Blue Monday....Fats Domino And The Lost Dawn Of Rock And Roll, A Winner!
It's always nice to have picked a winner.
BluePower wishes to thank Da Capo Press for sending BP a copy of this excellent book. We also would like to thank the writer, Rick Coleman, for his time and effort on our behalf during our visit to New Orleans.
Congratulations to Rick Coleman and Da Capo Press for their prestigious ASCAP Award below:
The Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biography in the pop music field honors Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll, written by Rick Coleman and published by Da Capo Press. This award was established to honor the memory of Billboard Magazine editor Timothy White, who passed away in early 2002. Mr. White was himself a former Deems Taylor recipient, and was the writer of acclaimed biographies of Bob Marley, Brian Wilson, and James Taylor.
__________________________________________________________________
Blue Monday
Fats Domino And The Lost
Dawn Of Rock 'N' Roll
Author: Rick Coleman
Publisher: Da Capo Press
______________________________
As I sat down this morning to write about Blue Monday, I put on a stack of 45s and drifted back in time to when I first heard those wonderful three minute masterpieces of rhythm and blues. To a time before desegregation in the south, a day when this writer was growing up and listening to the music of Fats Domino. I started to smile as I always do when I hear any of Fats' records.
I did not anticipate the results of my reading Blue Monday. The book held my focus by its shear attention to detail. The never ending one-nighters, the problems with musicians, racism and heartache were not what I had in mind when I started on what I thought would be a comfortable journey.
Rick Coleman has done a brilliant job of illuminating Fats Domino's life with all the side stops thrown in for good measure. This is a non-stop, shake 'em up ride of a book. This thoughtfully written piece of history of American music which emanated from the city of New Orleans tells the story of Mr. Domino's rise from a poor, working-class young man to one of America's first black superstars.
What this writer never realized was Fats Domino's relationship to the dissolving of segregation in America. How his music and concerts resulted in the mixing of blacks and whites during a period when segregation was considered the norm in the USA. Mr. Domino's concerts often resulted in riots which were the direct effect of interference by the police and city fathers who would not tolerate their white sons and daughters mixing with blacks. The kids however, could not be stopped. Long before the staunch walls of segregation were torn down, Antoine "Fats" Domino was in the trenches; battling the threats, the hurtful epithets and the thrown bottles, to help black Americans overcome the racial barriers in those tumultuous days prior to the arrival of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Mr. Coleman shows us an accurate picture of how the independent record business came about as a result of the record company entrepreneurs who were exposed to the major talent found in New Orleans. Roy Brown, Little Richard, Shirley and Lee, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, Irma Thomas and dozens of other artists recorded major hits at tiny J&M Studios with genius engineer, Cosimo Matassa. As thousands of boxes of rhythm and blues records were cut, pressed and sold to millions of white teenagers across the USA, the walls of segregation were torn down, song by song.
One such independent record man was Lew Chudd, owner of Imperial Records; Fats Domino's record label for many years. The irascible Mr. Chudd, though short on humor, was long on recognition of talent and marketing acumen, building Imperial into one of America's largest independent record companies which became a starting point for many of New Orleans' finest musicians and artists.
One talented musician in particular was a boon to Mr. Domino's conquest of the record charts. Dave Bartholomew recognized Fats' talent both in the recording studio and on stage. Their association, though turbulent, proved to be very productive as Bartholomew became both co-writer and arranger on many of Fats' biggest hits; taking the backseat in the spotlight of live performances but turning all the right knobs in the studio and eventually becoming head of A&R (Artist and Repertoire) for Imperial Records.
From the riots at Fats' concerts to the promoters he endured, Blue Monday gives a more than complete picture of Fats' life. Snapshots of his troubled family life, the deaths of many of his musicians due to drug abuse, his life on the road while dealing with his own addictions to alcohol and gambling as well as his nerves of steel while performing are all disclosed in Blue Monday.
One can see why it took Rick Coleman twenty years to write Blue Monday. One look at the eight page Bibliography and the thirty pages of notes used as references attests to the authenticity of this biography. Mr. Coleman truly captures the remarkable times, places and people within the pages of Blue Monday....Fats Domino And The Lost Dawn Of Rock And Roll. And yes....Rhythm and Blues truly is the precursor of Rock and Roll.
For anyone who is interested in the history of American Popular Music or simply just reading the great story of a true American hero.... Blue Monday is a "must read".
John Rhys-Eddins/BluePower.com
Edited by: Lori Rhys-Eddins
BluePower wishes to thank Da Capo Press for sending BP a copy of this excellent book. We also would like to thank the writer, Rick Coleman, for his time and effort on our behalf during our visit to New Orleans.
Congratulations to Rick Coleman and Da Capo Press for their prestigious ASCAP Award below:
The Timothy White Award for Outstanding Musical Biography in the pop music field honors Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll, written by Rick Coleman and published by Da Capo Press. This award was established to honor the memory of Billboard Magazine editor Timothy White, who passed away in early 2002. Mr. White was himself a former Deems Taylor recipient, and was the writer of acclaimed biographies of Bob Marley, Brian Wilson, and James Taylor.
__________________________________________________________________
Blue Monday Fats Domino And The Lost
Dawn Of Rock 'N' Roll
Author: Rick Coleman
Publisher: Da Capo Press
______________________________
As I sat down this morning to write about Blue Monday, I put on a stack of 45s and drifted back in time to when I first heard those wonderful three minute masterpieces of rhythm and blues. To a time before desegregation in the south, a day when this writer was growing up and listening to the music of Fats Domino. I started to smile as I always do when I hear any of Fats' records.
I did not anticipate the results of my reading Blue Monday. The book held my focus by its shear attention to detail. The never ending one-nighters, the problems with musicians, racism and heartache were not what I had in mind when I started on what I thought would be a comfortable journey.
Rick Coleman has done a brilliant job of illuminating Fats Domino's life with all the side stops thrown in for good measure. This is a non-stop, shake 'em up ride of a book. This thoughtfully written piece of history of American music which emanated from the city of New Orleans tells the story of Mr. Domino's rise from a poor, working-class young man to one of America's first black superstars.
What this writer never realized was Fats Domino's relationship to the dissolving of segregation in America. How his music and concerts resulted in the mixing of blacks and whites during a period when segregation was considered the norm in the USA. Mr. Domino's concerts often resulted in riots which were the direct effect of interference by the police and city fathers who would not tolerate their white sons and daughters mixing with blacks. The kids however, could not be stopped. Long before the staunch walls of segregation were torn down, Antoine "Fats" Domino was in the trenches; battling the threats, the hurtful epithets and the thrown bottles, to help black Americans overcome the racial barriers in those tumultuous days prior to the arrival of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Mr. Coleman shows us an accurate picture of how the independent record business came about as a result of the record company entrepreneurs who were exposed to the major talent found in New Orleans. Roy Brown, Little Richard, Shirley and Lee, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, Irma Thomas and dozens of other artists recorded major hits at tiny J&M Studios with genius engineer, Cosimo Matassa. As thousands of boxes of rhythm and blues records were cut, pressed and sold to millions of white teenagers across the USA, the walls of segregation were torn down, song by song.
One such independent record man was Lew Chudd, owner of Imperial Records; Fats Domino's record label for many years. The irascible Mr. Chudd, though short on humor, was long on recognition of talent and marketing acumen, building Imperial into one of America's largest independent record companies which became a starting point for many of New Orleans' finest musicians and artists.
One talented musician in particular was a boon to Mr. Domino's conquest of the record charts. Dave Bartholomew recognized Fats' talent both in the recording studio and on stage. Their association, though turbulent, proved to be very productive as Bartholomew became both co-writer and arranger on many of Fats' biggest hits; taking the backseat in the spotlight of live performances but turning all the right knobs in the studio and eventually becoming head of A&R (Artist and Repertoire) for Imperial Records.
From the riots at Fats' concerts to the promoters he endured, Blue Monday gives a more than complete picture of Fats' life. Snapshots of his troubled family life, the deaths of many of his musicians due to drug abuse, his life on the road while dealing with his own addictions to alcohol and gambling as well as his nerves of steel while performing are all disclosed in Blue Monday.
One can see why it took Rick Coleman twenty years to write Blue Monday. One look at the eight page Bibliography and the thirty pages of notes used as references attests to the authenticity of this biography. Mr. Coleman truly captures the remarkable times, places and people within the pages of Blue Monday....Fats Domino And The Lost Dawn Of Rock And Roll. And yes....Rhythm and Blues truly is the precursor of Rock and Roll.
For anyone who is interested in the history of American Popular Music or simply just reading the great story of a true American hero.... Blue Monday is a "must read".
John Rhys-Eddins/BluePower.com
Edited by: Lori Rhys-Eddins
posted by John Rhys at 11/17/2007 01:10:00 PM
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