14. Little Richard — Here’s Little Richard (1957)

There he is

1. Before we get into the existential crises of reviewing old albums, let’s get this out of the way: “Tutti Frutti” is a damned jam.
2. The first time I listened to this album through, I couldn’t shake hearing “Tutti Frutti” in half the songs, and it drove me a little wild. Did these songs all really sound so similar? Is it a problem if one of the prototypical rock and roll albums feels a bit one-note 60+ years later? After all, Little Richard was making the rules here; there weren’t rules to break just yet. Is it better to make the rules or break ‘em?
3. But then I gave it another spin, and tunes started to separate from one another. Let’s be real, half of these tunes don’t sound a thing like “Tutti Frutti.” Almost half of these songs are slow jams. The other half? They kinda sound like Tutti Frutti, but they ain’t Tutti Frutti.
4. And you know what? Sounding like Tutti Frutti is a pretty great bar to reach for. Little Richard’s band forces your feet to move, raises the temperature in the room by 10 degrees, makes it hard to hear the world around you. Have water on hand — you don’t want to get dehydrated. And by the way: Tutti Frutti ain’t the best song on the album.
5. Not a single song over 3:00 long. 1950’s, you crazy for this one.

One Essential Song:

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