DETROIT - We lost a phenomenal genius today. Little Richard. He was the wild, flamboyant, self-styled musician that gave life to Rock and Roll. The title of King went to Elvis Aaron Presley but Little Richard was the architect of rock and roll. So how do I know this? He told me so when I saw him perform live in concert at the Michigan State Fair in the mid-'90s. Little Richard played on stage with fellow '50s rock and roller Chuck Berry for an unforgettable afternoon of music on the State Fair stage.
It was a hot afternoon in September and I heard that Little Richard and Chuck Berry were going to perform together live in person. I wanted to make sure that I was there because this seemed like the place to be. My grandmother wanted to go and had asked my family members to take her. Nobody wanted to take her to the fair because they were too busy. Can you believe it? I am a HUGE rock and roll fanatic and like rock music of all types and genres and I made myself available.
I remember getting to the fairgrounds and it was busy that day. Everybody was out at the Michigan State Fair and was enjoying themselves. This was back when the fair was over on Woodward and 8 Mile. By the time we got to the show, the seats were quickly filling up with people. We bought these incredible homemade cheeseburgers from the food truck near the stage. It had grilled onions and mushrooms and I grabbed an order of generously proportioned hand-cut fries. It seemed like a fitting tribute to end a glorious summer.
Showtime began and Little Richard showed up dressed in a purple suit. He was meticulously dressed and the crowd went wild. He had a wild look in his eye and was ready to go. He pounded out his songs on the piano flawlessly. He made it look so easy and he has been doing this for decades. It was Little Richard who inspired so many musicians that came after him like The Beatles. He was oozing with ferocious sexuality. There was a good chance that he wanted to do more than just hold your hand. Today he still carried that swagger and star power from his youth. The concert was so surreal it was like living in a dream.
At the end of the show, he did something that was unforgettable. He addressed the crowd and informed us that he was the architect of Rock and Roll and the music establishment never gave him "nothing". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had snubbed him and he never got the full credit of what he felt he deserved. Maybe he was right but I never heard about this before he mentioned it. The web was still a way off so now I find out that this was his message to many audiences. You can find clips of him complaining about this fact. It was a cringe moment to be in the crowd and to watch him plead his position.
Then he got up on the piano bench and threw his arms out to us to show love. Everyone got up and applauded and we as an audience showed our appreciation for his life's work. It was quite a moment because right after his set was a performance by Chuck Berry. I knew it was a historic moment and we might not get too many more like it.
Finally, Little Richard left the stage and the music techs came out to get ready for Chuck's set. When Chuck Berry came out he looked a bit bothered and started staring at his guitar. I could tell something was wrong but couldn't quite figure it out. It turns out he wasn't getting the kind of sound he wanted. Little Richard had played so hard that he actually blew the speakers out. Chuck was pissed off and the guitar sounded muddy.
The guitar techs eventually solved the sound issues and the show continued. Sadly, these guys have now passed on and have left us. But we have great memories of them and they gave us many awesome sounds.
LIVES THAT ROCK!!
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