R.I.P Fats Domino

[adap2it]

The early stuff (his first 15 singles or so) is just a wonderful blueprint for r'n'b, rock'n'roll and the particularly New Orleans take on that stuff.

I was really into sax in those days and Herb Hardesty had what I wanted to hear.

[mogrooves]

RIP smooth swampster....

[GuitarGeek]

^Boone was fine on ballads- I think he always was a crooner in the first place- but on songs like that and 'Tutti Frutti' (with changed lyrics), cringeworthy doesn't cover it. Little Richard made similar comments...the young white audience got to eventually hear his and preferred it.

The thing about Pat was, he was supposed to be "sanitizing" these supposedly "filthy" rock n roll songs. I think that was part of the idea of having these white performers who had nothing to do with rock n roll doing rock n roll songs, ie to "clean them up for mainstream consumption" (or something like that). So no matter what, he wasn't gonna be able to do a good job with it. These songs are meant to be perform "low down and dirty", know what I mean, mate? You're not supposed to be worried about what parents, church officials, etc think of it.

Now, when Pat did that big band album of metal covers back in the late 90's, I did the exact opposite. He just sort of cut loose and unleashed his inner rocker and went for it. He sings the song with the swagger they demand, and the arrangements used were raucous enough that there was no hint of "watering down" or "cleaning up" the music. Sure, I'm not gonna choose Pat's version of You Got Another Thing Comin' over the Priest original, but I still think he pulled it of without sounding like he was trying to appease his producer or some turkey at the record company (which I think he even admitted in the 50's was the case with his recordings of Long Tall Sally, Ain't That A Shame, etc, that his producer chose the songs and he had no veto power).

And, as I recall, that record got him in trouble with the radio stations that were broadcasting his Christian music radio show. He got dropped by a bunch of them, all because of the whole In A Heavy Metal Mood trip. If you can piss off people doing something like that, then you're doing it right.

[ronmac]

On Fats Domino's Left Hand

From the incomparable Charles Pierce

[adap2it]

The thing about Pat was, he was supposed to be "sanitizing" these supposedly "filthy" rock n roll songs. I think that was part of the idea of having these white performers who had nothing to do with rock n roll doing rock n roll songs, ie to "clean them up for mainstream consumption" (or something like that). So no matter what, he wasn't gonna be able to do a good job with it. These songs are meant to be perform "low down and dirty", know what I mean, mate? You're not supposed to be worried about what parents, church officials, etc think of it.

Now, when Pat did that big band album of metal covers back in the late 90's, I did the exact opposite. He just sort of cut loose and unleashed his inner rocker and went for it. He sings the song with the swagger they demand, and the arrangements used were raucous enough that there was no hint of "watering down" or "cleaning up" the music. Sure, I'm not gonna choose Pat's version of You Got Another Thing Comin' over the Priest original, but I still think he pulled it of without sounding like he was trying to appease his producer or some turkey at the record company (which I think he even admitted in the 50's was the case with his recordings of Long Tall Sally, Ain't That A Shame, etc, that his producer chose the songs and he had no veto power).

And, as I recall, that record got him in trouble with the radio stations that were broadcasting his Christian music radio show. He got dropped by a bunch of them, all because of the whole In A Heavy Metal Mood trip. If you can piss off people doing something like that, then you're doing it right.

I'm sorry but I don't see the need for a political or racist slant to this thread. Growing up in the UK, we were not exposed to this side of the music industry, and better off not knowing. We worshiped American artists regardless and race never entered our heads. I'm sure that black artists didn't care either as long as they got their credit and financial rewards for covered songs. Fats Domino was Fats Domino, no one else like him, Pat Boone was just another American doing rock songs that we bought into.

[ronmac]

I'm sure that black artists didn't care either as long as they got their credit and financial rewards for covered songs.

Seriously? It's nice that you were sheltered from it. And that comment proves it.

I saw nothing racist in his post. It is historical fact.

[GuitarGeek]

I have a 4CD Fats Domino Boxset THEY CALL ME THE FAT MAN Got pretty well everything from the 40's to the 60's.

Is that the one on Capitol? I'm looking buying that one later this week.

[GuitarGeek]

I'm sorry but I don't see the need for a political or racist slant to this thread.

Well, then blame whoever it was who brought up Pat Boone. You might like it, but Boone and others liked him recorded watered down versions of early rock n roll songs. That's a fact. And it's also a fact, the reason their versions were done that way was because the original rendition was considered "too raucous" or "too vulgar" by the powers that be. Whether you want to see that as racist is your business, but that's the way it was.

There was a lot of talk back in the 50's about rock n roll corrupting the youth of America (actually, I guess, that wasn't just relegated to the 50's, that kind of dren was still going on in the 80's). There's lots of newsreel footage of law officials, preachers, etc commentating on the matter, trying to have rock n roll banned. Trust me, Footloose wasn't just a movie, there were people who really wanted rock n roll music and everything associated with it banned.

We worshiped American artists regardless and race never entered our heads.

The frell does that have to do with anything? You make it sound like I'm making stuff up, but everything I said is true. It's a historical fact. Period. You mean you never noticed how tame Pat Boone's versions of selections from the Fats Domino and Little Richard catalogs in comparison to the respective originals? You think that happened by accident? No, sir it didn't.

(Oh and this wasn't entirely about race: crooners and other representatives of the pre-rock n roll era were still watering rock n roll songs into the 70's. Frankie Randall crooned his way through The Who's I Can See For Miles, and Tennessee Ernie Ford trampled all over Let It Be. The results can be heard on Youtube, but be warned: in the words of Phil Lynott, "it ain't pretty").

I'm sure that black artists didn't care either as long as they got their credit and financial rewards for covered songs.

That assumes they actually got any financial benefits. Back in those days, it was common place for musicians, regardless of race, to get ripped off by record company executives, managers, etc. If Fats actually got any money out of Pat Boone hacking his way through Ain't That A Shame, then he was probably one of the lucky few. I remember Frankie Banali, Quiet Riot's drummer, talking about the bad record contract they signed in the early 80's (!), jokingly suggesting that "there are blues musicians laughing at us!".

[notallwhowander]

The original rockers are leaving the building.

R.I.P. Fats Domino

Thanks for all the great music.

[ronmac]

So, who's still left, aside from Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis?

[adap2it]

Hey guys, I'm trying to watch the World Series & the Steelers game! Fats is gone and hopefully all the wheeling and dealing is a part of musical history.