Fats Domino - Ain’t That A Shame (1956) 4K

Fats Domino performing “Ain’t That A Shame“, released originally in March, 1955. It reached #1 on the US Billboard R&B Charts and #10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Imperial Records had the engineers compress Fats’ vocals and speed up the song a bit to make the song sound less bluesy and give it more mainstream appeal, making it more difficult for other artists to cover the song. This was the first song to crossover from the R&B charts to the mostly white pop charts of the day. Like several other songs previously heard exclusively in black bars or nightclubs, it was covered by the crooning Pat Boone. Concerned about how educated, upper-class whites would respond to the title, he originally wanted it changed to “Isn’t That a Shame,“ but the producers realized the original title would sell better and kept it. This was a favorite songwriting trick of Domino’s, as he looked for a good, simple section to start a song. Even though songs like this