- And when we went into the Dew-Drop Inn.

There was a piano.

All of the boosters, rounders, pimps, whores and everything else was hanging around.

And that was when I began to know and understand Richard 'cause all you gotta do is give Richard an audience, turn the lights on, and the show is on.

(upbeat piano music) - And Richard jumped on the piano and did a "Awop-Bop-A-Loo-Mop Alop-Bam-Boom."

So, they heard it and said, wait a minute, what's that?

It was a hook that they had never heard before, but Richard had been singing that phrase for years, you know, in the Chitlin' Circuit.

- [Richard] And so I started singing.

"Awop-Bop-A-Loo-Mop Alop-Bam-Boom.

If it don't fit, don't force it.

But you can grease it and make it easy.

If you want it, you got it.

Tutti-frutti, good booty.

- The lyrics could be interpreted as gay sex.

They're not gonna play that on the radio.

(man laughing) Tutti-frutti good booty!

And everybody knew this ain't about ice cream.

(man laughing) But the primary reaction from the producer's point of view was that, hey, this sounds like a hit record.

- [Bumps] I asked him, did he have a grudge against making money?

He said, no.

I said, good.

- [Richard] They said it was smutty.

And so, they helped me clean up my own lyrics.

It was my song, I brought the song there.

- So, we wrote the words "Tutti-frutti, oh rootie."

And a girl named Sue and a girl named Daisy put Richard on the piano, and in 15 minutes I think we cut two or three cuts.

And it's been history ever since.