While many think of Elvis Presley as rock n rolls driving force, the truth is that Fats Domino, whose records have sold more than 100 million copies, was the first to put it on the map with such hits as Aint That a Shame and Blueberry Hill. In Blue Monday, acclaimed R&B scholar Rick Coleman draws on a multitude of new interviews with Fats Domino and many other early musical legends to create a definitive biography of not just an extraordinary man but also a unique time and place: New Orleans at the birth of rock n roll. Colemans groundbreaking research makes for an immense cultural biography, and is the first to convey the full scope of Fats Dominos impact on the popular music of the twentieth century.

About the Author

Rick Coleman has been writing about music for twenty years. His work has appeared in many publications including Rolling Stone and Billboard, and he has written numerous short biographies on musicians, notable in liner notes for artists such as Fats Domino and Little Richard. He lives near New Orleans, Louisiana.

Reviews

Coleman, whose work has appeared in Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Goldmine, has crafted the first comprehensive biography of Fats Domino, drawing on new interviews with the pianist himself. From his childhood in New Orleans through the early days of rock'n'roll, when he endured travel difficulties in the segregated South and frequent riots at his concerts, Fats remained a shy but demanding performer and personality. A homesick father who seemed to cherish his family, Fats was also a hard-drinking womanizer, and Coleman tells his story with compassion and honesty up to Fats's survival of Hurricane Katrina in his Ninth Ward home. His argument that rock'n'roll sprung from Fats and the New Orleans sound is hard to dispute, as Fats was playing long before others now credited with starting the revolution. Despite the occasional slips into fandom, this is an essential purchase for any library collecting the history of rock'n'roll. Highly recommended.-Todd Spires, Bradley Univ. Lib., Peoria, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"(Blue Monday) is not just a masterly biography, boasting rare access to its reclusive subject... but an expansive social and musical history, of how 1950s America spawned rock'n'roll, and how rock'n'roll changed America...Excellent." The Guardian"