King of New Orleans Rock 'N' Roll (4CD) [Box set]

I saw this 4 CD set by chance,got it because I love the music of Fats Domino and Blueberry Hill will always be on my Desert Island Discs list.Open the set though and boy your in for a real treat.Let's see four discs that has a fabulous 86 tracks in total,a 48 page book that take us through his career .The music from 1948 to 1953 is full of classics such as 'The Fat Man','Goin Home','Blue Monday' and 'Ain't That A Shame'.But loads of stuff you may well have never heard before.Domino's voice,his piano playing are legendary,the backings from Cresent City's best are pure magic.Fats is without doubt as the cover says The King Of New Orleans rock n roll.This material has him at his peak and is a truly great collection that time never will diminish,get it now because it will lift your spirits and get your feet tapping,yep !put this on and let the party begin.Oh and while your at it take a look at another wonderful set that contains some more tracks by Fats as well as loads of artists you've probably never heard of also on Proper called The Cosimo Matassa Story,absolutely wonderful roots rock n roll and again from New Orleans.This is all music you'll just never stop playing...FIVE STARS ALL THE WAY>THANKS FATS.

Hot on the heels of the Domino tribute comes the Proper Box edition-4 CDs up to 1958 plus a 30 minute read.
Though this repeats much of the Crescent City longbox its a good way of getting the album tracks-the longbox was just the As and Bs and took the music up to 1963.Both are essential.
At only £15 this is of course great value.

Proper have given us a nice concentrated dose of Fats across these four CD's which are sensibly organised in chronological order, taking us from the start of his record contract with Imperial in 1949 and going up to 1957. Whether they plan to give us a second dose to take up to `63 when he moved to Paramount, who knows, but this isn't a bad set to be going along with.

CD1 is very largely blues and R&B but with a New Orleans roll. Many of the tracks are slow to medium in pace but with neat riffs from the band plus Fats' Creole accent keeping the pace from dragging. The aptly named "The Fat Man" which was his very first single, is a standout with Fats throwing in references to Rampart Street. The track has some splendid primitivism which we would hear less of in those immediately following. It was certainly the performance that first got him noticed though his second appearance in the R&B Chart didn't come till several singles later with "Every Night About This Time", one of many slow but relatively sophisticated blues on this disc. One of my favourites on the disc is "Don't Lie to Me", a number which was covered by Chuck Berry several years later but with a very different arrangement. There's also a very nice arrangement of the standard "Careless Love" which, for me anyway, has hints of country music mingled within the blue notes.

The second CD takes us from `52 through to `53 and in this period the majority of his singles were hitting the R&B Chart with the occasional one getting into the lower regions of the US National Chart. The majority of the tracks are slow blues again although there are plenty of exceptions including several nice instrumentals. "Swanee River Hop" is one of the best of these with Fats' hands really flying across the keyboard. However best track for me has to be "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" which is a right little stunner. I don't know if this is what the second line sounds like but equally I don't know anyone else who was putting music like this on wax in 1953!

"Little School Girl" on CD3 carries on the Mardi Gras sound. He would begin to incorporate this rhumba rhythm more frequently from now on. In general more variety was being added to the mix. "Thinking of You" sounds like an early model for swamp pop. There's a higher proportion of faster tracks. Fats tries out his trumpet sounding vocal effect on a few numbers. Several of his early "biggies" appear on this CD including the delightful "All by myself", the glorious "Ain't that a Shame" (could anyone else could make sad songs sound so joyous) and the simply stunning "Blue Monday" - it may have been Smiley Lewis' song (albeit written by Dave Bartholomew) but Fats made it his own.

With the last CD we're really into the land of hits and too many to give credit to. By this time - the `55 to `57 era - singles from Fats were regularly breaching the US Top Twenty - "I'm in love again" got to 3 and "Blueberry Hill" made it to no. 2. On this side of the pond we were lapping up this stuff as well. Although the music at this stage was clearly marketed more at a more general audience and there are less jazzier solos and much fewer blues, it's attractive, bright and possessing lots of imaginative touches. This period is pretty well Fats in his pomp.

And what more can I say? Proper have taken us on a journey from a time when Fats was but another jump blues guy trying to make his mark to the time when he seemed to be conquering everything before him. And whether you prefer the more bluesy early Fats or the later hit making machine you're bound to find lots to like in here. Thanks you Proper and thank you Fats.