As one might expect there will be a plethora of shallow obituaries and a flurry of mediocre books but the best sources and likely to remain so are Rick Coleman’s Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Joseph Lauro’s The Big Beat: The Story of Fats Domino and His Band (available on…
boogie woogieCosimo MatassaDave BartholomewFats Dominorock ‘n roll
WWOZ have just launched a website A Closer Walk to “highlight, contextualize and advocate” for the future of these locales. It’s a bit late in the day for this: such a damn shame that so much has already been destroyed. Here are some of the locales that are meaningful to me. Cosimo MatassaErnie K-DoeFats DominoJazzkarnofskyLouis…
To commemorate the birth of Cosimo Matassa here is a newly launched website with everything you wanted to know about the legend and much more. Very nicely done indeed. Unsurprisingly, there is a vital UK connection in cracking the cataloging code and reconstituting the library of recordings, i.e. the obsessive need to track down obscure US records…
Born on this day — a most radical and brave pioneer. Little Richard told Blackwell he preferred the sound of Fats Domino. As a result, Little Richard began recording at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios in New Orleans that September, recording there with several of Domino’s session musicians, including drummer Earl Palmer and saxophonist Lee Allen.[39]…
It is often claimed that the Bartholomew/Domino song “The Fat Man” was the first or one of the first rock ‘n roll records. Whatever, it was recorded on this date 66 years ago at the legendary J&M Studio. What I didn’t know is that it’s a variation on “Junker’s Blues” which in turn apparently morphed into “Junco Partner”.…
This just published in OffBeat He’s the original King of Rock ’n’ Roll. What else can you say? boogie woogieCosimo MatassaDave BartholomewDavis RoganEllis MarsalisFats DominoHenry Butlerjon clearynew orleansrick colemanrock and roll
Good to see that Fats and Dave were able to attend this showing as per my last post. Here are some lovely shots of the three maestros, Dave ever irrepressible; Fats the quiet one. The best extended research on Fats and Dave is in the excellent book Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of…
Glad to hear that this documentary has come to full fruition. Below is the blurb from the film’s Kickstarter page. The early years (1949-62) of the Fats Domino / Dave Bartholomew collaboration and its roots in the culture and music of New Orleans. ….On the day in 1948 the unlikely paths of Antoine “Fats” Domino…
From offBeat and Keith Spera. Mr. Matassa helped facilitate the role of New Orleans in the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. He opened his first studio, J&M Recording, in 1945 in the back of his family’s record and appliance store at the corner of North Rampart and Dumaine streets in the French Quarter. Its pedigree is…
manwithoutqualities 