Rock Hall to honor Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew

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Aug 17, 2010, 1:23:15 PM8/17/10
to nola music announce
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western Reserve
University (CWRU) will honor Antoine "Fats" Domino and Dave
Bartholomew, one of the most important partnerships in the history of
rock and roll music, during the 15th annual American Music Masters®
series in November. This marks the first time that two individuals
are being honored for the Museum's signature series.

"I am deeply appreciative and grateful to receive this prestigious
honor," said Fats Domino. "It is humbling to be acknowledged among
such an elite group of artists." His family added, "A sincere thank
you to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for this outstanding
recognition."

"It's a great feeling and honor to be recognized at this point in my
life," said Dave Bartholomew. "I look at it this way, better sooner
than later... at the age of 89, almost 90, I look back at my career
and I think about the people before us and the people that followed in
our footsteps. I think we had a helluva ride and I thank the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame for recognizing our catalog and our place in music
history."

"Walking to New Orleans: the Music of Fats Domino and Dave
Bartholomew" will begin Monday, November 8 and will feature lectures,
interviews, films and other educational programs throughout the week,
culminating on Saturday, November 13 with a conference at Case Western
Reserve University and a tribute concert at the Palace Theater in
PlayhouseSquare. Tribute concert artists include American Music
Masters honoree Dave Bartholomew, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee
Lloyd Price, Dr. John and The Lower 9-11, Irma Thomas, The Rebirth
Brass Band and Robert Parker. Additional guests will be announced in
the coming weeks.

Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew are forever connected as the musical
duo that brought the sound of New Orleans to the world. The two
ignited the rock and roll revolution with their unique music. Their
partnership combined Domino's powerful piano rhythms, creole-inflected
vocals, and engaging performance style with Bartholomew's skill at
arranging and producing. With Bartholomew producing, Domino recorded
"The Fat Man" in December of 1949, a record that many consider to be
the first rock and roll record. "The Fat Man" began a chart run that
lasted until 1963; in that period, he made Billboard's pop chart 77
times and its R&B chart 61 times. Domino and Bartholomew wrote more
than fifty songs together, recorded by a band featuring the best
players in New Orleans, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee
Earl Palmer on drums and Herb Hardesty on saxophone. Domino sold more
records (65 million) than any 1950s rock-and-roller except Elvis
Presley. His hits include "Blue Monday," "I'm Walkin," "Blueberry
Hill," "Ain't That a Shame," and "Walking to New Orleans." Bartholomew
produced and arranged many other New Orleans artists, including Smiley
Lewis, Lloyd Price, Roy Brown, and Shirley & Lee.

"It's fitting that as we celebrate the Museum's 15th anniversary and
15 years of our American Music Masters series, we honor two of rock
and roll's pioneers," said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "The records they produced
together are some of rock and roll's greatest and their unique New
Orleans sound continues to influence countless musicians around the
world."

"The music of Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew is some of the most
exciting and driving music ever recorded—a testament to the rich
musical traditions of New Orleans," said Dr. Lauren Onkey, vice
president of Education and Public Programs at the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame and Museum. "They played a formative role in the birth of rock
and roll and we're thrilled to tell their story."

In conjunction with the American Music Masters program, the Museum
will open a small exhibit in September featuring Bartholomew's
trumpet, some handwritten musical scores to such songs as "Blueberry
Hill" and "Walking to New Orleans" and one of Domino's shirts. In
addition, Rock Hall educators will visit New Orleans in September to
participate in the Ponderosa Stomp music conference. The Ponderosa
Stomp is an American roots music festival dedicated to recognizing the
architects of rock-n-roll, blues, jazz, country, swamp pop, and soul.
Founded in New Orleans and produced by the non-profit Mystic Knights
of the Mau Mau, a diverse group of music fanatics who have presented
over 50 concerts with over 200 musical legends, the Stomp always
succeeds in exposing rare musical icons to their adoring fans and to
new audiences. Through its vital collaboration with the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame and Museum and the Louisiana State Museum, the Stomp
Conference presents and records the stories of some of American
music's most treasured architects. Footage of conference interviews is
archived at both institutions, capturing a significant repository of
cultural history in keeping with the Foundation's overall mission. For
more information, visit www.ponderosastomp.com.

Tribute concert tickets go on sale beginning Wednesday, September 15
at the PlayhouseSquare box office, or by calling (216) 241-6000 or by
visiting www.rockhall.com. Tickets are $30, $40 and $50. Rock Hall
members can purchase tickets in advance beginning on Monday, September
13. A limited number of Rock Hall VIP event packages starting at $250
are available by calling (216) 515-1207.

For more information on the 15th annual American Music Master's Series
Walking to New Orleans: the Music of Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew
including videos, interactive timelines and song and reading lists,
visit http://rockhall.com/event/fats-and-dave/.

About Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Fats Domino

With his easy-rolling boogie-woogie piano and smooth rhythm & blues
vocals, Antoine "Fats" Domino put a New Orleans-style spin on what
came to be known as rock and roll. A pianist, singer, and songwriter
who was born in the Crescent City in 1928, Domino sold more records
(65 million) than any 50s-era rocker except Elvis Presley. Between
1950 and 1963, he cracked the pop Top Forty thirty-seven times and the
R&B singles chart sixty-one times. Domino's biggest songs are as
winning as his broad smile. They include "Ain't That a Shame,"
"Blueberry Hill," "I'm Walkin'," "Blue Monday" and "Walking to New
Orleans." Domino was born into a musical family and, like such New
Orleans piano greats as Professor Longhair and Amos Milburn, began
performing for small change in local honky-tonks while working odd
jobs to make ends meet. By 1949, Domino had become a fixture at the
Hideaway Club. That same year he met Dave Bartholomew, who became his
longtime producer, bandleader and collaborator. It proved to be a
fortuitous partnership that yielded a bounty of durable, straight-
ahead New Orleans rhythm & blues records. While less of an outgoing
personality than some of his extroverted rock and roll contemporaries,
Domino exhibited staying power based on the solid musicality of his
recordings and live performances. In short, he all but dominated the
Fifties.

For more information on Fats Domino visit http://rockhall.com/inductees/fats-domino/

About Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Dave Bartholomew

Dave Bartholomew proved himself to be a man of many talents:
bandleader, trumpet player, songwriter, producer, arranger, talent
scout, businessman, and more. He was also a recording artist, scoring
one national R&B hit "Country Boy," in 1950. However, it was in his
nonperforming roles that Bartholomew had the greatest impact on
popular music. One of the key architects of the New Orleans sound,
Bartholomew served as a major behind-the-scenes figure in the
transition from jump blues and big-band swing to rhythm & blues and
rock and roll in the postwar era.

Bartholomew brought Domino to Imperial Records in 1949 and
collaborated with him as a songwriter, producer and arranger until
1963 (except for a year-long business-related hiatus in 1951). The
records they made together introduced the big beat of New Orleans to
the world. While Bartholomew's work with Domino dominates his resume,
their charmed association is only part of the story. The list of acts
that Bartholomew worked with over the decades is a who's-who of New
Orleans rhythm & blues, including Smiley Lewis, Lloyd Price, Shirley &
Lee, Earl King, Roy Brown, Huey "Piano" Smith, Chris Kenner, Robert
Parker, Frankie Ford, James Booker, Jewel King, Bobby Mitchell, James
"Sugar Boy" Crawford, Pee Wee Crayton and Tommy Ridgley. Beyond his
work with Domino, two of the biggest records in which he played a
major role were Smiley Lewis's "I Hear You Knockin'" (written by
Bartholomew) and Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (with Domino on
piano), which was the top R&B hit of 1952.

For more on Dave Bartholomew visit http://rockhall.com/inductees/dave-bartholomew/

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