Little Richard based a lot of his act and appearance on Esquerita. They tried to make him a replacement for Richard when he left the biz in the 50s. That didn’t work out.
His Rock stuff had all the Little Richard trademarks – the ooohs and aaahs – and his hairstyle had the biggest pompadour ever.
Esquerita – All the Best (FULL ALBUM – BEST OF R&B – BEST OF ROCK) – YouTube