PAUL BARRERE

singer-guitarist with the rock group Little Feat

“I remember the first record I ever bought. I was 11 years old. I got on a bus and went down to Wallach’s Music City, which was at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, California, and bought a 78 of ‘Tutti Frutti’ by Little Richard. I went home and just lost my mind.

“I was fortunate enough to have two older brothers, so they got me into rock ‘n’ roll real early. When I was 11, it was 1959, and that stuff was really just starting out. The first stuff that I listened to was Fats Domino, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis, of course. That stuff just fascinated me.

“Little Richard doing ‘Tutti Frutti’ was much more interesting than Pat Boone doing ‘Tutti Frutti.’ In fact, Little Richard doing ‘Tutti Frutti’ is probably more interesting than 95 percent of what’s out there today. When I hear the snare hit at the top of the song, I just go, ‘Holy mackerel!’ It’s got one of those infectious kinds of grooves.

“The first albums that I bought were along the same lines - Fats Domino and Little Richard.”