AIN’T IT A SHAME
FATS DOMINO
FATS DOMINO
Written by: Domino/Bartholomew
Recorded by: Fats Domino (1955)
Recorded by: Fats Domino (1955)
ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE RECORDED it
under the title ‘Ain’t That A Shame’
(although clean-living Christian
Pat Boone seriously wanted to rename his version
‘Isn’t That A Shame’ as part of his dispiriting
tendency to gentrify the black material he covered).
It was, however, very much a song of New Orleans
where ‘ain’t it a shame’ was a familiar vernacular
phrase. Co-written by Antoine ‘Fats’ Domino
with colleague Dave Bartholomew, the song was
released six years after Domino’s first hit (‘The
Fat Man’) and was to be the first in a chain of
ridiculously simple but utterly irresistible hits from
the easygoing and seemingly indestructible singer/
pianist. He was born in New Orleans in 1928
and enjoyed a long life despite the obesity that, at
least in part, reflected his fondness for Louisiana’s
formidable cuisine. In 2005 he was feared lost
in Hurricane Katrina, but although his house
and possessions fell victim to the elements and
looting, The Fat Man endured, characteristically
thankful for his good fortune. If Elvis Presley was
smouldering, Chuck Berry edgy, Little Richard
under the title ‘Ain’t That A Shame’
(although clean-living Christian
Pat Boone seriously wanted to rename his version
‘Isn’t That A Shame’ as part of his dispiriting
tendency to gentrify the black material he covered).
It was, however, very much a song of New Orleans
where ‘ain’t it a shame’ was a familiar vernacular
phrase. Co-written by Antoine ‘Fats’ Domino
with colleague Dave Bartholomew, the song was
released six years after Domino’s first hit (‘The
Fat Man’) and was to be the first in a chain of
ridiculously simple but utterly irresistible hits from
the easygoing and seemingly indestructible singer/
pianist. He was born in New Orleans in 1928
and enjoyed a long life despite the obesity that, at
least in part, reflected his fondness for Louisiana’s
formidable cuisine. In 2005 he was feared lost
in Hurricane Katrina, but although his house
and possessions fell victim to the elements and
looting, The Fat Man endured, characteristically
thankful for his good fortune. If Elvis Presley was
smouldering, Chuck Berry edgy, Little Richard
wild and Jerry Lee Lewis frankly unhinged, Fats
Domino was the good-time boogie-woogie piano
player who sang with a winning French-Creole
accent and put nothing but uncomplicated fun
into rock ’n’ roll. John Lennon said that ‘Ain’t It
A Shame’ had… ‘a lot of memories for me. My
mother taught me to play banjo… this is the first
song I ever learned’. Lennon included it on his
1975 Rock ’n’ Roll album while Paul McCartney
put his own version on the 1991 album Tripping
The Live Fantastic. George Harrison had fallen
under the spell of Domino when he was just 13
although the record that hooked him was from
1956: ‘I’m In Love Again’. Thirty years later
the amiable Domino, along with Cajun fiddler
Doug Kershaw, recorded a TV jingle for the
Louisiana-themed Popeye’s fast food chain. It was
based on Sidney Simien’s novelty hit ‘My Toot
Toot’ the original of which the duo subsequently
recorded with some success although by this time
Domino’s appearances were mainly limited to
playing his old hits at rock ’n’ roll revival shows.
Domino was the good-time boogie-woogie piano
player who sang with a winning French-Creole
accent and put nothing but uncomplicated fun
into rock ’n’ roll. John Lennon said that ‘Ain’t It
A Shame’ had… ‘a lot of memories for me. My
mother taught me to play banjo… this is the first
song I ever learned’. Lennon included it on his
1975 Rock ’n’ Roll album while Paul McCartney
put his own version on the 1991 album Tripping
The Live Fantastic. George Harrison had fallen
under the spell of Domino when he was just 13
although the record that hooked him was from
1956: ‘I’m In Love Again’. Thirty years later
the amiable Domino, along with Cajun fiddler
Doug Kershaw, recorded a TV jingle for the
Louisiana-themed Popeye’s fast food chain. It was
based on Sidney Simien’s novelty hit ‘My Toot
Toot’ the original of which the duo subsequently
recorded with some success although by this time
Domino’s appearances were mainly limited to
playing his old hits at rock ’n’ roll revival shows.
Fats Domino
John Lennon and George Harrison were diehardFats Domino fans from the start. Paul
McCartney loved his records too and intended
‘Lady Madonna’to be a nod to Domino’s piano
style. Domino himself eventually recorded
McCartney’s song.