Good golly Miss Molly, it really is true.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Little Richard did find god and throw his rings into Newcastle Harbour.
University of Newcastle archivist Gionni Di Gravio and music researcher Roland Bannister have settled the story of Little Richard once and for all.
"We believe this puts an end to any uncertainty about what happened and where it happened. Our latest discoveries solve the uncertainty now and forever," they said.
"Newcastle people have always known that Little Richard made his decision to enter the church and give up his dissolute rock'n'roll life here in Newcastle.
"We know too that it was here that he threw his rings into the Hunter River from the Stockton vehicular ferry to confirm his commitment. Unfortunately, since his recent death there are new reports in the media that get the story wrong. They locate the story on Sydney Harbour."
Di Gravio and Bannister believe Little Richard threw his rings into the Hunter River probably on October 3, 1957, the day after his Newcastle concert.
Previously, they referred to a story in The Sydney Morning Herald in 1958 that mentioned "the day Little Richard threw his rings over the Newcastle bridge" [the bridge reference was an error].
They have now uncovered nine reports from British and American newspapers from mid-October to mid-November 1957.
Most of the reports mention the Hunter, as well as Sydney.
"It is apparent that all of these are based on a single news file distributed from Sydney. As the information emanated from Sydney and the overseas press had no idea just where the Hunter River was, they assumed it was near Sydney."
Radio host John Laws said he was on the ferry with Little Richard and Johnny O'Keefe "going across to Stockton".
"On the way over, Little Richard decided he'd had enough of all his jewellery. Whether they were real diamonds or not, that's a question that needs to be answered. He threw all that stuff into the harbour and that was it," Laws said in May, after Little Richard's death.
The rock star returned to the US to study theology to become a preacher.
The evidence is on the University of Newcastle's Cultural Collections website - hunterlivinghistories.com.
How big are those potholes?
We reported last Thursday that the potholes in Railway Street at Minmi were so big, they have their own yacht club.
How big are they, you ask? They're so big, we took a picture of them last week and it's still printing. They're so big, we swerved to miss them in our car and ran out of petrol.
But they're not as big as Karuah potholes. "Our potholes make the road in Minmi look like a billiard table," Tony King said.
Joke of the Day
My grandfather has the heart of a lion and a lifetime ban at the zoo.
