MUSIC: HISTORY : MUSIC: ROCK : BIOGRAPY: MUSIC AND MUSICIANS: Fats Domino
David P. Dillard
A few sources of information about the famous rock musician Fats Domino.
Fats Domino
<http://www.history-of-rock.com/domino.htm>
"In the Fifties with a rockin' piano Fats Domino came out of New Orleans
to become one of rock-and-roll's earliest and best stars. With 65 million
record sales to his credit, Fats out sold every Fifties rock and and roll
pioneer except Elvis Presley."
The Fats Domino Pages
<http://www.fatsonline.nl/>
Fats Domino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino>
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928 in New Orleans,
Louisiana), is a classic R&B and rock and roll singer, songwriter and
pianist. He was the best-selling African-American singer of the 1950s and
early 1960s. Domino is also a pianist with an individualistic bluesy style
showing stride and boogie-woogie influences. His congenial personality and
rich accent have added to his appeal.
His career began with "The Fat Man" (1949, Imperial Records), credited by
some as being the first rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano
and Domino doing wah-wah vocalizing. The record, a reworking of "Junker's
Blues" by Champion Jack Dupree, was a massive hit, selling over a million
copies and peaking at #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts. To date Domino has
sold in excess of 110 million records.
Domino then released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer
Dave Bartholomew, saxophonist Alvin "Red" Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer.
Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were
saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp who was also
Domino's trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop
mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955) which hit the Top Ten, though
Pat Boone characteristically hit #1 with a cover of the song. Domino
released an unprecedented series of 35 Top 40 singles, including "Whole
Lotta Loving", "Blue Monday", and a funky version of the old ballad
"Blueberry Hill".
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum : Hall of Fame : Inductee Detail
<http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=91>
February 24, 1987
Fats Domino receives a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 29th annual
Grammy Awards. It is noted that he is "one of the most important links
between rhythm & blues and rock and roll."
Fats Domino
<http://www.tsimon.com/domino.htm>
Fats Domino had his final top ten song in 1960 with Walking To New
Orleans. He recorded some old Hank Williams songs such as Jambalaya [On
The Bayou] and You Win Again and he did old standards such as Red Sails In
The Sunset, which was his final top forty song, in 1963. In 1968, he even
did a cover of the Beatles' Lady Madonna.
He also made some more films along the way, including Shake, Rattle and
Roll, The Big Beat, and Jamboree. Fats played Las Vegas frequently, and at
the Royal Festival Hall in London in the 80's. He had to leave a tour of
Great Britain in the 90's due to health problems.
Fats Domino found OK in New Orleans
Thursday, September 1, 2005; Posted: 11:44 p.m. EDT (03:44 GMT)
CNN News
<http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/
09/01/katrina.fats.domino/index.html>
A shorter URL for the above link:
(CNN) -- Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino was among the thousands of New
Orleans residents plucked from rising floodwaters, his daughter said
Thursday.
Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey, identified her father in a
picture taken Monday night by a New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer.
The photograph shows Domino -- the singer behind the 1950s hits "Ain't
That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill" -- being helped off a boat near his
home in the city's Lower 9th Ward.
His whereabouts since the rescue were not immediately known. Nor was there
any information about his wife, Rosemary, friends said.
The neighborhood was heavily flooded when a levee failed as Katrina
slammed into southeastern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
'Fats' Domino Missing in New Orleans
Thursday, September 01, 2005
By Roger Friedman
Fox News
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168122,00.html>
Before NBC, MTV or anyone else puts on a telethon to help victims of
Hurricane Katrina, they might want to explore some ancillary issues. To
wit: New Orleans is a city famous for its famous musicians, but many of
them are missing. Missing with a capital M.
To begin with, one of the citys most important legends, Antoine "Fats"
Domino, has not been heard from since Monday afternoon. Dominos rollicking
boogie-woogie piano and deep soul voice are not only part of the Rock 'n'
Roll Hall of Fame but responsible for dozens of hits like Blue Monday,
Aint That a Shame, Blueberry Hill and Im Walking (Yes, Indeed, Im
Talking).
Domino, 76, lives with his wife Rosemary and daughter in a three-story
pink-roofed house in New Orleans 9th ward, which is now under water.
Fats Domino: The Man, His Music, The Thrill Lives on Blueberry Hill
<http://www.fatsdominoonline.com/>
Fats was born Antoine Domino in 1928 in New Orleans. As a child his
brother-in-law, who was twenty years his senior, taught him to play the
piano.Fats, also sang.. The first language he learned to speak was French.
He first performed in public at age 10. At fourteen he left school and
worked days in a factory so he could perform at local nightclubs. He
continued with music into the 40's and was heard by Dave Bartholomew, who
would become his writing partner on many of Fats' hit songs. Fats joined
the Dave Bartholomew Band in the mid-40's. He was influenced by Albert
Ammons and Fats Waller, among others.
He signed a contract with Imperial in 1949 and at his first recording
session he made sure that he recorded the traditional Hey La Bas. "La Bas"
was originally a voodoo god of luck, was identified with St. Peter in
French-Catholic Louisiana and finally became La Bas. The record indicated
a coming together of many years of New Orleans history and musical
influence. It was not, however, his first record to be released. A song
about drugs called The Fat Man was cleaned up a bit for his first
commercial release, and it reached the R&B chart in 1950.
Fats Domino 'Alive And Kicking'
Feb. 25, 2006
CBS Evening News
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/25/eveningnews/main1346150.shtml>
A shorter URL for the above link:
(CBS) He is one of New Orleans's greatest treasures, but Rhythm and Blues
legend Fats Domino was nearly lost when Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
His 9th Ward home was flooded to the roof when the storm laid its
deathblow upon the Gulf Coast and the reclusive singer went missing. Byron
Pitts reports that family and fans alike feared that the man who'd been
the musical heartbeat of the Big Easy for a half century might have
perished.
"I was worried when Katrina came, too!" says Domino.
He was rescued by boat and taken to the Superdome. Eventually, he was
evacuated to Baton Rouge. He and his wife have made neighboring Algiers
their temporary home.
"Everywhere I go, people wanna know, whatever happened to Fats Domino? I'm
alive and kicking," he says (video) .
Fats Domino is indeed alive and kicking. It is a fitting title to his
brand new album - his first in nearly two decades.
"I recorded that many years ago, but never did worry about getting it out
too much, you know?" says Fats.
He released it exclusively through the Tipitinas Foundation, the
charitable arm of the legendary nightclub of the same name, to benefit one
of New Orleans's greatest natural resource its musicians.
---------------------------------------
Also have a look at:
American songwriters: an H.W. Wilson biographical dictionary
Author: Ewen, David
Publication: New York : H.W. Wilson, 1987
The stars and superstars of Black music
Author: Pascall, Jeremy.; Burt, Rob.
Publication: Secaucus, N.J : Chartwell Books, 1977
Fats Domino Is Setting a Resilient Example.
Pareles, Jon
New York Times
2/28/2006 v. 155 no. 53504 p. B1-B7
FATS DOMINO FOUND ALIVE.
New York Amsterdam News
9/8/2005 v. 96 no. 37 p. 21
Fats Domino / Little Richard
Fricke, David
Rolling Stone
5/19/2005 no. 974 p. 82
Back talk with Fats Domino
HURTT, MICHAEL.
OFFBEAT
America's Roots Music Magazine from New Orleans and Louisiana
June 2004 v. 17 p. 82
Fats Domino.
John
Rolling Stone
4/15/2004 no. 946 p. 106
The right foot: The 12/8 Fats Domino groove
FRIEDLAND, ED. BASS PLAYER
April 2004 v. 15 p. 76
Fats Domino is 'Walking,' yes indeed, and talking
Edna Gundersen
USA Today
12/04/2002
Reissues: 'The Fats Domino Jukebox: 20 Greatest Hits.'
GOLDMINE, The Collectors Record and Compact Disc Marketplace
May 31, 2002 v. 28 p. 66
Fats Domino: The King of Blueberry Hill
DAHL, BILL. GOLDMINE
The Collectors Record and Compact Disc
Marketplace
June 29, 2001 v. 27 p. 14
Fats Domino discography.
NEELY, TIM
GOLDMINE, The Collectors Record and Compact Disc Marketplace
Jun 29, 2001 v. 27 p. 18
Access: Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio awarded landmark status (50th
anniversary of first recording session there
Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew on Dec. 10, 1949
BLUES ACCESS
Spring 2000 no. 41
Fats Domino Finds Thrill As National Medal Recipient
Holland, Bill
Billboard
11/07/98 v. 110 no. 45 p. 6
The 'Rolling Stone' 200: 'My Blue Heaven--the Best of Fats Domino.'
McGee, D.
ROLLING STONE
May 15, 1997 no. 760 p. 47
Fats Domino gets Rhythm & Blues Foundation honor.
Holland, Bill
Billboard
1/28/95 v. 107 no. 4 p. 14
Improvisational piano: Fats Domino & the jigsaw rhythm theory.
DOERSCHUK, ROBERT L. (Bob)
KEYBOARD, The World's Leading Music Technology Magazine
(formerly CONTEMPORARY KEYBOARD)
May 1992 v. 18 p.115
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The complete articles from internet sources may be read at the URLs
provided for each. Check libraries local to you for online or print
access to the items in the bibliography above.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jw...@temple.edu
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<http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/jwne>
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