Richard Penniman

When I was 15 or so I first heard Chuck Berry.

I got it immediately.

I also heard at that time for the first time Fats Domino.

I got it immediately.

And I heard Buddy Holly, whom I also grokked, immediately.

Elvis took a little time.

But I got it fairly soon after first encounter.

Little Richard I just didn't get.

Didn't hurt his career though.

And as happens, time passed: a lot of time.

Forty or fifty years of my life passed with no Little Richard hearings and then I happened to hear him.

I absolutely had to wonder what had been wrong with that 15 year old kid of so long before.

With that hearing I didn't just get it; I joined it; I became one with it.

I am sorry to lose that "little" giant.