The Explosive Little Richard: Difference between revisions
KolbertBot (talk | contribs) m Bot: HTTP→HTTPS |
m →Critical reception: Removed/fixed incorrect author parameter(s), performed general fixes |
||
(32 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox album |
{{Infobox album |
||
| |
| name = The Explosive Little Richard |
||
| |
| type = studio |
||
| |
| artist = [[Little Richard]] |
||
| |
| cover = Explosivelittlerichard.jpg |
||
| |
| alt = |
||
| released = {{Start date|1967|01}} |
|||
| Recorded = 5 February 1966 - 15 September 1966 |
|||
| recorded = February 5, 1966{{snd}}September 15, 1966 |
|||
| Studio = Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California |
|||
| |
| studio = Columbia, Hollywood, California |
||
| genre = [[Rock and roll]], [[Soul music|soul]] |
|||
| Length = 29:49 |
|||
| |
| length = 29:49 |
||
| |
| label = [[Okeh]] |
||
| producer = [[Larry Williams]] |
|||
| Last album = ''[[The Wild and Frantic Little Richard]]''<br /> (1966) |
|||
| |
| prev_title = [[The Wild and Frantic Little Richard]] |
||
| prev_year = 1966 |
|||
| |
| next_title = [[Little Richard's Greatest Hits: Recorded Live!]] |
||
| next_year = 1967 |
|||
}} |
}} |
||
⚫ | '''''The Explosive Little Richard''''' is the first album by [[Little Richard]] for [[Okeh|Okeh Records]], produced by his long-time friend [[Larry Williams]] and [[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]]. The songs reflect the then-popular [[Soul music|soul]] and [[Motown]] musical styles; no tracks were written by Richard. |
||
==Recording== |
|||
At the time, Richard had wished Okeh would not release this album, as it favored horns over rhythm. In Charles White's 1984 biography ''The Life and Times of Little Richard'', Richard noted he "was in the second year of the Okey (sic) contract and there was still no hit record. So I tore it up. The contract gave me no say in the material I recorded with them or in what was released. [[Larry Williams]] was the worst producer in the world. He wanted me to copy [[Motown]] and I was no Motown artist. [...] The Okeh stuff didn't sell at all because Okeh was an R'n'B label - a black label. I should have recorded on the Epic label, because I'm not primarily a black artist. It would have done a lot better."<ref name="white">White, Charles. (2003). ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press.</ref> |
|||
'Poor Dog' made it to No. 41 on the R&B chart, and 'Commandments of Love' made No. 30 on The Cash Box Black Singles chart. All Okeh 45's are highly regarded in Europe where they were released on the Epic label. |
|||
⚫ | |||
{{Album ratings |
{{Album ratings |
||
| rev1 = ''[[Record Collector]]'' |
| rev1 = ''[[Record Collector]]'' |
||
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4}}<ref name="Record Collector">{{cite web|last=Staunton |first=Terry |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/the-explosive-little-richard-plus |title='Ripping it up in a post- |
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4}}<ref name="Record Collector">{{cite web|last=Staunton |first=Terry |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/the-explosive-little-richard-plus |title='Ripping it up in a post-rock'n'roll world' |work=[[Record Collector]] |date= |accessdate=2007-11-01}}</ref> |
||
| rev2 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' |
| rev2 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' |
||
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Rolling Stone">{{cite web|last=Relic |first=Peter |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/get-down-with-it-the-okeh-sessions-20040819 |title= |
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Rolling Stone">{{cite web|last=Relic |first=Peter |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/get-down-with-it-the-okeh-sessions-20040819 |title=Little Richard: ''Get Down With It: The Okeh Sessions'' |work=[[Rolling Stone]] |date= |accessdate=2004-08-19}}</ref> |
||
| rev3 = ''[[AllMusic]]'' |
| rev3 = ''[[AllMusic]]'' |
||
| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web|last=Ruhlmann |first=William |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-explosive-little-richard-mw0000841076 |title=' |
| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web|last=Ruhlmann |first=William |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-explosive-little-richard-mw0000841076 |title=''The Explosive Little Richard''{{snd}}Review |work=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> |
||
| rev4 = ''[[i-News]]'' |
| rev4 = ''[[i-News]]'' |
||
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4}}<ref name="I News">{{cite web|last=Clarke|first=John |url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/music/viny-review-explosive-little-richard |title= |
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4}}<ref name="I News">{{cite web|last=Clarke|first=John |url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/music/viny-review-explosive-little-richard |title=Vinyl review: ''The Explosive Little Richard'' |work=[[i-News]] |date= |accessdate=2016-09-02}}</ref> |
||
}} |
}} |
||
CD reissues have seen the album attract positive reviews. In 2007, [[Record Collector]] gave the album four stars, and cited it as "quite possibly the best long player he ever made."<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Explosive Little Richard… Plus - Record Collector Magazine|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/the-explosive-little-richard-plus|access-date=2021-01-08|language=en}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | '''''The Explosive Little Richard''''' is the first album by [[Little Richard]] |
||
In a review of the entire Okeh recordings, [[Rolling Stone]] stated that "Richard's hair-raising vocals on the Motown staple 'Money' effectively claim the song as his own."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Relic|first=Peter|date=2004-08-19|title=Get Down With It: The Okeh Sessions|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/get-down-with-it-the-okeh-sessions-185538/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
[[i-News]] reviewed the album for a 2016 vinyl release, giving it four stars and stating that Richard "was still blessed with an immaculate voice and threw himself wholeheartedly some great contemporary sounding tracks."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-09-02|title=Vinyl review - The Explosive Little Richard|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/viny-review-explosive-little-richard-20360|access-date=2021-01-08|website=inews.co.uk|language=en}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | |||
# "I Don't Want to Discuss It" (Beth Beatty, Dick Cooper, Ernie Shelby) – 2:28 |
|||
# "[[Land of a Thousand Dances]]" ([[Fats Domino]], [[Chris Kenner]]) – 2:10 |
|||
# "The Commandments of Love" ([[Larry Williams]]) – 2:27 |
|||
# "[[Money (That's What I Want)]]" ([[Janie Bradford]], [[Berry Gordy, Jr.]]) – 2:02 |
|||
# "Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)" ([[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]], Williams) – 3:06 |
|||
# "I Need Love" (Williams) – 2:39 |
|||
# "Never Gonna Let You Go" (Cooper, Shelby) – 2:41 |
|||
# "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" ([[Chuck Willis]]) – 4:39 |
|||
# "Function at the Junction" ([[Brian Holland]], [[Eddie Holland]], Frederick Long, [[Lamont Dozier]]) – 2:35 |
|||
# "Well (aka Well All Right)" ([[Sam Cooke]]) – 2:56 |
|||
===UK CD reissue track listing=== |
|||
⚫ | |||
# "[[Land of a Thousand Dances]]" ([[Fats Domino]], [[Chris Kenner]]) – 2:10 |
# "[[Land of a Thousand Dances]]" ([[Fats Domino]], [[Chris Kenner]]) – 2:10 |
||
# "The Commandments of Love" ([[Larry Williams]]) – 2:27 |
# "The Commandments of Love" ([[Larry Williams]]) – 2:27 |
||
# "I Don't Want to Discuss It" (Beth Beatty, Dick Cooper, Ernie Shelby) – 2:28 |
# "I Don't Want to Discuss It" (Beth Beatty, Dick Cooper, Ernie Shelby) – 2:28 |
||
# "[[Money (That's What I Want)]]" ([[Janie Bradford]], [[Berry Gordy, Jr.]]) – 2:02 |
# "[[Money (That's What I Want)]]" ([[Janie Bradford]], [[Berry Gordy, Jr.]]) – 2:02 |
||
# "Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)" ([[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]], |
# "Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)" ([[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]], Williams) – 3:06 |
||
# "I Need Love" ( |
# "I Need Love" (Williams) – 2:39 |
||
# "Never Gonna Let You Go" ( |
# "Never Gonna Let You Go" (Cooper, Shelby) – 2:41 |
||
# "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" ([[Chuck Willis]]) – 4:39 |
# "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" ([[Chuck Willis]]) – 4:39 |
||
# "Function at the Junction" ([[Brian Holland]], [[Eddie Holland]], Frederick Long, [[Lamont Dozier]]) – 2:35 |
# "Function at the Junction" ([[Brian Holland]], [[Eddie Holland]], Frederick Long, [[Lamont Dozier]]) – 2:35 |
||
# "Well (aka Well All Right)" ([[Sam Cooke]]) – 2:56 |
# "Well (aka Well All Right)" ([[Sam Cooke]]) – 2:56 |
||
== |
==References== |
||
⚫ | |||
*Little Richard – [[vocals]], [[piano]] |
|||
*[[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]] – [[guitar]] |
|||
*[[Arthur G. Wright|Arthur Wright]] - orchestral arrangements |
|||
*Reg Guest - arrangement on "Get Down With It" |
|||
*[[Stu Phillips (composer)|Stu Phillips]] - production supervision |
|||
Other personnel unknown; no records kept by Okeh. The 2004 album ''Get Down With It: The OKeh Sessions'' includes a booklet that also credits the following musicians: Eddie Fletcher – [[Bass (guitar)|bass]], Glen Willings – [[guitar]]. |
|||
⚫ | |||
CD reissues have seen the album attract positive reviews. [[Record Collector]] gave the album four stars, and cited it as ''quite possibly the best long player he ever made.'' In a review of the entire Okeh recordings, [[Rolling Stone]] stated that ''Richard's hair-raising vocals on the Motown staple "Money" effectively claim the song as his own.'' [[i-News]] reviewed the album for a 2016 vinyl release, giving it four stars and stating that Richard ''was still blessed with an immaculate voice and threw himself wholeheartedly some great contemporary sounding tracks''. |
|||
==Charts== |
|||
'''Single''' |
|||
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" |
|||
!align="left"|Year |
|||
!align="left"|Single |
|||
!align="left"|Chart |
|||
!align="left"|Position |
|||
|- |
|||
|align="left"|1966 |
|||
|align="left"|"Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)/Well" |
|||
|align="left"|Billboard Singles |
|||
|align="left"|121 |
|||
|- |
|||
|} |
|||
==Cover versions== |
|||
Richard's "I Don't Want To Discuss it" was not a hit for him but was duly noted later by Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Rhinoceros, and Rod Stewart. The song "Well" is better known as "Well Alright!", a Sam Cooke composition Richard had in the Specialty vaults at the time he cut the Okeh version (reported to feature Jimi Hendrix). |
|||
{{Little Richard}} |
{{Little Richard}} |
||
{{Authority control}} |
|||
==References== |
|||
⚫ | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Explosive Little Richard}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Explosive Little Richard}} |
||
[[Category:1967 albums]] |
[[Category:1967 albums]] |
||
[[Category:Little Richard albums]] |
[[Category:Little Richard albums]] |
||
[[Category:English-language albums]] |
|||
[[Category:Okeh Records albums]] |
[[Category:Okeh Records albums]] |
||
[[Category:Albums produced by Larry Williams]] |
Latest revision as of 22:31, 21 February 2021
The Explosive Little Richard | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 1967 | |||
Recorded | February 5, 1966 – September 15, 1966 | |||
Studio | Columbia, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | Rock and roll, soul | |||
Length | 29:49 | |||
Label | Okeh | |||
Producer | Larry Williams | |||
Little Richard chronology | ||||
|
The Explosive Little Richard is the first album by Little Richard for Okeh Records, produced by his long-time friend Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. The songs reflect the then-popular soul and Motown musical styles; no tracks were written by Richard.
Recording
[edit]At the time, Richard had wished Okeh would not release this album, as it favored horns over rhythm. In Charles White's 1984 biography The Life and Times of Little Richard, Richard noted he "was in the second year of the Okey (sic) contract and there was still no hit record. So I tore it up. The contract gave me no say in the material I recorded with them or in what was released. Larry Williams was the worst producer in the world. He wanted me to copy Motown and I was no Motown artist. [...] The Okeh stuff didn't sell at all because Okeh was an R'n'B label - a black label. I should have recorded on the Epic label, because I'm not primarily a black artist. It would have done a lot better."[1]
'Poor Dog' made it to No. 41 on the R&B chart, and 'Commandments of Love' made No. 30 on The Cash Box Black Singles chart. All Okeh 45's are highly regarded in Europe where they were released on the Epic label.
Critical reception
[edit]Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Record Collector | [2] |
Rolling Stone | [3] |
AllMusic | [4] |
i-News | [5] |
CD reissues have seen the album attract positive reviews. In 2007, Record Collector gave the album four stars, and cited it as "quite possibly the best long player he ever made."[6]
In a review of the entire Okeh recordings, Rolling Stone stated that "Richard's hair-raising vocals on the Motown staple 'Money' effectively claim the song as his own."[7]
i-News reviewed the album for a 2016 vinyl release, giving it four stars and stating that Richard "was still blessed with an immaculate voice and threw himself wholeheartedly some great contemporary sounding tracks."[8]
Track listing
[edit]- "I Don't Want to Discuss It" (Beth Beatty, Dick Cooper, Ernie Shelby) – 2:28
- "Land of a Thousand Dances" (Fats Domino, Chris Kenner) – 2:10
- "The Commandments of Love" (Larry Williams) – 2:27
- "Money (That's What I Want)" (Janie Bradford, Berry Gordy, Jr.) – 2:02
- "Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)" (Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Williams) – 3:06
- "I Need Love" (Williams) – 2:39
- "Never Gonna Let You Go" (Cooper, Shelby) – 2:41
- "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" (Chuck Willis) – 4:39
- "Function at the Junction" (Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Frederick Long, Lamont Dozier) – 2:35
- "Well (aka Well All Right)" (Sam Cooke) – 2:56
UK CD reissue track listing
[edit]- "Get Down With It" (Bobby Marchan) - 3:16 (same tune as “Do the Jerk “, composed by R. Penniman )
- "Land of a Thousand Dances" (Fats Domino, Chris Kenner) – 2:10
- "The Commandments of Love" (Larry Williams) – 2:27
- "I Don't Want to Discuss It" (Beth Beatty, Dick Cooper, Ernie Shelby) – 2:28
- "Money (That's What I Want)" (Janie Bradford, Berry Gordy, Jr.) – 2:02
- "Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)" (Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Williams) – 3:06
- "I Need Love" (Williams) – 2:39
- "Never Gonna Let You Go" (Cooper, Shelby) – 2:41
- "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)" (Chuck Willis) – 4:39
- "Function at the Junction" (Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Frederick Long, Lamont Dozier) – 2:35
- "Well (aka Well All Right)" (Sam Cooke) – 2:56
References
[edit]- ^ White, Charles. (2003). The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography. Omnibus Press.
- ^ Staunton, Terry. "'Ripping it up in a post-rock'n'roll world'". Record Collector. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- ^ Relic, Peter. "Little Richard: Get Down With It: The Okeh Sessions". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2004-08-19.
- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "The Explosive Little Richard – Review". AllMusic.
- ^ Clarke, John. "Vinyl review: The Explosive Little Richard". i-News. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
- ^ "The Explosive Little Richard… Plus - Record Collector Magazine". Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ Relic, Peter (2004-08-19). "Get Down With It: The Okeh Sessions". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Vinyl review - The Explosive Little Richard". inews.co.uk. 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2021-01-08.