What's That Sound? • W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.

Focus on children's health, education, and overall happiness White middle-class teenagers embraced rhythm and blues Knowing parents wouldn't approve of suggestive lyrics This could be children's form of social rebellion Allowed an alternative to assimilating into their parents' adult world culture Movies appeared with rebellious themes Rebellious young people who rebelled for the sake of rebellion The Wild One (1953) starring Marlon Brando Rebel without a Cause (1955) starring James Dean Blackboard Jungle (1955) about teenage delinquency in an urban high school Featured "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" Song was played over the opening credits Caused rock and roll to be associated with delinquency One of the top pop records of that year By 1955 rhythm and blues was being called rock and roll Radio and records The categories were based on buying patterns among consumers of music Pop was based on white middle-class consumers Rhythm and blues on black consumers Country and western on rural and low-income white consumers In the mid 1950s when white middle-class teens discovered rhythm and blues the distinction between styles blurred Crossovers are records that appear on one chart and then on one of the other two Two ways that a song can

 cross over to another chart: The record sales can generate a chart position on another chart For instance, a pop song becomes popular among country and western listeners, who buy enough copies of the record to generate a chart position on the country and western chart A different artist can record a new version of the song specifically for a particular listening audience When a different artist records a new version of a song it is called a "cover" It is possible (and not uncommon) for a song to be both a cover and a crossover This phenomenon was less common in the years from 1950 to 1953.

Only about 10% of songs crossed over from one chart to another chart Beginning in 1954 25% of the rhythm and blues records began to cross over By 1958 that figure was 94% The cover and crossover trend followed a pattern based on economics A black rhythm and blues artist would release a song recorded on a small indie label A major label (or larger indie label) would release a cover of that song The cover would usually be a white artist The cover would come out quickly after the originalsometimes during the same month Major labels had the distribution system and financial wherewithal to produce their recording quickly and get it out to a national audience Therefore, the major label cover would be more successful than the original indie product Black artists began to cross over in 1955 Fats Domino (Antoine Domino) from New Orleans Recorded on Imperial records based in Los Angeles Several early 1950s rhythm and blues hits "The Fat Man" (r6, 1950) "Goin' Home" (r1, 1952) Polite, clean-cut personal image Continued the pop style established by Frank Sinatra and Eddie Fisher Helped establish rock and roll as

 a valid part of the mainstream in the last half of the 1950s Cover versions controversy Black artists resented white artists covering and outselling their records Records were often reproduced in meticulous detail Difference only that these covers were by white pop artists on another label Intent seemed to be to replace the black artists' recordings in charts, broadcast, and jukeboxes Pop music business executives watched rhythm and blues charts to get in on the next hit Rhythm and blues and rock and roll artists provided material for the pop market Black artists didn't reap the financial benefits of their recordings that they should have Rhythm and blues artists often were paid a flat fee Didn't get royalties that were usually paid to songwriters Their record companies were small-scale operations There was always the possibility that they would fold so money up front seemed better Therefore the only long-term beneficiaries were the label executiveswho were white Music business revolved around the song itself rather than a recording of a song Common practice was to capitalize on whatever song was currently popular Record labels promoted their singers as stylists Therefore, singers like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett sold because of their individual styles White artists covering rhythm and blues songs made the songs in their own style These artists believed that their covers brought the songs to the white audience Black artists

 strongly disagreed and resented the practice of covering their songs for big profits Elvis Presley The first artist to repeatedly have hits on all three charts The first rock and roll artist to gain the attention and interest (and investment) of a major label (RCA) When signed to RCA in 1955, the company started the actions that brought rock and roll into pop mainstream Elvis's youth was spent in a simple humble way among simple common people Elvis was born to a poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi Family moved to Memphis at age 13an impressionable time for a youngster Knew and liked the usual country music popular in that region Also exposed to thriving rhythm and blues community Identified with blacks and particularly their style of clothing Elvis learned to sing country songs and rhythm and blues songs as a child Elvis Presley at Sun Records: the "Hillbilly Cat" Owner Sam Phillips started Memphis Recording Service in 1950 Specialized in recording black blues musicians and singers Joe Hill Louis Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats 1951 rhythm & blues hit, "Rocket 88" Phillips licensed his recordings to other rhythm and blues labels Modern Records in Los Angeles Chess Records in Chicago Started Sun Records in 1952 as his

 own real record label recording more blues artists Rufus Thomas The Prisonaires (a singing group from the Tennessee State Penitentiary) Elvis came in to record a demo recording in 1953 In 1954 Phillips asked him to record a couple of songs that needed a vocal: "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way" Nothing happened with those, but Phillips decided to see what Elvis could do Asked guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black to work with him and try things Phillips was an easygoing person and let musicians loosen up while he rolled tape By July 1954 they finally came up with something Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)" B side was Bill Monroe's bluegrass song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" Phillips took it to Memphis disk-jockey Dewey Phillips to play on his Red, Hot, and Blue radio show Phillips liked it and played it a lot of times Elvis and the other two musicians went on tour to promote the record They played the Grand Ole Opry (not received well) They were received well on the Louisiana Hayride show At first, Elvis was billed as a country and western performer Elvis had several regional

 hits recorded at Sun The biggest deal in the history of popular music up to that time In 1955 Elvis took on a new manager, Colonel Tom Parker Parker arranged a deal with RCA in Nashville to bring Elvis to a national level company Sam Phillips needed money to keep Sun Records going Parker set up a deal for RCA to buy Elvis's contract from Sam Phillips: $35,000 Also included was a $5,000 bonus for Elvis in back royalties Sam Phillips put the money into the label and a radio station he'd purchased Put Sun Records into the process of cultivating rockabilly artists Carl Perkins Didn't use his guitar for the first time Stage moves were noticeably sexual In the middle of the song he cut the tempo in half and thrust his hips in a very sexual way This was a popular show, and a large audience saw this and was shocked National press were highly critical and unkind He appeared on the Steve Allen Show in a tuxedo On Sept 9, 1956, he appeared on the season premiere of the Ed Sullivan Show He was at that point the biggest music star in America Already working on his first movie (Love Me Tender) Paid $50,000 for three appearances TV cameras showed him only

 from the waist up Why would Sam Phillips sell Elvis's contract?

Independent labels had to pay everybody up front before a record was released for sale Labels, sleeves, and the manufacture of the records themselves had to be paid for Distributors paid for records shipped to them only after the records had been sold There would be a delay of weeks or months before a producer got paid for records sold Eventually ongoing sales helped balance things out A big hit record is a financial puzzle for small independent labels They struggled to keep going until the money arrived Elvis's polarity had put a huge strain on Sun Records Sam Phillips took advantage of Elvis's impending contract expiration By selling the contract he could invest back into the label Rockabilly at Sun Records after Elvis Carl Perkins: guitarist-vocalist from Tennessee "Blue Suede Shoes" went to number two on the pop charts in 1956 Covered by Elvis on RCA First million-selling record for Sun "Honey, Don't" Lyrics were less clever than Chuck Berry's but conveyed youthful frustrations and hopeful longing Like Berry, Holly was a model of the successful songwriter-performer An important point is the influence on the Beatles who took this idea to unimagined levels in the 1960s The Day the Music Diedthe two major setbacks that severely threatened rock and roll At the end of the 1

950s, the most important and influential artists were out of the picture In 1958 Little Richard left to become a Seventh Day Adventist minister Elvis received his draft notice and went to Germany in September 1958 May of 1958, the British press reported Jerry Lee Lewis's marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin Buddy Holly's plane crashed on February 3, 1959 In 1959 Chuck Berry was charged with violating the Mann Act Transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes Overturned on appeal In December 1962 Freed pleaded guilty to taking bribes He only received a six-month suspended sentence and a $300 fine The publicity caused all radio stations not to want to hire him Box 2.1 Reading the Chart Numbers The Billboard chart is the reference for this book The rhythm and blues chart is represented by the letter "r" followed by the position and the year (r3, 1955) means that a song reached number three on the rhythm and blues chart in 1955 The pop chart is represented by the letter "p" followed by the position and the year (p4, 1958) means that a song

 reached number four on the pop chart in 1958 The country and western chart is represented by the letter "c" followed by the position and the year (c6, 1957) means that a song reached number six on the country and western chart in 1957 British chart positions are represented by the letters "uk" followed by the position and the year (uk3, 1955) means that a song reached number three on the British chart in 1955 Doo-wop and crossover A History Of Hit Piano Ballads On The Hot 100 | Billboard A History Of Hit Piano Ballads On The Hot 100 COMMENTS Getty Images Adele performs onstage during the Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre on February 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.

Bruno Mars' new Hot 100 leader 'When I Was Your Man' joins Adele's 2011 smash 'Someone Like You' as the only piano-and-vocal-exclusive No. 1s in the chart's 54-year history. Amid a boom of hi-NRG EDM club anthems, stomp-and-clap folk/rock sing-alongs and rapped odes to bargain-hunting, a simple piano ballad, Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man," crowns this week's Billboard Hot 100. The melancholy tale of lost love sports only Mars' vocals and his own piano accompaniment. Amazingly, of the 1,023 songs to previously top the chart, dating to its Aug. 4, 1958, launch, just one also features nothing but vocals and piano: Adele's "Someone Like You," which ruled for five weeks beginning on Sept. 17, 2011. The song showcases Adele singing and Dan Wilson on piano.

With its 2-1 lift this week, "Man" is the first ballad to top the Hot 100 since "Someone." Before Adele's ascension, no ballad had reigned since Rihanna's "Take a Bow" the week of May 24, 2008. "Man" is the first No. 1 ballad by a male since Akon's "Don't Matter," which led the Hot 100 the weeks of April 7 and 14, 2007. Songs like "Bow" and "Matter," however, include instrumentation beyond piano. Much more uncommon is a hit compelling enough for pop radio to slow its tempo to only a voice and piano without drums, strings or other sonic elements. Throughout the Hot 100's history, piano ballads have reigned, but until Adele and Mars' songs, none were as stripped down as "Someone" and "Man." All-piano-and-vocal hits have charted, but none previously had reached No. 1. Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," for example, rose to No. 4 in 1999.

A chronological trip back through the Hot 100's archives reveals examples of No. 1 piano ballads, but all include other instrumentation. Updating a recap first published on Billboard.com when "Someone" reached No. 1, let's time-travel through the chart's past … keying … in on some of the most notable such hits. 2000s The 2000s (through this year) have brought such piano-intensive No. 1s largely courtesy of Fox's "American Idol" coronation songs, including Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" (2005) and Fantasia's "I Believe" (2004). Plus, in 2005, the series' original winner, Kelly Clarkson, reached No. 7 with "Because of You." None of those songs, however, are as bare-bones as "Man" or "Someone." Similarly, Alicia Keys' "Fallin' " (No. 1 in 2001), Lonestar's "Amazed" and Mariah Carey's "Thank God I Found You," featuring Joe and 98 Degrees (each No. 1 in 2000), are piano-driven but not entirely so.

Following Mars' "Man," could another pure all-piano ballad soon reign? Rihanna's current hit "Stay," featuring Mikky Ekko, features only their vocals and piano by Justin Parker. The song rebounds to No. 4 this week, having risen as high as No. 3 so far. 1990s During the decade when the pure-pop boy band dominations of New Kids on the Block and 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys sandwiched the rise of grunge, Elton John performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" (on Sept. 6, 1997) on piano at the funeral of Princess Diana of Wales. When he released a new studio version of his '70s classic as a single (paired with "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"), "Candle" included orchestration by its conclusion. Thus, while it's an unquestionably a piano ballad (and half of a double-sided 14-week No. 1), it's not 100% so.

The '90s brought other leading piano ballads, but all also with varying degrees of strings, guitars or drums, including Carey's "Hero" and Janet Jackson's "Again" (1993); Carey's "I'll Be There" and Vanessa Williams' "Save the Best for Last" (1992); and, Stevie B's "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)" (1990). (Also in 1992-93: while not the prototypical piano ballad, considering its signature saxophone and drum flourishes, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," which logged 14 weeks at No. 1, is notable in that its vocal impact is similar to that of "Man" and "Someone," as Houston's hit opens with a 44-second a capella intro.) And, one from the original Piano Man: At the beginning of the '90s, the fifth and final single from Billy Joel's Billboard 200 No. 1 album "Storm Front" was an all-piano ballad pop hit. "And So It Goes," however, just dented the Hot 100's top 40, reaching No.

37 in December 1990. 1980s Synthesizers dominated the decade, but not on these piano ballads, which sport additional instrumentation: Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" and Debbie Gibson's "Lost in Your Eyes" (1989); Tiffany's "Could've Been" (1988); Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"; Lionel Richie and Diana Ross' "Endless Love" (1981); and Kenny Rogers' "Lady" (1980). Two mixes exist of Bette Midler's "The Rose": the single edit with orchestration and the soundtrack version that sports piano and vocals-only. The song just missed topping the Hot 100, however, reaching No. 3 in 1980. (Honorable mention: Bobby McFerrin scored the Hot 100's first a capella No. 1 with "Don't Worry, Be Happy," which led for two weeks in 1988.) 1970s Disco beats invaded even the catalogs of even rockers Rod Stewart and Kiss in the '70s.

But, piano ballads maintained their place, including the Commodores' "Still" (1979); Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" (1978); Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" (1977); Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You" (1975); Streisand's "The Way We Were" (1974); Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and Nilsson's "Without You" (1972). None, however, qualify as piano-and-vocal-exclusive ballads. Even Barry Manilow's three piano-centric No. 1s – "Looks Like We Made It," "I Write the Songs" and Mandy" – are string-laden, as are the Beatles' last two No. 1s, "The Long and Winding Road" and "Let It Be," along with John Lennon's "Imagine," a No. 3 hit in 1971.

In February 1970, Simon & Garfunkel began a six-week reign with "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Art Garfunkel's vocal and Larry Knechtel's piano arrangement carry most of the song. But, strings and drums arrive near its closing. 1960s/'50s Not too many ballads of any kind ruled the Hot 100 during the decade, as the Beatles helped craft an era of, largely, jangly pop/rock toppers. Pre-British Invasion, tempo also was an almost exclusive Hot 100 No. 1 ingredient, although with fewer guitars and more orchestral arrangements. Piano-dominated songs hit big in the early '60s and late '50s, but the instrument in those years tended to serve as an uptempo component of early rock and roll (i.e., Chuck Berry, Dave "Baby" Cortez and Fats Domino) or the focus of fast-paced instrumentals, such as Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" (a No. 2 hit in 1960). In all, just two piano-and-vocal-only No.

1 ballads among 1,024 Hot 100 leaders: Mars' " Man" and Adele's "Someone." Notably, both have reached the summit in the past year-and-a-half. With more tools available when it comes to music production, perhaps ballads stand out more now, helping to make the most compelling of such songs rarer, and, thus, more appreciated than ever before. Fats Domino Fats Domino In the Fifties with a rockin' piano Fats Domino came out of New Orleans to become one of rock-and-roll's earliest and best stars. With 65 million record sales to his credit, Fats out sold every Fifties rock and and roll pioneer except Elvis Presley. A young Domino circa 1937 Courtesy Antoine Domino Courtesy Antoine Domino Bartholomew Band 1948 Clockwise from bottom left - Ernest Mck\lean, Clarence Hall, Joe Harris, Salvador Doucette, Frank Fields, Earl Plamer, Alvin Tyler, Theard Johnson. Center Dave Bartholomew Courtesy Rick Coleman Fats was born Antoine Domino in 1928 in New Orleans.

As a child his brother-in-law Harrison Verett, who was twenty years his senior, taught him to play the piano. Fats, also sang.. The first language he learned to speak was French. He first performed in public at age 10. At fourteen he left school and worked days in a factory so he could perform at local nightclubs. He continued with music into the 40's and was heard by Dave Bartholomew, who would become his writing partner on many of Fats' hit songs. Fats joined the Dave Bartholomew Band in the mid-40's. He was influenced by Albert Ammons and Fats Waller, among others. He signed a contract with Imperial in 1949 and at his first recording session he made sure that he recorded the traditional Hey La Bas. "La Bas" was originally a voodoo god of luck, was identified with St. Peter in French-Catholic Louisiana and finally became La Bas. The record indicated a coming together of many years of New Orleans history and musical influence. It was not, however, his first record to be released.

A song about drugs called The Fat Man was cleaned up a bit for his first commercial release, and it reached the R&B chart in 1950. According to some reports, the song was a million seller. The Fat Man also became a nickname for Fats Domino. Another song that made the R&B chart for him, Every Night About This Time, used a piano triplet for which Fats was to become famous. It showed how his music had been influenced by that of Little Willie Littlefield. Fats had another R&B hit with "Goin' Home" in 1952. Fats Domino exploded onto the rock-and-roll scene in 1955 when his song, "Ain't That A Shame," was covered by white recording artist Pat Boone. Boone's version went to number one, and Domino's version on Imperial went to number ten. The song established both artists as stars. Fats could be heard in the background on the records of other artists, such as Joe Turner and Lloyd Price. He continued to write songs with Dave Bartholomew, many of which became hits.

In 1956 he put five songs in the top forty, including "I'm In Love Again" and Fats' rendition of a song that had reached number one for Glenn Miller in 1940, "Blueberry Hill". The latter went to number two and was Domino's highest charting record ever. Fats walking Fats Domino was very popular. In 1957 he appeared in a movie that many consider to be the best rock-and-roll film ever made, The Girl Can't Help It, singing his hit "Blue Monday." Another Fats Domino hit, "I'm Walkin'," was covered by Ricky Nelson in 1957 and helped to launch the teenage singing sensation's career. Other top ten songs followed in the late 50's for Domino: "Whole Lotta Loving," " I Want To Walk You Home," and "Be My Guest". The last song had a curious origin -- a teenager had been told by his father to get a job or get out of the house, so he wrote "Be My Guest" and waited in line for a chance to pass it on to Fats Domino.

He was able to do so, and heard from Domino's agent some time later; thus was begun the songwriting career of Tommy Boyce. Fats Domino had his final top ten song in 1960 with Walking To New Orleans. He recorded some old Hank Williams songs such as "Jambalaya [On The Bayou]" and "You Win Again" and he did old standards such as "Red Sails In The Sunset," which was his final top forty song, in 1963. In 1968, he even did a cover of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna". He also made some more films along the way, including Shake, Rattle and Roll, The Big Beat, and Jamboree. Fats played Las Vegas frequently, and at the Royal Festival Hall in London in the 80's. He had to leave a tour of Great Britain in the 90's due to health problems. Fats Domino's home in the Ninth Ward before Hurricane Katrina Fats Domino still lives in New Orleans with his wife Rosemary, with whom he has had eight children. His awards have been many, including Grammy's Lifetime Achievement and Hall Of Fame Awards.

Fats Domino took his place in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1986 Fats Domino | Download Music, Tour Dates & Video | eMusic Biography All Music Guide All Music Guide: The most popular exponent of the classic New Orleans R&B sound, Fats Domino sold more records than any other black rock & roll star of the 1950s. His relaxed, lolling boogie-woogie piano style and easygoing, warm vocals anchored a long series of national hits from the mid-'50s to the early '60s. Through it all, his basic approach rarely changed. He may not have been one of early rock's most charismatic, innovative, or threatening figures, but he was certainly one of its most consistent. Domino's first single, "The Fat Man" (1949), is one of the dozens of tracks that have been consistently singled out as a candidate for the first rock & roll record.

As far as Fats was concerned, he was just playing what he'd already been doing in New Orleans for years, and would continue to play and sing in pretty much the same fashion even after his music was dubbed "rock & roll." The record made number two on the R&B charts, and sold a million copies. Just as important, it established a vital partnership between Fats and Imperial A&R man Dave Bartholomew. Bartholomew, himself a trumpeter, would produce Domino's big hits, co-writing many of them with Fats. He would also usually employ New Orleans session greats like Alvin Tyler on sax and Earl Palmer on drums -- musicians who were vital in establishing New Orleans R&B as a distinct entity, playing on many other local recordings as well (including hits made in New Orleans by Georgia native Little Richard). Domino didn't cross over into the pop charts in a big way until 1955, when "Ain't That a Shame" made the Top Ten. Pat Boone's cover of the song stole some of Fats' thunder, going all the way to number one (Boone was also bowdlerizing Little Richard's early singles for pop hits during this time).

Domino's long-range prospects weren't damaged, however; between 1955 and 1963, he racked up an astonishing 35 Top 40 singles. "Blueberry Hill" (1956) was probably his best (and best-remembered) single; "Walking to New Orleans," "Whole Lotta Loving," "I'm Walking," "Blue Monday," and "I'm in Love Again" were also huge successes. After Fats left Imperial for ABC-Paramount in 1963, he would only enter the Top 40 one more time. The surprise was not that Fats fell out of fashion, but that he'd maintained his popularity so long while the essentials of his style remained unchanged. This was during an era, remember, when most of rock's biggest stars had their careers derailed by death or scandal, or were made to soften up their sound for mainstream consumption. Although an active performer in the ensuing decades, his career as an important artist was essentially over in the mid-'60s.

He did stir up a bit of attention in 1968 when he covered the Beatles' "Lady Madonna" single, which had been an obvious homage to Fats' style. Related Artists Fats Domino facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Fats Domino COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Fats Domino Fats Domino (born 1928) brought a unique blend of sounds to the rhythm and blues scene in the 1950s and 60s that appealed to a wide audience. His rendition of "The Fat Man," recorded in December of 1949, is considered by many to be the first rock-and-roll song ever. Domino continues to perform in his own nightclub in New Orleans, the city of his birth. Born Antoine Domino Jr. on February 26, 1928 in New Orleans, he grew up in a large, musical family of nine children. He began his love affair with the piano at a very young age. Domino taught himself to play with help from his brother-in-law, Harrison Verrett, a local musician and well-regarded guitarist. He loved all the popular styles of music: boogie, ragtime, and blues.

Domino left school in order to focus all of his energies on music. Shortly after leaving school, Domino found a job at a local bedspring factory. He worked at the factory during the day and played music by night in local nightclubs. A mishap on his day job came very close to costing him his future in music. One of his hands was severely injured by a heavy spring, an injury that required multiple stitches. For a while, it was uncertain whether Domino would ever recover use of the hand for the piano. However, with sufficient exercise he was able to regain most of his previous use of that hand. Discovered at Hideaway Club One of Domino's nighttime jobs was at a New Orleans club called the Hideaway, where he earned three dollars a week. By the age of 19 he had become a fixture there, along with prominent New Orleans pianists such as Professor Longhair and Amos Milburn. Like them, Domino was inspired by the rich musical styles of New Orleans. It was here that he got his first big break. Lew Chudd, head of Los Angeles-based Imperial Records, was touring the city in search of promising new artists when he happened to catch Domino's act.

Duly impressed, he quickly signed the young musician to a recording contract and paired him up with Dave Bartholomew of Imperial to write the song that became his signature number and established him forever as "Fats" in the mind of his fans. "The Fat Man," that drew heavily from a song entitled "Junkers Blues," was recorded in December 1949 in the J and M Studios of Cosimo Matassa, along with seven other tracks. The song became Domino's first big rhythm and blues hit and is considered by many music industry observers to be the first genuine rock and roll song ever recorded. Fred Ward, writing in Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll, said of Domino's first big hit: "What better song to introduce the young singer than the one he opened with… ." The record took off, Ward reported, "winning Imperial some prominence in the rhythm-and-blues world and, more important, on its charts. Chudd's Imperial recording label, which focused on unknown rhythm and blues talent from the Deep South, had experienced rapid growth in the years following the end of World War II.

Bartholomew, a prominent trumpet player and composer, became Domino's producer and bandleader for most of the 1950s and 60s and co-wrote virtually all of the performer's best-known hits. Bartholomew, who remained closely involved with Domino well into the 1980s, was a trained musician who perfectly complemented Domino's unschooled but brilliant musical instincts. Domino never learned to read music. He once described to Irwin Stambler, author of The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock, and Soul, how he and Bartholomew collaborated on their now-famous songs: "When I get an idea for a song, I sit down at that piano [in his special music room in his home] and sing it into the tape. Then I've got it so I can talk with Dave about it.

Dave works on all my recordings and on my band arrangements, and we're together a lot of the time." Several hits followed "The Fat Man." These included "Rockin' Chair," "You Done me Wrong," "Please Don't Leave Me," and the 1952 hit, "Goin Home." The latter reached number one on the rhythm and blues charts in 1952. Domino dominated the R and B charts with these and other releases from 1952 to 1959. In 1954 Domino impressed audiences at the Moondog Jubilee of Stars Under the Stars, promoted by famed disk jockey Alan Freed, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. Other entertainers performing at Moondog Jubilee included Muddy Waters, Little Walter, the Orioles, and the Clovers. Took Rock and Roll by Storm Domino took the rock and roll scene by storm in 1955 when he released "Ain't That a Shame," a song that had been previously popularized by cowboy movie star, Gene Autry. His success with the recording of this song was somewhat overshadowed by Pat Boone's "cover" version of the same song.

Although Domino's version hit number one on the R and B charts, it made it only to number ten on the pop charts for this reason. White record producers in the 1950s were quick to pick up on the popularity of rhythm and blues for its white singers. However, Domino and collaborator Bartholomew shared in the royalties of Boone's recording. It was with this hit that Domino crossed over from R and B to the pops charts. Other Domino songs that rose to the top of the R and B charts in 1955 included "All by Myself" and "Poor Me." That same year, Imperial Records cut his first long-playing (LP) album. Entitled "Rock and Rollin' With Fats Domino," the album was released on March 1, 1956. Among his big hits in 1956 were "I'm in Love Again," "My Blue Heaven," "Blue Monday," and "Blueberry Hill," Domino's version of a song first made popular by Louis Armstrong. In July of 1956, "I'm in Love Again" hit the top of the R and B charts and climbed to number three on the pop charts.

At year's end, "Blueberry Hill" topped out at number two on the pop charts, having already occupied the top spot on the R and B charts for 11 straight weeks. Domino's success in the mid-1950s made him a fixture in most of the period's touring rock and roll shows. In early 1957, Domino got top billing in the three-month "Biggest Show of Stars for '57," a tour that also featured such popular rock and R and B performers as Chuck Berry, Laverne Baker, Clyde McPhatter, and the Moonglows. Gene Busnar, author of It's Rock'n' Roll, explained Domino's success on the pop charts this way: "Most of Fats' songs were less raw and sexually explicit than most other blues-based singers. He was, therefore, more acceptable to the pop audience." Debut in Films Hoping to expand his horizons, Domino looked to Hollywood. He first appeared with Big Joe Turner in Shake, Rattle, and Roll, singing three of his big hits.

In 1957 he appeared in The Girl Can't Help It, a rock and roll movie that is still considered by many to be the best ever made. The film featured Domino singing his big hit, "Blue Monday." Other motion pictures in which Domino appeared included Jamboree and The Big Beat. Other Domino songs that fared well on the pop charts included "I'm Walkin'," which made it to number four in April of 1957; "I Want to Walk You Home," climbing to number eight the week of September 14, 1959; and "Walking to New Orleans," which made it into the top ten on the pop charts in mid-1960. "Walking to New Orleans," which climbed to number two on the R and B charts, was the last of Domino's songs to hit the top ten on the pop charts. In April of 1963, Domino left the Imperial label after nearly 14 years to sign with ABC-Paramount. For ABC-Paramount, he had a modest hit with "Red Sails in the Sunset." He switched labels fairly often in the 1960s, recording also on the Mercury and Reprise labels.

In 1968 Domino released his version of "Lady Madonna" on the Reprise label. Written by Paul McCartney for the Beatles in a style reminiscent of Domino's, the song was given the full New Orleans treatment in Domino's cover version. It was the last of Domino's songs to make it onto Billboard's Top 100 Pop Singles chart. When recording industry executives began pressuring Domino to update his style in order to appeal to changing musical tastes, he quit recording altogether. Interviewed by Hans J. Massaquoi of Ebony, Domino explained, "I refused to change. I had to stick to my own style that I've always used, or it just wouldn't be me." Focused on Personal Appearances With his recording career at least temporarily terminated, Domino began concentrating most of his energies on public appearances, focusing in particular on Las Vegas. He signed a long-term contract with the Flamingo Hotel and Casino but soon got himself into trouble gambling during his off-hours. He got started on the slots but soon graduated to playing craps. According to Massaquoi of Ebony, Domino gambled away about two million dollars over a ten-year period. It took the performer a while to admit that he had a serious problem with gambling.

However, he eventually took steps to wean himself away from the craps tables, a goal Domino claimed to have reached by 1972. On January 23, 1986, Domino was formally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its first induction dinner, held in New York City. Presenting Domino with a plaque marking his selection for this honor was popular singer/pianist Billy Joel. It seemed altogether fitting that Domino was among the first to be enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, considering that he had sold more records—some 65 million—than any other Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley. The following year, Domino received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1991, EMI-owner of the Imperial label's music catalog released a boxed set of Domino's greatest hits. Domino returned to the recording studio two years later—the first time he'd done so in a quarter-century. The recording session produced an album entitled Christmas is a Special Day, released on the EMI/Right Stuff label on November 1, 1993.

Interviewed during the recording session, Domino looked back on his long and rewarding career, saying: "People don't know what they've done for me. They always tell me, 'Oh, Fats, thanks for so many years of good music.' And I'll be thankin' them before they're finished thankin' me!" In March of 1995, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation of Washington, D.C., honored Domino. As one of the recipients of the foundation's annual Pioneer Awards, he was given the Ray Charles Lifetime Achievement Award. This foundation honors those who create "an art form that is a fountainhead for contemporary popular music and a lifeblood of American culture." Other recipients of these awards included the Moonglows, the Marvelettes, Inez and Charlie Foxx, and Cissy Houston. That same year Domino toured Great Britain with fellow rock artists James Brown and Chuck Berry. However, the trip was cut short when the 67-year-old Domino was hospitalized for an infection and exhaustion. Domino and his wife, Rosemary, continue to live in New Orleans, the city of the singer's birth.

They have raised eight children—Antoinette, Antoine III, Andrea, Andre, Anatole, Anola, Adonica, and Antonio. Domino still performs occasionally at his club in the city's French Quarter. Books Fats Domino's 10 Biggest Songs - Oldies Music Oldies Music The 10 Biggest Fats Domino Songs, Ever The ten greatest successes of The Fat Man By Robert Fontenot Updated March 29, 2016. Because Fats Domino songs, his persona, musical output, and offstage life were all milder and more genial than many of his peers, we often forget just what a force he was on the jukebox -- Fats hit the top 10 of the pop chart a staggering ten times during the last half of the '50s, a record very few could match. Even more impressive, Domino scored 37 top 40 hits during his career, most of those coming in one five-year stint between 1956 and 1961, not even counting the dozen top ten R&B hits he'd had before that.

And only Elvis and James Brown could, at the time, beat Domino's record of 68 Hot 100 charting hits (84 if you count his R&B chart entries). Here are the ten biggest of the Fat Man's many, many hits. Buy from Amazon For all the culture wars surrounding the advent of rock and roll, there were quite a number of solidly-written swing -era classics which became rock hits with varying degrees of modification. This, which many consider Fats' signature song, began life as a Sammy Kaye hit in 1940 and was endlessly revived over the years, most notably by Louis Armstrong. But it took Fats' gentle swamp-pop stroll and easygoing Creole phrasing to turn this into sock-hop gold. It was such a defining moment of the '50s, in fact, that "Happy Days" character Richie Cunningham sang it whenever he figured he was about to "get lucky" with a girl. And its popularity may be evergreen: Vladimir Putin made news singing this, his favorite song, at a Russian benefit concert in 2011.

Check Amazon rating » continue reading below our video Celebrity Breakups of 2015 We Didn't See Coming Buy from Amazon Half of one of the greatest double-sided hits in 50s rock, "I'm in Love Again" (backed by a sensational cover of another swing standard, "My Blue Heaven") was a product of the sadly unappreciated songwriting team of Fats and bandleader Dave Bartholomew.

Laid down, as so many of Fats' hits were, with the cream of New Orleans sidemen, this breezy yet earthy number features the kind of wry comic (and urban) take on romance that only Lieber and Stoller could match -- it's fun just to listen to Fats drawl "Baby, don't you let your dog bite me." This being New Orleans R&B, it made perfect literary sense to precede that line with "Oo wee baby, oo wee," then start the next verse with "Eeeny meeney, miney moe." Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon At the time, it was somewhat usurped by Ricky Nelson's quasi-rockabilly cover version -- done merely to prove to his girl that he could sing as good as Elvis! -- but history has since seen fit to return this song to Antoine's own jump-blues throne. The story behind the Fat Man's version is equally interesting: Fats, one of the first rock stars to own a fleet of Cadillacs, somehow managed to find himself without transportation one day, which led to a friend calling out, "Hey! Fats is walking!" The song reportedly wrote itself as he trudged along.

Major League Baseball also takes this classic equally literally; several teams play it whenever one of their hitters gets "walked" to first base. Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon Or was this Fats' true signature song? It's hard to decide. One of a number of tunes written by Dave Bartholomew for NOLA R&B legend Smiley Lewis ("I Hear You Knocking" being the most famous), "Monday" was redone by Fats after Smiley's version went nowhere. Naturally brighter and sprightlier than Lewis' original, with a requisite Fatslike twinkle in its eye, it was therefore the kind of nonthreatening blues any worker could relate to, and it became an important doorway for R&B on the pop charts, bolstered in large part by Fats' performance of the song in the king of all '50s rock musicals, The Girl Can't Help It. Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon Bobby Charles was a Cajun singer-songwriter in the swamp-pop vein who already had one hit under his belt -- "See You Later, Alligator," a smash for Bill Haley -- when he met his idol Domino backstage at a concert in Lafayette, LA.

When Fats took a liking to the kid and invited him to his famous Ninth Ward home, Bobby responded that he'd get there even if he had to walk. By the time he did get a chance to drive to the big city, he'd written a song about just that very subject, and, invested with some very Brook Benton -like strings, it was a natural hit. The next year, Bobby did much the same favor for Clarence "Frogman" Henry by providing him with the #4 pop hit "I Don't Know Why (But I Do)." Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon A sprightly jump-blues with a touch so light it was practically pop, this earworm topped out at a mere 1:39, making it the second shortest top 10 hit in rock history, behind only Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay" (which made it all the way to #1 at a mere 1:38).

Fats uses every trick in the book to take you through that minute-and-a-half, too, including kissy noises, a happy little piano riff, some sort of clapping that probably represents something naughty, and a solo that fucntions as an effortless pastiche of New Orleans boogie-woogie. Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon It's not one of Domino's better known singles these days, which is odd, since it made it all the way to Number 6 on the pop charts and #2 R&B. Then again, it managed that at least partially from riding the back of another one of his biggest hits, "Valley of Tears." On the other other hand, that song only made it to #8. Whatever.

It's just as infectious and irresistibly joyful as any other golden oldie on this list, also serving as a perfect set of wedding vows -- "I'll be your little boy / you be my little girl / we'll go round and round / round this great big world / even in the rain / we'll go hand in hand / come here, kiss me / it's you I love." (In Creole patois, "rain" does indeed rhyme with "hand.") Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon Those studying American mating rituals of the postwar era would do well to take in this supremely sublime West Coast Blues-slash-swamp pop ballad, which asked to hold your hand years before the Beatles did. A symbol of trust, walking a girl back to her house could signify the informal beginning of a courtship, and yes, sometimes it could be as simple as noticing that someone's walking alone, and asking.

Punctuated by sassy little breaks that seemed to indicate all the roiling emotions just beneath the surface, as well as a performance so loose Fats feels free to sometimes pronounce "want" as "wants," I Wanna Walk You Home" seduces by pairing safety and protection with the promise of hot romance: "I'm not trying to be smart / I'm not trying to break your heart." Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon The Domino/Bartholomew team did almost as well at crafting a pure pop ballad with "Valley of Tears," which made it to the Top Ten thanks to, or perhaps despite of, its heavy strings-and-choir backing. Frankly, all that pop largesse carried it over the line, intentionally or not, into Countrypolitan territory, since Fats' country roots were very nearly as strong as his blues and boogie-woogie ones. Brenda Lee and Faron Young, realizing this, rushed out to make their own versions, and much later, so did Mickey Gilley and Gillian Welch. Oh, and some kid named Buddy Holly.

Check Amazon rating » Buy from Amazon This, on the other hand, was one of several R&B hits that godfathered ska music, along with Roscoe Gordon's "Cheese and Crackers." Bend the beat of this Top 10 hit back just a bit, and you discover a ska classic, replete with horn section. It's still a recognizable Fats song, too, with its genial introduction to "join my party and meet the rest." "I'm the king but you can wear my crown," he sings, a lyric which elegantly sums up the essence of Fats' appeal. However, the Domino/Bartholomew team didn't write it -- that honor went to a kid named Tommy Boyce, who bugged Fats until he listened to this demo. You know him better as one half of the Boyce-Hart songwriting duo, who wrote tons of hits for the very non-ska act The Monkees. Check Amazon rating »

Question: Which piano-playing singer's first hit was The Fat Man?
Answer: Fats Domino