Holy Mackerel! - Pretenders to Little Richard's Throne

1	Rock'n'roll Deacon / Screamin' Joe Neal 2:13
2	Sapphire / Big Danny Oliver 2:18
3	Chonnie-On-Chon / James Brown 2:11
4	Tough Lover / Etta James previously unreleased / Take 1 2:26
5	Miss Lucy / Big Al Downing 2:21
6	Hey Hey Baby / Otis Redding 2:44
7	Hey Baba Leba aka Be-Baba-Leba / Thurston Harris 2:24
8	I Thought I Told You Not to Tell Them / Marie Knight 2:11
9	Don't 'Cha Know / H.B. Barnum 2:03
10	This Man's Crazy / Ike & Tina Turner 1:47
11	The Girl Can't Dance / Bunker Hill 1:54
12	Holy Mack'rel / Prentice Moreland 2:20
13	She Can Rock / Little Ike 1:49
14	Fat Mama / Ronnie Molleen 2:18
15	Open the Door / Little Booker Take 4 1:42
16	(Why Won't You) Leave It Alone / Ba Ba Thomas 2:15
17	Yama Yama Pretty Mama / Richard Berry previously unreleased / Take 7 2:12
18	Baby You Been to School / Charlie Page 2:08
19	24 Boyfriends / Dee Clark 2:07
20	Hey-Bop-A-Ree-Bop / Young Jessie previously unreleased 2:31
21	Have Mercy Miss Percy / Long Tall Marvin Alt Take 3 2:32
22	Switchin' in the Kitchen / Prettyboy 2:29
23	Papa Lou and Gran / Little Victor & His Orchestra 2:30
24	Rock This Morning / Lowell Fulson 1:45
25	I'm in Love Again / The Upsetters 2:01

All Music Guide

Like any star who has a lot of big hits, Little Richard spawned his share of imitators in the late 1950s and early '60s, or at least records on which a singer tried to sound like him. It's probably not realized even by most Little Richard fans in particular and rock & roll collectors in general, however, just how often other artists tried to hitch a ride on his bandwagon. Holy Mackerel! Pretenders to Little Richard's Throne compiles no less than 25 such examples (albeit one track, the World Famous Upsetters' 1962 cover of "I'm in Love Again," on which Little Richard himself sings without getting billing). The assembled perpetuators include some stars who tried their hand at Richard-esque songs, whoops, and hollers, if only briefly, like James Brown, Joe Tex (under the pseudonym of Little Booker), Lowell Fulson, and Dee Clark. They even include some women who aren't exactly no-names, like Etta James, gospel singer Marie Knight, and (with husband Ike Turner) Tina Turner. Is it entertaining? Well, sure -- if you get this many examples of competent (and in some cases way more than competent) rock & rollers trying to replicate Little Richard to some degree, there's no way there can't be some good if somewhat exploitative fun. But here's the thing -- even a Little Richard greatest-hits collection doesn't exactly have as much variety as many best-ofs by early rock & roll greats. You'll have to have a big appetite for Richard's mannerisms to get a kick out of this nonstop, since none of the songs are on the level of Little Richard's actual big hits, even as they borrow heavily from various elements of his style, like his pounding piano and gospel-ish trills. There's only one track, Bunker Hill's truly demented "The Girl Can't Dance," that's highly memorable under its own steam, with a searing in-the-red vocal and clamorous backup (by Link Wray & the Raymen) that's astonishingly raw for a 1963 release. It's also odd to hear some talented singers for whom Little Richard imitation clearly isn't a forte, like Dee Clark, who seems a little out of his comfort zone on "24 Boyfriends." There's still reasonable fun involved, of course, in hearing such a concentrated dose of Little Richard as an influence, including songs here and there that stand by themselves, like Big Al Downing's "Miss Lucy." Richie Unterberger