Little Richard (Richard Penniman)

This weekend we have heard the sad news of the passing of “Little Richard” – one of the greatest musicians of the 1950s, who is often considered as the founder of rock ‘n’ roll.  This week for our music lesson, we will use his music and enjoy some rock ‘n’ roll dancing!

Many of Little Richard’s songs included the names of people.  For example some of his songs are “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Ready Teddy,” “Miss Ann” and “Lucille.”  Little Richard created rhyming lyrics with these names, such as:

“Oh, oh, oh, Miss Ann, you're doin' something no-one can.”

“Lucille… I love you still.”

“Lawdie, Miss Claudie.”

Can you come up with some words that rhyme with your name?

My name is Jenny.  There aren’t many words that rhyme with “Jenny” – the main ones I can think of are “penny” and “any”.  I could use other names, such as “Lenny” or “Benny.”  

My rhyme could be:

“My name is Jenny.  I’ve got a friend called Benny.  We went to the shop and bought a sweet for a penny.”  I’m sure you could come up with something much better!

Use the words that rhyme with your name to create your own rhyming song lyrics.  Maybe you could create a tune to sing them to?  And then add a backing rhythm or drum/clap beat?  Please record your compositions if you can and send them to us!

Other Rock n Roll songs you might recognise and enjoy dancing to include:

Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around the Clock / Shake, Rattle n Roll

Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock / Hound Dog

Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode

Bobby Darin - Splish, Splash

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire