NAMES IN THE NEWS : Little Richard Bemoans Color

Except for the color of their skin, Little Richard says, he-not Elvis Presley could have reigned as the king of rock ‘n’ roll.

“If I was white, do you know how huge I’d be?” Little Richard asks in the April 19 issue of Rolling Stone. “ I think Elvis was more acceptable being white in that period. I believe if Elvis had been black, he wouldn’t have been as big as he was.”

The rock pioneer, who recorded classics such as “Tutti Frutti” and “Lucille” says he can recall being upstaged only once during his flamboyant 43-year performing career. The man who did it: the late Jimi Hendrix. “He was guitar player, and you now, we didn’t know he could play with his mouth. One night I heard this screaming and hollering, and they were screaming and hollering for him! Richard says.

“I thought they were screaming for me. But he was back there playing the guitar with his mouth.”