"Fats" Domino, considered to be one of the early pioneers of rock & roll, has passed away on October 24th at the age of eighty-nine. I remember becoming aware of this singer through the '70's sitcom, "Happy Days" which was set in the 1950's. Whenever the character Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) thought he was going to get lucky, he would begin singing the opening line from Domino's 1956 hit, "Blueberry Hill". This was one of many hits by the singer who would have thirty-five songs reach the U.S Billboard Top Forty and his first five singles would sell over a million copies each.
Born Antoine Domino Jr. in New Orleans to a French-Creole family, he learned to play the piano as a young man by his brother-in-law who was a jazz guitarist. He was a quick study and became so good that he was asked by Billy Diamond, a jazz bandleader, to join his group, the Solid Senders in 1947. Domino would acquire the name "Fats" from Diamond due to his large frame and after renowned jazz pianists "Fats" Waller and "Fats" Pichon but he wasn't interested in being a jazz performer.
He was pursuing a new sound, which would later be called "rock & roll", that merged piano blues, Zydeco and ragtime. He co-wrote a song called "The Fat Man" in 1953 and it went on to sell over a million copies and considered to be one of the first big rock & roll hits. Domino would cross over to the pop charts, reaching the top-ten with his next single, "Ain't It a Shame" but this was a time when radio was racially segregated and black artists didn't get as much airtime, if any at all. White artists would record popular r&b hits and find great success with them which happened with "Ain't It a Shame" with Pat Boone's milder version reaching the top of the pop charts. Domino would continue to have chart success until around the mid-sixties with the arrival of the British invasion.
"Fats" Domino was one of the first inductees in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award the following year, was given the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 1998 and was inducted in to the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame just last year. Here is a small sample of some of the great songs by this legendary artist:
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