Wow. What a hellish two weeks! Sorry about the lack of output. If there was any album I could use to title my past month it would be The Fathomless Misery. Finally exams are over, I pulled off exemplary grades, and I have all break to use the cash I get for my birthday and Christmas to do no more than perform my annual second Christmas. This of course being the Dec. 26th splurge on new music for me to enjoy and you to learn about! I am so excited to finally have some money to throw around for the benefit of the reader. Being a Black Metal specialist, I know a lot of these records do not come around cheap. I am sure this title strikes your attention. Being that it is not anywhere close to the usual Black Metal I review, or near anyone’s material for that matter. What is under the microscope however, is one of Rock’n’Roll’s earliest classics. Without the British, we would never have Metal. Without the African American, none of this would have ever happened in the first place.

The likes of these Southern born Black men, the most famous of course being Chuck Berry and Little Richard, decided to take the Delta Blues that were the anthems of the oft times impoverished and persecuted Southern black man, jack it up about 75 bpm, and sing about happier and brighter times. In fact, the so called king, Elvis Presley was initially rejected by RCA Records who suggested he adopt a more “ebony” sound. These were the first men to use a speedier tempo to their advantage. They were the first to make the guitar solo a part of almost every song (save for Charlie Christian ) and the only guys besides Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich to put any emphasis on percussion. From here, we received our base set of instruments for Rock music. No longer would the clarinet, trombone, or even the trumpet be the focal point. No longer were songs structured around each member taking their limelight for a solo. This music here revolutionized not only the sound and instrumentation of the musical world, it also changed the way people looked at songwriting and musical theory.

It is this mindset that permits me to write this for MR. If Misha can write a review for Venetian Snares, then I should be able to review Ke$ha for crying out loud! That is not the point though. The point is, when I shat all over Beatles a few months ago, I was berated for not showing respect to a game changing band. Well, Little Richard here changed the face of music forever, and he can actually play his instrument! If anyone grew up anytime within the 80s or 90s they might remember seeing him jam out on Sesame Street. At that point it was creepy, but now it is all boogie and no bullshit.

I drove my Grandfather to buy smokes today, and as we blasted Long Tall Sally and speed down the road, he reminisced about a time when Little Richard was the next big thing. A time when Italians like myself were known for our hard ass attitude and our proficiency with Tommy Guns. Now we’re being identified as a bunch of guido’s, with Snookie as the face of our people. I spit on that! I digress, it does not matter if your musical tastes in regards to metal reside in the cold wilderness of Norway or at a full house in Radio City, there is something to appreciate in Little Richard’s work for all of us. Little Richard was one of the first musicians to have his own little trademark. Before Michael Jackson was doing his “ow!” and “heehee!” or “chimoneh!” there was “wooooooooooooooooooooo!!!.” Ask anyone what they remember about Little Richard and they will probably do that. Anyways, the tracks on Here’s Little Richard, his first and most famous album, are nothing short of exciting and phenomenal. They do justice in explaining why all the emerging Rock’n’Roll musicians went after this sound. Little Richard has at least three or four of his most famous tracks intermittently laid throughout the track list. Starting off is his most celebrated and widely known track, Tutti Frutti. This song is the essential depiction of not only the sound of Little Richard but the sound of the times. It was a generation defining track that anyone who lived through the 50s will know by heart. The African American Southern musician was so ahead of the musical curve that it was just necessary to get down to their music. While Tutti Frutti is Little Richard’s most popular track, my personal favorite is track 7, Long Tall Sally. This is probably the fastest track on the album and was probably a real scorcher for the era. Of course, this was about 40 or so years before anyone decided rifling off long string of double bass or firing blast beats. So you would bet that much like cars have gotten faster, the folks at the dance halls back then thought that Long Tall Sally was the fastest thing since Jesse Owens blowing away a pissed off Hitler. Long Tall Sally does just that. It blows me away. It has the typical stop and go chorus style of that era, but it leaves ample time for a beautiful saxophone solo. Little Richard had three saxophones. One bari, one alto, and one tenor, and each plays their part and has their moment to shine. This is reminiscent of Jazz, but what Little Richard does here is changed the face of music good and for the better. There are so many phenomenal tracks left on Here’s Little Richard that one must enjoy. But obviously, this is not for everyone, even though it should be. So, I implore you all, to take a break from your Metal and find out where it ALL started. This should be in the Classics column, but I will get enough flack for reviewing this as it is, so I’ll just score it tops. Because this truly is a masterpiece and a pathfinder for everything that would come.