Fats Domino
He was born Antoine Domino in New Orleans in February
1928, and since his first professional appearance at the age of 14 at
the celebrated Hideaway Club in New Orleans in 1942, the work of Fats
Domino has been characterized and dominated by his pounding piano
style. By the age of 22, Fats had capitalized on his unique style to
make his first million-seller, The Fat Man.
With the success of the single, Fats and his group
(The Fats Domino Band) toured extensively through America and gained
outstanding acclaim. Throughout the 1950s he turned out a stream of
classic rock & roll hits including Blueberry Hill, Ain't It A
Shame, Poor Me, Please Leave Me and All By Myself, which
between 1954 and 1959 all sold between three and five million copies!
Domino exemplified the postwar R&B of his home
city: an insistent rolling or staccato piano, infectious beat, good
solid horn section, and an appealing - usually jovial - vocal part.
All of his records had the same magic. Some were more catchy than
others, and as he became more popular the beat became a little
heavier. Later a string section started appearing on his records, too.
But basically his whole recording career was one long Mardi Gras
mambo.
The 1960s saw Fats reduce his recording work load and
go into semi-retirement, although he was still an extremely popular
nightclub act. In 1963 he had a massive British and American hit with
Red Sails In The Sunset. It wasn't until 1967, though, that he
first visited Britain, when Brian Epstein brought him over fro some
concerts in London.
Despite criticisms that he had lost some of his
originality, by 1970 his work had once again come to the fore, amid
restated interest in the origins of rock & roll. In 1972 he appeared
in the movie Let The Good Times Roll.
In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave
New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike
for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked
anywhere else. Neither his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
or an invitation to perform at the White House could persuade him to
make an exception to this policy.
Fats' New Orleans home was devastated during Hurricane
Katrina in 2005 but both he and his family survived. He released a new
album, Alive and Kickin', in early 2006. |