Recommendations of the Editorial team
After Lennon and McCartney, Fats Domino and his partner Dave Bartholomew were probably the best songwriter team in rock history. They always had a simple melody, a few clever changes and a cool groove. And always very simple lyrics, that is most important.
No abysmal plots, not at Fats Domino: “Yes, it’s me, and i’m in love again/ had no lovin ‘Since you know when/ you know i love you, yes i do/ and i’m savin’ All my lovin ‘Just for you.” It couldn’t be easier and more direct.
Even if Fats Domino sang from others, it was always in the end: Fats. What many escapes and what he did often do with his most famous records – such as “Blueberry Hill” -: he was able to play Rolls with both hands. There were a few people, for example, they could copy fats to hair – but not these rolls.
As with Thelonious Monk: You always hear whether it is Monk himself or someone who tries to play like Monk. I am sure: When she recorded “Blueberry Hill” in 1956, none of the musicians knew the harmonies to the bridge of the song.
He just changed the chords as he liked it
“The wind in the Willow Played Love’s Sweet Melody/ But All of the Vows You Made Were Never to Be.” Fats also didn’t know the chords, and the boys in the band thought a wonderful reef. He played the wrong chords, but they fit perfectly and they grooved. He always did that anyway, with other people’s big songs: he just changed the chords, as he liked. Sometimes it wasn’t even the same that the band played.
The bass can hardly be heard on some of his early recordings. Later they doubled the bass line with the guitar, which resulted in a very typical sound. And later became standard for Phil Spector.
I can’t even say how often I was committed to a session and was asked to play “like Fats”. Countless bands across the southern states had to bring songs from Fats Domino. Every. Everywhere. This also spread his influence.
He considered what he did, not something special. He just did what fats did
Fats is Old School to the Max – he loved playing in front of an audience, winning people, he played concerts for long and pushed the piano with his stomach. He still lives in the same house in which he grew up, of course now set up and converted in taste. He put a beautiful house next door to his family. This innocence is also in his music.
When all the Payola scandals passed and it didn’t look good for the rock’n’roll, Fats gave an interview. He said: “I don’t even know where suddenly the talk comes from, we have a bad influence on the teenagers. I only play the same music that I have always played.” So was Fats. He considered what he did, not something special. He just did what fats did.