The album features drastically rearranged takes on Motown classics like "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "Dancing In the Street." The former, in particular, really cooks. Covers of "Born On the Bayou" and "Joy To the World" are more faithful to their sources, but sung with just as much power. "Brown Sugar" offers a chance to hear Little Richard interpreting the Stones, but is undercut somewhat by a rather lame backing vocal arrangement. While more than half of The Rill Thing is made up of Penniman originals, King Of Rock and Roll features only one track penned by the artist. That song, a laid back gospel-inflected number called "In the Name," boasts one of the more nuanced vocals on the album.
The third album in the Collectors' Choice reissue series is 1972's The Second Coming. There are more Penniman songwriting credits on this than the previous two records. At its least interesting, the songs sound like forced attempts to recapture the earlier Little Richard sound. "Thomasine" reworks "Miss Ann," while "Rockin' Rockin' Boogie" is one big '50s-era cliche. That's not to write off the whole album, which closes with an instrumental jam, "Sanctified, Satisfied Toe-Tapper," that grooves along for seven greasy, sweaty minutes. Similarly "Nuki Suki" is a bumping, grinding jam with some growling sax work. "It Ain't What You Do, It's the Way How You Do It" is lighter fare, an almost poppy jaunt with some tasty steel guitar work courtesy of co-writer Sneaky Pete Kleinman.
Little Richard, it should go without saying at this point, is one of the most influential and important artists in popular music. For anyone under the impression that he became an oldies act after his '50s heyday, these three albums need to be heard. Each Collectors' Choice reissue features an informative essay about the recording as well as reprinted original liner notes. Despite the relative lack of interest at the time, the trio holds up very well nearly forty years later.
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