Several years before permanently altering cultural history with an incendiary new kind of dance music issued on 78 rpm platters that bore the black and yellow
Specialty
logo,
Little Richard
made his first recordings for the
Victor
and
Peacock
labels. In 1989,
Bear Family
released
The Formative Years 1951-53
, containing 16 of these historic performances appended with six alternate takes. By dishing out swinging
rhythm & blues
infused with a New Orleans kick,
was laying the ground for a much rowdier, edgier manifestation that would eventually envelop him and the entire nation in a defiant and recklessly joyous catharsis called
rock & roll
. Without these fine
R&B
records, wouldn't none of that come together the way that it did. If you take this collection, combine it with the
recordings and use selections from the
Vee Jay
catalog for a chaser, you'll be in a good position to draw your own conclusions regarding what this amazing individual recorded later in life. ~ arwulf arwulf