If rock and roll was about rebellion and scaring your parents, then Little Richard would be your ‘go to’ guy. His manic, crazed, unhinged stage presence was more than enough to induce heart palpitations in the elderly and elicit rage from most parents who thought that Richard had the power to influence their children to become just as unhinged, crazed, and manic as he was. Adults found his energy to be threatening but if you were a kid, it was glorious. I’ll bet that more kids ripped the buttons off their pajamas while dancing to Little Richard then every other rock and roller combined. This album provides twelve good reasons for all the controversy and craziness.

Let’s look at this album track by track to see what we can discern about Little Richard as both a threat and an inspiration. The lyrics to “Keep a-Knockin’” are borderline idiotic. You simply repeat the redundant verse pattern three times, being sure to add the patented scream each time it rolls around. If you were raised on Cole Porter, I could understand your problem with this one. Kids, though, knew that the words were not the point. It was about the raucous rhythm that made them feel giddy and glad to be alive. “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” follows, and it qualifies as the album’s worst track. I’d say by a long shot, but “Baby Face” comes close, and they are both awful for the same reason.

Apparently, Richard’s handlers felt the need to appease the older generation and force-fed these songs to him – which he immediately regurgitated as Little Richard lunacy gone array. Did they really think that granny was going to say, “That madman is alright in my book, now that I hear him do a mean Al Jolson imitation”? Quite obviously, they did not ease the controversy. “Send Me Some Lovin’” may give listeners the false impression that Little Richard is mellowing out, but his performance was strong enough to inspire covers by both Buddy Holly and even Sam Cooke…and eventually, Dean Martin. “I’ll Never Let You Go”, “Heebie Jeebies” and “All Around the World” ramp the energy back into the red zone, with “Heebie Jeebies” reprising the idiotic lyric pattern of the opening track.

Then, you pause, take a breath, and flip the record over to side two. You may want to put a nickel on the tone arm for this one, since it contains three of the best rocking pop singles of all time. “Good Golly, Miss Molly”, is, in my opinion, the most rebellious song of the fifties. Were white people so square that they didn’t know he was singing about a girl addicted to sex? “Hey Hey Hey Hey” would eventually be the latter part of a medley with “Kansas City” but hearing it in its entirety is a rare treat, since the Beatles’ cover of the medley stole its thunder. “Ooh! My Soul” may not be as celebrated as the other top 40 singles on this side, but it serves as a brilliant example of just how crazy those boys at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios in New Orleans could get when the bridle was removed (it was also Little Richard’s last top 40 hit). “The Girl Can’t Help It” rocks, and miraculously, it also has lyrics that aren’t nonsensical. Two thumbs up! The album ends with “Lucille,” a hard-strutting mid-tempo rocker with a rhythm that predicted the next ten years of rock and roll music. By the time the album ends, parents would be ripping their hair out, while kids ripped the buttons from their pajamas.

Feature Tracks:

Keep A Knockin'

By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Send Me Some Lovin

I'll Never Let You Go (Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo)

Heeby-Jeebies

All Around the World

Good Golly, Miss Molly

Baby Face

Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey

Ooh! My Soul

The Girl Can't Help It

Lucille

July 1958 – Billboard Did Not Chart