National Post (National Edition)
Music legend was the ‘godfather of rock ’n’ roll’
Soothing piano, warm vocals changed genre
NEW ORLEANS •FatsDomino, 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, has died. He was 89.
Mark Bone, chief investigator with the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, coroner’s office, said Domino died of natural causes early Tuesday.
In appearance, he was no matinee idol. He stood 5-feet-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 That a Shame — originally titled 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. The Rolling Stone Record Guide likened him to Benjamin Franklin, the beloved old man of a revolutionary movement.
“We’ve lowered the flag and we’re playing his music all day,” said Greg Harris, CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Fats is the godfather of rock ’n’ roll,” Harris said.
“On behalf of the people of New Orleans, I am eternally grateful for his life and legacy,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. “Fats Domino added to New Orleans’ standing in the world, and what people know and appreciate about New Orleans.”
“I can’t wrap my arms around him being gone,” said Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and a decadeslong friend of Domino. He said only two people from New Orleans have changed the music of the world: jazz legend Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino.
Little Richard, another founding father of rock ’n’ roll, said in a phone interview, “He was one of my greatest inspirations. God was tops — but earthly, Fats was it ...
“He could play jazz. He could play anything,” he said. “He was one of the greatest entertainers that I’ve ever known.”
Domino’s dynamic performance style and warm vocals drew crowds for five decades. One of his showstopping stunts was playing the piano while standing, throwing his body against it with the beat of the music and bumping the grand piano across the stage.
He 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.
Many wondered if he would ever return to the stage.
But in May 2007, he was back, performing at Tipitina’s music club in New Orleans. The performance was a highlight during several rough years. After losing their home and almost all their belongings to the floods, his wife of more than 50 years, Rosemary, died in April 2008.
The son of a violin player, Antoine Domino Jr. was born Feb. 26, 1928, one of nine children. As a youth, he taught himself popular piano styles — ragtime, blues and boogie-woogie.
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, covered blandly by Pat Boone as Ain’t That a Shame and rocked out decades later under that title by Cheap Trick and others. 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.
Like many of his peers, Domino’s popularity tapered off in the 1960s as British and psychedelic rock held sway.
“I refused to change,” he told Ebony magazine. “I had to stick to my own style that I’ve always used or it just wouldn’t be me.”
In 1988, all of New Orleans seemed to be talking about him after he reportedly paid cash for two Cadillacs and a $130,000 Rolls-Royce.
When the salesman asked if he wanted to call his bank about financing, Domino smiled and said, “I am the bank.”
In 1998, he became the first purely rock ’n’ roll musician to be awarded the National Medal for the Arts. But he cited his age and didn’t make the trip to the White House.
That was typical. Aside from rare appearances in New Orleans, including a 2012 cameo spot in the HBO series Treme, he dodged the spotlight in his later years, refusing to appear in public or even to give interviews.