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TL;DR:

  • Little Richard saw The Beatles perform “Love Me Do” before the Fab Four became famous.
  • He said The Beatles declined to play his songs “Lucille” and “Long Tall Sally” during the performance.
  • Little Richard discussed why he turned down 50% ownership of the band.
Little Richard and The Beatles' George Harrison in black-and-white
Little Richard and The Beatles’ George Harrison | Ron Galella / Contributor

Little Richard saw The Beatles perform at The Cavern Club before they were global superstars. Subsequently, he turned down 50% ownership of the band. He explained why he made this decision.

Little Richard was booked to play at the same club as The Beatles by their manager

In the 1984 book The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography, Little Richard discussed watching The Beatles play. “I remember Brian Epstein had booked me to play at The Cavern [Club] with them,” he recalled.

“A couple of weeks later he had me headlining a big concert at a theater in Liverpool,” he continued. “They were a support band, with the Swinging Blue Jeans, Cilla Black, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. The Beatles went on and sang ‘Love Me Do.’ They couldn’t do my numbers, ‘Lucille’ and ‘Long Tall Sally,’ ‘cos I was there.” Notably, The Beatles’ covers of those songs eventually ended up on records.

Little Richard discussed what he thought about The Beatles and their chances after he saw them play at The Cavern Club

Subsequently, Little Richard had a conversation with The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein. “When they came off, Brian Epstein said to me, ‘Richard, I’ll give you 50% of The Beatles.'” he said. “I couldn’t accept ‘cos I never thought they would make it.

“Brian Epstein said, ‘Take the masters [of Beatles songs] back to America with you and give them to the record company for me,'” he continued. “I didn’t do that, but I did call up some people for them. I phoned [music executive] Art Rupe and I also got in touch with Vee-Jay [Records], but I didn’t take a piece of them.”

Despite this, Little Richard was still kind to the band. They had no money, so he bought them food. Little Richard also taught Paul McCartney so sing like him.

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How ‘Love Me Do’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

While Little Richard wasn’t impressed when The Beatles performed “Love Me Do,” the tune became a big hit. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. The hit appeared on the compilation album 1962-1966. The compilation reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 175 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Love Me Do” peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom. Over the course of multiple releases, it spent a total of 26 weeks on the chart. On the other hand, 1962-1966 reached No. 3 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for 167 weeks.

“Love Me Do” became a huge hit even if Little Richard wasn’t looking for a piece of it.

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