Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino; Jon Batiste's NYT article about Fats Domino and his contribution to USA rock 'n' roll
Ravi: I did not have much exposure to Fats Domino. His recent passing away brought him into the spotlight, and so I was fortunate to read about him and hear and see videos/audios of him.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino:
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) was an American pianist and singer-songwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. Domino's large persona, dance hall piano playing, and tales of love and home made him Elvis Presley's top rival. By the end of his career, Domino was credited with selling more records than any other 1950s rock and roll act except Presley. Domino's humility and shyness may be one reason his contribution to the genre has been overlooked.
During his career, Domino sold more than 65 million records. He had 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits. His musical style was based on traditional rhythm and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums.
...
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the youngest of eight children born to Antoine Caliste Domino (1879–1964) and Marie-Donatille Gros (1886–1971). The Domino family was of French Creole background, and Louisiana Creole was his first language.
...
By age 14, Domino was performing in New Orleans bars. In 1947, Billy Diamond, a New Orleans bandleader, accepted an invitation to hear the young pianist perform at a backyard barbecue. Domino played well enough that Diamond asked him to join his band, the Solid Senders, at the Hideaway Club in New Orleans, where he would earn $3 a week playing the piano. Diamond nicknamed him "Fats", because Domino reminded him of the renowned pianists Fats Waller and Fats Pichon, but also because of his large appetite.
...
Domino crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955), which reached the Top Ten. Pat Boone's milder cover version reached number 1, having received wider radio airplay in an era of racial segregation. In 1955, Domino was said to be earning $10,000 a week while touring, according to a report in the memoir of artist Chuck Berry. Domino eventually had 37 Top 40 singles, but none made it to number 1 on the Pop chart.
...
His 1956 recording of "Blueberry Hill", a 1940 song by Vincent Rose, Al Lewis and Larry Stock (which had previously been recorded by Gene Autry, Louis Armstrong and others), reached number 2 in the Top 40 and was number 1 on the R&B chart for 11 weeks. It was his biggest hit, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956 and 1957.
...
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. The artist himself did not define his work as rock and roll, saying, "It wasn't anything but the same rhythm and blues I'd been playin' down in New Orleans."
Domino was also an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s and was acknowledged as such by some of the top artists of that era. Elvis Presley introduced Fats at one of his Las Vegas concerts, saying, "This gentleman was a huge influence on me when I started out." Presley also made this comment in a 1957 interview: "A lot of people seem to think I started this business. But rock ’n’ roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that music like colored people. Let’s face it: I can’t sing it like Fats Domino can. I know that."
Jon Batiste: Fats Domino and the Rock ’n’ Roll I Didn’t Know, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/opinion/jon-batiste-fats-domino.html, 27th Oct. 2017. It has a 2 min 19 sec embedded video of Jon Batiste (band director for the Stephen Colbert late night satire show in the USA) playing on piano, the basic melody of "When the Saints Go Marching In" followed by a Fats Domino-style interpretation of it. In the article, Batiste gives interesting background about Fats Domino and him not being so well known for his founder (founder-contributions) role in rock 'n' roll which Batiste refers to as "our national music". The article mentions Blueberry Hill as the famous song of Fats Domino. So I browsed youtube for the song played by Fats Domino and came across the very enjoyable videos/audios shared below.
Only audio but good quality, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQCPrwKzdo, 2 min 21 secs. Here are the lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/fatsdomino/blueberryhill.html.
Fats Domino singing it live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ardeW1HPhH0, 3 min. 32 secs. And here's another such live performance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mix3gmzPa0, 2 min. 41 secs.
I think this audio has Elvis Presley first say that Fats Domino was "a kind of inspiration for me when I started out in the business", and then has Elvis singing Blueberry Hill, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54sVT4CtmEM, 6 min. 59 secs
And surprise, surprise! Russian President Vladimir Putin singing Blueberry Hill (after piano solo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV4IjHz2yIo, 4 min. 29 secs.
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Here are videos about another of his famous songs - Ain't that a shame. Here are the lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/fatsdomino/aintitashame.html.
Only audio: FATS DOMINO - AIN'T THAT A SHAME 1955, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6JZW7zMDfY, 2 min. 27 secs.
Fats Domino singing it live: Fats Domino Ain't That A Shame, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbfMlk1PwGU, 2 min 26 secs.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino:
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) was an American pianist and singer-songwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. Domino's large persona, dance hall piano playing, and tales of love and home made him Elvis Presley's top rival. By the end of his career, Domino was credited with selling more records than any other 1950s rock and roll act except Presley. Domino's humility and shyness may be one reason his contribution to the genre has been overlooked.
During his career, Domino sold more than 65 million records. He had 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits. His musical style was based on traditional rhythm and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums.
...
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the youngest of eight children born to Antoine Caliste Domino (1879–1964) and Marie-Donatille Gros (1886–1971). The Domino family was of French Creole background, and Louisiana Creole was his first language.
...
By age 14, Domino was performing in New Orleans bars. In 1947, Billy Diamond, a New Orleans bandleader, accepted an invitation to hear the young pianist perform at a backyard barbecue. Domino played well enough that Diamond asked him to join his band, the Solid Senders, at the Hideaway Club in New Orleans, where he would earn $3 a week playing the piano. Diamond nicknamed him "Fats", because Domino reminded him of the renowned pianists Fats Waller and Fats Pichon, but also because of his large appetite.
...
Domino crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955), which reached the Top Ten. Pat Boone's milder cover version reached number 1, having received wider radio airplay in an era of racial segregation. In 1955, Domino was said to be earning $10,000 a week while touring, according to a report in the memoir of artist Chuck Berry. Domino eventually had 37 Top 40 singles, but none made it to number 1 on the Pop chart.
...
His 1956 recording of "Blueberry Hill", a 1940 song by Vincent Rose, Al Lewis and Larry Stock (which had previously been recorded by Gene Autry, Louis Armstrong and others), reached number 2 in the Top 40 and was number 1 on the R&B chart for 11 weeks. It was his biggest hit, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956 and 1957.
...
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. The artist himself did not define his work as rock and roll, saying, "It wasn't anything but the same rhythm and blues I'd been playin' down in New Orleans."
Domino was also an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s and was acknowledged as such by some of the top artists of that era. Elvis Presley introduced Fats at one of his Las Vegas concerts, saying, "This gentleman was a huge influence on me when I started out." Presley also made this comment in a 1957 interview: "A lot of people seem to think I started this business. But rock ’n’ roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that music like colored people. Let’s face it: I can’t sing it like Fats Domino can. I know that."
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: "Elvis Presley's top rival"! That's some surprise to me. And as the videos given below show, Elvis and Fats spoke about each other in glowing terms. Hmm. This is a really interesting part about USA popular music history that I did not know about. I think I must also say that my exposure to USA pop music is of middling kind - I don't claim to be very knowledgeable about it.
Jon Batiste: Fats Domino and the Rock ’n’ Roll I Didn’t Know, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/opinion/jon-batiste-fats-domino.html, 27th Oct. 2017. It has a 2 min 19 sec embedded video of Jon Batiste (band director for the Stephen Colbert late night satire show in the USA) playing on piano, the basic melody of "When the Saints Go Marching In" followed by a Fats Domino-style interpretation of it. In the article, Batiste gives interesting background about Fats Domino and him not being so well known for his founder (founder-contributions) role in rock 'n' roll which Batiste refers to as "our national music". The article mentions Blueberry Hill as the famous song of Fats Domino. So I browsed youtube for the song played by Fats Domino and came across the very enjoyable videos/audios shared below.
Only audio but good quality, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQCPrwKzdo, 2 min 21 secs. Here are the lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/fatsdomino/blueberryhill.html.
Fats Domino singing it live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ardeW1HPhH0, 3 min. 32 secs. And here's another such live performance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mix3gmzPa0, 2 min. 41 secs.
I think this audio has Elvis Presley first say that Fats Domino was "a kind of inspiration for me when I started out in the business", and then has Elvis singing Blueberry Hill, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54sVT4CtmEM, 6 min. 59 secs
And surprise, surprise! Russian President Vladimir Putin singing Blueberry Hill (after piano solo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV4IjHz2yIo, 4 min. 29 secs.
-----
Here are videos about another of his famous songs - Ain't that a shame. Here are the lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/fatsdomino/aintitashame.html.
Only audio: FATS DOMINO - AIN'T THAT A SHAME 1955, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6JZW7zMDfY, 2 min. 27 secs.
Fats Domino singing it live: Fats Domino Ain't That A Shame, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbfMlk1PwGU, 2 min 26 secs.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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