LOS ANGELES – CIRCA 1956: Musician Little Richard poses for a portrait in circa 1956. (Photo by … [+]
When it comes to the origins of rock and roll, many people immediately point to Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, or Buddy Holly. These musicians all made great art and left their mark on music history, but there is one name that deserves the recognition for creating what many call the only true form of music that started in America: Little Richard.
In many ways, he never received much of what he deserved during his complicated lifetime. Director Lisa Cortés explores the complexity of one of the most incredible musicians to ever live in her new documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything, which played at the Sundance film festival this year and which has just become available online for all to see after a short theatrical run earlier this month.
That title works in multiple ways, as Cortés says the rocker “wasn’t one note. There were many multitudes contained in his life story.” And after watching the film, it’s clear that she is exactly right.
Little Richard: I Am Everything details Richard’s life story from cradle to old age, but it isn’t the typical documentary that simply lists a musician’s accomplishments. The movie explores many themes, and it is really about how Richard suffered and never earned the right amount of praise–or money–due to racism. The “Architect of Rock and Roll”–a name Richard loved to use–is only just now being profiled in a way that pays respect and educates a new generation.
Cortés says she was inspired to pursue this venture after Richard’s passing in 2020. She explained she saw the conversation about him renew and realized how much he meant to so many people–and that he was important to different groups for different reasons. Also, she was shocked that no such landmark documentary already existed. And while she clearly loves the man, this process was about so much more than just honoring him. “His story allowed for a greater interrogation of a journey and the social context that the journey took place in, but also the ripple effect of his cultural contributions,” she explained during a recent interview.
In addition to showcasing how racism kept him from becoming as big as he could have been, Little Richard: I Am Everything also dives deep into Richard’s incredibly complex relationship with his own sexuality. At times during his life, the singer of such timeless, campy hits as “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally” was free to be a happy, gay man. Then, for long stretches, he didn’t exactly go back in the closet, but he let his religious upbringing make him feel ashamed of his orientation and change the way he lived and loved. Cortés insists that she wants this documentary to “contribute to a narrative about rock and roll, about the contributions of Black queer people.”
Little Richard: I Am Everything is at times exhilarating, and in other instances, incredibly tragic…but it is always educational and entertaining. Cortés herself says that she wants viewers to feel it all. “I hope that it is informative, joyous, [and] a reclamation of the history that hasn’t been told.”
But perhaps the fact that the film makes the viewer feel all these things at once (hence why the name I Am Everything is so perfect) by simply telling the truth–one which many have attempted to cover up for decades, as it doesn’t align with the white, heterosexual narrative that has dominated rock for so long–makes it what Cortés calls “a great American story.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/04/21/a-new-doc-tries-to-explain-little-richard-and-all-of-the-many-multitudes-contained-in-his-life-story/