The Untold Story: Tutti Frutti

The invention of Rock n’ Roll has no definite founder.  We all know that Elvis was the King of Rock n’Roll, but others such as Bill Haley and Little Richard also form the foundation of Rock n’Roll.

Little Richard has gone so far as to call himself the “Architect of Rock and Roll.”Little Richard

On September 14, 1955, Little Richard was in the studio for his first recording session.  By all reports, the session was not going very well and sounded “dull and uninspired.”

During the lunch break, Little Richard sat down at the piano and began to bang out a new tune for his producer, Bumps Blackwell.  Blackwell later reported that when Little Richard was finished he said, ‘Wow! That’s what I want from you, Richard. That’s a hit!'”

The original lyrics were so racy that they had to be rewritten.  Dorothy La Bostrie was an aspiring songwriter and was summoned to the Dew Drop Inn to rewrite the lyrics.

Before lunch was over, the lyrics had been rewritten and were ready for performance.  In the last fifteen minutes of that recording session, “Tutti Frutti” was recorded.

Upon release, the song reached No. 17 on the Billboard Music Charts.

MOJO Magazine named Tutti Fruitti the “most influential rock ‘n’ roll song of all time.”