he was approached to do the book. 1610 01:17:32,570 --> 01:17:34,009 Host: A thousand dollars a day on coke. 1611 01:17:34,399 --> 01:17:36,229 My nose is big enough to park diesel trucks. 1612 01:17:36,399 --> 01:17:38,269 ...Diesel trucks. ...Diesel trucks in. 1613 01:17:38,449 --> 01:17:41,019 And God got me off of it. And he healed my body. 1614 01:17:41,189 --> 01:17:44,189 And now I am a man of God with a new book called 1615 01:17:44,369 --> 01:17:45,799 "The Life and Times of Little Richard." 1616 01:17:45,979 --> 01:17:48,109 Audience: [laughs] 1617 01:17:48,279 --> 01:17:51,509 He didn't exactly tell the truth all the time. 1618 01:17:52,029 --> 01:17:53,809 He states that I did things that 1619 01:17:54,639 --> 01:17:56,678 I didn't know I did until I read that book. 1620 01:17:56,858 --> 01:17:59,208 Oh, a close-up. Close-up. 1621 01:17:59,378 --> 01:18:03,078 Once he started to feel a buzz, it all came back. 1622 01:18:03,258 --> 01:18:04,518 When I first wrote "Tutti Frutti," 1623 01:18:04,688 --> 01:18:06,218 it was "Tutti frutti, good booty." 1624 01:18:08,608 --> 01:18:10,648 Audience: [cheering] 1625 01:18:10,868 --> 01:18:13,048 People want it to be a thing, you know? 1626 01:18:13,218 --> 01:18:14,618 I mean, this night, 1627 01:18:14,788 --> 01:18:16,878 "Oh, he's got a thing. But wait a minute." 1628 01:18:17,048 --> 01:18:19,657 "This night, he's got another thing." 1629 01:18:19,837 --> 01:18:21,267 "If it don't fit, 1630 01:18:22,277 --> 01:18:23,707 don't force it." 1631 01:18:24,487 --> 01:18:25,577 Did you understand that one? 1632 01:18:25,757 --> 01:18:27,277 Yeah. That's carpentry. 1633 01:18:27,447 --> 01:18:28,797 [laughs] 1634 01:18:28,977 --> 01:18:30,497 - Yeah. - No. 1635 01:18:30,667 --> 01:18:32,457 Richard really didn't have a thing. 1636 01:18:32,627 --> 01:18:35,327 Richard was who he wanted to be when he wanted to be 1637 01:18:35,507 --> 01:18:38,597 how he wanted to be on what day he wanted to be it. 1638 01:18:38,767 --> 01:18:42,816 Well, I haven't been, uh, involved in sex in 14 years. 1639 01:18:43,686 --> 01:18:45,516 It's been 14 years now. 1640 01:18:45,686 --> 01:18:48,946 That's not my main thing in life, period, anymore. 1641 01:18:49,126 --> 01:18:51,476 My main thing in life now is to be a messenger. 1642 01:18:51,776 --> 01:18:53,086 Whether you're homosexual 1643 01:18:53,256 --> 01:18:55,606 or whatever walk of life a person may be, 1644 01:18:55,786 --> 01:18:56,956 God loves them. 1645 01:18:57,566 --> 01:18:59,396 He existed in contradiction. 1646 01:18:59,566 --> 01:19:02,175 He could be openly gay in some ways, 1647 01:19:02,355 --> 01:19:03,745 probably to his circles. 1648 01:19:04,395 --> 01:19:06,185 This happened for decades. 1649 01:19:06,925 --> 01:19:08,885 Nyong'o: As a queer person myself, 1650 01:19:09,055 --> 01:19:11,405 I think that queerness is often... 1651 01:19:11,975 --> 01:19:16,415 misunderstood as an individual identity, right? 1652 01:19:16,585 --> 01:19:18,805 The truth of one person, right? 1653 01:19:18,975 --> 01:19:23,724 As if we have a single truth that we can never change. 1654 01:19:23,894 --> 01:19:25,074 He was flamboyant 1655 01:19:26,464 --> 01:19:27,594 at all times. 1656 01:19:27,774 --> 01:19:29,424 But it was all in Jesus' name. 1657 01:19:29,594 --> 01:19:31,204 Everything was in Jesus' name. 1658 01:19:31,814 --> 01:19:33,604 Everything. 1659 01:19:33,774 --> 01:19:36,034 ♪ Great God Almighty, been a long time coming ♪ 1660 01:19:36,214 --> 01:19:37,994 Glenn: He's very, very generous. 1661 01:19:39,344 --> 01:19:41,004 Was really close to all of us in the band. 1662 01:19:42,744 --> 01:19:44,174 He would say to the crowd, 1663 01:19:44,964 --> 01:19:47,183 "I'd like y'all to meet my son." 1664 01:19:47,873 --> 01:19:49,963 And that's what I would always call him, my second dad. 1665 01:19:50,143 --> 01:19:52,183 He'd break me off $100, break Keith off $100, 1666 01:19:52,363 --> 01:19:54,533 just give everybody $100 or something, you know? 1667 01:19:54,713 --> 01:19:56,143 Just glad to see us. 1668 01:19:56,453 --> 01:19:58,673 He'd sent people to school and college and stuff. 1669 01:19:58,883 --> 01:20:01,673 Angel: He paid rent, including mine. 1670 01:20:02,283 --> 01:20:03,803 Never bragged about it. 1671 01:20:06,063 --> 01:20:08,332 Richard was the love of my life. 1672 01:20:09,812 --> 01:20:12,592 And I believe I was the love of his. 1673 01:20:12,772 --> 01:20:15,032 He calls us. He calls our moms. 1674 01:20:15,202 --> 01:20:18,992 I've never met someone that was so real. 1675 01:20:20,432 --> 01:20:22,082 Nyong'o: Queer communities know this well, 1676 01:20:22,252 --> 01:20:25,262 this idea of creating your own family. 1677 01:20:26,222 --> 01:20:28,702 Glenn: We all really loved him and cared about 1678 01:20:29,742 --> 01:20:31,131 him being great. 1679 01:20:31,521 --> 01:20:33,611 - [indistinct chatter] - [camera shutters clicking] 1680 01:20:35,351 --> 01:20:37,141 Reporter 1: Ten performers who helped give birth 1681 01:20:37,311 --> 01:20:39,401 to rock 'n' roll now have a permanent home. 1682 01:20:39,581 --> 01:20:40,621 Reporter 2: It is the newly formed 1683 01:20:40,791 --> 01:20:42,361 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. 1684 01:20:42,541 --> 01:20:45,581 Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, 1685 01:20:45,761 --> 01:20:49,721 Ray Charles, Little Richard, James Brown, Fats Domino. 1686 01:20:51,071 --> 01:20:54,550 Nyong'o: There was a ceremony, but Richard wasn't there. 1687 01:20:54,720 --> 01:20:58,380 [siren wailing] 1688 01:20:59,250 --> 01:21:03,430 Hervey: He had gotten in a car accident in Hollywood. 1689 01:21:04,640 --> 01:21:06,340 Little Richard: I was in my sports car. 1690 01:21:06,910 --> 01:21:08,210 I was really tired. 1691 01:21:10,040 --> 01:21:11,560 And I just blacked out. 1692 01:21:12,130 --> 01:21:14,129 Oh, oh! Oh, my God! 1693 01:21:14,919 --> 01:21:17,569 Reporter: It's believed that he fell asleep at the wheel. 1694 01:21:19,959 --> 01:21:24,229 Hervey: They found a bag with about $30,000 in it. 1695 01:21:25,579 --> 01:21:27,749 He had flown to London 1696 01:21:28,489 --> 01:21:30,709 and gotten a record offer. 1697 01:21:31,849 --> 01:21:33,279 [siren wailing] 1698 01:21:33,939 --> 01:21:35,979 Hervey: He didn't have a lawyer. He did all this on his own. 1699 01:21:36,148 --> 01:21:38,458 [suspenseful music playing] 1700 01:21:41,548 --> 01:21:43,548 Man: He is very lucky to have survived. 1701 01:21:44,988 --> 01:21:46,378 Nyong'o: I mean, for Richard to have missed 1702 01:21:46,558 --> 01:21:48,168 the Hall of Fame ceremony, 1703 01:21:48,728 --> 01:21:52,078 it's the first and only time he's been widely recognized. 1704 01:21:52,258 --> 01:21:53,558 That must have been heartbreaking. 1705 01:21:54,828 --> 01:21:56,218 Interviewer: What's the most important thing 1706 01:21:56,388 --> 01:21:57,828 in your life today? 1707 01:21:59,867 --> 01:22:00,957 Love. 1708 01:22:02,217 --> 01:22:04,267 That's what I want so much to have. 1709 01:22:05,227 --> 01:22:09,797 I... I don't have it exactly... exactly the way that I want to. 1710 01:22:09,967 --> 01:22:11,447 I don't have nobody but me, 1711 01:22:11,617 --> 01:22:14,187 and the great God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 1712 01:22:23,716 --> 01:22:25,416 [music fades] 1713 01:22:25,596 --> 01:22:28,686 Hadley: That first induction class in 1986 1714 01:22:28,856 --> 01:22:30,596 of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 1715 01:22:30,766 --> 01:22:32,986 had this double-edged sword 1716 01:22:33,166 --> 01:22:34,996 to where it is recognition, 1717 01:22:35,166 --> 01:22:37,086 but in a weird way, 1718 01:22:37,256 --> 01:22:41,216 it can also be dismissal as a relic of the past. 1719 01:22:41,866 --> 01:22:45,175 Yes, you created it, you invented it, 1720 01:22:45,345 --> 01:22:47,095 you set the template for it. 1721 01:22:47,265 --> 01:22:50,265 But, you know, the people who really made it what it is 1722 01:22:50,445 --> 01:22:53,225 are these younger bands or these white artists. 1723 01:22:53,405 --> 01:22:55,225 Audience: [cheering, applauding] 1724 01:22:56,405 --> 01:22:57,575 What? [chuckles] 1725 01:22:57,755 --> 01:22:59,405 I used to wear my hair like that. 1726 01:22:59,585 --> 01:23:01,145 Audience: [laughing] 1727 01:23:01,325 --> 01:23:03,365 They take everything I get, they take it from me. 1728 01:23:03,545 --> 01:23:04,804 Whoo. 1729 01:23:04,974 --> 01:23:07,154 Hadley: Because of his flamboyance, 1730 01:23:07,374 --> 01:23:11,944 people made the mistake of not taking him seriously 1731 01:23:12,114 --> 01:23:16,854 always, as a musician, as a human, as a performer. 1732 01:23:17,034 --> 01:23:19,074 And the best new artist is... 1733 01:23:21,554 --> 01:23:22,864 Audience: [laughing] 1734 01:23:23,034 --> 01:23:24,174 Me. 1735 01:23:24,344 --> 01:23:26,693 Audience: [laughing] 1736 01:23:26,863 --> 01:23:28,393 I have never received nothing. 1737 01:23:28,563 --> 01:23:30,353 Y'all ain't never gave me no Grammy. 1738 01:23:30,873 --> 01:23:32,703 King: It's endearing. It's funny. 1739 01:23:33,353 --> 01:23:35,793 But as a Black man watching that, 1740 01:23:35,963 --> 01:23:39,703 I heard seething anger that underwrites what he's saying. 1741 01:23:39,883 --> 01:23:41,273 Shut up. 1742 01:23:41,443 --> 01:23:43,143 "You have never given me what is due to me." 1743 01:23:43,323 --> 01:23:45,623 "And since you don't know, I'm going to tell you." 1744 01:23:46,843 --> 01:23:48,892 ♪ I can't turn you loose ♪ 1745 01:23:49,062 --> 01:23:51,632 ♪ If I do I'm going to lose my mind ♪ 1746 01:23:52,542 --> 01:23:54,982 ♪ I can't ever turn you loose ♪ 1747 01:23:55,152 --> 01:23:58,332 ♪ If I do I'm gonna lose my mind ♪ 1748 01:23:58,502 --> 01:24:01,032 King: He was just going to do the induction speech 1749 01:24:01,202 --> 01:24:03,472 for Otis Redding, who's passed away, 1750 01:24:03,642 --> 01:24:05,252 but he comes on stage, 1751 01:24:05,422 --> 01:24:07,252 and they're playing "I Can't Turn You Loose" 1752 01:24:07,432 --> 01:24:09,042 by Otis. 1753 01:24:09,302 --> 01:24:11,561 ♪ I'm gonna give you everything you want ♪ 1754 01:24:11,731 --> 01:24:13,351 ♪ Gotta, gotta ♪ 1755 01:24:13,521 --> 01:24:15,831 King: And he wants you to know that he knows 1756 01:24:16,001 --> 01:24:17,741 that he's the root of all of this. 1757 01:24:17,911 --> 01:24:20,351 And nobody else can sing this song like he can. 1758 01:24:20,531 --> 01:24:22,661 ♪ Everybody got to know, yeah ♪ 1759 01:24:24,051 --> 01:24:28,231 ♪ Whoo, ooh, ow, ow, ow, ow! ♪ 1760 01:24:28,401 --> 01:24:31,101 Audience: [cheers, applauds] 1761 01:24:32,841 --> 01:24:34,060 [whistling] 1762 01:24:36,930 --> 01:24:38,460 Oh, my God. 1763 01:24:38,890 --> 01:24:41,760 See, you all should record me. I don't know why you're not. 1764 01:24:41,940 --> 01:24:43,380 Audience: [laughing] 1765 01:24:43,550 --> 01:24:44,720 I'm still here, 1766 01:24:45,730 --> 01:24:47,250 and I look decent. 1767 01:24:47,420 --> 01:24:51,080 Audience: [laughing, cheering] 1768 01:24:51,250 --> 01:24:52,650 Whoo-whee. 1769 01:24:52,820 --> 01:24:53,690 Shut up. 1770 01:24:54,300 --> 01:24:55,519 Make my picture. 1771 01:24:55,949 --> 01:24:57,039 Audience: [laughs] 1772 01:24:58,429 --> 01:25:01,259 [laughs] Oh, I feel so real. [clears throat] 1773 01:25:02,389 --> 01:25:08,229 I feel so unnecessary. [laughs] 1774 01:25:08,839 --> 01:25:10,969 On one hand, they might be laughing at him. 1775 01:25:11,399 --> 01:25:12,749 And I'll tell you, and when I first heard 1776 01:25:12,929 --> 01:25:15,189 Otis sing "Lucille," I thought it was me. 1777 01:25:15,359 --> 01:25:17,059 - Audience: [laughing] - [laughs] 1778 01:25:17,238 --> 01:25:18,578 King: They also might be laughing 1779 01:25:18,758 --> 01:25:20,238 because they're uncomfortable. 1780 01:25:20,408 --> 01:25:23,198 - He's speaking truth to power. - Whoo! 1781 01:25:23,368 --> 01:25:24,938 King: And he is basically telling them 1782 01:25:25,108 --> 01:25:26,548 what nobody really wants to say, 1783 01:25:26,718 --> 01:25:28,068 but everyone should say. 1784 01:25:28,248 --> 01:25:29,548 What would it do 1785 01:25:30,118 --> 01:25:32,638 to the American mythology of rock music 1786 01:25:32,818 --> 01:25:35,818 to say that its pioneers were Black, queer people? 1787 01:25:36,778 --> 01:25:39,647 One of the greatest singers ever lived, 1788 01:25:39,817 --> 01:25:42,297 one of the greatest composers ever lived. 1789 01:25:43,257 --> 01:25:45,567 - That's including me... - Audience: [laughing] 1790 01:25:45,827 --> 01:25:47,347 ...and everybody else, 1791 01:25:47,527 --> 01:25:48,957 Jimi Hendrix and all of them that's been with me, 1792 01:25:49,137 --> 01:25:52,357 James Brown, The Beatles, and Mick Jagger. 1793 01:25:52,527 --> 01:25:54,617 He don't ever mention it, but he was with me, too. 1794 01:25:54,787 --> 01:25:56,577 You're waiting for your turn, you know? 1795 01:25:56,747 --> 01:25:58,667 You're waiting for, "What's he gonna say about me?" 1796 01:25:59,757 --> 01:26:01,187 Mick, you remember that. 1797 01:26:03,056 --> 01:26:04,926 He's here. He know. He was sleeping on the floor. 1798 01:26:05,106 --> 01:26:06,756 They didn't have no bed for him. 1799 01:26:06,936 --> 01:26:09,106 - Audience: [laughing] - I know he can't forget. 1800 01:26:09,286 --> 01:26:11,766 That carpet's hard, wasn't it, Mick? [laughing] 1801 01:26:16,416 --> 01:26:18,246 Jagger: Everyone was beholden to him 1802 01:26:18,426 --> 01:26:21,076 for influencing them to start playing rock 'n' roll. 1803 01:26:24,385 --> 01:26:25,955 Whoo-whoo! 1804 01:26:26,775 --> 01:26:29,175 - Whoo-whoo! - Crowd: [cheering] 1805 01:26:29,345 --> 01:26:31,955 ♪ Send me some lovin' ♪ 1806 01:26:36,225 --> 01:26:38,965 ♪ Send it, I pray ♪ 1807 01:26:39,135 --> 01:26:41,795 Hadley: By the '80s and into the '90s, 1808 01:26:41,965 --> 01:26:44,795 everything that Little Richard had put in motion 1809 01:26:44,965 --> 01:26:48,714 was now just the oxygen of American popular music. 1810 01:26:49,454 --> 01:26:52,104 ♪ When you're so far away ♪ 1811 01:26:52,284 --> 01:26:55,804 Hadley: When I started checking out in college, bands like... 1812 01:26:55,984 --> 01:26:57,594 ♪ Should I stay or should I go now? ♪ 1813 01:26:57,804 --> 01:26:58,804 Hadley: ...Living Colour, 1814 01:27:01,074 --> 01:27:02,164 Bad Brains, 1815 01:27:03,684 --> 01:27:05,034 Fishbone, 1816 01:27:05,204 --> 01:27:06,814 I heard, like, rock 'n' roll is Black. 1817 01:27:07,684 --> 01:27:10,643 That sounded heretical to me, which is terrible. 1818 01:27:10,863 --> 01:27:15,133 I was just blown away by how much I hadn't been told 1819 01:27:15,303 --> 01:27:17,173 about the truth of rock 'n' roll. 1820 01:27:17,353 --> 01:27:20,573 ♪ Whee! Pretend you are here ♪ 1821 01:27:21,483 --> 01:27:22,793 Robinson: We're using the wrong word 1822 01:27:22,963 --> 01:27:25,183 when we talk about appropriation. 1823 01:27:25,353 --> 01:27:28,013 Think about it as obliteration. 1824 01:27:28,923 --> 01:27:32,932 When you take and then erase, 1825 01:27:33,102 --> 01:27:36,152 you remove that entity's capacity 1826 01:27:36,322 --> 01:27:39,372 to be attached to this thing that they created, 1827 01:27:39,542 --> 01:27:42,892 to make money from this thing that they created. 1828 01:27:43,072 --> 01:27:44,632 ♪ Don't you know, baby ♪ 1829 01:27:44,812 --> 01:27:46,242 ♪ I need you so much ♪ 1830 01:27:46,422 --> 01:27:49,332 The infrastructure of the culture does that. 1831 01:27:49,512 --> 01:27:50,512 It still does it today. 1832 01:27:52,511 --> 01:27:53,991 Robinson: Little Richard cannot be erased 1833 01:27:54,161 --> 01:27:56,471 and has a loud mouth and has a fire. 1834 01:27:56,651 --> 01:27:59,741 So if you try to take his shit... [chuckles] 1835 01:27:59,911 --> 01:28:01,781 ...he is going to battle you, 1836 01:28:01,951 --> 01:28:05,701 not just from a "This is my song" sort of way, 1837 01:28:05,871 --> 01:28:11,141 but "This is my sound, my rhythm, my being." 1838 01:28:11,311 --> 01:28:13,881 ♪ I waited on you, yeah ♪ 1839 01:28:14,050 --> 01:28:15,790 ♪ Hey ♪ 1840 01:28:16,970 --> 01:28:19,540 Crowd: [cheering, applauding] 1841 01:28:33,550 --> 01:28:34,680 [cheering] 1842 01:28:35,210 --> 01:28:36,639 Each year in presenting 1843 01:28:36,819 --> 01:28:39,079 the prestigious American Music Award of Merit, 1844 01:28:39,249 --> 01:28:42,039 we tell you about someone who has had an important 1845 01:28:42,209 --> 01:28:45,299 and ongoing impact on contemporary music. 1846 01:28:45,479 --> 01:28:46,829 Audience: [applauding] 1847 01:28:46,999 --> 01:28:48,739 Hi, this is Keith Richards. 1848 01:28:49,439 --> 01:28:51,219 We were a bar band. 1849 01:28:51,399 --> 01:28:54,399 And at first tour, I probably learned more 1850 01:28:54,569 --> 01:28:58,878 in that six weeks than I ever had before or since. 1851 01:28:59,058 --> 01:29:01,618 Congratulations, Little Richard. Give me a call, man. 1852 01:29:03,018 --> 01:29:07,238 Richard, you Georgia Peach. Congratulations. 1853 01:29:07,498 --> 01:29:10,978 Thank you for helping create rock music, 1854 01:29:11,148 --> 01:29:13,768 the greatest art form of the 20th century. 1855 01:29:14,718 --> 01:29:15,808 God bless you, Richard. 1856 01:29:15,988 --> 01:29:17,768 Ladies and gentlemen, give it up 1857 01:29:17,938 --> 01:29:20,897 for the incredible Little Richard! 1858 01:29:21,077 --> 01:29:22,767 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1859 01:29:23,557 --> 01:29:25,777 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1860 01:29:25,947 --> 01:29:28,517 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1861 01:29:28,777 --> 01:29:30,997 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1862 01:29:31,167 --> 01:29:33,787 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1863 01:29:33,957 --> 01:29:36,217 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom ♪ 1864 01:29:36,397 --> 01:29:38,527 ♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪ 1865 01:29:39,747 --> 01:29:41,357 ♪ She knows just what to do ♪ 1866 01:29:41,527 --> 01:29:44,096 ♪ I got a gal named Sue ♪ 1867 01:29:44,266 --> 01:29:46,536 ♪ She knows just what to do ♪ 1868 01:29:47,146 --> 01:29:49,536 ♪ She rocks to the east, she rocks to the west ♪ 1869 01:29:50,276 --> 01:29:52,056 ♪ But she's the gal that I love best ♪ 1870 01:29:52,236 --> 01:29:54,196 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1871 01:29:54,366 --> 01:29:56,716 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 1872 01:29:57,026 --> 01:29:59,676 I'm really glad to get this award. 1873 01:29:59,856 --> 01:30:02,066 It's been a long time coming, 1874 01:30:02,246 --> 01:30:04,725 - and I've been waiting. - Audience: [cheering] 1875 01:30:04,895 --> 01:30:07,725 And I'm just so grateful that Dick Clark, 1876 01:30:07,905 --> 01:30:10,075 which is an old friend of mine, he and his wife, 1877 01:30:10,255 --> 01:30:12,215 have seen fit to make this tribute to me 1878 01:30:12,385 --> 01:30:14,345 while I'm still alive in this world. 1879 01:30:14,515 --> 01:30:17,385 And... And I'm just glad that... 1880 01:30:18,085 --> 01:30:19,565 I'm glad that he saw 1881 01:30:19,735 --> 01:30:22,565 and he wants you to see that I am the originator. 1882 01:30:22,745 --> 01:30:25,225 - Audience: [cheering] - I am the emancipator. 1883 01:30:26,005 --> 01:30:28,354 I am the architect of rock 'n' roll. 1884 01:30:28,874 --> 01:30:30,704 Rhythm and blues had a baby... 1885 01:30:30,884 --> 01:30:32,834 [over device] ...and somebody named it rock 'n' roll. 1886 01:30:33,014 --> 01:30:35,184 [laughs] 1887 01:30:35,364 --> 01:30:36,624 Yes. 1888 01:30:38,194 --> 01:30:40,714 Oh. That was that night all over again. Wow. 1889 01:30:41,974 --> 01:30:43,544 Interviewer: Where did you go? What happened? 1890 01:30:44,284 --> 01:30:45,594 Uh... 1891 01:30:46,154 --> 01:30:50,463 I remember sitting back in the back watching him get that. 1892 01:30:50,643 --> 01:30:53,593 And... And when I saw him start to cry, 1893 01:30:53,773 --> 01:30:56,683 it... just like right now, it made me cry. 1894 01:30:56,863 --> 01:30:59,993 [sobs] 1895 01:31:03,343 --> 01:31:04,303 [sniffles] 1896 01:31:06,563 --> 01:31:08,173 [breathes deeply] 1897 01:31:10,263 --> 01:31:13,662 Because, you know, he had mentioned on the ride over, 1898 01:31:13,832 --> 01:31:15,052 you know, how... 1899 01:31:15,962 --> 01:31:19,272 uh, how he'd always felt like he didn't get what, 1900 01:31:19,452 --> 01:31:21,582 you know, he didn't get what he deserved and... 1901 01:31:22,142 --> 01:31:24,672 how he created all this music. [sobs] 1902 01:31:24,842 --> 01:31:28,592 And nobody... nobody gave him anything for it, you know? 1903 01:31:28,762 --> 01:31:30,072 And, uh... 1904 01:31:32,682 --> 01:31:35,641 Oh, man. [sighs] Sorry, y'all. 1905 01:31:36,511 --> 01:31:40,641 I think more of us should declare what we are. 1906 01:31:41,861 --> 01:31:43,381 Especially for people of color, 1907 01:31:43,561 --> 01:31:46,471 especially for queer people, right, in this culture. 1908 01:31:46,651 --> 01:31:48,081 Don't shrink. 1909 01:31:48,561 --> 01:31:51,001 In a sort of more religious, conservative religious space, 1910 01:31:51,171 --> 01:31:52,651 you don't declare who you are. 1911 01:31:53,521 --> 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 --> 01:32:18,549 And that's one of those spaces where I know that he knows 1918 01:32:19,679 --> 01:32:23,289 that when he is fully himself, he's closest to God. 1919 01:32:23,469 --> 01:32:25,079 [upbeat piano playing] 1920 01:32:25,599 --> 01:32:27,989 Crowd: [clapping rhythmically] 1921 01:32:36,219 --> 01:32:38,389 ♪ Good golly, Miss Molly ♪ 1922 01:32:39,438 --> 01:32:41,308 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 1923 01:32:41,788 --> 01:32:44,178 ♪ Oooh, Miss Molly ♪ 1924 01:32:45,228 --> 01:32:46,618 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 1925 01:32:48,448 --> 01:32:50,318 ♪ When you're rockin' and a-rollin' ♪ 1926 01:32:51,188 --> 01:32:52,708 ♪ I can't hear your mama call ♪ 1927 01:32:53,708 --> 01:32:56,108 ♪ Oooh, Miss Molly ♪ 1928 01:32:57,148 --> 01:32:58,978 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 1929 01:32:59,588 --> 01:33:01,847 ♪ Oooh, Miss Molly ♪ 1930 01:33:03,457 --> 01:33:04,597 ♪ Sure like to ball ♪ 1931 01:33:06,247 --> 01:33:08,857 ♪ When you're rockin' and a-rollin' ♪ 1932 01:33:09,027 --> 01:33:10,507 ♪ I can't hear your mama call ♪ 1933 01:33:10,687 --> 01:33:12,427 Guitar! Whoo! 1934 01:33:15,517 --> 01:33:16,867 Whoohoo! 1935 01:33:17,037 --> 01:33:18,607 Clark: The architect of rock 'n' roll. 1936 01:33:18,777 --> 01:33:20,827 The one, the only, Little Richard. 1937 01:33:21,737 --> 01:33:23,137 Little Richard: I am the beautiful Little Richard, 1938 01:33:23,307 --> 01:33:24,616 and don't you ever forget it. 1939 01:33:24,786 --> 01:33:29,136 Whoo! 1940 01:33:29,316 --> 01:33:31,396 - Whoo! - [cheering and applause] 1941 01:33:31,576 --> 01:33:33,926 - You're Little Richard. - ♪ Whoo-ooh! ♪ 1942 01:33:34,446 --> 01:33:36,626 Hey, it's Little Richard on ice. 1943 01:33:37,056 --> 01:33:38,496 Hi, Pee-wee! 1944 01:33:38,666 --> 01:33:39,976 Whoo! 1945 01:33:40,976 --> 01:33:42,756 Jones: Any true performer, 1946 01:33:42,936 --> 01:33:45,416 that thing doesn't ever leave you. 1947 01:33:46,455 --> 01:33:49,985 And I think he tried to hold on to it as long as he could. 1948 01:33:52,335 --> 01:33:55,465 Crawley: For me, architecture isn't about always answering 1949 01:33:55,645 --> 01:33:57,425 what will be done, 1950 01:33:58,385 --> 01:34:00,215 but what could be done? 1951 01:34:02,515 --> 01:34:05,475 And queerness is the openness 1952 01:34:05,655 --> 01:34:07,744 to the expansive imagination. 1953 01:34:09,264 --> 01:34:13,264 Life does not happen in opposites. 1954 01:34:13,744 --> 01:34:16,874 It happens in shades, in gradations, 1955 01:34:17,664 --> 01:34:18,834 in spectra. 1956 01:34:21,364 --> 01:34:24,804 Rock 'n' roll is not a part of Jesus. 1957 01:34:25,494 --> 01:34:28,414 Anything that is not of God is not from God. 1958 01:34:28,584 --> 01:34:31,983 And his last days were calling everybody he knew and saying, 1959 01:34:32,153 --> 01:34:34,813 "Get right with God because the end of the world 1960 01:34:34,983 --> 01:34:37,903 could be any moment, and you need to be ready." 1961 01:34:39,643 --> 01:34:41,553 Crawley: He was reflecting on his mortality. 1962 01:34:41,733 --> 01:34:43,213 He was reflecting on 1963 01:34:43,383 --> 01:34:44,773 is there a way that I could 1964 01:34:44,953 --> 01:34:47,473 live something of a joyful afterlife? 1965 01:34:49,693 --> 01:34:52,562 The last months of his life, 1966 01:34:52,742 --> 01:34:56,392 it was important for him to tell people 1967 01:34:56,572 --> 01:34:58,392 that God is love 1968 01:34:58,572 --> 01:35:01,312 and that he loved all mankind. 1969 01:35:03,752 --> 01:35:05,362 I don't see the end as 1970 01:35:05,972 --> 01:35:07,972 the only place where the meaning resides. 1971 01:35:09,492 --> 01:35:13,502 Java: I would never have taken a chance to go into the clubs 1972 01:35:13,672 --> 01:35:15,111 in a dress 1973 01:35:15,281 --> 01:35:17,891 if it wasn't for Little Richard. 1974 01:35:18,151 --> 01:35:20,111 He gave me peace 1975 01:35:20,291 --> 01:35:22,551 that I could go and do 1976 01:35:22,721 --> 01:35:25,071 and be who I wanted to be. 1977 01:35:26,201 --> 01:35:28,161 Interviewer: If you could leave just one legacy to the world, 1978 01:35:28,341 --> 01:35:29,951 would it rather be your music 1979 01:35:30,121 --> 01:35:31,991 or your preaching and your church work? 1980 01:35:32,821 --> 01:35:35,131 Little Richard: I think all that goes together. 1981 01:35:35,951 --> 01:35:37,910 I don't go to church and sing "Long Tall Sally" 1982 01:35:38,090 --> 01:35:39,520 or "Good Golly Miss Molly." 1983 01:35:40,480 --> 01:35:42,870 But all of it's music, and I love it. 1984 01:35:46,790 --> 01:35:49,750 [orchestral music playing] 1985 01:36:04,679 --> 01:36:08,459 He paved the way for everything that followed. 1986 01:36:13,899 --> 01:36:17,689 Nyong'o: He taught me that you could claim things 1987 01:36:17,869 --> 01:36:20,778 even when you weren't supposed to. 1988 01:36:20,958 --> 01:36:22,778 I am the king of rock 'n' roll. 1989 01:36:22,958 --> 01:36:25,608 Ow-ow-ow! My, my, my. 1990 01:36:26,788 --> 01:36:30,308 Anthony: Little Richard gave the world permission to be. 1991 01:36:30,488 --> 01:36:33,708 To be who you wanted to be, who you were. 1992 01:36:41,408 --> 01:36:42,847 Porter: The reason why I'm finally, 1993 01:36:43,017 --> 01:36:45,887 finally able, as a Black queer man, 1994 01:36:46,067 --> 01:36:48,457 to show up and do anything I want 1995 01:36:48,627 --> 01:36:49,977 is because of him. 1996 01:36:56,687 --> 01:36:58,557 Crawley: It's almost as if everyone 1997 01:36:58,727 --> 01:36:59,647 is defined by Little Richard. 1998 01:37:01,867 --> 01:37:03,347 I don't want anything from them. 1999 01:37:03,517 --> 01:37:06,296 All I want them to do is to spread what they got from me. 2000 01:37:06,476 --> 01:37:08,736 Just carry the good word over the world, that's all. 2001 01:37:14,836 --> 01:37:16,446 [music fades] 2002 01:37:17,446 --> 01:37:19,876 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom ♪ 2003 01:37:20,056 --> 01:37:21,836 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2004 01:37:22,016 --> 01:37:24,146 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2005 01:37:24,316 --> 01:37:26,845 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2006 01:37:27,015 --> 01:37:29,105 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2007 01:37:29,275 --> 01:37:31,935 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2008 01:37:32,105 --> 01:37:34,115 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop ba boom ♪ 2009 01:37:34,285 --> 01:37:36,765 ♪ I got a girl named Sue ♪ 2010 01:37:36,935 --> 01:37:39,075 ♪ She knows just what to do ♪ 2011 01:37:39,245 --> 01:37:41,725 ♪ I got a girl named Sue ♪ 2012 01:37:41,905 --> 01:37:44,165 ♪ She knows just what to do ♪ 2013 01:37:44,335 --> 01:37:46,905 ♪ She rocks to the east, rocks to the west ♪ 2014 01:37:47,075 --> 01:37:49,034 ♪ She's the girl that I love best ♪ 2015 01:37:49,214 --> 01:37:51,344 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2016 01:37:51,514 --> 01:37:53,954 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh ♪ 2017 01:37:54,134 --> 01:37:56,304 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2018 01:37:56,484 --> 01:37:58,914 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2019 01:37:59,094 --> 01:38:01,574 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2020 01:38:01,744 --> 01:38:04,004 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom ♪ 2021 01:38:04,184 --> 01:38:06,184 ♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪ 2022 01:38:06,354 --> 01:38:08,574 ♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪ 2023 01:38:08,754 --> 01:38:11,233 ♪ I got a girl named Daisy ♪ 2024 01:38:11,403 --> 01:38:13,803 ♪ She almost drives me crazy ♪ 2025 01:38:13,973 --> 01:38:16,323 ♪ She knows how to love me Yes, indeed ♪ 2026 01:38:16,503 --> 01:38:18,763 ♪ Boy, you don't know what she do to me ♪ 2027 01:38:18,933 --> 01:38:21,023 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2028 01:38:21,203 --> 01:38:23,683 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh ♪ 2029 01:38:23,853 --> 01:38:25,813 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2030 01:38:25,983 --> 01:38:28,293 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2031 01:38:28,463 --> 01:38:31,033 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2032 01:38:31,213 --> 01:38:34,252 ♪ Wop bop a loo bop a bop bop, ow! ♪ 2033 01:38:37,522 --> 01:38:39,262 ♪ Ah-ah-ah ♪ 2034 01:38:42,482 --> 01:38:43,872 ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ 2035 01:38:47,532 --> 01:38:50,402 ♪ Oh, tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2036 01:38:50,572 --> 01:38:53,012 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh ♪ 2037 01:38:53,182 --> 01:38:55,231 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2038 01:38:55,401 --> 01:38:57,841 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2039 01:38:58,021 --> 01:39:00,501 ♪ Tutti frutti, oh rootie ♪ 2040 01:39:00,671 --> 01:39:03,631 ♪ A wop bop a loo bop a bop bang boom ♪ 2041 01:39:04,591 --> 01:39:06,891 [soft music playing] 2042 01:40:33,277 --> 01:40:35,327 [music concludes]