38.6 - RIP: "Fats" Domino

RIP: "Fats" Domino

We have an RIP this week I really meant to do it, I should have done it, last week but the truth is I just forget. Not this time.

On October 24, Antoine "Fats" Domino, the man whose combination of rhythm and blues and a boogie-woogie piano style helped to create rock'n'roll, died at the age of 89.
He died at home in his beloved New Orleans, surrounded by family.

Oddly, a lot of people have forgotten him or never heard of him, but in the 1950s he had a run of more than three dozen top 40 hits and the only person who sold more records over that time was Elvis Presley. Ultimately, he charted 63 times on Billboard and 59 times on the R+B chart. His song "The Fat Man," release in 1949 is regarded by many as the very first rock'n'roll record and was undoubtedly the first rock record to sell a million copies.

Antoine "Fats" Domino

His biggest hit was "Blueberry Hill," but the one I remember the most, the one I associate with him because it was one of the very first rock'n'roll songs I knew, was "Ain't That a Shame."

Let me wrap this up with two quick asides:

One is that the nickname "Fats" did not arise from his physical size but because his piano style reminded others of that of Fats Waller.

The other is that at the very start of the '60s a certain young performer signing with a record company needed a stage name. Someone said he looked like a "little Fats Domino" - which he sort of did - so they called him Chubby Checker.

And with that, I guess there's nothing else to say except thanks for the music, Fats, and RIP.