Fats Domino

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.

Fats Domino - Sweet Patootie: The Complete Reprise Recordings (1967-70) {Warner-Rhino Handmade Limited Edition rel 2004}
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© 1967-70, 2004 Reprise / Warner / Rhino Handmade | Numbered Limited Edition | 603497 788026
Rock & Roll / Rhythm and Blues / Boogie-Woogie / Piano Blues / Jazz

Of all the early rock & rollers, Fats Domino was the easiest to take for granted, since he made it all seem so easy. Even when it rocked hard, his music was so relaxed, so friendly that it sounded effortless and natural, which was part of the reason that his classic recordings for Imperial in the '50s were so consistently enjoyable. All the hits, many of their flips sides, and most of his album cuts were flat-out fun – maybe not as revolutionary as work by Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and the Everly Brothers, but his body of work for Imperial not only stands proudly next to theirs, but is just as influential. This much is clear after years of hindsight, but in the late '60s he was as passé as any of his peers, even if there were legions of new rockers, from the Beatles to Randy Newman, who were raised on his music.

Fats Domino - I've Been Around: The Complete Imperial and ABC-Paramount Recordings (2019) {12CD Set, Bear Family BCD17579}
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© 1948-65, 2015 Bear Family Records | BCD 17579
Early Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll / New Orleans R&B / Swamp-Pop / Piano Blues

We could have taken the easy way out. The original 1993 box set was out of stock. We could simply have printed more copies and filled orders. Of course, we didn’t. This is Bear Family Records and we don’t take shortcuts. We’ve invested more than 1000 hours in re-writing, recompiling and re-mastering this box. The brilliant engineering by Christian Zwarg will leave you shaking your head in admiration. You won’t quite recognize some of your favorite Fats Domino tracks because they’ve never sounded this good.

Fats Domino - The Imperial Singles Vol. 4, 1959-1961 (2011) {Ace Records CDCHD 1306}
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© 1959-61, 2011 EMI / Ace Records | CDCHD 1306
Rock & Roll / Early Rhythm & Blues / New Orleans R&B / Swamp-Pop / Piano Blues

The first three volumes of the Fats Domino Imperial Singles series (CDCHD 597, 649 and 689) saw New Orleans’ finest ascend from neophyte blues and boogie-woogie stylist to bona fide rock’n’roll star. With gold-plated hits of the calibre of ‘Ain’t That A Shame’, ‘Blueberry Hill’, ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘I’m Walkin’’ receding into history, it was assumed that Fats had peaked artistically. Wrong: One spin of this release will dispel that notion handsomely.

Released in conjunction in 2002 with the four-disc box set Walking to New Orleans, as well as three other titles in EMI/Capitol's Crescent City Soul series, The Fats Domino Jukebox: 20 Greatest Hits the Way You Originally Heard Them becomes the definitive single-disc Fats collection on the market nearly by default – it's remastered, it's the one in print, and it has a flawless selection of songs. It's not markedly better than, say, the '90s' definitive Fats compilation, My Blue Heaven, since it has essentially the same track selection and even if the tapes were restored to their originally running speed, the difference is not enough for most ears to notice, but it's still a great collection of some of the greatest music of its time, and it summarizes Domino's peaks excellently. So, if you don't already have a Fats Domino collection, this surely is the one to get.