RIP Antoine “Fats” Domino 2/26/20- 10/24/17
October 25, 2017
A Tribute to Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr.
February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017
by Ron Wells
When I was a little kid and too young to know anything about anything, I heard “Ain’t That a Shame” and “Blueberry Hill,” and the deejay screaming from my little transistor radio, “All the way from New Orleans, here comes Fats Domino.”
Somewhere, deep inside, the songs resonated.
The sadness of “tears fallin’ like rain,” and the joy of how he “found a thrill,” pretty much covered the spectrum of emotions.
The beat was infectious; the voice soulful.
Though I was too young to even know where New Orleans was, I knew this guy could play the piano in ways I’d never really heard before. It was pure rock and roll magic. It would be years later when I would find out about the musical legacy of New Orleans, my gateway to learning about Louis Armstrong, Allen Toussaint, Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Trombone Shorty, and so many more.
But for me, New Orleans would somehow always be Fats Domino singing and playing piano from inside that tiny transistor radio.
Tonight the moon will stand still over New Orleans, and tears will fall like rain….
In his own words:
- “A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don’t have a J.O.B.”
- “Everybody started calling my music rock and roll, but it wasn’t anything but the same rhythm and blues I’d been playing down in New Orleans.”
- “Clean living keeps me in shape. Righteous thoughts are my secret. And New Orleans home cooking.”
- “I traveled all over for about 50 years, I love a lot of places and I’ve been a lot of places, (but) I just don’t care to leave home.“
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Though you’re apart from us, you’re part of us still. Rest in Peace, a righteous man, Mr. Fats Domino
Thanks Ron, for writing this tribute!
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According to Wikipedia, Antoine Dominique “Fats” Domino Jr. was an American pianist and singer-songwriter of Louisiana Creole descent who had five gold records and 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40.
The Wikipedia entry continues to state that “Domino was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the 1950s and one of the first R&B artists to gain popularity with white audiences. His biographer Rick Coleman argues that Domino’s records and tours with rock-and-roll shows in that decade, bringing together black and white youths in a shared appreciation of his music, was a factor in the breakdown of racial segregation in the United States.[50] The artist himself did not define his work as rock and roll but as a Dixieland music, instead saying that “it wasn’t anything but the same rhythm and blues I’d been playin’ down in New Orleans”.[51]
Below is one of my favorite songs. I loved dancing to this one!
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