“I am the originator, I am the emancipator, I am the architect. Rhythm and blues had a baby, and somebody named it rock ‘n’ roll.” 

So announces Little Richard in a pivotal moment in the new Lisa Cortés documentary, Little Richard: I Am Everything. Cortés and the people interviewed in the film make it abundantly clear Little Richard was the spark that ignited the Big Bang that gave us rock ‘n’ roll. And the universe where that spark ignited may change everything you thought you knew about the origins of rock music.

Little Richard: I Am Everything follows a linear progression of the artist’s life. From his birth as Richard Penniman in Macon, Georgia, in 1932, to his death in 2020, Cortés tracks Little Richard’s artistic evolution, including pivotal moments, triumphs, and pitfalls. We also get a portrait of Little Richard the person: the loving son and sibling, the supportive friend, and the conflicted soul. To help interpret the story, Cortés hands the mic to a deep roster of musicians and, vitally, of LGBTQ+ people of color who provide insightful commentary informed by both first-hand experience and studied knowledge.

Cortés lets her interviewees and a treasure trove of archival footage tell the story. At pivotal moments in Little Richard’s artistic development — which reverberated throughout popular music — Cortés emphasizes the innovation by focusing on dust dancing in the light, then using effects to add a shimmer of stardust to the scene, connecting Little Richard’s personal magic to the Big Bang of rock ‘n’ roll. As Mick Jagger says, “Little Richard is the first thing I remember as far as rock and roll is concerned.”

Despite the adulation of people like Jagger, Paul McCartney, and American Bandstand’s Dick Clark, Cortés shows the racist policies and attitudes that pushed Little Richard to the fringes of a genre he was a principal designer of. For example, in the late 1950s when Little Richard was turning out hit after hit, industry executives forced the repackaging of Little Richard’s songs by white artists like Elvis Presley and Pat Boone. Cortés illustratively juxtaposes Little Richard’s performance of “Long Tall Sally” with Boone’s bowdlerized cover; set starkly against Little Richard’s original, Boone’s take is not only stilted and soulless, it’s nearly nauseating. These covers were produced in an effort to rein in Little Richard’s success and to keep his music away from white teens — even as Little Richard’s concerts were effecting real change by integrating audiences.

Meanwhile, Little Richard faced struggles with how to own his sexuality in public for his entire life — sometimes publicly saying disparaging things about or completely turning his back on the LGBTQ+ community. Nevertheless, he was a friend and supporter of people like transgender artist and activist Sir Lady Java. Some of Little Richard’s inner conflict stemmed from his vacillation between a faith based on love and compassion versus one of judgement and condemnation that came out of the spiritual, emotional and physical abuse he suffered as a child. Commentator Dr. Zandria Robinson says, “I know he knows when he is fully himself, he is closest to God.”

And as Cortés shows, whenever Little Richard felt safe and supported, he could embrace and be his true self — and in those times, Little Richard soared. Those are the moments Cortés sprinkles with stardust. Little Richard: I Am Everything shows us rock ‘n’ roll emerged not only from Black communities in the South, but also from queer spaces. That’s the power of Little Richard’s legacy, and it is supported throughout the film by LGBTQ+ commentators including Billy Porter, who says, “The reason I can show up and do whatever I want is because of him.” The influence of Little Richard continues to reach widely into music; we see it in past performances by Prince and David Bowie, and in today’s acts like Lizzo, Janelle Monáe, Harry Styles, and countless others.

In archival clips from the 1970s and 80s, Little Richard is seen onstage calling out for recognition; there’s some biting humor to it, and audiences laughed. “On one hand they might be laughing at him,” critic Tavia N’yongo observes. “They also might be laughing because they’re uncomfortable. He’s speaking truth to power.”

Inasmuch as Little Richard: I Am Everything plumbs history, its themes remain relevant today, particularly in the inequities faced by people of color and by LGBTQ+ people. At a time when many states in the U.S. are advancing legislature to further those inequities, Little Richard: I Am Everything continues speaking truth to power.

Little Richard: I Am Everything is available to stream starting April 21 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Redbox and many other platforms.

 External Links

Little Richard: I Am Everything - official site

Little Richard - Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame