Fats Domino Biography

Antoine "Fats" Domino, Jr. (February 26, 1928 - October 24, 2017) was an American pianist and singer-songwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. He recently passed away at the age of 89. 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. During 1955 to 1960, he had eleven top 10 hits and his record sales were reportedly surpassed only by Elvis Presley. During his career, Domino sold over 65 million records. His musical style was based on traditional rhythm and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums.

Life

Domino was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the eighth and final child of Antoine Caliste Domino (1879-1964) and Marie-Donatille Gros (1886-1971). The Domino family was of French Creole background. Louisiana Creole was his first language. Antoine was born at home with the assistance of his grandmother, a midwife. His name was initially given as Anthony on his birth certificate but was later corrected. His family had newly arrived in the Lower Ninth Ward from Vacherie, Louisiana. His father was a violin player.

Domino learned to play the piano from his brother-in-law, the jazz guitarist Harrison Verrett, while studying shipping management at his local community college.

Even after his success, he continued to live in his old neighborhood, the Lower Ninth Ward until after Hurricane Katrina when he moved to a suburb of New Orleans. His large home was roomy enough for his 13 children, but he still preferred to sleep in a hammock outside.

Early career (1947-1948)

By age 14, Domino was performing in New Orleans bars. In the summer of 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. Diamond nicknamed him "Fats", because Domino reminded him of the renowned pianists Fats Waller and Fats Pichon but also because of his large appetite.

Recordings for Imperial Records (1949-1962)

Domino was signed to the Imperial Records label in 1949. Featuring a rolling piano and Domino vocalizing "wah-wah" over a strong backbeat, "The Fat Man" sold one million copies by 1953; it is widely considered the first rock-and-roll record to achieve this feat. Domino released a series of hit songs with the producer Dave Bartholomew (also the co-writer of many of the songs), the saxophonists Herbert Hardesty and Alvin "Red" Tyler, the bassist Frank Fields, and the drummers Earl Palmer and Smokey Johnson. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were the saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp, Domino's trusted bandleader.

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 a racially segregated era. In 1955, he 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.

Domino's debut album, Carry On Rockin, containing several of his hits and tracks that had not yet been released as singles, was issued under the Imperial imprint (catalogue number 9009) in November 1955 and was reissued as Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino in 1956. The reissue reached number 17 on the Billboard Pop Albums 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 had further hit singles between 1956 and 1959, including "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Pop number 14), "I'm Walkin'" (Pop number 4), "Valley of Tears" (Pop number 8), "It's You I Love" (Pop number 6), "Whole Lotta Loving" (Pop number 6), "I Want to Walk You Home" (Pop number 8), and "Be My Guest" (Pop number 8).

Domino appeared in two films released in 1956: Shake, Rattle & Rock! and The Girl Can't Help It. On December 18, 1957, his hit recording of "The Big Beat" was featured on Dick Clark's television program, American Bandstand.

On November 2, 1956, a riot broke out at Domino's show in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The police resorted to using tear gas to break up the unruly crowd. Domino jumped out a window to avoid the melee; he and two members of his band were slightly injured. Over his career, four major riots occurred at his concerts, "partly because of integration", according to his biographer Rick Coleman. "But also the fact they had alcohol at these shows. So they were mixing alcohol, plus dancing, plus the races together for the first time in a lot of these places."

Domino had a steady series of hits for Imperial through early 1962, including "Walking' to New Orleans" (1960, Pop number 6), co-written by Bobby Charles, and "My Girl Josephine" (Pop number 14) in the same year.

Imperial Records was sold in early 1963, and Domino left the label. "I stuck with them until they sold out," he said in 1979. In all, he recorded over 60 singles for Imperial, placing 40 songs in the top 10 on the R&B chart and 11 in the top 10 on the Pop chart. Twenty-two of Domino's Imperial singles were double-sided hits.

Recordings after leaving Imperial (1963-1970s)

Domino moved to ABC-Paramount Records in 1963. The label dictated that he record in Nashville, Tennessee, rather than New Orleans. He was assigned a new producer (Felton Jarvis) and a new arranger (Bill Justis). Domino's long-term collaboration with the producer, arranger, and frequent co-writer Dave Bartholomew, who oversaw virtually all of his Imperial hits, was seemingly at an end.

Jarvis and Justis changed the Domino sound somewhat, notably by adding the backing of a countrypolitan-style vocal chorus to most of his new recordings. Perhaps as a result of this tinkering with an established formula, Domino's chart career was drastically curtailed. He released 11 singles for ABC-Paramount , several which hit the Top 100 but just once entering the Top 40 ("Red Sails in the Sunset", 1963). By the end of 1964 the British Invasion had changed the tastes of the record-buying public, and Domino's chart run was over.

Despite the lack of chart success, Domino continued to record steadily until about 1970, leaving ABC-Paramount in mid-1965 and recording for Mercury Records, where he delivered a live album and two singles. A studio album was planned but stalled with just four tracks recorded . Dave Bartholomew's small Broadmoor label (reuniting with Bartholomew along the way), featured many contemporary Soul infused sides but an album was released overseas in 1971 to fulfill his Reprise Records records contract. He shifted to that label after Broadmoor and had a Top 100 single , a cover of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna".

Domino appeared in the Monkees' television special 33? Revolutions per Monkee in 1969. He continued to be popular as a performer for several decades. He made a cameo appearance in the movie Any Which Way You Can, filmed in 1979 and released in 1980, which resulted in a Country chart hit, "Whiskey Heaven".

Later career (1980s-2005)

In 1986 he was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that year. In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalty payments and a dislike of touring and claiming he could not get any food that he liked anywhere else. An invitation to perform at the White House failed to persuade him to make an exception to this policy.

Domino lived in a mansion in a predominantly working-class neighborhood in the Lower Ninth Ward, where he was a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac automobile. He made yearly appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other local events. He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. His last tour was in Europe, for three weeks in 1995. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 25 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

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 rocker except Presley. Domino's humility and shyness may be one reason his contribution to the genre has been overlooked.

Domino and Hurricane Katrina

As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans in August 2005, Domino chose to stay at home with his family, partly because his wife, Rosemary, was in poor health. His house was in an area that was heavily flooded.

Someone thought Domino was dead and spray-painted a message on his home, "RIP Fats. You will be missed", which was shown in news photos. On September 1, the talent agent Al Embry announced that he had not heard from Domino since before the hurricane struck. Later that day, CNN reported that Domino had been rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Until then, even family members had not heard from him since before the storm. Embry confirmed that Domino and his family had been rescued. The family was then taken to a shelter in Baton Rouge, after which they were picked up by JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team, and the boyfriend of Domino's granddaughter. He let the family stay in his apartment. The Washington Post reported that on September 2, they had left Russell's apartment after sleeping three nights on the couch. "We've lost everything," Domino said, according to the Post.

By January 2006, work to gut and repair Domino's home and office had begun (see Reconstruction of New Orleans). In the meantime, the Domino family resided in Harvey, Louisiana.

President George W. Bush made a personal visit and replaced the National Medal of Arts that President Bill Clinton had previously awarded Domino. The gold records were replaced by the RIAA and Capitol Records, which owned the Imperial Records catalogue.

Later life and death

Domino was the first artist to be announced as scheduled to perform at the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival. However, he was too ill to perform when scheduled and was only able to offer the audience an on-stage greeting.

On January 12, 2007, Domino was honored with OffBeat magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Best of the Beat Awards, held at the House of Blues in New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared the day "Fats Domino Day in New Orleans" and presented him with a signed declaration. OffBeat publisher Jan Ramsey and WWL-TV's Eric Paulsen presented Domino with the Lifetime Achievement Award. An all-star musical tribute followed with an introduction by the legendary producer Cosimo Matassa. The Lil' Band o' Gold rhythm section, Warren Storm, Kenny Bill Stinson, David Egan and C. C. Adcock, anchored the band, and each contributed lead vocals, swamp pop legend Warren Storm leading off with "Let the Four Winds Blow" and "The Prisoner Song", which he proudly introduced by saying, "Fats Domino recorded this in 1958 ... and so did I." The horn section included Lil' Band o' Gold's Dickie Landry, the Iguanas' Derek Huston, and long-time Domino horn men Roger Lewis, Elliot "Stackman" Callier and Herb Hardesty. They were joined by Jon Cleary (who also played guitar in the rhythm section), Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, Irma Thomas, George Porter Jr. (who provided a funky arrangement for "You Keep on Knocking"), Art Neville, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint, who wrote and debuted a song in tribute of Domino for the occasion. Though Domino did not perform, those near him recall him miming playing the piano and singing along to his own songs.

Domino returned to stage on May 19, 2007, at Tipitina's at New Orleans, performing to a full house. A foundation has been formed and a show is being planned for Domino and the restoration of his home. "I like it down there," he said in a February 2006 CBS News interview.

In 2006 Domino's album Alive and Kickin' was released to benefit Tipitina's Foundation, which supports indigent local musicians and helps preserve the New Orleans sound. The album consists of unreleased recordings from the 1990s and received great critical acclaim. In the same year, the album Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino was released; this was a tribute album featuring his songs as recorded by Elton John, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz, and Lucinda Williams. In September 2007, Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday, Louisiana.

In May 2009, Domino made an unexpected appearance in the audience for the Domino Effect, a concert featuring Little Richard and other artists, aimed at raising funds to help rebuild schools and playgrounds damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

In October 2012, Domino was featured in season three of the television series Treme, playing himself. On August 21, 2016, Domino was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. The ceremony was held in Detroit, Michigan; others that were inducted along with Domino were Dionne Warwick, Cathy Hughes, Smokey Robinson, Prince, and the Supremes. He had received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation"?s Ray Charles Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. His song "The Fat Man"? entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.

Domino died on October 24, 2017 at his home in Harvey, Louisiana, at the age of 89, from natural causes.

Influence and legacy

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; "it wasn't anything but the same rhythm and blues I'd been playin' down in New Orleans," he said.

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 by saying "this gentleman was a huge influence on me when I started out". Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney recorded Domino songs. According to some reports, McCartney wrote the Beatles song "Lady Madonna" in emulation of Domino's style, combining it with a nod to Humphrey Lyttelton's 1956 hit "Bad Penny Blues". Domino also recorded the song during the same year.

Domino returned to the "Hot 100" chart for the last time in 1968, with his recording of "Lady Madonna". That recording, as well as covers of two other songs by the Beatles, appeared on his Reprise album Fats Is Back, produced by Richard Perry and recorded by a band that included the New Orleans pianist James Booker; Domino played piano on only one track, "I'm Ready."

Domino was present in the audience of 2,200 people at Elvis Presley's first concert at the Las Vegas Hilton on July 31, 1969. At a press conference after the show, when a journalist referred to Presley as "The King", Presley gestured toward Domino, who was taking in the scene. "No," Presley said, "that's the real king of rock and roll."

John Lennon covered Domino's composition "Ain't That a Shame" on his 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll, his tribute to the musicians who had influenced him.

The Jamaican reggae artist Yellowman covered many songs by Domino, including "Be My Guest" and "Blueberry Hill".

Richard Hell, an early innovater of punk rock, covered Domino's "I Lived My Life" with his band, the Voidoids. Jah Wobble, a post-punk bassist best known for his work with Johnny Rotten, released a solo recording of "Blueberry Hill."

The Jamaican ska band Justin Hinds and the Dominoes, formed in the 1960s, was named after Domino, Hinds's favorite singer.

In 2007, various artists came together for a tribute to Domino, recording a live session containing only his songs. Musicians performing on the album, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, included Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and Elton John.

According to Richie Unterberger, writing for AllMusic, Domino was one of the most consistent artists of early rock music, the best-selling African-American rock-and-roll star of the 1950s, and the most popular singer of the "classic" New Orleans rhythm and blues style. His million-selling debut single, "The Fat Man" (1949), is one of many that have been cited as the first rock and roll record. Robert Christgau wrote that Domino was "the most widely liked rock and roller of the '50s" and remarked on his influence:

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Domino's rhythm, accentuating the offbeat, as in the song "Be My Guest", was an influence on ska music.

Discography

• Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino (1955)

See also