Sings the Gospel

Little Richard

album cover

A Closer Walk with a Rock Legend

Gospel was more than the musical foundation for rock dynamo Little Richard—it also served as a refuge, sheltering him when the music business got too intense. Several times during his career, the illustrious Richard Penniman announced that he was "retiring" to make religious music. The first happened on the heels of the height of his popularity in 1957, another in the early '60s, which led to this, the best of his gospel collections. It's incandescent. Backed by a tight rhythm section (and a hand-clapping chorus on the jubilee numbers), the pianist and singer sails through gospel standards he probably sang as a child—"Just a Closer Walk with Thee" and "Coming Home," which he begins with a preacherly sermon—as well as less familiar affirmations like "Every Time I Feel the Spirit." The minimal production shows off Penniman's roof-rattling and always authoritative voice, and even the tempoless devotionals rock with the fire Penniman poured into "Tutti Frutti." Only now, he's aiming at the heavens.

Genre: Gospel
Released: 1964, 20th Century (Reissued 1996, Prime Cuts)
Key Tracks: "I'm Tramping," "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," "Coming Home," "God Is Real."
Next Stop: Louis Armstrong: Louis and the Good Book
After That: Andrae Crouch: The Best Of.
Book Pages: 452–453

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