#124 Here's Little Richard by Little Richard

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

124

2011 Album Rank

93

Total Points

492

Year Released

1957

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

13

Weeks at #1

N/A

RIAA Sales Certification

N/A (Fewer than 500,000 copies sold)

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Here's Little Richard Album Details

Released in March 1957, Here's Little Richard was one of the most explosive and influential debuts in rock and roll history. Packed with raw energy, pounding piano, and Little Richard's electrifying vocals, the album captured a seismic shift in American music, bridging rhythm and blues with the burgeoning rock and roll scene. It brought wild abandon to mainstream audiences, thanks to hits like "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Rip It Up", tracks that inspired generations of musicians from the Beatles to Prince.

The album was a compilation of singles recorded from 1955 to 1957 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans. Featuring some of the city's top session players, including drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonist Lee Allen, the recordings are loose, raucous, and wildly joyful, driven by Little Richard's flamboyant performance style and charismatic yelps. More than just a collection of hits, Here's Little Richard was a manifesto of rock and roll's potential, its sound, its danger, and its freedom.

Interesting Facts about Here's Little Richard

• "Tutti Frutti" was famously rewritten from a much raunchier version during the recording session. Producer Bumps Blackwell brought in songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie to clean up the lyrics on the spot. The final version was finished in under 15 minutes.
• Richard's iconic vocal opening ("A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!") on "Tutti Frutti" was originally a vocal warm-up. He spontaneously delivered it during a demo take, and it became the song's defining hook.
• Many of the tracks on the album, including "Rip It Up" and "Ready Teddy," were already hit singles before the LP's release. Albums were still a relatively new format in the rock era, so Here's Little Richard functioned partly as a greatest-hits collection.
• Richard's backing band on these sessions, sometimes called the Upsetters (though the studio lineups varied), included some of the most influential session musicians of the era. Their tight, New Orleans-influenced grooves set the foundation for early rock and roll's sound.
• Elvis Presley covered several of these songs, including "Ready Teddy" and "Rip It Up," highlighting Little Richard's immediate impact across racial and genre boundaries.
• The album was recorded using minimal overdubs, with Richard often tracking vocals and piano simultaneously. The high-energy performances were often captured in one or two takes.
• Though he was known for his flamboyance and wild performances, Richard was deeply influenced by gospel music, and you can hear its intensity and call-and-response dynamics throughout the album.
• Some alternate takes and unreleased versions from the Here's Little Richard sessions surfaced on later compilations. These reveal more stripped-down arrangements and even more unfiltered vocal takes than what was released.
• The original pressing of the LP featured liner notes that tried to frame Richard in a more palatable light for white audiences, despite the undeniable rawness of the recordings. His sexuality, flamboyance, and gender-bending persona were downplayed in promotional materials of the time.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013 for its cultural and historical significance.

Here's Little Richard Track List

1. Tutti Frutti - Reached #17 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
2. True Fine Mama
3. Can't Believe You Wanna Leave
4. Ready Teddy
5. Baby
6. Slippin' and Slidin' - Reached #33 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
7. Long Tall Sally
8. Miss Ann
9. Oh Why?
10. Rip It Up - Reached #17 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
11. Jenny, Jenny - Reached #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
12. She's Got It