How Little Richard lit a flame inside Ringo Starr: “It was one of those moments”
Every musician comes across defining moments on their path to destiny. During his teenage years, Ringo Starr had a weekly half-hour glimpse into a different world that continuously introduced him to transformative artists, including the captivating Little Richard.
Like many of his generation, skiffle music was his first love, and this genre dominated the sound of his early bands. However, once the early incarnation of rock ‘n’ roll caught Starr’s attention, there was no looking back.
While Little Richard seems tame in comparison to acts that later emerged as rock ‘n’ roll developed, he was the architect who laid the blueprint for the next generation. At the time, he was a revolutionary spreading a message of hope for the future, and Starr was worshipping at his altar.
In the history of rock ‘n’ roll, few, if any, songs have had the same seismic impact as Little Richard’s 1955 single ‘Tutti Frutti’. The evocative anthem was risqué and dared to explore territories deemed taboo by fellow contemporary musicians.
The work of Little Richard has had a lasting effect on Starr, who still remembers being taken to another world when he was first exposed to the late American musician.
During an appearance on the Celebrity Playlist Podcast in 2010, Starr chose a selection of his favourite songs, including Little Richard’s ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’. While he didn’t speak specifically about the track in question, Starr explained where his love affair with the singer started and how his life was affected by him.
The drummer recalled: “Little Richard is great because when I was 17, 18, there was a show in England, The Alan Freed Show, that came from Luxembourg, another country, because the BBC wouldn’t play it and they had half another of The Alan Freed Show. That’s where we heard everything. Little Richard came on, and it was one of those moments that you just stopped in your tracks, ‘My God, listen to this’.”
He continued: “It wasn’t this track, but his band were so great, you could pick any track. It’s all swing. As a drummer, I love the fact that (mimes Little Richard impression). It’s all swing, it’s so great. I think we had to wait til Jerry Lee Lewis before it became straight rock. All of the early, so-called rock ‘n’ roll was actually coming out of the big bands, and it was swing.”
Furthermore, in the documentary Little Richard: King & Queen of Rock n Roll, Starr told a similar yarn about his relationship with Little Richard with additional colour. The Beatles member explained how every Sunday at 4pm, he and his friend Roy would gather round a radio to hear the latest tracks, courtesy of Alan Freed. “Rock then became a force, and Little Richard was always leading it,” he remarked.
Only a few years later, in 1962, Starr had the privilege of learning from Little Richard and his tight-knit band when The Beatles shared a bill with them in Hamburg. Although this was only for a short period, it was a learning curve for the Fab Four, who returned to England ready to embark on an era of dominance.
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