LITTLE RICHARD
uproxx.com Interview Tell me your first memory of ever hearing Fats Domino’s music.

    Oh, I love…When I was a boy in Macon, Georgia, Fats used to come here. He was managed by a guy I can’t quite recall, but he used to play at a club in Macon. I didn’t have the money to go see him, so I used to try and sneak in because I loved him. I loved his piano playing. I love his music, period.

    What was special and unique about his piano playing?

    Well, he was just a little, short guy with little, biddy hands, and he could make a piano talk. He could play anything. He’s not just a banger. He could really play for real, you know?

    How did he influence you as a piano player and as a singer?

    He influenced me as an entertainer, period. I loved him. I loved his kids, his wife, I loved all of them. He was a good man. We were just real close friends, real close. His daughter would call me every weekend. I would talk to Fats and he would say he wanted to cook dinner for me. He wanted to cook gumbo.

    What songs of his were your favorite?

    I loved all of his songs. I used to like “The Fat Man,” “Goin’ Home,” “Blueberry Hill.” I loved all of Fats’ songs. I don’t know nothin’ he made that I didn’t like.

BURTON CUMMINGS
Burton's Facebook Page Strange feeling...mixture of shock and a vague numbness. I knew he was old, and none of us lives forever, but still, hearing of his death almost felt surreal. Of all the thousands of recording artists I have admired and idolized throughout my life, I think I would rate Fats Domino as my all time number one favourite. Even over the Beatles and that is really saying something for someone my age. As a small boy I recall vividly the explosion when Elvis hit the world. I also recall vividly the impact that Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis had on the general public. I was also keenly aware of how both Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby had affected the entire world. But for me personally, there was never anything to equal Fats Domino. There was something in his voice that deeply touched me. It was almost as though his voice smiled. He was so much more than just Blueberry Hill. As a young, sheltered white boy in the wheatfields of Manitoba I found Fats' Louisiana drawl to be almost another language. And he was always surrounded by some of the greatest musicians in the world. To my young musically hungry brain the players on his records seemed to be from another dimension entirely. The sax solos on some of those records, although entirely improvised were beyond just tasty...they were other worldly. The swing and flow of the records took me away every time to a special, magical place. And as I said earlier his voice seemed to be smiling.

When I was 15 or 16 in the Deverons I saw Fats Domino and his band live in the old Winnipeg auditorium. It was something I shall never, ever forget. When they did "The Saints" his horn players came down off the stage and still wailing, marched up one aisle to the back of the auditorium, through the lobby, and back in down the other aisle and back up onto the stage. It was mesmerizing , thrilling, captivating and none of us had ever seen anything like it. The whole time they kept playing never missing a beat. At one point during that show Fats, who was not really that tall, stood up and bounced the grand piano right across the entire stage with the front of his thighs, never missing a note on the keyboard, pounding it the whole time. It was a show the likes of which Winnipeg had never seen. This was still the early 60's.

Whenever one of his records would come on the radio I would stop whatever I was doing, transfixed, and almost hypnotized. It is literally impossible to put into words the affect this incredible man has had and will always have on my spirit and soul.

When the single Country Boy first came out, I was just learning to play sax. I took at least two weeks to learn the two sax solos on that record, note by note, phrase for phrase. I was immensely proud of myself when I finally mastered them. He was so much more than Blueberry Hill. Time after time I would plunk down 98 cents when one of his singles came out. I bought Blueberry Hill, Walkin' To New Orleans, Shu Rah, I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Some Day, Be My Guest, Three Nights a Week, Ain't That A Shame, I'm Walkin', I'm In Love Again, Blue Monday, Jambalaya, I've Been Around, to mention only some. I even went so far as to record Ain't That Just Like A Woman on the Bachman/Cummings Album Jukebox. I harboured the fantasy of playing it for him one day in person. Praying to the music gods that he would like it. I tried my best to emulate all his voice phrases as best I could. Sadly, I never got to meet the man. Something I will always regret. Perhaps if I had just simply gone to New Orleans I could have arranged a meeting.

The world has lost one of its greatest musical innovators and stylists. There will never again be anything like Mr. Fats Domino. A small piece of my soul has gone with him and forever I feel there will be a small part of my spirit missing. Words fail me what this man meant to me and my musical life.

Fats, wherever your spirit journeys now that place is better for your presence. Thankfully, your records will live on forever.

Fats I salute you with all my energy and all of my soul. You will be with me for the rest of my days on earth.