The Big Life of Little Richard by Mark Ribowsky

Author:Mark Ribowsky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2020-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

ON JULY 11, 1959, Richard and Ernestine tied the knot at the house on Virginia Street, surrounded by his mostly skeptical family and friends who had to bide time until Richard came stumbling in six hours late, not a great omen. His brother Charles recalled, “I wasn’t happy at all about the marriage,” believing that the Adventists were using Richard and Ernestine as props to promote themselves. Based on appearances, however, all seemed good.

Like Audrey, Ernestine would tell of living a conventional, moral home life with normal conjugal relations—no outlandish scenes or Richard tending to his own satisfactions. As Ernestine would clarify, “If he was gay, he was very good about hiding it from me!” The blinding clothes he had in the closet and sexual ambiguity of his past life, she said, were “gimmicks” to make money, part of an “act” that she accepted, even if he was supposed to have renounced all that.

They spent days studying the Bible and praying. She would attend every one of his sermons, at which he never had to plead for a witness, there being swarms of fans there to see him preach and sing hymnals, some leaving disappointed he didn’t put on a concert of his hits. He kept the faith. When a newspaper or magazine wanted to interview him about his recession, he insisted on being photographed in deep thought, intently reading a Bible or gazing heavenward, prayer shawl around his shoulders. Reverend Penniman—he asked not to be addressed as Little Richard—claimed he would never pick up a copy of the trade papers, or even switch on a radio unless it was to listen to a religious station. But the facade of quiet, simple-pleasured conformity and religion-based guidance started to unravel within months.

During that time, he took small but tantalizing steps to creep back into the business. He convinced Joe Lutcher to pick up his sax again and they formed a gospel-singing tandem called the Little Richard Evangelistic Team, taking road trips and making the rounds of tent shows. They pulled in handsome fees preaching and performing gospel songs, almost all of the proceeds going to the church.

While this at least seemed in keeping with his dictum to sing only for the Lord, a safe distance from the sinners of rock and roll, it still put him in close quarters with distinctly secular people. Ernestine didn’t know who was worse, the religious elders or the barracuda showbiz types. Either way, they claimed too much of his time, leaving her to feel abandoned. On their way to a honeymoon, he took time to have a business meeting. Often they were strangers to each other. And it would only get worse. There were many reasons why he had less time for Ernestine. But each day made it more apparent that he was thinking about returning to the business he had forsaken. Indeed, looking for rationales, he would stress that one positive aspect he had gleaned from the brief Oakwood interlude was that he had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.