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| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Tim Hauser Publisher: Chronicle Books |
From the very beginning of “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll,” readers will know that
this book is not one of those hollowed out rock biographies that the book industry is so fond of churning out simply
because of the fact that it will rake in a large amount of money. Author Rick Coleman starts us out by setting the
stage in the book by saying:
“X-ray America and you'll find the major artery, the magnificent Mississippi River coursing down the continent to New
Orleans. ... With a true melting pot of French, African, Native American, German, Spanish, and Caribbean
inhabitants, New Orleans became the heart that pumped a very different cultural message upstream against the
overwhelming White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant current in America.”
Coleman covers the history of New Orleans as it relates to music lightly but still fairly thoroughly. In just a few short
pages, he creates the environment that would eventually give birth to rock 'n' roll.
On a certain level, “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’ Roll” is as much a biography of New
Orleans rock 'n' roll as it is of Antoine "Fats" Domino. That really only makes sense because of the fact that the two
are so closely linked that, after the devastating hurricane of 2005, one of the things that those who watched
Hurricane Katrina on CNN remember was seeing 77 year old Fats Domino rescued from his Lower Ninth Ward home.
In the prologue to “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n; Roll,” Coleman comments on this fact
as well by saying:
“His story indicated another perceptual disconnect. Though he had rarely sought publicity, the Katrina story was the
most national attention that Fats had received in years, shocking even old fans who didn't even know he was still
alive. Though he had been the best-selling early rock 'n' roll star after Elvis Presley... Domino had been all but
forgotten.”
Fats Domino had never been forgotten by Coleman, who first met him two decades before Hurricane Katrina
occurred, at an outdoor concert on Lake Ponchartrain. The two had an instant connection and two months later
Coleman was able to get his first private audience when he interviewed Domino at the star's home where, as
Coleman puts it, “the thick spicy aroma of Creole food was strong as I walked into his modest kitchen."
Unsurprisingly, that first interview laid the groundwork for “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’
Roll,” an intimate and affectionate yet completely honest portrait of this influential talent. Coleman leads readers
through Domino's turbulent life: the "emphatic rhythm" he brought to pop; the racism that he dodged especially the
early part of his career; his battles with substances and the perils of being a star right through to the modern rock
stars who have admired and even emulated the big man. “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn od Rock ‘n’
Roll” is a fascinating story of a fascinating life and, the first biography of Fats Domino to see print.
this book is not one of those hollowed out rock biographies that the book industry is so fond of churning out simply
because of the fact that it will rake in a large amount of money. Author Rick Coleman starts us out by setting the
stage in the book by saying:
“X-ray America and you'll find the major artery, the magnificent Mississippi River coursing down the continent to New
Orleans. ... With a true melting pot of French, African, Native American, German, Spanish, and Caribbean
inhabitants, New Orleans became the heart that pumped a very different cultural message upstream against the
overwhelming White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant current in America.”
Coleman covers the history of New Orleans as it relates to music lightly but still fairly thoroughly. In just a few short
pages, he creates the environment that would eventually give birth to rock 'n' roll.
On a certain level, “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’ Roll” is as much a biography of New
Orleans rock 'n' roll as it is of Antoine "Fats" Domino. That really only makes sense because of the fact that the two
are so closely linked that, after the devastating hurricane of 2005, one of the things that those who watched
Hurricane Katrina on CNN remember was seeing 77 year old Fats Domino rescued from his Lower Ninth Ward home.
In the prologue to “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n; Roll,” Coleman comments on this fact
as well by saying:
“His story indicated another perceptual disconnect. Though he had rarely sought publicity, the Katrina story was the
most national attention that Fats had received in years, shocking even old fans who didn't even know he was still
alive. Though he had been the best-selling early rock 'n' roll star after Elvis Presley... Domino had been all but
forgotten.”
Fats Domino had never been forgotten by Coleman, who first met him two decades before Hurricane Katrina
occurred, at an outdoor concert on Lake Ponchartrain. The two had an instant connection and two months later
Coleman was able to get his first private audience when he interviewed Domino at the star's home where, as
Coleman puts it, “the thick spicy aroma of Creole food was strong as I walked into his modest kitchen."
Unsurprisingly, that first interview laid the groundwork for “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’
Roll,” an intimate and affectionate yet completely honest portrait of this influential talent. Coleman leads readers
through Domino's turbulent life: the "emphatic rhythm" he brought to pop; the racism that he dodged especially the
early part of his career; his battles with substances and the perils of being a star right through to the modern rock
stars who have admired and even emulated the big man. “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn od Rock ‘n’
Roll” is a fascinating story of a fascinating life and, the first biography of Fats Domino to see print.
