MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 07

Little Richard, rock’s flashy founding father, dies at 87 US rock legend Little Richard inspired scores of musicians including David Bowie, The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly

AFP | New York Richard’s lifestyle -- he spoke that moved me to do everything phy, Richard recalled his father ti / Aw rootie... I’ve got a girl fondly of bisexual orgies -- be- I would do.” telling him, “’My father had sev- named Sue / She knows just ittle Richard, whose came the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll “Of course he’ll live forever,” en sons and I wanted seven sons. what to do.” outrageous showman- With a decadence. he said in a series of tweets. You’ve spoiled it, you’re only half Lship and lightning-fast But he never became an obvi- “But it’s like a part of your life a son.’” ‘True king’ rhythms intoxicated crowds distinctive ous icon for the African-Ameri- is gone.” “And then he’d hit me. But I The song -- with its infectious with hits like “Tutti Frutti” and can or gay communities. David Bowie was mesmerized couldn’t help it. That was the rhythm, high decibel level and “Long Tall Sally,” has died. He range from Once openly -- by standards when he saw one of Richard’s way I was,” Richard said. lingering sense of naughtiness was 87 years old. of the time -- attracted to men, movies, with the then nine- A key break came in 1947 -- triggered an unprecedented Reverend Bill Minson, a friend robust belting Richard became a born-again year-old deciding to learn the when gospel singer Sister Ro- reaction. of the legendary musician, told Christian and renounced homo- saxophone and later saying, “If setta Tharpe spotted him sing- In a 1956 Baltimore concert, AFP Little Richard died Saturday to howling sexuality as a temporary choice, it hadn’t have been for him, I ing at the Macon City Audito- women threw underwear as po- morning following a battle with anathema to the modern gay probably wouldn’t have gone rium, where Richard sold soft lice prevented fans from rushing cancer. falsetto, rights movement and psycholo- into music.” drinks. the stage or leaping from the With a distinctive range from gists. The superstar was aware of Richard had developed a low- balcony in euphoria. robust belting to howling falset- Richard And while he was one of the the debt his successors owed key career singing around Geor- “Richard arrives and he’s at- to, Richard transfixed audiences first African-American artists to him. “Prince is the Little Richard gia, including in underground tacking the piano; he’s banging and inspired artists including transfixed cross the racial divide, a younger of his generation,” he told Joan drag performances, when he on it. He’s not crooning; he’s The Beatles as he transformed generation of black DJs had little Rivers in 1989. was approached by record screaming,” said Chris Morris, a the blues into the feverish audiences and interest in an artist seen as em- He then turned to face the labels. music scholar who remastered new style of rock ‘n’ roll along- bedded in the white mainstream. camera directly and said: “I was Success was not immediate. his 1957 album “Here’s Little side Fats Domino and Chuck inspired artists wearing purple before you was Early recording ventures with Richard.” Mentor to rock’s greats Berry. including The wearing it!” RCA Victor and Peacock Records “There had never really been a His raunchy 1955 song “Tutti But his influence was incal- The estate of Prince, who died fell flat. figure who came out of R&B who Frutti” became a sort of opening Beatles as he culable. Early white rockers in 2016, said Saturday that Rich- Richard never thought to re- was that extroverted or loud or salvo of rock ‘n’ roll’s entry into including Buddy Holly, Jerry ard “didn’t just open doors, he cord “Tutti Frutti,” a staple of wild.” American life, starting with his transformed the Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley all smashed entire walls to pieces his live performances driven by Richard followed with 1956’s nonsensical but instantly thrill- pursued Richard’s sound. to make way for all who would frantic piano and whose lyrics “Good Golly, Miss Molly.” ing first line: “Awop bop a loo blues into the The upstart Beatles and Roll- come after him.” -- in a wink likely lost on many But then he abruptly canceled mop / Alop bam boom.” ing Stones served separately -- were a light-hearted depiction a tour and became a missionary Richard stunned but - feverish new as opening acts when Richard ‘Tutti Frutti’ reborn of anal sex: “Tutti frutti / Good for the evangelical Church of toned-down post-World War II toured England, and a young Born Richard Wayne Penn- booty... If it don’t fit / Don’t force God. America with an otherworld- style of rock ‘n’ Jimi Hendrix and members of iman on December 5, 1932, he it.” His turn to religion compli- ly look of blindingly colorful Earth, Wind and Fire played in was raised in grinding poverty But the song caught the ear cated his relationship with the shirts, glass-embedded jackets, roll alongside his back-up band. in Macon, Georgia. His father of Bumps Blackwell, a producer music world -- but his legacy a needle-thin moustache and a “He was the biggest inspira- sold bootleg liquor and owned a from Specialty Records, which as a titan who ushered in a new six-inch (15-centimeter) high Fats Domino tion of my early teens,” Mick tavern, where he was shot dead had reluctantly signed Richard musical age held. pompadour. Jagger tweeted Saturday. in a dispute when Richard was after he persistently phoned its Tributes poured in Saturday, A consummate entertainer, and Chuck “His music still has the same starting his career. office. with Chic co-founder Nile Rodg- he would play piano with one raw electric energy when you Richard, despite his stage Blackwell asked young song- ers mourning “the loss of a true leg hoisted over the keys and, in Berry. play it now as it did when it first name, stood a skinny five-foot-10 writer Dorothy LaBostrie to giant” and former president Bill one legendary concert in Brit- shot through the music scene in (1.8 meters) and was born with quickly pen some more ra- Clinton hailing his “unforgetta- ain, played dead on stage so ef- the mid 50’s.” different sized legs. A mis- dio-friendly lyrics. ble charisma.” fectively that the venue sought Bob Dylan called Richard “my chievous child, he lingered in Within 15 minutes and only Questlove of The Roots was medical help before he resur- shining star and guiding light churches for their music and three takes, Little Richard had more emphatic: “LITTLE RICH- rected himself to an astounded back when I was only a little was noticeably effeminate. recorded his defining hit, now ARD is THE TRUE KING. LONG crowd. boy. His was the original spirit In his 1984 authorized biogra- with the tame lines: “Tutti frut- LIVE THE KING.” Needy Tunisians get food aid via text messages AFP | Tunis lockdown I can no longer go out store in the working-class dis- Zakraoui, said she hopes the in- Tunisian NGO has set up a to work,” said the 49-year-old. trict of Kram, is among those itiative will grow so as to reach Afood bank that dispenses “I cannot clean homes and who signed up to take part in more needy families across Tu- aid by text message to some 300 earn money to feed my seven the project. nisia. The NGO also aims to help needy families rendered more children.” “The money is sent to us ahead families become more self-suf- vulnerable because of the coro- Her family was among the 300 of time -- that way the clients ficient through training in skills navirus pandemic. chosen by the women’s affairs can buy what they want with such as growing their own veg- The initiative, which had been ministry and signalled to the the funds allocated to them,” etables or baking bread to sell. long in the making, was finally NGO known as the “Banque Ali- she said. “Our objective is to provide launched at the end of April to mentaire Durable” or Sustaina- Farah said this works much food aid to needy people and in coincide with the start of the ble Food Bank. better than allowing custom- exchange they agree to take part holy Muslim fasting month of Under the initiative, Raouafi ers to buy on credit, a system in initiatives aimed at integrat- Ramadan. receives a code by text message that takes its toll on her own ing them socially and profes- It targets families who have allowing her to spend 40 to 60 finances. sionally,” Zakraoui said. lost jobs because of the lock- Tunisian dinars (around $21-32) “In our area there are many Even before the virus out - down imposed by Tunisia to weekly at specially designated poor families and unemployed break, Tunisia has been strug- contain the spread of the virus, grocery stores. people,” she said, explaining gling with economic and social like that of Messaouda Raouafi, With that money, Raouafi has why she decided to embrace the hardship that has worsened a cleaning woman forced to stay been able to buy basic goods initiative. since the country went into indoors. For many Tunisians the lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus deprived such as oil, milk, coffee and flour. Aid and autonomy lockdown in March to battle the “Because of Ramadan and the them of jobs and in need of food aid Farah, who runs a grocery A member of the NGO, Aisha pandemic.