A Little Richard Moment in Time

I've been having a lot of Little Richard moments lately. Driving to the hardware store, or cleaning the house, Little Richard descends on my consciousness wailing insanely and pitch-perfectly: A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom! And then: I got a gal named Sue--she knows just what to do... WHOOOO! (repeat).

God love him, Little Richard is the real deal. You can hear the entire coming of rock & roll, civil rights, and I'd wager gay rights, in his unparalleled, beautiful voice. Little Richard's singing style was a jacked up, trickster's bridge between worlds; the worlds of gospel, blues, R&B, rock, black, white, heaven and hell. He ushered in a new era of sound and fierceness. I have no idea why Good golly miss Molly--sure like to ball! is of the essence, but I'm just going to go with it. Some people have meditation to keep them centered. I have Richard Penniman.