THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

617-Fats Domino-The Fat Man.

1949-It has never charted in the UK. There was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 1.08. There are a number of songs in this countdown which can claim to be the first ever ‘proper’ ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ record, but this one may have the best claim, as it was recorded in 1949, even so the term ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ hadn’t even been invented then.

Fats Domino (see also best songs 272) was born Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. on February 26th, 1928, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, he died of natural causes, on October 24th, 2017, at the age of 89. It has been said that Fats Domino’s humility and shyness, is the reason why his contribution to ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ has been to a point overlooked, with the Beatles, stating they were influenced by him, and Elvis Presley (1935-1977) saying that he was a ‘Huge influence on me when I started out,’ and when they first met in 1959, Presley described him as, ‘The real king of Rock ‘N Roll.’ Fats Domino began learning his trade, and performing in New Orleans bars at the age of 14, then in 1947 the New Orleans bandleader Billy Diamond, (1916-2011) after hearing Domino perform at a backyard barbecue, hired him to play the piano in his band for $3 a week. It was Diamond who nicknamed him ‘Fats,’ because Domino reminded him of the pianists Fats Waller (1904-1943) (see also best songs 412) and Fats Pichon, (1906-1967) but also because of his large appetite. Fats Domino signed to ‘Imperial Records’ in 1949, and would go on to record in excess of 60 singles for the label, and although he never had a Billboard Number 1 single, five of his singles went on to sell in excess of one million copies, including ‘The Fat Man.’ Fats Domino was among the first ‘R&B’ artists to gain popularity with white audiences, with both black and white youths attending his concerts wherever it was permitted, and their shared appreciation of his music, was said to be a factor in the breakdown of racial segregation in the United States. The music of Fats Domino was popular in Jamaica, where New Orleans radio stations signals could sometimes be heard, and this has been cited as a seminal influence on what would later emerge as ‘Ska’ and ‘Reggae’ music.

‘The Fat Man’ was co-written by Fats Domino, and his long term collaborator Dave Bartholomew, (1918-2019) and was released in December 1949 as the ‘B’ side to Fats Domino’s debut single, ‘Detroit City Blues,’ which was also his first release on ‘Imperial Records,’ The melody to ‘The Fat Man’ is a variation on the traditional New Orleans tune ‘Junker Blues,’ which also provided the melody for the Lloyd Price (1933-2021) song ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy,’ from 1952, which was produced by Bartholomew, and had Fats Domino playing the piano on it. ‘The Fat Man’ is semi autobiographical, and finds Fats Domino standing on the corner of Rampart and Canal Street in New Orleans, watching the Creole girls go by, but he decides to leave because,’Women and a bad life’ are ‘Carrying this soul away.’

Dave Bartholomew was born Davis Bartholomew, on December 24th, 1918, in Edgard, Louisiana, United States, he died of heart failure, on June 23rd, 2019, at the age of 100. Bartholomew started his music career as a trumpet player, becoming active in many musical genres, including ‘Rhythm and Blues,’ ‘Big Band,’ Swing,’ and ‘Rock ‘N Roll.’ On his induction into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ in 1991, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from ‘Jump Blues,’ and ‘Swing,’ to ‘R&B,’ and as ‘One of the Crescent City’s greatest musicians, and a true pioneer in the Rock and Roll revolution.’ Bartholomew, who was also a musical arranger, producer, and bandleader, composed, or co-composed many well known songs of the 1950’s, including his co-write of ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ with Fats Domino, which when covered by Pat Boone, reached Number 1 on Billboard in 1955. Dave Bartholomew is also responsible for writing three UK Number 1 singles. In 1970 Dave Edmunds covered ‘I Hear You Knocking,’ in 1972 Chuck Berry (1926-2017) covered ‘My Ding-a-Ling,’ and Elvis Presley (1935-1977) covered ‘One Night,’ which was Number 1 in 1958, and then when re-issued in 2005, it became a UK Number 1 for a second time, as well as becoming the 1000th UK Number 1 single, since that charts inception in 1952.

‘They call, they call me the fat man, ’cause I weight two hundred pounds. All the girls they love me, ’cause I know my way around. I was standin’, I was standin’ on the corner of Rampart and Canal, I was watchin,’ watchin,’ watchin’ all these creole gals.’