The Domino Effect: Fats Domino and Rock 'n' Roll

Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. was a pianist and songwriter from New Orleans, known for the “boogie-woogie” spin he put on the Rhythm and Blues songs he performed and recorded. His touch appealed to Black and white record buyers alike, helping popularize what would become known as Rock ’n’ Roll.

Domino recorded first big crossover hit, “Ain’t That a Shame,” on March 15, 1955 — 70 years ago Saturday.

A Legendary Rock 'n' Roll Pioneer

Fats Domino once laughed off suggestions that he had played a role in the birth of Rock and Roll. “What they call Rock and Roll is Rhythm and Blues” he said, “and I’ve been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans.”

Yet, he was one of the Founding Fathers of modern pop music. When the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame was established in 1986, his was one of the first names proposed to be enshrined there.

Domino was born in 1928 in New Orleans’ famed Ninth Ward at a time when that part of the city was mostly unpaved roads, small farms and no electricity. In 1949, the head of Imperial Records came across him in a small bar playing piano for $3 a week and signed him to a recording contract.

Right away, Domino went to work writing songs with the leader of the band he had been playing with, Dave Bartholomew. Domino had never learned how to write musical notation, so he bought a cheap tape recorder and would record his music on tape. “Then I‘ve got it so I can talk to Dave about it,” Domino said.

Their very first single, the semi-autobiographical “The Fat Man,” was a Top-10 hit on the Rhythm and Blues chart. He and Bartholomew followed that with more hits.

It wasn’t long before Domino developed a rarity at the time: A multiracial following. As a R&B artist, he had collected plenty of Black fans. But his style of playing and singing also appealed to radio disc jockeys who spun his records for white audiences. This, in turn, brought his new white fans to his shows.

“Ain’t That a Shame” was Domino’s first appearance on Billboard’s singles chart. He’d follow that with a number of other hits — most notably, perhaps, “Blueberry Hill” in 1956.

Domino was, indeed, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one if its first inductees. Four of his songs have been named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Domino retired from touring in 1995, determined to never again leave New Orleans. But then his home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

He died at his new home in Harvey, Louisiana, on Oct. 24, 2017. He was 89.

Peak On The R&B Singles Chart

Peak On Billboard's Singles Charts

The Making of 'Ain't That A Shame'

Domino wrote many of his songs with arranger and producer Dave Bartholomew. They both knew that to find success with white radio disc jockeys, a song had to have a powerful “hook” — something memorable and quotable.

Domino’s genius with this composition was to place the hook — typically repeated in the chorus — at the very front of the song: “You made” ... BOMP! BOMP! ... “me cry” ... BOMP! BOMP! ... “when you said” ... BOMP! BOMP! ... “goodbye”...

The song was recorded not in Domino’s usual studio in New Orleans, but in a Hollywood music studio during a break in a concert tour that had brought Domino to Los Angeles’ popular 5-4 Ballroom.

His label, Imperial Records, tweaked the recording just a bit before they released it, compressing the sound and speeding up Domino’s vocal just a bit to make him sound a bit younger and a bit less bluesy.

They also erred on the title of the single as printed on the label: “Ain’t It a Shame.”

Back then, it was common for white musicians to record less bluesy versions of R&B hits. Just days after Domino’s single was released, Pat Boone released a version. Boone had reportedly begged his producer to use better grammar and change the title to “Isn’t That a Shame.”

Domino’s single would sell more than a million copies and would become his first Top 10 hit on the Billboard pop chart. But Boone’s version would spend two weeks at No. 1. Domino said at first he felt hurt by Boone’s version but the hurt went away when the songwriting royalty checks began rolling in.

“Ain’t That a Shame” would also be recorded by the Four Seasons in 1963, Hank Williams Jr. in 1971, John Lennon in 1975 and Cheap Trick in 1978.