July 10, 2025: Rock-y Groundbreakers: Fats Domino

[On July 6, 1925, Bill Haley was born. So for thatcentennial I’ll share blog posts on Haley and other rock ‘n roll pioneers,leading up to a crowd-sourced weekend post featuring recent rock recs!]

On a fewiconic moments in the career of a pioneering, legendary rock ‘n roller.

1)     “The Fat Man”: Domino’s first hit under hisdebut recording contract with Lew Chudd’s Imperial Records,co-written with his frequent producer and collaborator (and an influentialartist in his own right) Dave Bartholomew and recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s J&MRecording Studios on Rampart Street, wasn’t just the first rock record tosell a million copies (although it did hit thatgroundbreaking number by 1951). It also embodies rock’s profoundlycross-cultural origins, on so many levels: from Domino’s own French Creoleheritage (his first language was Louisiana Creole) to Matassa’smulti-generational Italian American New Orleans legacy, from Chudd’s childhoodin Toronto and Harlem as the son of Russian Jewish immigrants to AfricanAmerican artist Bartholomew’s time in the US Army Ground Forces Band (anintegrated band despite the army’s segregation in the era) during WWII. It tookall those individuals and all those legacies to make “Fat Man” and get Americanrock music rolling.

2)     “The King”: Over the next couple decadesDomino would record many more hit records and albums, with “Ain’t That a Shame” (1955)and “BlueberryHill” (1956) the two biggest smashes. A February1957 Ebony magazine featuredubbed him (on the cover no less) the “King of Rock ‘n Roll.” But it was anoffhand line from another “King,” more than a decade later, that most potentlyreflects Domino’s status and influence. On July31, 1969, Domino attended Elvis Presley’s first concert at the Las VegasInternational Hotel; during a post-concert press conference, a reporterreferred to Presley as “The King,” and he responded by pointing at Domino andnoting, “No, that’s the real king of rock and roll.” At the same event Elvis tookan iconic picture with Domino, calling him “one of myinfluences from way back.” I’ll have a bit more to say about Elvis and hisinfluence in a couple days; but regardless of any other factors, thisrecognition for Domino from one of the most famous American rockers in historyillustrates just how iconic Fats was within (and beyond) the industry.

3)     Katrina: Domino was known to be one of themost humble and grounded rock stars, and he and his wife Rosemary continued tolive in their home inNew Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward throughout the late 20th centuryand into the first decade of the 21st. Because of Rosemary’s ailinghealth they did not evacuate in the days before Hurricane Katrina hit the city,and in the storm’s chaotic aftermath their home was flooded and Domino andRosemary were feared dead for a couple long days. But it turned outthey had been rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter, and in 2006 and 2007 Dominomade triumphant returns to the city and the music world: first with his 2006 albumAlive and Kickin’, the proceeds from which benefittedTipitina’s Foundation; and then with his last public performance (and first inmany years), a legendary May 19,2007 concert at Tipitina’s. If there had been any doubt that Dominorepresented New Orleans just as much and as well as he does rock ‘n roll, theseculminating iconic moments laid them forever to rest.

Lastgroundbreaker tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Whatrecent rock would you recommend for the weekend post?