Fats Domino - Rest in Peace
Fats Domino died this week. He was an original, one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you don't know anything about him, you should read his Wiki entry. If you've heard of him, but didn't know that he was so popular he was considered a rival of Elvis Presley back in the 50s, check the Wiki entry.
Personally, I never heard anything by "the Fat Man" that I didn't like. There was no slickness, glitz, or glamor in his music or his appearance. "Real" might be a good description.
My favorite lines in that Wiki entry are:
While I didn't know the man, the authentic simplicity and purity of his voice, piano playing, and recordings tell me those words in Wiki say a lot about him as a man. In any case, if I had to pick a favorite out of his extensive catalogue, it's this ditty. While the white pop artist Pat Boone famously popularized a "cover" of Fats Domino's original "Ain't That a Shame," and others with some success produced decent versions of his other compositions, no one could touch the original "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel." Despite some valiant efforts, only the man himself could pull this one off.
Personally, I never heard anything by "the Fat Man" that I didn't like. There was no slickness, glitz, or glamor in his music or his appearance. "Real" might be a good description.
My favorite lines in that Wiki entry are:
The musician was married to Rosemary Domino from 1947 until her death in 2008 and was the father of eight children. 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.On that last point, I remember reports that he had died during the storm. Someone even spray painted "RIP Fats" on his flooded home. But, as the saying goes, rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. It turned out, unbeknownst to that mourner, he and his family had been rescued by helicopter.
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.
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.
While I didn't know the man, the authentic simplicity and purity of his voice, piano playing, and recordings tell me those words in Wiki say a lot about him as a man. In any case, if I had to pick a favorite out of his extensive catalogue, it's this ditty. While the white pop artist Pat Boone famously popularized a "cover" of Fats Domino's original "Ain't That a Shame," and others with some success produced decent versions of his other compositions, no one could touch the original "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel." Despite some valiant efforts, only the man himself could pull this one off.
Rest in peace Fat Man.
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