[Last
month I got to return to my
favorite American city for the 2025 MLA Convention.
So for this year’s Valentine’s Day series I’ll be offering some love letters to
what makes New Orleans so unique, leading up to a special tribute post this
weekend!]
On a few
iconic moments in the career of the legendary New Orleans rock ‘n roller.
1)
“The Fat Man”: Domino’s first hit under his
debut recording contract with Lew Chudd’s Imperial Records,
co-written with his frequent producer and collaborator (and an influential
artist in his own right) Dave Bartholomew and recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M
Recording Studios on Rampart Street, wasn’t just the first rock record to
sell a million copies (although it did hit that
groundbreaking number by 1951). It also embodies rock’s profoundly
cross-cultural origins, on so many levels: from Domino’s own French Creole
heritage (his first language was Louisiana Creole) to Matassa’s
multi-generational Italian American New Orleans legacy, from Chudd’s childhood
in Toronto and Harlem as the son of Russian Jewish immigrants to African
American artist Bartholomew’s time in the US Army Ground Forces Band (an
integrated band despite the army’s segregation in the era) during WWII. It took
all those individuals and all those legacies to make “Fat Man” and get American
rock music rolling.
2)
“The King”: Over the next couple decades
Domino would record many more hit records and albums, with “Ain’t That a Shame” (1955)
and “Blueberry
Hill” (1956) the two biggest smashes. A February
1957 Ebony magazine feature
dubbed him (on the cover no less) the “King of Rock ‘n Roll.” But it was an
offhand line from another “King,” more than a decade later, that most potently
reflects Domino’s status and influence. On July
31, 1969, Domino attended Elvis Presley’s first concert at the Las Vegas
International Hotel; during a post-concert press conference, a reporter
referred to Presley as “The King,” and he responded by pointing at Domino and
noting, “No, that’s the real king of rock and roll.” At the same event Elvis took
an iconic picture with Domino, calling him “one of my
influences from way back.” I’ll have a bit more to say about Elvis and his
influence in a couple days; but regardless of any other factors, this
recognition for Domino from one of the most famous American rockers in history
illustrates just how iconic Fats was within (and beyond) the industry.
3)
Katrina: Domino was known to be one of the
most humble and grounded rock stars, and he and his wife Rosemary continued to
live in their home in
New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward throughout the late 20th century
and into the first decade of the 21st. Because of Rosemary’s ailing
health they did not evacuate in the days before Hurricane Katrina hit the city,
and in the storm’s chaotic aftermath their home was flooded and Domino and
Rosemary were feared dead for a couple long days. But it turned out
they had been rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter, and in 2006 and 2007 Domino
made triumphant returns to the city and the music world: first with his 2006 album
Alive and Kickin’, the proceeds from which benefitted
Tipitina’s Foundation; and then with his last public performance (and first in
many years), a legendary May 19,
2007 concert at Tipitina’s. If there had been any doubt that Domino
represented New Orleans just as much and as well as he does rock ‘n roll, these
culminating iconic moments laid them forever to rest.
Last love
letter tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Cities you’d love on?
