Little Richard - Okeh Thoughts

[Anoraks Corner]

Was digging around for some info on Little Richard's Okeh material...thought I'd share his thoughts as found on Wikipedia...I've highlighted the line I thought would be of interest!!:

 

 

After the release of the album Richard himself noted, "I was in the second year of the Okey (sic) contract and there was still no hit record. So I tore it up. The contract gave me no say in the material I recorded with them or in what was released. Larry Williams was the worst producer in the world. He wanted me to copy Motown and I was no Motown artist. The Okeh stuff didn't sell at all because Okeh was an R'n'B label - a black label. I should have recorded on the Epic label, because I'm not primarily a black artist. It would have done a lot better." It is worth noting that 'Poor Dog' made #41 on the R&B chart and 'Commandments of Love' made #30 on The Cash Box Black Singles chart. All Okeh 45's are highly regarded in Europe where they were released on the Epic label.

 

After the recording sessions for this album, (actually the result of then-Richard Manger, Robert A. "Bumps" Blackwell's effort to convince European fans to petition Okeh Records to cut a live album), Richard recorded three more tracks for Okeh on May 17, 1967, one issued in 2004 ('Golden Arrow'), leaving the other two unreleased; then recorded six tracks in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago for the Brunswick Records label the same year. The Brunswick tracks were released between December '67 - September '68, none of which were hits. Meanwhile, Little Richard saw out 1967 with an appearance in the film Catalina Caper.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard's_Greatest_Hits:_Recorded_Live!

 

Edited August 16, 2013 by Anoraks Corner