This dominance was not viewed favorably by all at the time. It became a hallmark of their influential piano-based sound.” “By the late 1940s,” Strait says, “Fats Domino, along with his song partner Dave Bartholomew and folks like Little Richard, came to really dominate mainstream popular music with the use of this catchy triplet rhythmic structure. The tresillo rhythm he had borrowed from the Afro-Cuban music of New Orleans served him exceedingly well, Kevin Strait recalls. From the mellifluous, rueful lyrics of “Ain’t That A Shame” (1955)-undergirded by smooth guitar, steady percussion, and, of course, piano-to the titillating trill that opens “Blueberry Hill” (1956) to the insistent swing of “I Want to Walk You Home” (1959) to the easy repetition and intimacy of “I’m Walking to New Orleans” (1960) to the iconic up-and-down keyboard beat of “Kansas City” (1964), Domino’s output was consistently compelling, and fans were delighted to eat it all up. NPG, © 1984 Red Grooms / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yorkįrom this auspicious moment on, Domino had great success winning the ears and hearts of radio owners across the land. Fats Domino had made his nationwide debut. The record skyrocketed up the R&B charts eventually, upwards of one million copies were sold. Even today, one listening can picture the artist seated at his piano bench, bowing and swaying with every note, foot tapping below. Domino lit a fire under Dupree's measured melody, his dancing fingers etching both unrelenting backbeat and playful incidental tinkling into the minds of all who heard. Acting on behalf of Imperial Records’ artists and repertoire division, Bartholomew formally recruited Domino in 1949, producing and co-writing with the 21-year-old a single called “The Fat Man,” adapted from Champion Jack Dupree's dark drug tune “Junker Blues” but completely different in its vibe. He really set the trend.” One key aspect of Domino’s style was his incorporation of the habanero’s naturally catchy, easily repeatable tresillo rhythm, which would anchor many of his future radio hits.įrom his early teens, Domino was playing local taprooms, and before long, with the aid of music industry visionary Dave Bartholomew, the charismatic young pianist had made the big leagues. “A lot of what sets Fats Domino apart stems from his background,” says National Museum of African American History and Culture curator Kevin Strait, “and absorbing the music of New Orleans, and working with the musicians from the city to develop a new sound to American popular music. It was the last of these styles, colored by the rich Afro-Cuban habanero dance tradition of New Orleans, that “Fats” came to master and make his own. Steeped in an atmosphere abuzz with the improvisational spirit of jazz, the exultant dynamism of big-band swing, and the infectious rapid-fire keyboard riffs of boogie-woogie, Domino found himself compelled to get in on the action. in 1928, the Louisiana Creole kid quickly fell in love with the music of his community. Figuring out who was the most influential of them all is hopeless, but in terms of charm, style and catchy songwriting, it is safe to say that Big Easy-born piano man Fats Domino was at the top of the class.īorn Antoine Dominique Domino, Jr. Ultimately, pinning the genius of Rock ’n’ Roll on a single individual is a fool’s errand: throughout the late 1940s and ’50s, innovators all across the country built on the foundation of African American jazz, swing and R&B, drawing inspiration from forebears and contemporaries alike and contributing distinctly to the nascent canon of classic rock. Others place “Rock Around the Clock” hitmaker Bill Haley, guitar lick maestro Chuck Berry, or the gyrating hips of Elvis Presley at the center of the story. Some say Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm, who in 1951 released the exuberant automotive ode “Rocket 88,” deserve credit for kicking the movement off in earnest. Squabbling over the precise origins of the worldwide cultural phenomenon called Rock ’n’ Roll has long been a favorite pastime of academic researchers and lay music lovers alike.
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