Who is Fats Domino

If he was never a superstar on par with, say, Elvis Presley, nor has Fats Domino ever really gone out of style. At its best, his music is direct and unpretentious in a way that always sounds fresh. This compilation, part of EMI/Capitol's Crescent City Soul Series, includes all his essential sides, from 1950's "The Fat Man" ("They call me the fat man / because I weigh 200 pounds") to his 1962 take on Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)." Most every song is a winner, with the possible exception of "Valley of Tears," which would've worked better without the sappy chorus. Domino's voice was appealing enough that he didn't need any kind of back-up to get his message across. "It's You I Love," B-side to the same 1957 single, also incorporates background singers, but less extensively and is all the more successful for it.

Over the years, Domino's music has gotten a new lease on life through TV shows, like "Happy Days" (Ron Howard's Richie Cunningham had a thing for "Blueberry Hill"), and covers, like Cheap Trick's hard rockin'--yet reverential--cover of "Aint That a Shame" on their bestselling 1979 live album, "At Budokan."

Kathy Fennessy