Little Richard says 'rock 'n' roll is a child of rhythm and blues.'

Jet, Sept 25, 1995

WHEN THE $92 MILLION Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and Museum was launched with a sold-out public opening and a concert in the Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the brightest rock stars in the entertainment galaxy dazzled the 63,515 fans with music that made legends of the Black originators and millionaires of White imitators.

The who's who of rock performers included Chuck Berry, Little Richard, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Al Green, Sam Moore, Johnny Cash, George Clinton, the Allman Brothers, Martha Reeves, Iggy Pop, Family Stone bassist Larry Graham and Melissa Ethridge.

These famous rock stars along with others who achieved acclaim as rockers drew famous faces to a $1,000-a-plate dinner at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Among the attendees were Gov. George Voinovich, Cleveland Congressman Louis Stokes, David Brennan, Cleveland Indians owner Dick Jacobs and former Gov. Dick Celeste. Guests were handed glasses of champagne as they entered the lavish party.

One of the festive highlight by HBO's seven-hour concert hosted Jon Stewart and Lou Reed came after five hours of non-stop Performances when charismatic Little Richard entered the stage atop a piano from which descended and promptly captured his audience with two of his hits, Long Tall Sally and Tutti Frutti.

"I want to let you know that rhythm and blues had a baby and they called it rock `n' roll," he said as he fingered the piano keys during a brief pause in his performance.

He didn't want the as he emphasized: "Rock `n' roll is a child of rhythm and blues."

Although he did not allude to a USA Today and CNN poll that named The Beatles the No.1 Rock `n' Roll group of all time and released on the eve of the opening of the Rock `n' roll Hall of Fame, Little Richard did have a rightful claim as one of the originators.

Earlier that day when he took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, Richard started his one-man campaign to put the role of Black creators in perspective.

"Back then (in the 1950s) I didn't realize I was the architect of rock `n' roll. I didn't realize I was the originator and emancipator, the man who started it all-little Richard from Macon, GA--but I know it now."

The Beatles, voted the best rock `n' rollers of all time, are on record in support of Little Richard's role as a creator of rock music.

One of the Beatles, the late prolific songwriter and performer John Lennon, is on record, in support of Little Richard's role as a creator of rock music. In a Jet cover story (Oct. 26, 1972), Lennon, who achieved famed with fellow Beatles George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paid McCartney, revealed how Black stars changed his life.

"When we arrived (in the U.S. in 1964), we had a total of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard as musical idols. It hurt my heart that they were not as big as they were in the 1950s," Lennon confided when he visited Jet's new Chicago offices along with his wife Yoko and good friend comedian/activist Dick Gregory.

Discussing the influence of Black stars upon the Beatles, Lennon, who had left the Beatles to establish a successful career as a solo artist, asserted: "Berry is the greatest influence on earth...so is Little Richard. There is not one White group on earth that hasn't got their music in them. The only White I ever listened to was (Elvis) Presley on his early music records and the was doing Black music. Presley was in Memphis. Obviously, he was listening to the (Black) music. I don't blame him for wanting to be that music. I wanted to be that..I copied all those people and the other Beatles did, and so did others (White), until we developed a style of our own."

Lennon caught his breath, then plunged on with praise. "I'm still based in Black music. I still feel it...To me nothing has really happened to me (except his wife) since 1958 when I heard my first Black rock and roll...So Black music was my life and still is. Of course there is a lot of great White music these days, but it is still Black music, where it is at. Man...I'll never stop acknowledging it--Black music is my life."

Although the designers of the Cleveland music mecca to enshrine rock stars inducted into the Hall of Fame did not broadly reflect the roots of Black music, those who were present among the more than three dozen concert performers gave memorable stints onstage.

Godfather of Soul James Brown, backed by a precision playing band and fancy-stepping chorus, was a crowd pleaser as was Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin and Chuck Berry, whose duets with Bruce Springsteen, kept fans dancing in the aisles.

Mayor Mike White exclaimed: "We did it! We did it!"