Charles White: The Life and Times of Little Richard

Sugarfoot Sam from Alabam was a minstrel show—the old vaudeville type of show. It was quite something. That was the first time I performed in a dress. One of the girls was missing one night and they put me in a red evening gown. I was the biggest mess you ever saw. They called me Princess Lavonne. I did know how to walk in women’s shoes, so they had to stand me at the mike and open the curtains. The people in the audience didn’t know what was happening. There I was with this red dress on, one long leg and one short one, one long arm and one little arm. They were laughing and saying, “Look at this here.” I looked like the freak of the year. When I finished they just closed the curtains so I didn’t have to move. They wanted me to keep on doing the act—but it was really terrible. So, I left Sugarfoot Sam and joined the King Brothers Circus, but I wasn’t with them long. Then I went back home to Macon.