NYTimes.com: Back to Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last

This page was sent to you by:  le-jestor@hotmail.com ARTS   | December 08, 1992 Back to Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last By PETER WATROUS Those who invent genres both define them and are stuck with them. Little Richard, hair like an apartment building, sexually ambiguous, wildly extroverted and very funny, is coming to New York for three nights at Tramps (45 West 21st Street, Chelsea), starting this evening. Little Richard (Richard Penniman), for those who don't remember, helped invent rock-and-roll. He made a strain of American extremism, all Saturday-night hysteria, a regular part of international mass culture. As much as he has tried to renounce the spirit of abandon he had advocated with his first important recordings, exchanging it for the spirit of religion, Mr. Penniman, two years short of 60, always seems to return to the carnivalesque secular style that made him famous. The great reverberations of "Tutti Frutti," "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Slippin' and Slidin' " that forever changed the idea of expressionism have him but good. Advertisement CONVICTION - Based on the incredible true story. Starring Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, and Minnie Driver. Now Playing. Click here to view trailer Copyright 2010  The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy