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A genial and prolific musician, Fats Domino was the most commercially successful of a long line of New Orleans rhythm-and- blues pianists and vocal performers. Coming to prominence at the dawn of rock and roll in the middle 1950s, Domino is often named as one of that music's originators and classic figures. He was a gifted and entirely self-taught composer who parlayed his multiple talents into a long period of popularity with music fans of all races, and he stands perhaps as the most enthusiastic exponent of the Crescent City's great musical tradition.
Fats Domino was born Antoine Domino on February 26, 1928, in New Orleans, one of nine children. His father played the violin, and a relative, Harrison Verrett, was a well-known New Orleans guitarist who would later become a fixture of Fats's band. Verrett taught him to play the piano at the age of nine by means of instructional marks written on a piano's keys, and within a few years Domino immersed himself in music, quitting school at age 14 to work by day and play piano in the city's bars and small clubs by night. At some time during his early career, his five-foot-five-inch, two-hundred-pound frame gave rise to the nickname "Fats."
Domino cut his teeth as a performer in the midst of rich pianistic and vocal traditions; he likely heard and performed with such legends as Professor Longhair and Amos Milburn as a young man. He mastered a variety of piano styles, developed an infectious vocal style that avoided the hard-edged intensity of some of his bluesier contemporaries, and began to write songs. By 1949 he had a regular slot at a club called the Hideaway, where the influential New Orleans trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Dave Bartholomew heard Domino play a blues of his own creation called "The Fat Man": the lyric opened with the lines, "They call me the Fat Man/'Cause I weigh two hundred pounds." Bartholomew had connections with the fast-growing independent West Coast record label Imperial, and the two musicians recorded Bartholomew's arrangement of "The Fat Man" in 1950. By 1953 it was claimed to have sold one million copies.
Domino followed up "The Fat Man" with a string of other rhythm-and-blues hits, including "Rockin' Chair," "Please Don't Leave Me," and "Goin' Home," which reached number one on rhythm-and-blues charts in 1952. When the rock and roll phenomenon exploded in 1955 with the introduction of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry to a mass audience, Imperial was ready with its own star. It was no surprise that Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" went to the number 16 position on the pop charts in 1955. "I'm in Love Again" and "Blueberry Hill" did even better on the pop charts the following year, reaching the pop Top Ten. For the next seven years Domino enjoyed a long string of hits that reached high chart levels. Many of them—- "I'm Walkin'," "Walkin' to New Orleans," and "I Want to Walk You Home" among them—-are among rock and roll's canon of classics, part of the repertoire of many a cover band.
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Fats DominopianoNew Orleans
1
Book Review
Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, 3rd Edition
by C. Michael Bailey
Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, 3rd Edition John Broven 360 Pages ISBN: # 978-1455619511 Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. 2016 Where Julian C. Piper's Blues From The Bayou: The Rhythms Of Baton Rouge (Pelican Publishing, 2018) represents a history told vertically, drilling deep into a small slice of time and expanding out, John Broven's punctilious treatment of New Orleans R&B, Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, completely revised and it its third edition, ...
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3
Profile
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino Jr.: February 26, 1928-October 24, 2017
by C. Michael Bailey
"A lot of people seem to think I started this business...But rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that music like colored people. Let's face it: I can't sing it like Fats Domino can. I know that." --Elvis Presley, Jet Magazine, 1957 What's in a name? If that name is Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. it is elegance, exuberance, and unbounded generosity. Known to 70 years of music making as Fats," ...
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1
Obituary
R.I.P. Fats Domino: His Musical Traits, Most Popular Songs Explored
Source:HypeBot
Renowned musical icon Fats Domino passed away on Tuesday, but the artist's legacy endures. Here we use Pandora's Music Genome project to take a look at some of the traits which permeated Fats' music, and helped to make him so popular. Guest post by Glenn Peoples,Music Insights and Analytics at Pandora onMedium Music iconAntoine “Fats” Dominopassed away Tuesday, leaving a legacy and an incalculable impact on future generations of musicians and fans. (Clickherefor a tribute station at Pandora, “Remembering Fats ...
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2
Video / DVD
Fats Domino: Birthday Doc
Source:JazzWax by Marc Myers
It's hard today to fully appreciate the innovation and influence of Fats Domino. Back in the spring of 1952, Domino already had three hits on the R&B chart and was about to have his first No. 1 with Going Home. Up until Fats, R&B in the post-war years was largely a jump blues" affair, powered by the success of Lionel Hampton and Louis Jordan and followed up by at the end of the 1940s by wild man" saxophonists like Big ...
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66
Interview
Interview: Fats Domino (Part 2)
Source:JazzWax by Marc Myers
Like a parent playing favorites, New Orleans dotes too heavily on its jazz heritage. I know this sounds like heresy, but it's true. The airport is named for Louis Armstrong, there's a 150-foot trompe-l'oeil mural of a clarinet running up the side of a Holiday Inn, and you don't have to look too hard for the Dixieland sound. All of which is wonderful and good for jazz. The problem is jazz isn't the only form of music that was born ...
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139
Interview
Interview: Fats Domino (Part 1)
Source:JazzWax by Marc Myers
Last Wednesday I was in New Orleans for the Wall Street Journal to interview Fats Domino. You'll find my conversation with rock's creator on the Leisure & Arts" page of today's Personal Journal section. Or go here. The interview was something of a coup, since the early rocker rarely grants interviews. I can tell you that those close to Fats, including his loving family, are wonderful, loving, soulful people who are rightly proud of their city and their most famous ...
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Event
Goin' Home: An Evening Honoring Fats Domino and the Music of New Orleans
Source:All About Jazz
TIPITINA'S FOUNDATION PRESENTS GOIN' HOME: AN EVENING HONORING FATS DOMINO AND THE MUSIC OF NEW ORLEANS IN NEW YORK CITY. A BENEFIT CONCERT TO PRESERVE THE MUSICAL HERITAGE OF NEW ORLEANS What: Goin' Home: An Evening Honoring Fats Domino and the Music of New Orleans. A benefit concert to preserve the musical heritage of New Orleans. Who: Tipitina's Foundation and Pink Elephant When: Thursday, November 8, 2007 @ 8:00pm Where: Pink Elephant 530 West 28th Street (Between 10th ...
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Last Updated: October 26, 2017
Fats Domino
Instrument: Piano
Born: February 26, 1928
Died: October 24, 2017
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