Billy Wright

During his early development, Little Richard drew primary inspiration from Billy Wright, the "Prince of the Blues," whose robust shouting style stood as an Atlanta fixture throughout the postwar era. As a youngster Wright attended shows regularly at the city's 81 Theatre, absorbing the vaudeville acts before stepping onto its stage himself as a singer and dancer. Saxophonist Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams encountered Wright's performance while the two shared a bill with Charles Brown and Wynonie Harris at Atlanta's Auditorium, prompting him to recommend the teenage vocalist to Savoy Records chief Herman Lubinsky. Wright's 1949 Savoy debut "Blues for My Baby" ascended to number three on Billboard's R&B charts, and its flip side "You Satisfy" fared nearly as strongly. Two additional Savoy 78s from 1951, "Stacked Deck" and "Hey Little Girl," likewise reached the R&B Top Ten. The flamboyant Wright connected his friend Little Richard with influential WGST disc jockey Zenas Sears, who obtained the newcomer's initial RCA contract in 1951; Richard's earliest sides closely echo Wright's approach. Wright continued recording for Savoy through 1954, with the bulk of those sessions taking place in Atlanta alongside local players including saxist Fred Jackson and guitarist Wesley Jackson. Once he exited Savoy his recording prospects collapsed: a 1955 session for Don Robey's Peacock label in Houston plus unissued dates for Fire and a 1959 Carrollton outing brought his discography to a close. Wright later hosted Atlanta stage shows and remained active until a stroke in the mid-'70s curtailed his work.