I was eating some pasta and I heard one of my favorite songs on the radio in the background, “Blue Monday” by Fats Domino. There have been lots of different versions cut by other artists (Ronnie Lane and Bob Seger come to mind) that are really good but, I like Fats’ the best. That is a sign of a well-written song, if two very different singers can do it and it does not lose impact. I have always thought of Fats Domino as a stylist, and if somebody else does the song they usually try to assimilate some of his style, but it still holds up.
Early rock and roll had a lot of stylists. I have always found it interesting that all of these unique musicians had at least one other player that was equally stylistic playing on their records. Fats Domino and Little Richard had Earl Palmer on drums. Chuck Berry had Johnnie Johnson on piano. Jerry Lee Lewis had Roland Janes on guitar. Elvis had Scotty Moore.
It is not coincidence. It takes a musician as talented as Earl Palmer to recognize what is different and special about Fats or Little Richard and realize how best to accompany them so that what is special becomes apparent to the world. It’s always a team effort and it wasn’t just the players mentioned that deserve some credit, there was a very high level of musicianship all around on those records.
While I’m thinking about it I got to tell a funny story about Johnnie Johnson.
Johnnie played with Chuck Berry but before that, Chuck Berry played with Johnnie Johnson. Johnnie went unnoticed for a long time but he started to get some long overdue recognition in his later years. He was a wonderful piano player.
Anyway, Johnnie was in town for a couple of days to play on a Bel-Airs record that was recorded at Lou Whtney’s studio. Lou says that Johnnie carried a briefcase with him everywhere. If they went to eat, he grabbed the briefcase. When he was playing, the briefcase was by the piano bench. So, Lou is wondering “what’s in the case?” Is it cash, or a gun? The two were alone in the control room and Lou finally just asks him. Johnnie opens up the case and inside were, two Mars bars, a bottle of Crown Royal, and a National Enquirer. Now, that’s a guy that’s ready for anything.
Related posts
Tags: Earl Palmer, Johnnie Johnson
Stacey wrote,
I have paperclips, a lint roller, quarters, suckers, baby wipes, a pound of cookie crumbs, and air freshener (???) in my purse…I too am prepared for anything.
Link | September 25th, 2006 at 9:28 pm