Rarely Reissued Richard

Little Richard recorded gospel for Little Star ('59), Mercury ('61-'62), Atlantic ('63), World ('79) and Warner Brothers ('85-'86), and only the first session has made it to CD, at least domestically to my knowledge. It's too bad that the later recordings remain unreleased because they are better produced. But these '59 efforts should not be overlooked. They are completely "traditional", and this point should not be a deterrant: Richard sings beautifully on songs he must have sung as a child and which served him well on his first return to his spiritual roots on record. His sincerity is never in doubt although his voice on occasion makes an uncomfortable shift from baritone to tenor ("Everytime I Feel The Spirit", etc.). When he is in control on numbers like "Does Jesus Care?" and "God Is Real" *any* fan of any genre should realize that some very important music is being made. The minimalist production takes some getting used to - indeed, many reissue labels overdubbed many of these tracks. Maybe someday the whole End Records session(s) will be released and two incredible efforts will finally be available again: the uptempo "Certainly, Lord" [aka "Save Me Lord"], the closest sound to the Specialty Records Richard, and two versions of the rare "I'm Quitting Show Business", written by Maybelle Jackson, who also wrote the flipside of the rock and roll "She's Got It" called "Heeby-Jeebies". These notable '59 efforts should be heard especially by those who enjoy putting together the pieces of the grand puzzle called Little Richard's Career.

Terrible production

The production on this album is so horrible, it even makes Little Richard sound terribly bad. Which is hard to do. But, amazingly, they succeeded. It sounds like it was recorded in a closet, each song done in one take with a portable tape recorder with one tiny built-in microphone. The sound is muddy and primitive. And the backing musicians are amateurish. ("Produced" by George Goldner, a small-time record executive, NOT a real record producer. I met Goldner once, by the way, ahh but that's a whole other story.) Only a diehard L.R. fan, if he or she searched hard, might find a good moment or two on this album. If you want to hear Little Richard sing some incredibly beautiful spirituals with fine quality production (albeit with rather dated orchestration), there is an old album on Mercury produced by Quincy Jones, believe it or not. (Originally titled, "It's Real.") On that one, Richard's voice is ethereal, soaring, heartfelt and inspiring. On this one, he may have intended that, but it never got anywhere near the recording.