![]() New Orleans sadly may have seen and heard the last of its most significant living musician, who is now 89. Fats's final public appearance was at the New Orleans Arena for his 2009 tribute concert, which featured performances by Chuck Berry, BB King, and Little Richard. After cancelling his 2006 Jazz Fest show due to illness, Fats played for the last time 10 years ago at Tipitina's to coincide with a PBS documentary. This was mainly in the mid-50s and early 60s on the Imperial label and included "Blueberry Hill," "Ain't That A Shame," "I'm Walkin'," and "Blue Monday."Īlways one who enjoyed his privacy, Fats Domino most recently performed at Jazz Fest in 2001. Fats and Dave would go on to spend the rest of their careers together producing some of the most popular songs of the 20th century. Dave Bartholomew packed Fats's band with a powerhouse of talent including saxophonists Herb Hardesty, Alvin "Red" Tyler, Lee Allen, bassist Frank Fields, and, in particular, two drummers who laid the foundation of rock 'n' roll with Fats and many others: Smokey Johnson and Earl Palmer. In any case, a certain Dave Bartholomew emerged from that band and would have a tremendous and lifelong impact on Fats Domino's career. Pichon's big band orchestra was considered one of the best in New Orleans (although, unfortunately, they never recorded). New Orleans bandleader Billy Diamond was the first to recognize young Antoine's talents and gave him the nickname Fats because his boogie woogie piano style reminded him of stride legend Fats Waller and local pianist Fats Pichon. In any regard, six decades later, the indelible mark Fats Domino left on the world is still alive and well right here in New Orleans.Īntoine "Fats" Domino grew up in a Creole French culture that emanated from Vacherie, Louisiana, before his family settled in the 9th Ward in New Orleans. It was, in fact, the first rock song to sell a million copies-not bad for a B-side. This was soon to be followed by the mania of Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Screaming Jay Hawkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.īut two years before Ike's sonic boom, Fats Domino hit the scene in 1949 with "The Fat Man," which historians often consider a legitimate contender for the first such song in the new rock 'n' roll genre. The heyday of rock 'n' roll emerged from hot rhythm & blues performers like Big Jay McNeely, Louis Jordan, Slim Gaillard, Howlin' Wolf, Roscoe Gordon, Joe Turner, and gospel music pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharp. I ke Turner's "Rocket 88" from 1951 is often cited as being the first rock 'n' roll record.
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