{"id":807296,"date":"2020-05-10T08:31:56","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T14:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=997033"},"modified":"2020-05-10T08:31:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-10T14:31:56","slug":"paul-mccartney-i-owe-a-lot-of-what-i-do-to-little-richard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/paul-mccartney-i-owe-a-lot-of-what-i-do-to-little-richard\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney: \u2018I Owe a Lot of What I Do to Little Richard\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Paul McCartney<\/a>, who learned \u201ceverything he knows\u201d from Little Richard<\/a>, penned a tribute to the rock pioneer Sunday following Little Richard\u2019s death<\/a> at the age of 87.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom \u2018Tutti Frutti\u2019 to \u2018Long Tall Sally\u2019 to \u2018Good Golly, Miss Molly\u2019 to \u2018Lucille\u2019, Little Richard came screaming into my life when I was a teenager,\u201d McCartney tweeted<\/a>. <\/span> \u201cI owe a lot of what I do to Little Richard and his style; and he knew it. He would say, \u2018I taught Paul everything he knows\u2019. I had to admit he was right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Early in the Beatles<\/a>\u2019 history, when the future Fab Four were still playing residencies the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, the band were on a split bill with Little Richard in mid-1962.<\/span><\/p>\n

McCartney added, \u201cIn the early days of the Beatles we played with Richard in Hamburg and got to know him. He would let us hang out in his dressing room and we were witness to his pre-show rituals, with his head under a towel over a bowl of steaming hot water, he would suddenly lift his head up to the mirror and say, \u2018I can\u2019t help it cos I\u2019m so beautiful.\u2019 And he was.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McCartney would later reveal he adopted Little Richard\u2019s pre-show ritual as his own. \u201cI do like a steaming before I go on, which I was told was probably the best thing to clear your larynx,\u201d McCartney said in 2017. \u201cI was taught that by watching Little Richard do it when we were kids in Hamburg. He used to do it before he went on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Beatles would later cover Little Richard staples like \u201cLong Tall Sally,\u201d \u201cLucille\u201d and \u201cHey-Hey-Hey-Hey!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA great man with a lovely sense of humor and someone who will be missed by the rock and roll community and many more,\u201d McCartney tweeted Sunday.<\/span> \u201cI thank him for all he taught me and the kindness he showed by letting me be his friend. Goodbye Richard and a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the death of the King of Rock & Roll, many of the artists who Little Richard inspired \u2014 including the Rolling Stones<\/span><\/a>, Elton John<\/span><\/a>, John Fogerty<\/span><\/a>, Bob Dylan<\/a> and more \u2014 paid tribute to the music icon<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I had to admit he was right. In the early days of The Beatles we played with Richard in Hamburg and got to know him. He would let us hang out in his dressing room and we were witness to his pre-show rituals, with his head under a towel over a bowl of steaming hot water\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) May 10, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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I thank him for all he taught me and the kindness he showed by letting me be his friend. Goodbye Richard and a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop.’ \u2013 Paul McCartney<\/p>\n

\u2014 Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) May 10, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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