The Smiley Smile Message Board

Not that surprising when listening or watching some of his recent performances but he wll be missed.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/little-richard-retiring/

Well, who can be surprised?

Nice career though, that's for sure.

He's earned his retirement. He should enjoy what years he has left. One of the true greats.

Saw him in what was then Louisville Convention Center in '76, sandwiched between two other acts. The opener was the Australian group Skyhooks; the headliner, Uriah Heep. He had Lee Youngblood with him on sax and he invited a dozen people from the audience to dance during "Lucille." Two months later he quit rock'n'roll again for another spell in the ministry.

I was lucky to see one of his first shows of rock music in many years (after many years of refusing to play his old hits) in 1989. The opening of "Good Golly Miss Molly" was the most explosive performance I've ever seen. Got to see him 3 more times after that, never disappointed, but have seen some recent ones on youtube, and yes, it is time for him to hang it up.

No!  :(  He's one of the guys I need to see before I die, along with Chuck Berry. On the other hand, I have personally witnessed the debilitating affects(effects?) of sciatica through a family member, and it's a real bitch. My Grandma has bad hip problems also, and it can be just as bad.

I saw both of them in '98 with Jerry Lee Lewis. Cool show!
But believe me, you don't want to see Chuck Berry nowadays. It's terrible. Get yourself a nice concert on DVD, that's much better...

The "Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll" concert and film should have been Chuck's last hurrah. He still fumbled the solo's quite a bit, but it's still goof enough that he would have been ending his career still on top.

I thought he retired back in '59 to become a preacher.

Someone should have done a "Hail Hail Rock & Roll" film on Richard, too. He was great the last time I saw him in 2002, had a powerhouse band, with 2 drummers, 2 bass players, 2 guitarists, and several sax and trumpet guys. Still rocked the piano and sang great. I last saw Chuck in 1995, and that was a great show, too, but maybe I was lucky and caught him on an "on" night.

I just did a search on YouTube. Ouch.  :( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoL6v-dstoY&hd=1

Re: Chuck Berry

Here are his upcoming european dates

20.10.13 - Moscow, Russia - Galv Club
21.10.13 - St. Petersburg, Russia - A 2 Club
22.10.13 - Steinegg, Italy - Live Festival
23.10.13 - Helsinki, Finland - Finlandia Hall
25.10.13 - Oulu, Finland - Club Teatria
26.10.13 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene

Curiously enough, I've been playing his first two albums (Here's Little Richard and self-titled) a helluva lot lately. Incredible music, the best rock 'n' roll has to offer, to my ears - better than Elvis, better than Chuck, better than any 50's star I've ever heard. Each song off those albums is a gem, perfect in its restless absurdity. Some absolute favourites would be Long Tall Sally, Tutti Frutti, True Fine Mama (the born of the Steven Tyler scream?), Jenny Jenny, Good Golly Miss Molly, Lucille and Hey Hey Hey Hey.

What is worth checking beyond those two albums?

Check out his 70s albums on Reprise. The Rill Thing, The King Of Rock'n'Roll, Second Coming and Southern Child. The latter was finished back then but not released until the 2000s
I like his 60s and 70s recordings (at least the stuff I know) better than his 50s Rock'n'Roll. And I like other rock'n'rollers better.

I don't think anyone was better than 50's Richard and Berry for all out rock and roll. Both made some good records after that, but the Holy Bible of rock is Richard on Specialty, and Chuck on Chess.

....................and Elmore James  :hat

Deserved. Never got to see him.

Definitely one of the rock gods.

Well, I love them but imo there's a much wider range of material and style in Presley's RCA recordings and Jerry Lee's Sun recordings.
But all in all I won't try to chracterize what the "Holy Bible of Rock" (to use your expression) is because that only would minimize the variety and beauty of what Rock'n'Roll really is.

I heard that Richard had two recent heart attacks...

Yes, I saw that on some news thing a couple days ago. We've only got a few first generation rockers left - Richard, Fats. Chuck, Jerry Lee, the Everlys - and I know the day is coming when they are all gone, but I'm not ready for it yet.

BB King is still around, same with Tommy Steele, Duane Eddy, etc.

he shoud spend his remaining years makin out with hawt boiz he deserves it

we don't know Tommy Steele over here in the States - heck, we barely know Cliff Richard - and I don't think of B.B. as a rocker, he is the King of the Blues. Amazing that he keeps going, diabetes and all. I wonder if he has engagements booked up through his 100th birthday?

Probably not, as that's not for another 13 years.  ;D

I'm going to be heartbroken when Chuck goes...

At least we can be sure that the Killer will never die. Death won't dare trying it again...  :hat

Jerry Lee and Keith Richards will outlive us all.

Nobody follows The Killer, anyway.