Fats Domino will always be one of my early 1950's rock and roll favorites. "I'm Walking" was and is still one of my all time favorite R&R songs. Even his first song in 1949, "The Fat Man" gets me charged.
It was in the late 1960's my first wife and I got to see him in person at the old Star Dust in Las Vegas. Because being a big fan, I talked my way, some how, to a stage side table jus off left center so I could see my R&R hero up close.
After they introduced him, he would come out pushing his piano while playing until he was in place center stage. That took some talent to push the piano with his stomach, play, and walk and sing.
During the first set the lady at the table beside us introduced herself as Fats' girlfriend. Her name was Rene Baker and why I remember her name is beyond me. She could tell from my enthusiasm, I was really enjoying him. She asked me after the second set if we would like to meet him. During the intermission, we went out to the lobby and waited and waited some more. No Fats!
The third and last set, he never made it on stage period. It was nerve racking listening to his band go through the warm up music, looking off stage and not seeing him coming out. They finally announced that he had a sore throat. I later learned that Fats Domino was allegedly a drug addict and probably gotten high. Who knows. It was still a night to remember and by just coming close to meeting one of my all time favorite R&R kings.
A footnote---- I read years later that when the Mob controlled Las Vegas, during that period, they would get entertainers like Fats Domino in poker games that were rigged and cheat them out of their entertainment fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment