Reviews (page 2 of 13)
They should try going to the V chord at the end of the form more. Also the sax player needs to be more adventurous. The man can sing though. Wish he wrote more songs about gay sex. Not one song on here is about gay sex! Excited to see what they do next.
Hard not to hear the various Beatles covers of many of these, which is not the worst way into an album. The energy here isn't as unleashed as the Beatles versions, but I suspect the label had him turn it down so as not to scare the white people.
it's really hard to rate an album that's almost 70 years old. now, in 2025, musical and cultural context is so different than it was in the 50s. for consistency's sake, I can say that I didn't enjoy this album as much as I was hoping to. some of the songs and the sound was familiar, but I wasn't really wow'd by what I heard
Pretty fun, but I hate to say... every song sounded almost exactly like Tutti Frutti.
Makes me want to watch the Sandlot.
Woooooooooooooooooooo!
råkk n råll
A full album of wooooooo is a lot
Anticipated to enjoy this much more
This rating thing is messing with my mind. Like, I gave Deerhunter a 4 and I'm gonna give Little fucking Richard a 2?? Let me just say, if I had been alive when this came out, I would have worn out the record. I would have eaten this like candy. But I have a lot more stuff - admittedly stuff that wouldn't exist without the likes of Little Richard - to choose from. Stuff that improved on this formula. Like a recent Sinatra record I got, if I heard this record over the course of days, with many hours in between, I might have liked it more. But every song was...and I hate this word but...samey? Like Little Richard just repeating some line and then going "woooo" over a blues lick. And, don't get me wrong, it's a winning combo, but not over and over again. Also each song made me feel like I was watching a Stephen King movie set in the 50s, like "ah yeah, here's me and my pals, hula hooping or some shit, things were never quite the same after Steve got turned into a vampire" etc... So 2 it is. My consolation is I know for a fact that there exists Little Richard music that I enjoy more than this, and I hope it turns up on this list sometime.
Nice
Fun while it lasts and just long enough to not get on my nerves with all the happiness.
Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Yeah, not much range to style but easy enough to listen too Favourite song: Track 1 - Tutti Frutti
So glad to get this album. There are far too few entries for early rock and roll especially the Black musicians who founded or inspired the genre, to wit: Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly, Big Mama Thornton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe
own
You cannot deny the energy, this album really is such a funny and highly enjoyable one. One that you put and really get excited song after song. It is very easy to listen to and, still, a very important step in the history of music (yeah, maybe not that album in particular, which is fantastic, but Little Richard himself). So, sure, there are much better blues, rock-blues albums than this one, but this one is also pretty special, and such a delight for the ears. Great, fantastic, it is such a 30-minute gem.
There is a temptation, when talking about foundational rock ’n’ roll records, to grade them according to how much of the future they predicted. That feels particularly inadequate for Here’s Little Richard. Little Richard did not merely anticipate something that came later. He enlarged the permissible space of popular performance. This has been an extraordinary little run of disruptive records for me: The “Chirping” Crickets, Le Tigre and now this. I don’t think any one of them is less important than the others. They disrupt on different axes. Buddy Holly makes the whole enterprise seem achievable: form a band, write the songs, play them yourselves. Le Tigre seize cheap technology and punk methodology and insist that electronic pop can be political, queer, funny and abrasive without asking anyone’s permission. Little Richard asks an even more fundamental question: just how much are you allowed to be? Here’s Little Richard arrives in 1957 sounding absurdly complete. Its arrangements are hardly arrangements at all by later standards. Establish the groove, verse, chorus, another verse, saxophone for eight or sixteen bars, back to Richard, out. There is an almost punk urgency about it. Here is the idea. Everybody knows how this works. Go. That simplicity matters because all the variation is happening elsewhere. “Tutti Frutti” doesn’t introduce Little Richard. It detonates him. Before the first song has properly established itself, that famous eruption of nonsense syllables has turned the human voice into something closer to percussion or glossolalia. At one point even the full “awopbopaloobop” appears to take too long and Richard abbreviates it before the saxophone arrives to continue screaming on his behalf. But the album quickly reveals why reducing him to screaming is hopelessly inadequate. The source of much of what he does is gospel. Not merely gospel chords or an occasional melisma, but gospel as a complete language of performance: repetition as persuasion, the ecstatic yelp, testimony, the stretched syllable, the sudden octave leap, the sensation that emotion has exceeded ordinary speech. That is why “True, Fine Mama” is so startling. It uses the grammar of religious testimony to communicate the important revelation that his mama is extremely fine. And that contradiction seems central to Little Richard. The sacred delivery system has acquired a secular payload. It is also where I hear the clearest ancestor of Prince. Not simply the pompadour, makeup, shrieks or theatricality, although the family resemblance is hardly subtle. Both artists occupy the much more difficult territory where religious and sexual ecstasy stubbornly insist on speaking the same musical language. Both possess an extraordinary gift and then have to live with troubling questions about what that gift means and what it is being used for. Prince would spend much of his career making God and sex inconveniently difficult to separate. Little Richard is already living inside that problem here. The gospel inheritance also provides what I have come to think of as the Little Richard test. Plenty of singers could reproduce these songs. What many of the polite white imitations could not reproduce was the process underneath them. Can repetition become exhortation? Can an overstuffed line sound like testimony rather than an exercise in diction? Can a yelp sound as though it escaped from you rather than being added for effect? Do you sing it, or do you testify it? The slower material makes this even clearer. “Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave” sits over an almost Fats Domino-like shuffle, the band behaving with impeccable courtesy while Richard delivers an astonishingly impolite vocal over the top. “Miss Ann” gives him room for magnificent melisma and octave leaps, sometimes elongating a syllable apparently for the sheer pleasure of creating somewhere from which to launch himself upwards. His voice never quite stops sounding like tearing flesh. That sounds like a description of rawness, but one of the great surprises of this album is how much discipline lies beneath it. On “Slippin’ and Slidin’” he sits beautifully inside the rolling barrelhouse rhythm and shows, whisper it softly, restraint. Consequently, when the sudden yowl comes before the saxophone break, it lands like an explosion. He understands that maximum force only means something if you occasionally withhold it. “Oh Why?” strips things back further and unexpectedly makes me think of Nina Simone because they share older materials: church, blues, piano, testimony. More importantly, both can make restraint feel dangerous, like you’re in the presence of an apex predator. You know the force is available. The decision not to spend all of it creates its own electricity. My favourite moment may be on “Rip It Up”, when Richard sings for a passage with essentially only the drums behind him. Suddenly there is nowhere for the performance to hide. The extraordinary breath control becomes obvious: syllables packed into the line, attack preserved, swing maintained, every phrase landing exactly where it should. Little Richard sounds uncontrolled because he is extraordinarily good at controlling the appearance of being uncontrolled. That may be the record’s central paradox. And then there is the other reason this album matters so much to me: The Beatles. Buddy Holly is the blueprint. Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis are the aspiration. Holly demonstrates that young men can form a self-contained group and make this music themselves. Richard demonstrates what they might aspire to become once they have done it: the shit-kicking band, the ecstatic vocal attack, music as physical disturbance. Hamburg is where the Beatles effectively turn that aspiration into muscle memory. That Little Richard DNA survives everything: success, Epstein, psychedelia, increasingly elaborate studio technique. McCartney’s rock ’n’ roll scream remains available whenever required. The Beatles broke off work on the White Album to communally watch The Girl Can’t Help It when it was first shown on British television. Lennon eventually puts “Rip It Up/Ready Teddy” and “Slippin’ and Slidin’” on Rock ’n’ Roll as part of his explicit statement about where he came from. Richard is not an embarrassing primitive ancestor they outgrow. He remains inside the machinery. By the time “She’s Got It” arrives, the record seems determined to end by distilling itself. It is ridiculously fast. Richard is flying, the band sound as though they are straining to stay with him, and for perhaps the clearest moment on the album you can imagine what encountering this man live must have felt like. Then it stops. No grand conclusion. No carefully designed finale. One last reminder of everything that made the preceding half-hour extraordinary and suddenly you are left thinking: is that it? That is exactly right. Here’s Little Richard does not need to announce its historical importance. It barely has time. There is another verse to sing, another octave to jump, another saxophone break waiting, another microphone to drive into distress. The fascinating thing is that rock ’n’ roll itself may have been new, but almost none of Richard’s raw materials were. Gospel, blues, boogie-woogie, jump music, theatricality and testimony were already there. Little Richard’s breakthrough was to realise that they could all happen at once. And once he had done that, popular music had more room in it than it did before.
Just top to bottom fun rock 'n' roll
Perfect vibes for making morning coffee/ breakfast. Wasn't expecting the demo tracks to be so bluesy.
"Prince is me, Michael Jackson is me, The Beatles was me, all of em are me." - Richard Wayne Penniman
It's just such raw, shit-hot rock and roll, probably the first time it was done that way and maybe the best. Primal, is the word.
Incredible!
This absolutely deserves to be here. I fully believe this album inspired more kids to pick up instruments than any single album on this list.
This was phenomenal. Music for the soul. Makes you wanna dance but also goes deep.
Terrific!
I'm so jealous of people who got to hear this for the first time in the 50's.
After being subjected to The Spins, Paul Rever & The Raiders, and even the first Beatles album, I have finally reached the model they worked so hard to emulate. The peak of mountain top they spent their careers trying to climb. Let's get one thing straight: they all failed. They could literally NEVER be Little Richard no matter how hard they tried. It's also the fact that he cleared them a full decade before those albums even came out. He has more energy, more soul, more complexity, more everything. His band is way better. The words sound like they're being sung by someone who understands them. The star of the show is his VOICE. He's doing runs on this album that singers today could never replicate. You can't teach this stuff. This was such a fun album - thank you Little Richard for saving me from the white mediocrity of the 60s rock n roll on this list. Highlights: True Fine Mama, Oh Why?
Iconic
Classic! I was turned to Little Richard by Lemmy from Motörhead. Little Richard was Lemmy's biggest influence... 5 stars out of respect for Little Richard and his influence on Lemmy. This influence contributed to some of the greatest music ever recorded by bands like Hawkwind and the immortal MOTORHËAD
Do a lot of these songs sound the same? Yes. Do I care even the slightest bit? Absolutely not.
Simply the very best rock & roll album of the 50s, followed by Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. The building blocks that inspired everyone from The Beatles through Lemmy of Motorhead. Little Richard demonstrated that rock 'n' rollers did not need, nor should they have good manners. They should be flipping tables and dancing on your face.
Absolute legend and genius. Such a fun listen
very samey after a few songs but short enough that it doesnt affect the experience which is very fun
It’s fabulous.
Undeniably fun and enjoyable. That falsetto OOOH! Is worth 5 stars alone.
Who knew the key to 5 star album was writing 3 songs and repeating them four times each?! To be fair, it should be a 4, but it’s fun, old and important enough to deserve the upgrade.
This came out 30 years before I was 16 years old. I was into heavy metal and punk back then but I still had respect for a bit of Little Richard it was considerably less crap than other old music that was floating around. 30 years ago from now (1996 & 2026) is after the death of Kurt Cobain and kids still listen to Nirvana. I'm sure a family tree of music will snake back from the present through Nirvana all the way back to this album via so many other iterations of rock'n'roll. A timeless classic.
Sehr Gut
It was a banger
Little Richard is one of the kings of rock and roll.
The guy doesn't play with anything more than your standard 40s jump blues setup but it still has more bite than a good 80% of rock albums that came before or since. She's Got It sounds like it's about to fall apart at any moment, like the entire thing will spontaneously combust if you look away for too long. Little Richard howls and wails throughout the album like one of his band's saxophones, and the studio is clearly not equipped to handle his voice. Listening to this reminds you that rock 'n' roll emerged from sketchy blues bars and clubs, that it was party music, music for people to drink and dance and fuck to. Not one song on here over 3 minutes, and the entire album is less than half an hour. While I can't really fault later musicians for trying to make rock 'deeper' and more challenging, there's a purity to this music that got lost at some point.
This album rocks! So musical, creative, passionate and real! And also a huge influence on the pop music that followed. A 5, for sure.
Intense energy throughout. What an epic performer and singer. Classic.
Not something I'd chose to listen to but solid respect for Little Richard and the influence he's had on music.
Songs that still get played almost 70 years later, and one of the greatest lead singers equals 5 stars or A-.
Exceptional stuff. What a voice.
Wow. 5 stars. Couldn't have this list without Little Richard
This is peak late-50s Rock and Roll. Really, the only knock on this album is that it's only 28 minutes long. But that may also be a strength in 2026. This really is the purest, most concentrated, distilled example of 50s Rock and Roll. Too much of it would lessen the effect. 5 stars.
It’s not often that you can listen to an album and think “rock ‘n’ roll starts here“. This is one of those albums. People are often dismissive of Little Richard based on the campy parody of himself he became in the 70s, but back in the late 50s, this guy was the real deal. Listen to that dirty sax, the rollicking piano, and most of all the wild voice that sounds like it might fly off the turntable at any moment. There is no one that sounded like this guy at the time. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STARTS HERE.
I don’t remember when I listened to this, but my Qobuz likes suggest it was recently. I was going to give this a 4 and remark that I’d probably never listen to it again, but I think it’s all killer, no filler, and that deserves more. Even if it doesn’t enter the rotation, I have to recognize how good it is. It’s the rare 50s album that I both respect for its influence and genuinely enjoy 70 years later.
I don’t think I could be friends with anyone who hated this
Little Richard is good. He inspired so many musicians because he just is.
rly groovy! i luv 12 bar blues, tho it does get a lil bit old after a while... still good tho. especially if u think abt how innovative this was at the time.
Best, and horniest, album of the 1950s…even if it's a bit of a cheat including a number of previously released hit singles.
Always good to revisit the mothership of rock.
Me encanta el jazz, es relajante y lo puedo escuchar mientras trabajo
So influential. Came out earlier than I thought! Really fun listen
Excellent album!!!!
гуд
Great energy
Pretty primitive ngl 5/5
i just wanna get up and dance now
What a voice and such influential songs. Essential listening.
Yeah. You can see where Springsteen live shows come from
Me encantó para bailar no sé cómo pero me gusto
So good so so good
Весело
Fantastic influential early rocker
Great Rock N Roll
I don't know what rock and roll looks like without Little Richard
I mean, this is where it all started. Even if you didn’t like the music itself, which I do, then you would still have to rate it just off of its profound influence.
I FEEL SO BAD I COMPLETELY MISSED THIS ONE AND I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT
Was hat die Menschheit eigentlich vorher gehört?
Fantastic work. A product of its time in a classic way.
Very fun, boppy, short songs. Feels like the stuff fun people would’ve been listening to in the 50s. It begins with classic shout sing “Wababalula wababamboo!” and it all has that same vibe
joya, me encantó
Jes! Ajalta, kun piano on oleellinen osa rockbändiä ja -soundia. Mahtava aikamatka ja kuolematonta musaa! 5/5
Classic from one of the Kings of Rock and Roll!!!!
Fun! Love these oldies albums!
I wish the piano was mixed louder and the vocals softer.
This album was a banger. Some familiar, some new. But you can't go wrong with Little Richard.
Crazy how much influence you can hear in this, and it's also impressive how fast it is! All of the songs are barely over two minutes. "Tutti Frutti" is great obviously, but "Long Tall Sally (The Thing)" and "Rip It Up" were other standouts
Ei kai tää oikein voi olla ku vitone
Rokettirolli on kyllä swengaavaa ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Legenda!
The legend, foundational work
An album that defines a time!
Super Dope
This is a 4.2 based the music, bumped up to 5.2 given its historical significance.
Here's Little Richard is fun, energetic, and easy to enjoy, though many songs sound similar after listening for longer time.
Absolute perfection - doesn't get much better than this. The little yelp at the end of "Don't you know that'll drive me mad" into the sax solo in "Can't Believe You Wanna Leave" is one of the coolest things i've heard in a long time. Recommended for a sorry Monday morning commute to work!
Mr Penniman was a true innovator and this debut album helped lay the foundation for Rock ‘n’ Roll!
great
A truly great album, foundational for rock and roll. A critic might say, "if you like one song you like 'em all" but it's a fascinating insight into how R&B evolved into more popular rock and roll. Twelve bar blues, tried and true horn call and answers, clever lyrics, and all the fancy flourishes.
All killer, no filler.
Love it. What a voice and performer. Inside the impact of this coming out in the 50s.
Absolutely fantastic - includes most of his iconic songs
Each song sounds like the DNA of a thousand rock n roll songs I've heard since. Pretty freaking cool!
I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be a teenager in the 1950s and hear this music for the first time. Wow! He's hornier than Robert Plant and I didn't know that could be possible.
To say this came out in 1957 and how little Richard changed the face of rock and roll with these songs , this has to be a 5 It’s a fun album it’s short but the playing for that time is so much more in your face than what came out previous , little Richard’s piano playing is fast and the band follow suit with the energy loved it
One of the foundational albums rock n roll-pop were based on. Seems like 1955 is about when Elvis, Chuck Berry & Little Richard hit & this album officially came out in '57. Some generational bangers and would love to have seen Little Richard live.
10/10 Favorite: Long Tall Sally (The Thing)
Such a landmark album for rock n roll
Discazo!
If you rate this album lower that a 5, it really just makes you look like a fucking idiot. Stop listening to Rock if you can't respect this album enough to give it a 5. You are too retarded to enjoy music at that point.
Amazing album. Even better if you can get the deluxe edition with the studio outtakes 4.6
Brilliant! The progenitor of rock? Yeah, it's there. The beats, the chord changes, the singing, you can all see where it was going with this record. It's so good! Just fun to listen through the whole thing. I listened to the Deluxe Edition which includes a second disc of outtakes and hearing him talk to the producer is fun, too.
Classic!
Well this type of music is new for me but i love it. This is my new favorite album I've gotten somehow. 5 stars. Was this album better than yesterday’s album, Transformer by Lou Reed? Yes.
So. Damn. Good.
Ihanaaa! Haaveilen keväisestä sunnuntaiaamusta uudessa kodissa, kuunnellaan tätä ja tehään aamupalaa ja juodaan paljon kahvia ja tanssitaan ☕️🌞
The origination of rock and roll! His origination story of one legend from bussing to stardom. Loved the album.
50s albums suffer in comparison to the production values of later records but there's no denying the influence Little Richard had on the world. This album jumps off the disc and into the room. Fantastic
I’ve been obsessed with Little Richard since I was a child. He was all over children’s tv and movies in the late 80s and early 90s so it was inevitable that his unique sound would have imprinted on my brain. He’s what I think of when I think of the dawn of rock and roll. And the exuberant energy of his songs get me every time.
Sometimes the old stuff from the fifties sounds dated but this still rocks.
I bloody loved that. I have an affinity for a lot of 50s things: the fashion, the homewares, the music (the politics and racism is very much the opposite end of that spectrum). Somme questionable lyrics aside, 1950s rock and roll is great. I loved his voice, the piano was fantastic, nothing outstayed it's welcome (it was one of those albums I listened to and them immediately listened to again, because for once I found it too short). It was upbeat and fun and great to clean the house to. I ended up listening to 50s rock on shuffle all morning. 5/5
Seminal indeed! This album launched a thousand bands including the Beatles and is one of the most influential works in R&R.
I had so much fun bopping along to this album in the car!
An absolute classic. Every record collection needs these songs.
buenazo
One of the ones who started it all!! True classic!!
Masterpiece! Hugely influential artist.
Explosive, piano-driven grooves built from pounding triplets, rattling backbeats, raw guitar stabs, and vocals hurled as ecstatic shouts and falsetto yelps move this rock ’n’ roll album like a lit match tossed into a crowded room—wild, contagious, and impossible to ignore as it instantly sets everything on fire.
What is there left to say about Little Richard and his debut masterpiece, "Here’s Little Richard"? Simply put: it should be required listening in schools across the country. This record is the foundational blueprint for Rock ’n’ Roll, the "Beat" music of the sixties (including The Beatles), and virtually every evolution of Rock and Pop that followed. The track list is a roll-call of legends: "Tutti Frutti", "Ready Teddy", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Long Tall Sally", "Rip It Up", "Jenny, Jenny" and "She's Got It". These weren't just songs; they were seismic shifts, covered relentlessly by his contemporaries and every generation of artists since. The music is infectious, high-energy, and brilliantly executed. As a pianist, Richard stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino, pounding the keys with a percussive fury. Then there is that voice - unmatched whether he is crooning in his lower register or absolutely belting it out in his soaring, trademark upper register. Technically, while much of the album is built on the 12-bar blues, it is the delivery that marks Little Richard out as a pioneer. He famously altered the rhythmic nature of the genre; where traditional blues often utilised a "shuffle" or "swing" feel, Richard pushed towards a driving, straight eighth-note rhythm. This "even" drumming and piano style served as the primary catalyst that transformed the blues into what we now recognise as Rock ’n’ Roll. For an album recorded across 1955 and 1956, the production holds up remarkably well, capturing a raw power that still feels modern. When you factor in his flamboyant, outrageous stage persona, it’s clear why he remains a legend of the music world. Five stars. Side one 1 "Tutti Frutti" (5/5) 2 "True, Fine Mama" (5/5) 3 "Can't Believe You Wanna Leave" (4/5) 4 "Ready Teddy" (5/5) 5 "Baby" (4/5) 6 "Slippin' and Slidin'" (5/5) Side two 7 "Long Tall Sally" (5/5) 8 "Miss Ann" (4/5) 9 "Oh Why?" (3/5) 10 "Rip It Up" (5/5) 11 "Jenny, Jenny" (5/5) 12 "She's Got It" (5/5) Total - 55 Average 4.58 223/1001 125/223 albums reviewed were new to me.
This is the ultimate rock'n'roll album! Forget Elvis and Bill Haley. This has got it all. Energetic, raw rock!
This is where rock & roll began. So good
Epic boogie
Absolutely iconic singing and piano playing. You do get the sense you are listening to a blueprint for rock and roll.
10 songs, 27 minutes, every one a banger. His versatility is amazing.
voice is so crisp on apple music, very enjoyable album
Amazing. Full energy throughout. One hit after another.
Man this album was a fun listen. His voice is incredible and this album sounds great considering the timeframe it was recorded. The songs start to sound the same after the first 3 or 4 but the album is short enough that I won't detract for that.
Brilliant. Game changing in its day too. Love it. Rock. And. Roll.
Pretty catchy. I can see the influence it had on rock and roll. Weird to see that this is pre-60’s. Lots of wooo’s which I really digged. The songs were a bit repetitive but I thought it was funny how he was singing about a different girl like every other track. He also sang a song about starting rock at 10 PM which I thought was very funny. 6/10
so funky
As good as the first wave rock and roll got. His performances really put into perspective how bland and uninspiring were the white-kid imitators of the next ten years. Like all rock and roll of this period, it gets tedious after about the 4th song. But he was amazing.
Real rock’n’roll. None of that fake shit.
Now that's Rock 'n' Roll! Better than Elvis
Debut smash hit album of one of the unsung heroes of early rock 'n' roll. Yes, please. Influence 5. Hits 5. Intangibles 5. Quality 4. Little Richard has to be a 5.
Pikku arkkua on tullut kuunneltua silloin tällöin jo vuosikymmenten ajan. Hän on kova, kuten myös tämä levy, joka on täynnä erittäin hyviä ja tuttuja biisejä.
Hell yeah, gimmie that old time rock and roll. I grew up listening to this and it holds up today
Tutti Frutti - Makes me wanna dance True, Fine Mama - same general vibe as Tutti Frutti Can't Believe You Wanna Leave - Sometimes you just gotta slow it down Slippin’ And Slidin’ (Peepin’ And Hidin’) - Groovy Long Tall Sally (The Thing)- Have some fun tonight Miss Ann - Sax solo is tasteful Rip It Up - I like the trails off at the end of some lyrics gives it a different taste to most of the tracks in this album Favorite: Long Tall Sally | Overall: 4.8
Fun and contagious energy. Bop after bop
Rate at 4.5/5
more woo's than dross
Yesterday it was Elvis Presley's debut, today it's Little Richard. This has to be the definitive 50's Rock & Roll album. The performances have a lot more energy than Elvis and he wrote more material himself. Just about every song here has been covered to death by all sorts of artists. Hugely influential and the energy translates well to the listener.
Fun, classic, would love to see live
tutti frutti long tall sally rock and roll
8/10
This an absolute classic. I think of 50's rock and roll and this is what comes to mind. It is infectious, easy to listen to and, importantly, really good fun to listen to nearly 70 years later
This is the music I live for. So fun. So dancy.
Lots of squeeking - took me back to my rocknand roll dancing days. My friend and I were both annoyed while listening to the one song that should have had the squeaks in but didn't!!! Brilliant old school rock and roll
fucking great
Piano riff woo. Every song is the same song... 5/5.
Nothing fucks as hard as Little Richard. What does it fuck, you ask? ANYTHING IT WANTS.
The thrill of hearing this record now is tempered by familiarity with what followed from everyone else but He was a true original and an innovator who influenced everything that came afterwards.
Little richard is a bitch but like a good bitch. Like when 2 nineteen year old girls are tossing it back and forth like the pigskin. He has an infinite amount of energy. Probably cocaine but still. He's a fascinating guy. Is he a rock star or a priest? Is he gay or straight? What is he? That air of mystery is incredible. Unpredictable to the nth degree. But that leads into my only downside to this record. There is too much trying to be tutti fruitti again. Too many songs are trying to catch that lightning in a bottle twice. I still like those songs but they are inferior to the original. Everything else is top notch. This guy is my favorite of this era. Not that I know a ton but how can you not like little Richard?
Amazing, especially for 1957. The importance of this album cannot be understated.
Here's a 5 star review for a legend
A++++
If this had proved to be the final album of the 1001, what a way to go out. Little Richard always fills me with joy. The tempo, the voice, the in-your-faceness of it all. Every track here is a winner. Superb.
It's not just the opening seconds of Tutti Frutti that make you smile - it's the opening few tenths of a second. BOOM! lowpero camera bag You're straight in, knowing that there's quite a ride ahead. It's almost impossible to shock and surprise musically these days. Everything seems to have been exhausted. There's no more boundaries to push. It's quite remarkable that an album from 1957 can still give you a whack round the head and leave you with optimism. This is just bloody great from start to finish. There's no concealed cleverness, no nod and wink here and there. Just a FULL ON assault as it confronts you with the rhythm and energy.
The OG bobathon
Iconic
Has a lot of groove to it. I like this a little better than Chuck Berry honestly--I don't always love these 50s rock albums, though I know they started it all. More soul and groove. Probably a 4/5 personally, but a 5/5 because of it's importance to rock and everything.
Classic, its kind of stupid to judge it by modern standards, sure it may feel a little repetitive and dated but is the blueprint of much of the alternative music that came after and continues to be produced. It's essential, is like trying to answer the cuestion: do you enjoy breathing?
10/10
Stoked to see this one this morning! Still sounds as in your face and immediate as the day it was released.
fantastic and ground breaking
Yaa!
GREAT CLASSIC granfather of all rock music thank u lil richie
Really cool album! Hearing Rock and Roll in its infancy was really awesome. Looks like I have a new album to listen to when I play Fallout 4.
Good golly miss molly!
Faja bliuz
Like it or not, this is required listening and foundational to so many aspects of modern music we take for granted.
What energy!
Definitely a fun album to listen to!
Absolut rock and roll!!!!
The charts when this came out were full of schmaltzy crooners and saccharine orchestras - this record must’ve been a wake up call for the kids of the day. Yes there was Elvis, and all the other nascent rock n rollers starting to make waves but they all pale next to the energy of this record. Even all these years later you can appreciate the sheer joy and exuberance these songs must’ve generated. Little Richard just pounds each song out, even the slow ones, and they still sound great today. The influence he had on all that followed is incalculable. This was great fun to listen too.
Off the cuff remark: a joyous blast of original rock n roll. Forerunner to so much. Standout track: I'm going to ignore some of the wonderful famous tracks and go for one I'd never heard before: "Oh Why?" same signature piano licks and energy but very different subject matter Revisit?: difficult not to feel uplifted but this pop history so always good to hear again
I've heard Tutti Frutti before and it reminds me of the movie about Frankie Lyman because Little Richard was in that movie. When I was listening to True, Fine Mama, it reminded me of that old southern gospel. After listening to the entire album I really felt like I was transported to a 1950's juke joint.
Awesome stuff. So much energy.
Loved it
Classic
I love this. I know he’s a legend but I still think it’s the best music to dance to…of all time. What it must have sounded like when came it out. 🤯
An excellent rock album. Little Richard was the ultimate old rock n roll performer, with an energy that couldn't be matched. This album is a damn good time in 12 quick songs that never wear out their welcome.
Icon in so many ways.
So good
These are the kind of oldies I love. Also Little Richard sang the theme song to the Magic School Bus so how can you not love him??
What more can be said? At a little over 27 minutes, we get a frenetic blast of early rock and roll that just puts a smile on my face. Sure, it's a bit puerile, but hey this about fun, not thinking. And can you imagine how those who were listening to this when it first came out in the the late '50s feel/felt? No wonder so many rock legends point to Little Richard and acknowledge his influence. And talk about sexual confusion...now that's a bit of a tragedy in my mind. Without a doubt a big bunch of stars: it goes to infinity and beyond!
Por más que “Tutti Frutti” o “Long Tall Sally” sean archiconocidísimas, no dejan de ser historia de la música. Otras archiconocidas no pueden ostentar ese título. El carácter innovador de Little Richard y su peculiar estilo arrebatado lo convierten en una figura imprescindible. Aún así, nunca había escuchado más allá de sus éxitos. Es cierto que el patrón con el que están cortados la mayoría de sus temas es muy parecido, viniendo de una tradición de R&B que no terminaba de convertirse en la música de masas que él consiguió. Pero hay que escuchar este álbum con los oídos de hace màs de 70 años y valorarlo y en su contexto. Su influencia (Beatles, por poner un ejemplo) está fuera de toda duda, más allá de que ahora se pueda considerar una pieza de museo. Fuera de los clásicos, me han sorprendido “Miss Ann” y “Oh Why?”
Ray Charles but Glam Three cheers for one of the founders of Rock and Roll. This record is full of soul front to back. Wish I could've seen him perform live.
the greatest to ever do it
this put me in heat
That’s a lot of little richard
Little Richard, along with Chuck Berry are just the backbone of everything that is tangentially rock related. Great record. No Magic School Bus though.
Such a fun album. Some standards and lots of jumpy tunes.
Ah ouais la claque. J’avais pas envie d’écouter et je regrette c’est énorme j’adore
One of the strongest album starts out there. Trying focusing on anything else while this album is on is near impossible. You just want to get up and move. Top notch vocals and musicianship. A wop bop a loo bop a lop ba ba!
great
Man what an absolute treasure!
Absolute classic. Unique!
Okay... Imagine being some miserable 50s housewife then hearing this?! Bet the pinny never hit the floor so quickly. Every other song screams 'let's have a party'. Husband, schmusband. Somewhat ironically, this modern woman can see herself cracking this album out to do the housework to; this would make any menial task upbeat and enjoyable. I was giving this a 4 from the start, but hearing the origins of all of my favourite music within this solidifies the 5.
Great original rock-n-roll juke box music!
Best Song: Long Tall Sally I surprisingly really liked this for my first time hearing it. Of course I've heard most the songs before but was nice to hear them together instead of as part of the soundtrack of some movie. Little Richard is the equivalent of an energy drink if it were a musician. 5/5.
Bombastic energy, great vocal manner, superb piano. What's not to love
Lots of great songs from the little guy with the big, and unique, voice.
This was so fun. I loved Little Richard as a child and I’ve come to realize I have not continued to listen to enough Little Richard as an adult. He’s got an incredible voice, and makes music you’ll want to snap along with.
bangers, end to end
Does anyone else just picture the movie Top Secret when they hear Tutti Frutti
Now THIS is an album. Short and sweet at well under 30 minutes, but stuffed with 12 tracks almost all of which are absolute belters. If I have one negative comment, it might have been better to have Little Richard's voice a little less to the fore in the mix. But having said that, what a voice!
A classic progenitor album. Without Little Richard you probably wouldn''t have Prince.
Awesome album.
Best album yet. A album that has catchy tunes.
Outstanding.
Like a Little Ricard greatest hits album, until you realize there’s a Volume 2! This record is raw rock and roll, played with exuberance, and it’s frantic, raucous, sexy, boisterous, and everything a great rock and roll album should be.
Woooooooo!!! What can I say about it Little Richard!? What a party he was! Imagine singing like him for more than a minute?? Just an unbelievable force. Never to be matched again.
This is one of those rare '50s releases that doesn't sound cheesy and totally viewing rock'n'roll as a teen fad. These songs hold up well. So much that I'll forgive all the stupid saxophone solos.
4.5 stars. Wow this holds up despite being nearly 70 years old. Arguably the birth of rock and roll. "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally" are masterpieces, the whole album is just non-stop high energy with the keys hammering on at 90 miles an hour.
Little Richard’s first album and it is incredible. Upbeat and a good time. His voice is amazing. A great listen.
What a good vibe. High energy and fun. Loved every song. Not sure what else I can say about this one. He's one of the best to ever do it.
Classic
They don't make music like this anymore
Classics. Original. Genuine. Also... Nineteen Fifty Fucking Seven. I have to agree with another reviewer that the recorded version can't hold a candle to his live energy. But still, it's great and it was 1957
A rock pioneer!
KWunty
This album definitely checks the box for the its influence. Love the ‘50s cheesiness to it
A fun album full of funk and soul. Made me want to dance. I love his raspy, rich voice. His passion shines through.
Great recommendation, never heard of Little Richard before and what an album to open with. Feel good music that makes you want to dance with some fantastic vocals.
Incredibly this debut album from Rock n Pioneer Little Richard released in 1957 would be his biggest hit and highest charting album.
So much fun. I love this kinda thing.
It’s stunning and powerful and so influential. That said, too many sax solos. lol.
The originator: enough said.
I mean, this is the real deal here. It is sometimes easy to forget just how great this these songs are when Little Richard became kind of a caricature of himself later in his life and career. My wife and I enjoyed the hell out of this and we both were bopping along with the whole thing. Rock and Roll wouldn't be the same without the crazy influential "whooing" here on this album.
Iconic
Klikkað stöff. Brautryðjandinn og var geggjaður karakter. Lögin eru hit or miss en við fyrirgefum það þegar þú ert að finna upp rokkið og rólið jafnóðum
Alveg ótrúlegt debbútt albúm og svakalegur karakter. Við rokkararnir eigum þessum frumherjum mikið að þakka.
100 %
Classic. The inchoate rock that would propel the blossoming of a movement. So sick, but so much repetition within songs and on the album. A good time tho
Goede stem, toffe platen. Toen ik 5 was en naar de Blues Brothers luisterde had ik dit ook leuk gevonden.
Je zou door de mythische status en kluwen aan lore van mensen als Little Richard ("wist je dat Hendrix gitarist van zijn band was maar Richard hem ontsloeg omdat, and I quote `I'm the one who's going to look pretty on stage`" "James Brown deed alsof hij hem was als hij dubbel geboekt was" etc.) de muziek bijna vergeten. Zijn hot streak tussen zeg 1955-1958 is gestoord consistent. En dan fysiek en muzikaal aftakelen en 60+ jaar moeten worstelen op een sinusgolf tussen queer en homofobe priester. Wat een nalatenschap. Of er platen zijn die je "moet" luisteren voor wat voor reden dan ook weet ik nog niet zo zeker, maar als die er zijn zit deze er tussen. Swingt nog even hard als dat hij (vermoedelijk) deed in '57. En een stem die tot de dag van vandaag tienduizenden pogen te repliceren. Het origineel is nog niet overtroeft.
Fav song: Tutti Frutti I'm neutral on Little Richard because his style feels old-fashioned. But I appreciate his natural talent and showmanship. James Brown and Prince carried LR's torch onward. I get the criticism that this does not fall in the "golden era of the album" but shit's gotta start somehow and combining single and B-sides sounds like a natural place to start.
This is great. A lot of fun, plenty of up-tempo songs, but they don't ever get exhausting, like can happen without much slower songs. His vocal ability is also really incredible. The screams are not only iconic, but also just really well done and fit perfectly in the songs, in tempo and key. It is 50s rock and roll, so I really don't have much else to say about it. Music from this time to me is pretty same-y and simple. Not necessarily a bad thing! It can be though if the songs don't do enough. Little Richard does plenty to keep the songs varied and interesting, though. Favorite Song(s): Tutti Fruity, Can't Believe You Wanna Leave, Oh Why?
Kinda perfect. Most of the changes made to rock and roll after this were a mistake.
of course It is 5 stars
This is a tremendous album both for the music and the historical significance. Tutti Fruitti, Long Tall Sally, and Rip It Up are just the ones that topped the charts, there are other great songs here. Having to look back almost 70 years, it is difficult to comprehend just how groundbreaking and influential Little Richard was. Out of the 1950s Deep South, who through his talent, charisma and sheer force of will was able to achieve such huge cross-cultural popularity, amazing. One review here that put it perfectly, Little Richard was Patient Zero for 99% of this list. Motörhead's Lemmy considered Little Richard to be the greatest rock and roll singer of all time. If anything sums up Little Richard's broad appeal and influence that would be it. Amazing artist and album.
Megaśnie fajnie. 5/5 Pozytywne takie
Class
10/10 classic!
Absolute banger of an album
Knall.
WOOO!
Great classics and other greats.
Fire, everything on the album was a banger Songs Added to Playlist: ALL
Little Richard defines his own genre in a way. It is rock-n-roll, but with more fanfare and a kind of joy that is unique to him alone. Little Richard is an essential piece of music history. Also it is super fun just to listen to this album and Little Richard in general. You really can't go wrong here.
I loved this album! Little Richard has some of my favorite songs.
This was fun! Good energy and vibes. 'She Got It' was my fave.
Get it for the time. Not my type of music but respect what I was at the time. Do love swing drums tho.
So good! I loved the energy of his voice and the my music.
Very energetic, would recommend o If you need to motivate to clean or something. I was surprised cause I actually knew already most of the songs I like it
Don't care if it's basic and repetitive, it makes me happy
God damn this is good. Get drunk put this on go in the kitchen and try to not dance around like a maniac
Great album. Icon!
Still astonishing.
"Rock n' Roll's stem cells"
“tutti frutti” MIGHT be the catchiest opener i’ve heard yet. THERE’S EVEN A TAKE TWO ON DISC 2! a good walking bass line always speaks to my soul (there’s one in pretty much every tune). i appreciate how much the sax is RIPPING throughout. “oh why?” is also a standount! i love 50’s rock and roll. 5/5.
Felt like late morning in the Living Room
Inigualable. Imprescindible. Su legado e influencia convierten a este álbum (y el siguiente y "último") en legendarios.
Perfection. Sure, there's a lot of similarities between most of the tracks, the lyrics aren't complicated, there is only basic instrumentation, etc.... but it just fucking rocks and you can't not tap your feet and nod your head. I've listened to a lot of 1950's music, but more focused on jazz, R&B. You can see how early pioneers merged the different forms of music and branched off in different directions.
Pedal-to-the-metal start to finish; a perfect microcosm of early rock-n-roll. Wish I could’ve been a fly in the wall when Little Richard and his band were making music history.
Strooien met de 5
Fantastic album that I'm glad I was introduced to
I loved it from the beginning to the end
This is the 71st album I’m rating. The only Little Richard song I’ve ever listened to is Tutti Frutti so this is pretty lucky. Adding to my Playlist - True, Fine Mama, Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave, Ready Teddy, Baby, Slippin’ and Slidin’, Long Tall Sally, Miss Ann, Oh Why?, Rip It Up, Jenny, Jenny, and She’s Got It. Not Adding to my Playlist - Nothing. Already Added to my Playlist - Tutti Frutti. All in all I liked 12/12 songs. This wasn’t the most interesting but there is something charming about Little Richard’s nearly 70 year old sound.
Tutti Frutti n Banger, und Ready Teddy super oft gecovert, generell will man einfach bei jedem Song mit schunkeln. 5 Sterne
A transformational figure in the history of rock. And still a pure joy to listen to today!
pure rock and roll magic
Another chance for some virtue signalling which is pretty great for me. Giving it 5 is easier when the songs are great though.
There has never been and will never be another like Little Richard. So much energy and just classic songs.
Timeless.
It’s wild to think about now, but Here’s Little Richard was once a threat — a full-blown panic attack for conservative parents, white radio programmers, and anyone clinging to pre-rock respectability. Little Richard’s voice wasn’t just loud; it was filthy, sweaty, and bursting with something dangerous. Pat Boone’s stiff, sanitized cover of Tutti Frutti may have charted higher, but Richard’s version is the one history couldn’t shake. Because you can’t fake that voice — all screams, howls, and gospel firepower — or his piano, hammered like it owed him money. The album plays like a 28-minute riot. Tutti Frutti kicks the door down with a holler that still feels alive in 2025, a pure blast of uncut rock & roll adrenaline. Long Tall Sally barely lets you breathe, sprinting through its verses like the band is trying to outrun the cops. Rip It Up swings like a runaway freight train. Ready Teddy practically dares you to sit still. And Slippin’ and Slidin’? That one sounds like the whole thing could skid off the rails at any second, all frantic piano and loose-hipped energy. Even the quieter moments — tracks like Baby and Miss Ann — still hum with that restless spirit, even if they lean closer to conventional 50s R&B. But with a run time under half an hour, even the so-called filler slides past like a cigarette break between riots. Recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s legendary J&M Studio in New Orleans, Here’s Little Richard captures the feel of a band crammed into a sweaty room, feeding off Richard’s manic energy. There’s no polish, no sweetening — just tape rolling while the man howls his way into history. Here’s Little Richard is the blueprint for everything rock would become: sexual, rebellious, and gloriously over-the-top. Its DNA pulses through The Beatles (who worshipped him), Prince’s flamboyant seduction, and Jack White’s garage-rock chaos. It’s gospel on Saturday night after too much whiskey, boogie-woogie dragged into the streets, and blues cranked to 11. This is where rock & roll kicked down the door — and never looked back.
This whole album is raw and powerful but holy shit, Lee Allen’s saxophone really stands out.
Great stuff
Tutti frutti indeed, more of this please.low 5.
Tutti Frutti 🔥
I'd give this 4.5 if I could, because it is obviously a complete classic, and Little Richard helped launch Rock and Roll. However, there are a couple tracks that aren't quite at the level as the others. They are good but not as outstanding as much of the album. However, what else can I say, everyone should hear this album before they die.
He invented all your favorite music
Sooooo effing good.
Little Richard Energy.
There's Little Richard!
Little Richard, if he didn’t create the Big Bang of Rock & Roll, he was certainly there when it went Bang!
Every song is pure rock and roll fun. I loved the album and will listen to it again. It is the birth of rock and roll. Brilliant vocals and great guitar. The demos on the deluxe version show just how raw and powerful little Richard was vocally. Favourite song: Tutti Frutti and long tall Sally are brilliant tracks Least favourite: Everything is really good. Album artwork: Cool cover
LR great as usual, learned new songs, rip it up to check -> elvis
Never fails to make me smile
Favourite songs: Long Tall Sally (The Thing), Jenny Jenny, She's Got It, Rip it Up, Tutti Frutti, Ready Teddy, Oh Why?, Slippin' and Slidin', "True, Fine Mama" Least favourite songs: Can't Believe You Wanna Leave 5/5
Has there ever been a more thrilling two and a half minutes of music than Tutti Frutti? From the opening wop-bop-a-loo-mop to the raw power of Little Richard’s voice and suggestive lyrics that push all sorts of boundaries, this song has it all. Little Richard was a huge influence on the Beatles and taught them his trademark ‘wooo’, and they had Long Tall Sally as a regular part of their live sets, right up until their last gig at Candlestick Park.
I mostly listen to rock music and its derivative (well, loads of metal or associated acts too) and he's one of the father of all the things I love. It's fast, fun, he puts his guts in his music. And it's hard to resist the urge to dance listening to this.
5 estrelas sem ouvir . O Arquiteto do Rock and Roll.
First time listening to anything beyond Tutti Frutti and it's all very good and all mostly sounds like Tutti Frutti. It's fun to imagine a world where music was all buttoned up and contained and this guy went out and let loose. It's essential and also it's pretty fun and still sounds good. If this opened the can of worms that is rock and roll then maybe it really ought to be a 5. I'll bite. It's quality and the horns and jazz instrumentation holds up. It's been in my head all day
Loved it! Holds up
zeer goed album... 4 sterren voor de songs alleen, nog 1tje om een belangrijke stap in de rock en roll te zijn