Something else happened in this time slot [1950’s]: rock 'n' roll… I've been arguing against labels my whole life--I hate it when they're slapped on me --but finally they become so popular that even I have to use them… When I think of the true rock 'n' roll, cats like Chuck Berry and Little Richard and Bo Diddley come to mind. I think they're the main men… A tune like Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" was fun… And the kids could identify with it a lot easier than my "A Fool for You" or "Drown in My Own Tears."… Rock 'n' roll was also music that the teenagers were able to play themselves. Little Richard's or Jerry Lee Lewis's piano style--taking your thumb and scraping all the way up the keyboard--had a flare and a sound that the kids loved. And which they could duplicate. I sang some happy songs, and I played tunes with tempos that moved. But if you compare, let's say, my "Don't You Know, Baby?" to Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," you'll hear the difference; my music is more serious, filled with more despair than anything you'd associate with rock 'n' roll. << less