Here’s Little Richard
Little Richard was the greatest rock star of all time. My book, which is part of Bloomsbury Publishing’s 33 1/3 series of books about classic albums, looks at the genesis, legacy and creation of his 1957 debut Here’s Little Richard. Featuring previously unseen archive material and new interviews with his friends and famous fans including Sir Elton John, Dave Grohl, Candi Staton, Joan Jett, Sir Tom Jones and Nile Rodgers, it’s out now and you can buy it here.
Selected press
New Orleans’ Offbeat magazine interviewed me for a lovely profile feature that touched on Richard’s transgressive personality and the defiant joy he showed in the face of prejudice.
In a review headlined “How Jordan Bassett’s ‘Here’s Little Richard’ Gets the Icon Right”, Georgia radio station The Creek 100.9 FM concluded: “Finally, since his death in 2020, a worthy book tackles this Southern Gothic supernova, his revolutionary influence that is still felt to this day, and his rightful place as a fabulous social pioneer.”
Record Collector featured the book as an upcoming release and I travelled to Richard’s hometown of Macon, Georgia for a Vintage Rock cover story hooked to its publication. Yours Retro ran an exclusive extract across three pages, while ResponseSource interviewed me about my career.
I appeared on The James McMahon Music Podcast, whose host kindly said I write with “flair and precision”, and 360°Sound invited me to justify the book’s claim that “Little Richard was the most significant cultural figure of the 20th Century”.
I also returned to Macon to launch the book as part of a posthumous, three-day birthday celebration in Richard’s honour, which local news channel WMGT covered here:
Book blurb
From male bisexuality to religion in pop, Little Richard spent the 1950s pioneering ideas that are still too challenging for the mainstream. As a Black multimillionaire rock star, he was the most exciting person on the planet between 1955 and 1957, the years in which his seismic debut album was created.
Featuring new interviews with famous fans including Sir Elton John, Dave Grohl, Joan Jett and Nile Rodgers, this is the first in-depth look at Here's Little Richard since Richard Penniman's death in May 2020. The book explores his roots in the queer underground of the American South, a scene so progressive you'd scarcely believe it thrived seven decades ago, and early rebel music such as jump blues, which soon collided with the emerging juggernaut that was rock'n'roll. When that weird alchemy occurred, the self-proclaimed Living Flame was ready to spark the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie and Prince into existence.
Those close to the tale pinpoint the ways in which 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Tutti Frutti' remain omnipresent – and why the latter was the 'WAP' of its day. This is the story of how Little Richard changed the world in 28 minutes and 30 seconds. A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!