There’s been a surfeit of archival reissues from the catalogue of Little Richard, probably due to his entrance into heaven earlier this year. I guarantee you that this latest album is one for the books. It’s never been released before as a single album, and was part of his early 1970s “return”.
What sets this album apart from everything else he’d done is that Little Richard pulls a “Ray Charles” and enters the world of Country and Western, albeit as only Richard Penniman can.
What you get is Little Richard delivering a lot of “Whoas” and signature hiccups on two stepping VFW pieces like “Over Yonder” and the two stepping title piece. He delivers a solo growl that grabs you by the throat on the album opener “California (I’m Comin’) and is back porch folksy on “If You Pick Her Too Hard (She Comes Out Of Tune)” and sounds like a troubadour on “Ain’t No Tellin” with some homespun mandolin. Yes, I said “MANDOLIN”! He can still boogaloo, although with cowboy boots, on “I Get A Little Lonely” and gets as swampy as Tony Joe White on a Polk Salad Annie-ish “Puppy Dog Song”. This album makes you wish for more of the same. Yee Haw!!