The Fat Man (song)

"The Fat Man" is a rhythm and blues song by Fats Domino, considered to be one of the first rock and roll records.

The record was recorded for Imperial Records in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio on Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, 10 December, 1949. Imperial's Lew Chudd has previously asked Dave Bartholomew to show him some locally popular talent, and was most impressed with Fats Domino, then playing at a working class dive in the 9th Ward of New Orleans.

Domino sang and played piano, along with Earl Palmer on drums, Frank Fields on string bass, Ernest McLean on guitar, and sax players Herbert Hardesty, Clarence Hall, Joe Harris, and Alvin "Red" Tyler.

The tune is a variation on the traditional New Orleans tune, "Junker's Blues" number by Drive'em Down, which also provided the melody for Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", and Professor Longhair's "Tipitina". "The Fat Man" features Domino's piano with a distinct back beat that dominates both the lead and the rhythm section. Earl Palmer said it was the first time a drummer played nothing but back beat for recording, which he said he derived from a Dixieland "out chorus". Domino also scats a pair of choruses in a distinctive wah-wah falsetto, creating a variation on the lead similar to a muted Dixieland trumpet.

: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

The lyrics refer to watching Creole women at the intersection of Rampart Street and Canal Street, which at the time were the business centers of the city's African American and Caucasian population respectively.

The record saw limited release a few weeks later, and was a local hit in New Orleans for Christmas 1949. It was Domino's debut single, the B-Side being "Detroit City Blues". Imperial advertising claimed it sold 10,000 copies in New Orleans in 10 days, and the record became a national hit in late January 1950.

References

* "Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'N' Roll", by Rick Coleman, Da Cappo, 2006