How 'Little Richard: I Am Everything' restores the rock 'n' roll icon to his throne

Director Lisa Cortés says there's one thing she's typically spoken with individuals after they've watched "Little Richard: I Am Everything," her brand-new documentary on the vibrant, complicated leader of early rock ‘‘ n

' roll." People constantly state, ‘‘ I discovered a lot about him and I believed I understood him,'" Cortés states on a current video call about the film, which arrived in theaters and on-demand just recently. "It's rather a revelatory journey."

It was the very same for Cortés, too, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker states of her journey to fully comprehend the life and career of the entertainer born as Richard Penniman.


< img alt =" Little Richard at Wembley Stadium in London, England on Sept. ... "class =" lazyload size-article_inline "data-sizes=" automobile" data-src=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-04.jpg?w=620 "data-srcset=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-04.jpg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-04.jpg?w=750 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-04.jpg?w=750 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-04.jpg?w=750 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-04.jpg?w=750 1860w" > Little Richard at Wembley Stadium in London, England on Sept. 14, 1974, as seen in the new documentary" Little Richard: I Am Everything."( Photo thanks to Magnolia Pictures). < img alt=" Lisa Cortés, director of the brand-new documentary," little="" richard:="" i."="" class=" lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes=" auto" data-src=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-05.jpg?w=500" data-srcset=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-05.jpg?w=500 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-05.jpg?w=500 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-05.jpg?w=500 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-05.jpg?w=500 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-05.jpg?w=500 1860w" > Lisa Cortés, director of the new documentary," Little Richard: I Am Everything."(
Photo thanks to Magnolia Pictures). < img alt=" ittle Richard at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Sept. 2, ..." class=" lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes=" automobile "data-src =" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-02.jpg?w=620" data-srcset=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-02.jpg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-02.jpg?w=780 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-02.jpg?w=810 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-02.jpg?w=1000 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-02.jpg?w=1000 1860w" > ittle Richard at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Sept. 2, 1956, as seen in the new documentary" Little Richard: I Am Everything."( Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures). < img alt= "ittle Richard at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Sept. 2, ..." class= "lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes=" car" data-src =" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-03.jpg?w=620" data-srcset=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-03.jpg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-03.jpg?w=780 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-03.jpg?w=810 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-03.jpg?w=1000 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-03.jpg?w=1000 1860w" > ittle Richard at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Sept. 2, 1956, as seen in the brand-new documentary" Little Richard: I Am Everything."( Photo thanks to Magnolia Pictures). < img alt= "Little Richard at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Sept. 2, ..." class= "lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes=" car" data-src= "https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-01-1.jpg?w=620" data-srcset=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-01-1.jpg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-01-1.jpg?w=780 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-01-1.jpg?w=810 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-01-1.jpg?w=1000 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LDN-L-LITTLERICHARD-0505-01-1.jpg?w=1000 1860w" > Little Richard at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Sept. 2, 1956, as seen in the new documentary" Little Richard: I Am Everything." (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures). Show Caption of. Expand." I didn't learn about him and all of the layers until I made

this movie," Cortés states." My intro was the music, the joy of dancing around to ‘ Tutti Frutti' with my cousins as a kid." Even to this day, I can put ‘ Tutti Frutti' on for my niece, who's 3 years of ages, and she loses her mind and begins singing along and gets
incredibly fired up," she states ‘." Because there's something in the music that's so joyous."." Little Richard: I Am Everything "seeks to put the vocalist of hits such as" Good Golly Miss Molly,"" Long Tall Sally "and" Lucille "on the throne as the real king of rock ‘ n' roll, a title that eluded him during his lifetime. Archival interviews with Penniman, who died at 87 in May 2020, reveal it's clear he seldom felt he 'd got his due. Through new interviews with a host of performers such as
Mick Jagger, Billy Porter, Nile Rodgers and John Waters-- all of whom proclaim their love, adoration and emulation of him-- it's clear many others concur." My connection was solely the music, and then seeing him on talk shows, where you never got a sense of his contributions to rock and roll," Cortés states." He was there to be fun and nearly be a comic foil in a manner." And so making the movie was a significant opportunity to see how someone born in Macon, Georgia in 1932 was so vibrant in their vision," she says." Someone who was so provocative and transgressive that they

not only ignited this music type but had a lasting impact on many artists who followed him.". In an interview edited for length and clearness, Cortés spoke about the movie and the role that God, sex and faith played in Little Richard's life. Q: Tell me how you concerned make this film. A:

Well, here's the important things. Richard died in May of 2020, which is the height of the pandemic. You hear their music all the time Whenever someone dies and they are an artist who has such incredible hits. So at a time that was difficult and very dark, I heard this music that was so jubilant. That brought back memories of being a kid dancing around with my cousins in the summer. And I wanted to learn more. I resembled, ‘ Wow, I wonder if there's a doc on him,' and then found there wasn't. Q: So you were inspired to make one? A: I think

I was specifically fascinated when he passed away. You've got Bob Dylan offering tribute. You have [Foo Fighters ‘'] Dave Grohl. You have Elton John. You have many artists who are like

, ‘ He was the king, he was so crucial.' Bruce Springsteen offered him a homage. I did a quick Google search. I'm taking a look at the YouTube of him inducting Otis Redding into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is him actually inducting himself. That's an extremely poignant piece of video. He is calling out these stars in the audience, and he's saying, ‘ Why have you never given me anything? Why are you not recognizing me? I offered you your start. '. It's amusing, however it's also very uncomfortable due to the fact that it's an act of desperation. And I think a lot of us use this idea of being erased. Of being a part of something and losing that foothold. Q: Why do you believe he didn't get the recognition he should have? We understand one factor is that the work of Black artists was often weakened as White artists
rerecorded their work, typically enjoying greater industrial support and success with White audiences. How did you concern see it? A: I believe you can't reject that race and his queerness, that is a combination that was so threatening. The idea of putting a queer Black man in the '50s on a pedestal, you understand, was not going to take place. Since those are the things that make him so unbelievable, it's regrettable. That he's a Black queer male who is raising this art form, and adding a lot passion and effectiveness. Q: Another remarkable part of the film is its exploration of his battle to reconcile his enthusiasms for God, sex and rock ‘ n 'roll. At various points in his life, he comes out as gay and after that returns in the closet; he plays rock-and-roll and then renounces it as the devil's music, and so on. A: I believe the majority of people do not understand that the renunciation of his queerness in the '80s is preceded by his renunciation of rock and roll in the '60s. It is this truly awful pendulum that he's on, and it's this stress that is pulling him back and forth for an excellent portion of his life. That was something that truly stuck out right away when I spent the time doing my research. Since you see that he really is a divided soul. Q: There's so much wonderful footage in the film of Little Richard carrying out and giving interviews, things I 'd never seen before. Exist things you found in your research that were especially unique discovers for you? A: I believe it's intriguing when he tells us about his time after he's tossed out of his home for being queer. That in downtown Macon, Georgia in the 1940s, there's a location called Ann's Tic Toc Room. A location where queer

people, Black and White individuals, came together. Because that is not in our type of creativity about what could be possible in the South throughout this period. Homosexuality is illegal. Homophobia is widespread. That
he finds discovers community in this small city was pretty quite. I think the second part is when Little Richard tells us, ‘ I go on the roadway, on the Chitlin' Circuit, and I dress up as a lady.' It informs you a lot about all these various locations and experiences that he is pulling from to produce this musical gumbo. Q: I was likewise interested by the musical dream sequences you consisted of with musicians like singer-songwriter Valerie June, singer-pianist Cory Henry and gospel singer John P. Kee. A: From the start

of the project I understood I wished to develop dreamscapes. I see them as these seminal minutes in Richard's life, where these websites of possibility open. You know, he meets Sister Rosetta Tharpe (portrayed by Valerie June), who states, ‘ Come sing with me, 'and then after being on phase with her at the Macon Auditorium, Richard's like, ‘ I want to go be a star.'. Because they are a part of the legacy, I chose all of those artists. The incredible Valerie June discussed her love of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The very same thing with Cory Henry, who started in the church now not just can play gospel music but jazz and hip-hop and R&B and pop. And, obviously, John P. Kee understood Little Richard. Each of them felt connected to him in some method. And the exact same opts for everyone else who was talked to in the movie. They had to have an intimate connection. And
individuals who were spoken with were instantly like, ‘ I want to speak about Little Richard because the world needs to know what he provided for me. 'And in turn for music and culture.