Fats Domino

• Born: February 26, 1928
• Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
• Died: October 24, 2017
• Place of death: Harvey, Louisiana

Singer and musician

Domino was famous for his distinctive piano-playing style on numerous million-selling recordings during the 1950s, many of which he wrote himself. He was instrumental in breaking down barriers at a time when Black music was not played on national radio and people of different races were prohibited from dancing together.

Early Life

Antoine Domino Jr. was born in New Orleans to Antoine Domino and Donatile Gros. He was the youngest of eight children, and his first language was French Creole. His father’s family had worked the Mississippi sugarcane fields, and his mother was of Haitian origin. The Dominos were a musical family who played at neighborhood parties. Domino was a shy child, but when he was ten, his family acquired an old piano. His brother-in-law, Harrison Verrett, patiently showed him the chords, and the piano became Domino’s main interest.

Domino quit school in the fourth grade, as his school in the Lower Ninth Ward provided extremely poor conditions for Black children. His first job was delivering blocks of ice to homes and businesses before the advent of refrigerators. In his teenage years, he held several jobs, including one in a bar where he was able to play the jukebox. The frenetic piano style of its boogie-woogie songs would become the foundation of his style. While working, Domino also became more conscious of segregation. At the garage where he washed cars, he was not allowed to enter the diner to eat his lunch. He would encounter segregation many times in the future when he and his band sought places to eat or sleep during long tours.

When Domino was seventeen, Verrett invited him for a monthlong visit to California near the naval base where Verrett and Domino’s sister worked. He cajoled Domino into playing at a restaurant where the White patrons signaled their enthusiasm by leaving nine dollars in tips. This success opened up a new world of possibilities to Domino. Back in New Orleans, he supplemented his income by playing dance music in clubs and bars along with Buddy Hagans, a saxophonist. A large young man, he was given the nickname “Fats” by bandleader Bill Diamond. In 1947, the New Orleans music star Paul Gayten invited Domino to play during a show. Domino played “Swanee River Boogie” and was very well received. In the same year, Domino met and married Rosemary Hall, with whom he went on to raise eight children.

Life’s Work

As Domino’s local reputation grew, he met many musicians whom he admired and who would later join his band. Two of the most important figures were Dave Bartholomew and Lew Chudd. Bartholomew was a well-known bandleader, songwriter, and record producer who had played trumpet for Duke Ellington. Domino went on to play piano and sing in Bartholomew’s band and soon became the focal point of it. They had a long but sometimes turbulent relationship, during which they cowrote many songs. Domino wrote the lyrics, while Bartholomew provided masterly arrangements. Chudd, the owner of Imperial Records, loved Domino’s sound and offered him his first opportunity to make records. In Domino’s first recording session, in December 1949, he recorded “The Fat Man.” Chudd was not wowed by the disc, but a friend passed it on to two local disc jockeys who played it on air. The response was instantaneous; thousands of copies were pressed to meet demand.

In June 1952, Domino had his first number-one rhythm-and-blues hit with “Going Home,” which also registered on the pop charts at number thirty. At that time, bans on playing music performed by people of color on radio and at public events meant the only way to get national exposure was to make grueling cross-country trips to perform at far-flung venues. The young people who listened to Domino’s sounds started to ignore rules that prohibited Black and White people from dancing together. Attempts by the police to stop the interracial dancing led to riots at many shows.

The 1950s was a decade of almost nonstop success for Domino. In 1955, the single “Ain’t That a Shame” reached number ten on the US pop charts, which was highly unusual for a rhythm-and-blues song at that time. Domino went on to enjoy a string of major hits, including “Blue Monday,” “I’m Walkin’,” “My Blue Heaven,” “Whole Lotta Loving,” and “Walking to New Orleans.” His biggest hit was “Blueberry Hill,” released in 1956. That same year, Domino appeared on The Steve Allen Show and The Ed Sullivan Show and in the hit film The Girl Can’t Help It with Jayne Mansfield.

Toward the end of the decade, Domino’s record sales began to slump and his shows were less well attended. In 1963, he began playing the Las Vegas circuit, where he became friendly with stars such as Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. Elvis Presley, a longtime fan of Domino’s music, came to see one of his shows and they began a long friendship. In 1964, the Beatles visited the United States and met Domino. In 1968, Domino recorded his last big hit, “Lady Madonna,” a song written by the Beatles’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney to emulate his style.

Domino remained a popular performer on the Las Vegas circuit and toured internationally in rock-and-roll revival shows. In 1993, he returned to the recording studio to produce his Christmas Is a Special Day album, which was critically acclaimed.

In 2005, at the age of seventy-seven, he was rescued after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. In 2006, Domino issued an album, Alive and Kickin’, the proceeds of which went to the Tipitina’s Foundation, a charity founded to preserve the cultural heritage of New Orleans. He died in 2017 at his home in Harvey, Louisiana, of natural causes at the age of eighty-nine.

Significance

Domino was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s. Responsible for bringing the New Orleans sound to a mass audience, Domino had numerous mainstream hits and television appearances at a time when such exposure was unusual for Black Americans. He was one of the first Black American artists to cross over successfully while remaining popular with Black audiences. Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1987, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards, where he was celebrated for his role in building the bridge between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Domino the National Medal of Arts. After the proposal received city council approval in 2021, New Orleans's Caffin Avenue, Domino's longtime home street, had its name changed to Antoine "Fats" Domino Avenue via an official celebratory event in October 2022.

Bibliography

Broven, John. Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans. Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1978.

Coleman, Rick. Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ’n’ Roll. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2006.

Hannusch, Jeff. The Soul of New Orleans: A Legacy of Rhythm and Blues. Ville Platte, La.: Swallow Press, 2001.

Lama, Sophia. "Music Icon Fats Domino Has New Orleans Street Renamed in His Honor." ABC News, 14 Oct. 2022, abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/music-icon-fats-domino-orleans-street-renamed-honor/story?id=91513794. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.

Pareles, Jon, and William Grimes. "Fats Domino, Early Rock ’n’ Roller with a Boogie-Woogie Piano, Is Dead at 89." The New York Times, 25 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/obituaries/fats-domino-89-one-of-rock-n-rolls-first-stars-is-dead.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.