Fats Domino, Architect Of Rock And Roll, Dead At 89
Fats Domino, one of the architects of rock 'n' roll, died yesterday at 89 years old at his daughter's suburban New Orleans home. Haydee Ellis, a family friend, confirmed the news to NPR. Mark Bone, chief investigator for the Jefferson Parish Coroner's office, tells NPR Domino died of natural causes.
In the 1940s, Antoine Domino, Jr. was working at a mattress factory in New Orleans and playing piano at night. Both his waistline and his fanbase were expanding. That's when a bandleader began calling him "Fats." From there, it was a cakewalk to his first million-selling record — "The Fat Man." It was Domino's first release for Imperial Records, which signed him right off the bandstand.
[...] Between 1950 and 1963, Fats Domino hit the R&B charts a reported 59 times, and the pop charts a rollicking 63 times. He outsold Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly — combined. Only Elvis Presley moved more records during that stretch, but Presley cited Domino as the early master.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 27 2017, @02:54AM
If you had heard Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) on "Happy Days" after he had made out with a girl, you would have heard him singing "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill".
"Chubby Checker" was a ripoff of Fats' name.
Going back to the 1930s, there was stride piano master Thomas "Fats" Waller who indulged himself at every opportunity.
He would describe himself as "my mother's 285 pounds of jam, jive, and everything". [google.com]
There's a line in "Soul Shadows"[1]: Riding with Fats Waller on the Super Chief [google.com]
He died on a cross-country trip aboard that train at age 39.
[1] I love the cover of that by Denise Donatelli. [google.com]
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