Recognize That Sound

Song 383: This week on the playlist you can find I Hear You Knocking by Fats Domino, written by Dave Bartholomew, and you can find a YouTube video of it here. This week's playlist pick pays tribute to another 1950s RnR icon who died recently, in late October. Up to and through my HS years I knew almost nothing about the 1950s rockers, believing that the Fab 4 had invented the form. Not long after I began my college career, the early 1970s brought a revival of that first generation music, including this cut, which got my attention. While I soon came to understand how Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and others had figured into the picture, I didn't know how big a role Fats had played until near the end of the decade, when my Oakland housemate Doug filled me in on Mr. Domino, thereby vastly increasing my appreciation of his contributions. On a strange side note, I only learned today that Fats had lived in New Orleans at the time Hurricane Katrina hit back in August of 2005, and, as I'm currently working on a studio version of Blackwater Boys, I now realize that he may have been one of those I was addressing when I wrote about when that rising water came so fast you couldn't get away you climbed up on your roof and then you had to wait. You can check out a rough cut YouTube video of Blackwater Boys just by clicking on the title. Fats died on October 24 from natural causes at the age of 89, and may his musical soul rest in peace, knowing he left behind a generous helping of his creativity.