Profile of Fats Domino on Famous Like Me

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928 in New Orleans, Louisiana), is a classic R&B and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist. He was the best-selling African-American singer of the 1950s and early 1960s. Domino is also a pianist with an individualistic bluesy style showing stride and boogie-woogie influences. His congenial personality and rich accent have added to his appeal.

Biography

His career began with "The Fat Man" (1949, Imperial Records), credited by some as being the first rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing wah-wah vocalizing. The record, a reworking of "Junker's Blues" by Champion Jack Dupree, was a massive hit, selling over a million copies and peaking at #2 on the Billboard R&B Charts. To date Domino has sold in excess of 110 million records.

Domino then released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer Dave Bartholomew, saxophonist Alvin "Red" Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp who was also Domino's trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955) which hit the Top Ten, though Pat Boone characteristically hit #1 with a cover of the song. Domino released an unprecedented series of 35 Top 40 singles, including "Whole Lotta Loving", "Blue Monday", and a funky version of the old ballad "Blueberry Hill".

After he moved to ABC-Paramount in 1963, the bottom fell out of Domino's recording career although he continued as a popular live act. Though he remained active for decades, he only had one more Top 40 hit, a cover of the Beatles song "Lady Madonna," originally written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney to emulate Domino's style.

In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked anyplace else. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an invitation to perform at the White House failed to get Domino to make an exception to this policy. He lives in a mansion in a predominantly working-class 9th Ward neighborhood, where he is a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac. He makes yearly appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other local events, with performances demonstrating his undiminished talents.

When Hurricane Katrina was approaching New Orleans in August 2005, Domino chose to stay at home with his family, due to his wife's poor health. His house was located in New Orleans’ 9th Ward, an area that was heavily flooded. On September 1, Al Embry, his agent, announced that he had not heard from Domino since before the hurricane had struck. Later that day, CNN reported that he was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. His daughter, Gospel singer Karen Domino White, identified him from a photo shown on CNN. The Domino family was then taken to a Baton Rouge shelter, after which they were picked up by and stayed in the apartment of JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team. The Washington Post has reported that on Friday, September 2, the Dominos left Russell's apartment. He returned to his home on Saturday, October 15. Apparently his house was looted in his absence: of his 21 Gold Records only three were still there.

Business

His career has been produced and managed since the 1980s by multimedia entertainment purveyor and music producer Robert G. Vernon. During Vernon's tenure, Domino's earnings have increased 500%.

Since 1995, Vernon and Domino have been partners (with many other companies, such as Dick Clark Productions) in the Bobkat Music Trust. Bobkat Music is an entertainment group that manages the careers (some posthumous) of Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Paul Shaffer (keyboardist), Jerry Lee Lewis, Randy Pringle (writer), and others. Bobkat Music is the official holder of rights (of record) to "Fats Domino and Friends" (most watched special in Cinemax history, winner of the ACE Award for "Cinemax Sessions"), not to mention the award-winning Fats Domino TV commercial for Popeye's Chicken, and is headquartered in the San Francisco East Bay area.

Trivia

The singer Chubby Checker's stage name was a play on Fats Domino.

In the popular 1970s sitcom "Happy Days", set in the 1950s, lead character Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, would often sing "I found my thrill..." (the first line of Domino's "Blueberry Hill") in reference to pretty girls he dated or wanted to date.

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