It isn’t every day that you get to speak to a legend.  Recently, we here at notinhalloffame.com had the opportunity to chat with Charles Connor, the original drummer for Little Richard.  Our conversation with Charles allowed us to speak to a man who was not only a witness to the birth of Rock and Roll, but also the man who created its engine.

Charles Connor was born in the cradle of American Music, New Orleans, Louisiana, to a Creole mother and a Merchant Marine father from Santo Domingo.  Connor jokes that when his mother would walk by a funeral procession, he would “be kicking in the womb along with the music.”  Recognizing his talent at a young age (Connor earned money as a toddler tap dancing for white tourists), his parents bought him his first drum set.  Even when he was not at his set, Connor would literally bang out beats on whatever was in front of him.  This included school desks that drove teachers crazy, but Charles couldn’t resist the temptation as he “just loved the sound those hollow desks would make.”