Looks at the life and career of the rock and roll legend.

“This entertaining, fast-paced biography” of the legendary singer-songwriter “will thrill fans of Little Richard and early rock and roll” (Publishers Weekly). Richard Wayne Penniman, known to the world as Little Richard, blazed the trail for generations of musicians: The Beatles, James Brown, the Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Prince . . . the list seems endless. He was “The Originator,” “The Innovator,” and the self-anointed “King and Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll.” In The Big Life of Little Richard, Mark Ribowsky shares the raucous story of his life from early childhood in Macon, Georgia, to his death in 2020. Ribowsky, acclaimed biographer of musical icons―including the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and Otis Redding―takes readers through venues, gigs, and studios, conveying the sweaty energy of music sessions limited to a few tracks on an Ampex tape machine and vocals sung along with a live band. He explores Little Richard’s musicianship; his family life; his uphill battle against racism; his interactions with famous contemporaries and the media; and his lifelong inner conflict between his religion and his sexuality. By 2020, eighty-seven-year-old Little Richard’s electrifying smile was still intact, as were his bona fides as rock’s royal architect: the ’50s defined his reign, and he extended elder statesmanship ever since. The Big Life of Little Richard not only explores a legendary stage persona, but also a complex life under the makeup and pomade

Nine stories about Little Richard, the rabbit, and the many other animals that live in or near his house in the woods.

The all-embracing, "whaddya got?" nature of rebellion in Fifties America included pop music's unlikely challenge to entrenched notions of masculinity. Within that upheaval, four prominent artists dared to behave in ways that let the public assume—but not see—their queerness. That these artists cultivated ambiguous sexual personas often reflected an understandable fear, but also a struggle to fulfill personal and professional expectations.Vincent L. Stephens confronts notions of the closet—both coming out and staying in—by analyzing the careers of Liberace, Johnny Mathis, Johnnie Ray, and Little Richard. Appealing to audiences hungry for novelty and exoticism, the four pop icons used performance and queering techniques that ran the gamut. Liberace's flamboyance shared a spectrum with Mathis's intimate sensitivity while Ray's overwrought displays as "Mr. Emotion" seemed worlds apart from Little Richard's raise-the-roof joyousness. As Stephens shows, the quartet not only thrived in an era of gray flannel manhood, they pioneered the ways generations of later musicians would consciously adopt sexual mystery as an appealing and proven route to success.

Perfect for all the little ones and newborns in your life!

A brilliant new biography of the extraordinary, outrageous performer who helped open the floodgates of Rock 'n' Roll. In June, 2007, Little Richard's 1955 Specialty Records single, "Tutti Frutti," topped Mojo magazine's list of "100 Records That Changed the World." But back in the early 1950s, nobody gave Little Richard a second glance. It was a time in America where the black and white worlds had co-existed separately for nearly two centuries. After "Tutti Frutti," Little Richard began garnering fans from both sides of the civil rights divide. He brought black and white youngsters together on the dance floor and even helped to transform race relations. Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll begins by grounding the reader in the fertile soil from which Little Richard's music sprang. In Macon, Georgia, David Kirby interviews relatives and local characters, who knew Little Richard way back when, citing church and family as his true inspiration. His antics began as early as grade school, performing for his classmates every time the teacher would leave the room, connecting to an age-old American show biz tradition of charade and flummery. On the road, Little Richard faced competition from his peers, honing his stage show and making it, too, an act that could not be counterfeited. Kirby sees Little Richard as a foxy warrior, fighting with skill and cunning to take his place among the greats. In the words of Keith Richards (on hearing "Tutti Frutti" for the first time), "it was as though the world changed suddenly from monochrome to Technicolor." Those sentiments have consistently been echoed by the music-listening world, and the time is ripe for a reassessment of Little Richard's genius and legacy.

In 1961, Richard Goldstein saw Bob Dylan perform for the first time at Carnegie Hall. Rock music was in its infancy, and revolution was in the air. Criticism of the genre didn't yet exist but, as it began to change music and politics for ever, the serious discussion of rock became a thriving institution. Aged just twenty-two in 1966, and the first rock critic in New York, Goldstein became a pivotal figure in the industry. Forging close relationships with huge names – Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson and Janis Joplin to name just three – his life became a whirlwind of politics, sex and rock and roll. Another Little Piece of My Heart is an unparalleled document of rock and revolution.

If you are a bunny, try a taste, take a gander, snuffle a sniff, relish a sound, and share a hug. Everything around is waiting. If you are a boy, or a girl, or a dog, or a kitty do like our friend Bunny. And enjoy.