Little Richard played with the ASU band
Little Richard’s performing history in Arizona goes back at least to 1965.
He played at the Riverside Park Ballroom in south Phoenix in February, a show that for the $2.50 admission included a chance to see then 22-year-old guitarist Jimi Hendrix in the backup band Royal Company.
Other Arizona appearances followed for Little Richard, who died last week at 87. He was among the inaugural inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Little Richard spoke at the First Assembly of God Church in 1982 and played at the Arizona State Fair (1989), Fort McDowell Casino (1997/2002), Sundome (1999) and Celebrity Theatre (2001) to name a few.
The bookend to Little Richard’s Arizona career came in Thanksgiving 2007 at an Arizona State football game.
Chuck Berry first was booked to play with the ASU marching band at halftime vs. USC but cancelled. Jim Hudson, then in his second year as ASU’s director of athletic bands, was happy to save the show plan by replacing one rock and roll legend with another.
“The creation of the charts we played was the most challenging thing,” Hudson said. “He gave us a couple of CDs we were going to pull tune for the performance from. But of course they couldn’t be as long otherwise halftime would have been longer than the game.
“So when we got together for our sound check, I don’t think he really understood the medley concept we were doing. The members of his band did. It took us a while to get the forms of the tunes flowing right. During that performance, we were standing down by the stage sending cues up just to make sure we got through the set,” in roughly 10 minutes.
“If we would have done it today, it’s an awful lot easier. Here’s a YouTube video of this tune, here’s what it sounds like. That part of education has really changed for us.”
Little Richard was just two weeks shy of turning 75 that night. ASU came into the game at 9-1 and ranked No. 7 in Dennis Erickson’s first season as coach. No. 11 USC was 8-2 and still coached by Pete Carroll, already with two national championships in his Trojans tenure. The game was a sellout (71,706) at Sun Devil Stadium.
USC led 27-17 at halftime then put the game away with a 17-0 edge in the third quarter, winning 44-24 to earn a tiebreaker edge in the Pac-10 standings that sent the Trojans to the Rose Bowl.
So in some ways, at least for ASU fans, the greater significance today was the opportunity to see Little Richard performing his seminal hits.
“I remember that blue sequined tuxedo he was wearing,” Hudson said. “It was blinding when he came out on his roller stage. Our kids really enjoyed it. He was really a passionate and energetic performer.
“That whole gig was for me very historic, and I hope for our fans.”