Little Richard

The recordings Richard did for Specialty remain some of the greatest rave-ups in the history of rock 'n' roll. His wild-man shrieking and storming New Orleans-soaked R&B bounce are undeniable. Sure, you know the hits, but there are so many excellent tracks on this comp that deserve to be heard outside of "Tutti Frutti." Get in to "Slippin' And Slidin'" and "Rip It Up."

You don't go to the King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll for variety--he's a skyrocket, and you want him to take you over the top. I wouldn't warn anybody off his three-CD box. But quibbles aside--"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" would have been cute--these 25 tracks are enough. All the hits (and as similar as they are, you wouldn't want to miss one), plus for context jump blues his (not necessarily superior) way. The pace isn't as breakneck as it seemed in the '50s. In the '50s, though, there was no soul music that knew its name, and for all his frantic ambition and rock and roll fame, this godchild was telling us about it. Caveat emptor: the CD has nine so-called bonus tracks--which makes the cassette not enough. (Grade - A)