AIN’T THAT A SHAME
Fats Domino embodied ‘everything good about New Orleans’
Fats Domino, the amiable rock ’n’ roll pioneer whose steady, pounding piano and easy baritone helped change popular music while honouring the traditions of the Crescent City, died Tuesday. He was 89.
Mark Bone, chief investigator with the Jefferson Parish, La., coroner’s office, said Domino died of natural causes at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.
In appearance, he was no Elvis Presley. He stood 5-foot-5 and weighed more than 200 pounds, with a wide, boyish smile and a haircut as flat as an album cover. But Domino sold more than 110 million records, with hits including Blueberry Hill, Ain’t It a Shame and other standards of rock ’n’ roll.
He was one of the first 10 honorees named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Domino’s 1956 version of Blueberry Hill was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry of historic sound recordings worthy of preservation. The preservation board noted that Domino insisted on performing the song despite his producer’s doubts, adding that Domino’s “New Orleans roots are evident in the Creole inflected cadences that add richness and depth to the performance.”
Domino became a global star but stayed true to his hometown, where his fate was initially unknown after hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. It turned out that he and his family were rescued by boat from his home, where he lost three pianos and dozens of gold and platinum records, along with other memorabilia.
Many wondered if he would ever return to the stage. Scheduled to perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2006, he simply tipped his hat to thousands of cheering fans.
But in May 2007, he was back, performing at Tipitina’s music club in New Orleans. Fans cheered — and some cried — as Domino played I’m Walkin’, Ain’t It a Shame, Shake, Rattle and Roll, Blueberry Hill and a host of other hits. After losing their home and almost all their belongings to the floods, his wife of more than 50 years, Rosemary, died in April 2008.
“Fats embodies everything good about New Orleans,” his friend David Lind said in a 2008 interview. “He’s warm, fun-loving, spiritual, creative and humble. You don’t get more New Orleans than that.”
The son of a violin player, Antoine Domino Jr. was born on Feb. 26, 1928, to a family that grew to include nine children. As a youth, he taught himself popular piano styles — ragtime, blues and boogie-woogie — after his cousin left an old upright in the house. Fats Waller and Albert Ammons were early influences.
He quit school at age 14, and worked days in a factory while playing and singing in local juke joints at night.
In 1949, Domino was playing at the Hideaway Club for $3 a week when he was signed by Imperial record company.
He recorded his first song, The Fat Man, in the back of a tiny French Quarter recording studio.
“They call me the Fat Man, because I weigh 200 pounds,” he sang. “All the girls, they love me, ’cause I know my way around.”
In 1955, he broke into the white pop charts with Ain’t It a Shame — but actually sang the lyrics as “ain’t that a shame.” The song was covered blandly by Pat Boone as Ain’t That a Shame and rocked out years later by Cheap Trick. Domino enjoyed a parade of successes through the early 1960s, including Be My Guest and I’m Ready. Another hit, I’m Walkin,’ became the debut single for Ricky Nelson.
Domino appeared in the rock ’n’ roll film The Girl Can’t Help It and was among the first black performers to be featured in popular music shows, starring with Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers.
Like many of his peers, Domino’s popularity tapered off in the 1960s as British and psychedelic rock held sway.
Domino told Ebony magazine that he stopped recording because companies wanted him to update his style.
“I refused to change,” he said. “I had to stick to my own style that I’ve always used or it just wouldn’t be me.”