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The Georgia Peach

Little Richard - The Georgia Peach Audio CD

A fair review of the Little Richard "The Georgia Peach" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Little Richard reviews here, or go back to the Little Richard tabs.

Band: Little Richard
Title: The Georgia Peach
Rating:

Release Date: 1991-08-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Tutti Frutti 2: Baby [*] 3: I'm Just a Lonely Guy [*] 4: True Fine Mama [*] 5: Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! 6: Slippin' and Slidin' 7: Long Tall Sally 8: Miss Ann 9: Oh Why? [*] 10: Ready Teddy 11: Hey Hey Hey Hey 12: Rip It Up 13: Lucille 14: Heeby Jeebies [*] 15: Can't Believe You Wanna Leave 16: Shake a Hand [*] 17: All Around the World [*] 18: She's Got It 19: Jenny, Jenny 20: Good Golly Miss Molly 21: Girl Can't Help It 22: Send Me Some Lovin' 23: Ooh! My Soul 24: Keep a Knockin' 25: Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On

AAAAAAAAAAA !
John & Paul idolized him, as can be evidenced whenever you hear them scream ("AAAA!", for example, in 'Hard Days Night' or "AAAAA!", during 'Revolution') in the early recordings. This is a great compilation ! Little Richard's influence on rock n' roll and so many artists that came after him, from the Beatles to Elvis, to Prince can never be overstated. This cd puts it all into context. .

Outrageous, Flaming, Androgynous & House-Rockin' Way Before Bowie & Glam, Freddie Mercury, Prince, Sylvester or Boy George!!
Little Richard is so much more than just the crazy,
loud-mouthed, flamboyant, grand old "architect of Rock-N-Roll"
that we all know today! This man was a one man musical, sexual
& cultural revolution!--A force of nature in a time which was
very closed & uptight on so many levels!
Enter young Richard Penniman from Macon, GA with his hot band
rightly called "The Upsetters" and everything that was believed
about race, gender, music, what was acceptable and not,
all went out the window!
His songs were filled with the fire and brimstone singing
of old time black gospel (Marion Williams' high "Whoooo!")
mixed with the boogie-woogie piano and rawkus blues shoutin'
of a backwater moonshine swillin' jook joint!
He could make a piano get up and walk across the room!
Playing in the old rolling gospel/boogie-woogie style that
mixed angel & devil all together on the black & white keys!
He took showmanship as it was known at that time and turned
the volume up way past 10!!--Often whipping the venues he
played into such a frenzy that racial lines came down and black
danced with white!--A DEFINITE NO-NO in that time!
His persona was so flamboyant, so peacock, so flaming,
with his honey-brown pancake makeup, beautifully coiffed
and fingerwaved pompadour, pencil-thin moustache, mascara &
eye-shadow that people (male, female, black, white or even martian!)
were overwhelmed by it and made to tingle in ways that
they didn't know they could tingle!--Another DEFINITE
NO-NO in that oppressive time!

Aside from all that, his music (all contained in this
great collection), simply could not be denied as
tear-the-house-down ROCK-N-ROLL classics!
Little Richard didn't just come in. . HE BUTTED IN &
BURNED DOWN ALL THE WALLS!!
When you think of a young black kid out of the jim crow
south who was reviled as a sissy and a freak in his own community
and as a low-down ni*$#r in the white community, you realize
what sheer guts & balls it must've took just for this guy
to wake up and go outside every day!--Let alone write and
perform some of the rawest & funkiest rock-n-roll ever!
All of this was 25 to 30 yrs before David Bowie's gender-bending
"Ziggy Stardust" wowed early 70's rock audiences, Freddie Mercury's
"Killer Queen" antics, Prince's 80's "Revolution" or
Sylvester and Boy George's androgynous cultural paradigm-shifting
careers ignited whole new generations to the fact that you
could be outrageous, different, and completely left-of-center
and still rock the world!--There's so much more to this guy
than meets the eye!--Learn about him.
Now in 2009, as failing health has now limited his visibility in
the public eye, he nears his 77th Birthday in relative quiet,
but as long as "Tutti-Frutti", "Rip It Up", "Long-Tall Sally",
"Lucille", "The Girl Can't Help It" and others ring out. . .
Little Richard's legacy will never be forgotten!.

THE BEST GREATEST HITS ALBUM FOR LITTLE RICHARD
I'm not going to try to persuade you into liking little richard, he will do that for himself. simply the best one on the market right now; undisputed.

Next Best Option To The Specialty Sessions 3-CD Box Set
Magnificent AAD sound reproduction is featured on all 16 of his hits from 1956 to June 1958, plus the four uncharted B-sides in that period, along with one hit from 1959, two cuts that appeared in early LP/EPs, and two that were issued years later as singles, but failed to chart. If you don't want to spring for the 3-CD Specialty Sessions Box Set, which is easily THE best Little Richard compendium on the market, then this volume from the Legends Of Specialty series is your next best option.

All this is augmented by an insert containing numerous vintage photos, six pages of background notes written in 1991 by Billy Vera, a sessionography for each of the tracks showing dates recorded and musicians involved, plus on the reverse of the CD a discography of the contents.

This original inductee into the R&R Hall Of Fame in 1986 first hit the charts in late 1955 when Tutti-Frutti exploded onto the charts, reaching # 2 R&B/# 17 Billboard Pop Top 100 b/w I'm Just A Lonely Guy. That dramatic debut was following in the spring of 1956 by Long Tall Sally which hit # 1 R&B and stayed there for 8 weeks, as well as # 6 Top 100, while the flipside, Slippin' And Slidin' (Peepin' And Hidin') reached # 2 R&B/# 33 Top 100. A couple of months later another # 1 R&B surfaced in the form of Rip It Up, also # 17 Top 100, while its B-side, Ready Teddy, made it to # 8 R&B/# 44 Top 100.

Cover versions of his hits to date were popping up all over the place as well, by Pat Boone, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets, while major stars to come like Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and four young Englishmen named John, Paul, George and Ringo were being suitably influenced.

It's a bit strange, then, that his next hit, Heeby-Jeebies b/w She's Got It, impacted only upon the R&B charts in November 1956, reaching # 7 and # 9 respectively, and that The Girl Can't Help It, featured in the Jayne Mansfield film of the same name, could only achieve a # 49 Top 100 while hitting # 7 on the R&B charts. The B-side, All Around The World, also scored at # 13 R&B. It seems mainstream white DJs didn't know quite how to take this energetic, flamboyant new star and were therefore not giving him the airplay he deserved. That was born out in early 1957 when his third # 1 R&B, Lucille, could only get as high as # 21 Top 100, and the B-side, Send Me Some Lovin', just a # 54 Top 100 while reaching # 3 R&B.

All his hits to this point had been billed to Little Richard And His Band, but from this point on the billing would be simply Little Richard, beginning with Jenny, Jenny (# 2 R&B/# 10 Top 100) b/w Miss Ann (# 6 R&B/# 56 Top 100) in July 1957. His second-best Pop cross-over then appeared late that summer when Keep A Knockin' hit # 8 Top 100 as well as # 2 R&B b/w the uncharted Can't Believe You Wanna Leave. The A-side was also featured in the film Mr. Rock 'n' Roll, starring Alan Freed.

In early 1958 Richard honoured Jackie Brenston by basing his piano intro on his legendary hit Rocket "88" from 1951, and saw Good Golly, Miss Molly top out at # 4 R&B/# 10 Top 100 b/w the uncharted (unbelievably so) Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey. That summer, Ooh! My Soul got to # 15 R&B/# 31 Top 100 b/w True Fine Mama, regarded as a # 15 R&B "follow-along" hit while also reaching # 68 Top 100.

Omitted from this volume is Baby Face, which reached # 12 R&B/# 41 Top 100 in October 1958 b/w the uncharted I'll Never Let You Go. They do, however, include his rendition of Kansas City, recorded on November 29, 1955 well before the the Thurston Harris hit, but not released until spring 1959 in a medley with Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey, reaching # 95 on what had then become the Billboard Pop Hot 100. The B-side, Lonesome And Blue, is omitted here.

Other gems in this release include Baby, recorded in September 1955, and Oh Why? which was recorded in February 1956, both released that year on LP 100 as well as a Specialty EP, Shake A Hand, recorded in August 1956, and Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, recorded in October 1957, the last two not released until 1959 when they came out on singles that failed to chart.

It's interesting to note that everything Little Richard recorded for Specialty took place from September 14, 1955 to October 18, 1957.

"Well it's Saturday night and I just got paid....I'm gonna rip it up!!!"
I would put him way up at the top as one of the great innovaters, originators, and exremely important influences in the history of rock'n'roll. This is probably the best collection of Richard Penniman's Specialty label songs you'd want on a CD. So many people covered his songs over the years. From Elvis to the Beatles to even Pat Boone and Marty Robbins. This CD is a must-have for anyone who loves fun, danceable, and wild rock'n'roll. So get this CD and rock your socks off!
As a note, I also recommend seeking out reissues of his earlier music recorded roughly between 1951-1954.
A truly great pianist, songwriter, singer and arranger.

You can see a complete list of all Little Richard discography, or go back to the Little Richard tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.