The Fat Man

The four-disc CD set, Walking to New Orleans is number two on the Niles Library R&B Album Playlist. The man himself, representing classic New Orleans R&B, is at number 25 on the Rolling Stone Magazine 2004 list of the 100 greatest artist of all time.

Born Antoine Dominique Domino in New Orleans in 1928, Fats Domino first drew public attention in 1949 with his Imperial Records releases. The 1949 song “Fat Man” is often considered to be the first rock and roll record. “Fat Man” began a series of hits culminating in the crossover hit “Ain’t That a Shame” in 1955 which made the pop top ten.

The song “Fat Man” brought Fats in contact with Dave Bartholomew, a producer who became Domino’s songwriting partner and an important element of his success. In his Rolling Stone write up on Fats, New Orleans musician Dr. John gives credit to Bartholomew: “ He had the sense to go with the best-feeling take….People would have missed something great about Fats if they had just heard the more ‘correct’ takes—the ones without that extra off-the-wall thing that Fats would bring.”

Fats changed labels and continued to record until around 1970, and he continued to perform live as well. He retired from performing in the 1980s, no longer wanting to leave New Orleans partly because he couldn't get food he liked any place else. Domino’s home in New Orleans was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a rumor surfaced that he had died. It turns out that he and his wife had been rescued by a coast guard helicopter and sheltered in Baton Rouge. In 2006, President George W. Bush personally delivered a replacement for the National Medal of the Arts that Fats had been awarded by President Bill Clinton and that was lost in the flood.

While not considered to be a musical innovator, Fats Domino’s recordings stand as among the warmest and most approachable in all of R&B. He remained consistently popular well into the rock and roll era. In 2007 he was honored with Offbeat Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Beatles song “Lady Madonna: was written as an homage to Domino’s style. As of this writing he is 81 years old.

Each of the four discs in this outstanding collection is a smile-maker. Like the Ray Charles album, The Birth of Soul, the songs are arranged chronologically. The liner notes indicate the year of release and chart rankings for each song. Throughout the 1950s Fats had a string of hits which began to taper off in the 60s. Generally he ranked higher on the R&B charts than the pop, but later in his career Fats began to show up on the pop charts only. Some of his highest ranking songs include The Fat Man (#2 R&B); Going to the River (2 R&B, 24 pop); All By Myself (1 R&B); Blueberry Hill (1 R&B, 2 pop; and I'm Walking (1 R&B, 4 pop).

Fats Domino has a warm New Orleans accent and a gently rocking style heard well on Goin' Home (disc 1) and Blue Monday (disc 2). Other highlights include the classic, smooth, Blueberry Hill (disc 2), Walking to New Orleans (disc 3), a loping stroll, and My Girl Josephine (disc 4), a slow jitterbug with minimal instrumentation. This four disc set is not currently available through our library system, but is on order for our collection.

2009: The Year in Music, Part Two

September began the year of Taylor Swift

This country/pop princess loomed large this month, and into the end of the year. As she was accepting her award for best female video at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, rapper and gonzo critic Kanye West stormed the stage and cut off her acceptance speech, declaring that Beyonce had the best video and deserved the award instead of Swift.

But never mind. Swift proved that success is the best revenge as she finished the year with a near sweep of the CMA (Country Music Association) awards in November. She was awarded for album of the Year (Fearless), music video of the year, female vocalist, and entertainer of the year. Previously she had been awarded for video of the year and female video of the year by Country Music Television (CMT), and album of the year by the Academy of Country Music (ACM). She has been nominated for eight Grammy awards, and Fearless was the top-selling album of the year in 2009.

September also saw the release of the complete Beatles catalog remastered for the first time since 1987 with new liner notes and photographs. This release coincided with the release of the game, The Beatles Rock Band.

October was the month to Rock and Roll

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in Cleveland) celebrated its 25th anniversary with a 12 hour 2 night concert in Madison Square garden in New York City on October 29 and 30. Among the huge stars appearing were Ron Wood, Bruce Springsteen, Simon and Garfunkle (together), Stevie Wonder, John Fogarty, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Billy Joel, and JERRY LEE LEWIS (I thought he was dead). On November 29th, HBO aired 4 hours of the concert which has not yet been released on DVD.

In November we noticed the Oprah Effect

In November both Variety and Rolling Stone reported on the effect of Whitney Houston's September appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. Houston's comeback album, I Look to You," spiked up 77% in sales following her Oprah appearance. Variety also attributed Barbra Streisand's September appearance on the show for the chart topping sales of her 2009 release, Love is the Answer.

In December we loved vinyl

Finally, in December The New York Times reported that there is a resurgence of vinyl record sales along with the turntables needed to play them. These are not used records, but newly cut versions of current CD releases. Younger records buyers are discovering that they prefer the sound of vinyl and they also like the better graphics and liner notes that the larger vinyl format can accommodate. Vinyl and turntable buyers are also using turntables to mix and scratch records just like DJs.

Special thanks to Donna Block, Barb Palac, and Sue Wilsey for their contributions to this 2009 recap.

2009: The Year in Music, Part One

Before we let go of 2009, let's stroll down memory lane and review some of last year's more interesting events in music.

February was a month of sadness in music.

We lost two representatives of American jazz history this month last year.
Blossom Dearie died on February 7 at the age of 82. She began her career as a jazz singer in New York city in the early 1940s and continued to perform in clubs until 2006.

Louie Bellson, who died on February 14 at age 84, was an Italian American jazz drummer. He was born in Rock Falls, Illinois and performed throughout the 1940s with some of the biggest names in big band jazz. His last recording was made in 2007 and released in 2008.




On February 8, 21- year- old R&B singer Rihanna cancelled her scheduled Grammy appearance. It later surfaced that she had sustained visible injuries in an incident of domestic violence involving her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown. She subsequently postponed her Malaysian tour. In early November Rihanna was interviewed on television by Diane Sawyer. To her credit, Rihanna was open about the extensive abuse she suffered, begging other young girls who find themselves in abusive relationships to get out and seek help.

April was the month of Susan Boyle.

On April 11 Susan Boyle, a plain middle-aged Scotswoman, caused a sensation when she appeared on the TV show Britain's Got Talent, a UK American Idol featuring Simon Cowell. Her performance of the song "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables stunned the audience and judges. She went on to win the talent competition and released her first album in November. Her album has since sold over 700,000 copies in the U.S., making it the biggest U. S. -selling debut album since 1993. In its first week of release, the album sold a total of 3 million copies around the world.

June was a month of incomparable sadness in music.

The world was stunned by the sudden death of pop star Michael Jackson at age 50. Although he had not released an album since 2001, Jackson was poised to begin a 50 date comeback concert tour shortly before his death. Jackson's death was investigated as a possible homicide by the LA police, so the singer was not laid to rest until September. Today, the news broke that the physician who administered a powerful sedative to Jackson hours before he died is going to be charged with manslaughter.

Earlier in June, we lost Chicago blues singer Koko Taylor. She died at the age of 80, having remained an active performer up to her death.

August was silly season.

I guess it wasn't silly to Paula Abdul. All through the summer there was talk about whether or not Paul Abdul would return as a judge for the next season of American Idol. Will she or won't she achieve a successful contract negotiation? It seemed like the publicity was meant to generate interest in her position and create pressure on the network to renew her. What would American Idol be like without goofy, sympathetic Paula? I guess we'll find out. When the definitive answer came, it was a 'no'. It was announced in September that Paula Abdul has left American Idol, to be replaced by goofy, sympathetic Ellen DeGeneres. I can't wait.

PS: Rumors surfaced this week that Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol in 2011 to launch the X Factor, another talent competition imported from the UK, and that he is bringing Paula with him as a judge. Remember, this is just a rumor folks.