Customer Reviews

Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"For lack of a better way of putting it," Irma Thomas, known as the Soul Queen of New Orleans, said recently, "he's a living, walking legend among us in New Orleans. Between him and Louis Armstrong, they were the first big names to put us on the musical map." Nate Chinen

'Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino,' is one of those CD's where one listen convinces you this is a CD worth its weight in gold. The Tipitina Foundation is sponsoring this CD, which in itself is dedicated to preserving Louisiana's musical culture, will dedicate a portion of the proceeds to the renovation of Mr. Domino's publishing offices. The talent that is found on this tribute CD is memorable with a cross of rock, blues, jazz and New Orleans roots that include B. B. King, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Norah Jones. And they were indeed fortunate that New Orleans legends like Dr. John and Allen Toussaint joined them.

There are thirty tracks on this 2 CD series and as tribute albums go some songs are great, others are fabulous. Some of the best are:

The opening song by John Lennon 'Ain't That A Shame' is an appropriate old rendition and Yoko Ono gave her blessing at the beginning of the project.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers give a rousing rendition to 'I'm Walkin' and it is one of my favorites.

BB King with Ivan Neville brings the NOLA sound to 'Goin Home'.

'Blueberry Hill' with Elton John brings rockin' blues to that song.

Taj Mahal and The New Orleans Social Club are the soul of NOLA with 'My Girl Josephine'.

Paul McCartney and Alan Toussaint's 'I'm Going To Walk You Home' is one of the best covers of the CD.

Dr John, the original New Orleans man, sings a bluesy rendition of 'Don't Leave Me This Way' and he once again lets us know why he is the best. "Woke up early this mornin'...Then I got on my knees all you could hear me say is. Don't leave me this way. Don't leave me this way. Don't leave me this way. Don't leave me this way...Tears runnin' from my eyes and all I could do is cry. Don't leave me this way. Don't leave me this way".

Bonnie Raitt and Jon Cleary bring their rockin sound to 'I'm In Love Again' and 'All By Myself'.

Randy Newman's 'Blue Monday' is the absolute best song on this CD. His voice convinces us that his feelings are true.

'Walking To New Orleans' with Neil Young has the country/rock of NOLA and is perfecto.

Nora Jones sings 'My Blue Heaven' in the old fashioned tradition.

Lucinda Williams makes 'Honey Chile' her own and convinces me that this song was written for her.

'I Hear You Knockin' with Willie Nelson is one of the better renditions I have heard.

Irma Thomas and Marcia Ball, the grand old dames of New Orleans, sing 'I Just Can't Get New Orleans Off My Mind' and we know how true this is.

'When The Saints Go Marchin' In' is the last song with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the finale as it should be done.

"A concert will be held Saturday, September 29 at Tipitina's in honor of Fats Domino. Doors open at 8:00 PM with the the show starting promptly at 9:00 p.m. "Fats" Domino emerged as a poster boy for post-Katrina New Orleans. His plight has come to symbolize the storm's vast personal tragedy as well as the threat to the city's immense cultural legacy."
The Times-Picayune

This tribute CD to Fats Domino has the star power, the songs and the best New Orleans sounds. A tribute to a founding father of rock n'roll, blues and New Orleans,

Highly Recommended. prisrob 09-25-07

Greatest Hits: Walking To New Orleans

I grew up within a few blocks from Tipitina's and was influenced by New Orleans music like the great Fats Domino. I had tremendous anticipation for this release, updated interpretations of these classic songs. Fats could even make a blues number sound happy, but somehow the times seemed to have lost sight of that with all of the angst in music today.

As any music fan knows, when another singer covers an older song, it is supposed to be done as an interpreter. My main pet peave with this collection is that someone told quite a few of these singers to try and sound like Fats as much as possible. There are just too many instances of this to be accidental. Why, oh why, I ask?!!! No one sounds like Fats, and the wisest ones won't even try to sound like him. If I were to let someone listen to this collection without knowing who is singing, I defy anyone to guess most of them right.

Once I got over this initial shock, I graded each song objectively. There are 15 songs or half of this set that I would rate as 4 stars or better. Not bad at all! However, there are enough songs whereby I want to jump up and hit the next track button so as to be an annoyance. Out of respect for all artists who gave their all for this worthy cause, I won't differentiate between the good tracks and the bad ones. However, someone with opposite musical tastes from me would probably come up with similar numbers. For the record, the first CD got a 3.8 rating and the second CD got a 2.7 rating. My girlfriend said that I was being too nice on the second CD.

There is some really great music here and it is all for a great cause, but don't expect a solid 5-star product just because of all the major stars here. Now if they redid it and told all of the singers to just be themselves, then that would be a timeless classic!!!

On this this 2-CD I've found some excellent tracks like Willie Nelson's own style version of "I hear you knocking" and Nora Jones' subtle version of "My blue heaven". But hearing all these great artists doin' Domino's repertoire made me realise again how BRILLIANT Fats' own versions are!

THANK YOU to Tipitina's Foundation for this beautiful compilation and for everything you have done for the music community in Louisiana. Every song here is a winner! This compilation showcases some of the finest musical talents from New Orleans along with a great lineup of internationally known artists. Fats Domino is a national treasure and you also need to get his recently released Greatest Hits: Walking To New Orleans.

What a tribute! To the person who writes that you would do better to buy a Fats Domino cd I would say this: Buy both. You can't go wrong. This tribute consists of 2 discs (30 songs) containing an amazing assortment of people doing their own thing to honor Fats and support the Tipitina's Foundation. LOVE THIS CD!!! I'm giving it as Christmas gifts to all of my music loving friends.

The reason for this CD and the status of the man in the history of his city and rock 'n roll and the plight of New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina are not in doubt but judged on the musical content alone, this double CD offering does come across as a mixed bag overall I fear.

While some of the new recordings are great interpretations (Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams and Randy Newman) some are frankly disappointments (Elton John, Paul McCartney, Los Lobos and Lennie Kravitz), but given two discs worth the chances of getting a high level of consistency was always going to be a high goal. What is the real gem however is the existence of a number of alternative interpretations which come across as real finds - my own surprises being the two Robert Plant contributions (each very different and a precursor to his more recent work with Alsion Krause and T Bone Burnett) and Taj Mahal, Toots and the Maytals and Willie Nelson in putting their own personal stamp on their interpretations.

I was left feeling after several plays that judicious choice would have produced a killer single CD rather than a variable double such as we have here.

As a kid, I grew up with an autographed poster of Fats Domino on the wall in my living room. It was a prized possession of my parents', right up there with my great-grandmother's vase, and deeply revered. I knew who he was before I knew anything about music. He was more important than Elvis in my house. Along with everything else in my childhood home, the poster was ruined in Katrina. The loss of that poster hit us all hard. When i first saw the CD advertised, I knew it was the perfect gift for my dad, a die-hard New Orleanean and music lover. I was surprised by the reviews I read on the site but I see where it's being misheard. This isn't just a cover CD; it's a tribute. It's an amazing tribute to a man who broke down boundaries despite his race and upbringing. As a man, he's amazingly humble and seems to have no idea how his music has affected people all over the world. This CD is not made great by the flashy, widely known artists (though it is a testament to the all encompassing rhythm of the music). What really makes the CD great are the performances by the local, New Orleans artists- Rebirth, Dirty Dozen, Trombone Shorty, Dumpstaphunk and Marc Broussard (just to name a few). These are the musicians who were truly influenced by Fats and you can hear their love and respect for him in the music on this CD and in their own music.

Bet you didn't know you'd like Fats Domino's music--give it a try with this two-CD set featuring artists from John Lennon to Randy Newman to Bonnie Rait. My favorite is Goin' to the River by Robbie Robertson with Galactic. Starts off slow and with a great beat, then comes back lively at the end with a killer drum background. Blue Monday by Randy Newman will make you laugh! Another favorite is My Girl Josephine by Taj Mahal and the New Orleans Social Club. Oh yes, there's Blueberry Hill by Elton John and Ain't that a Shame sung by John Lennon, but even though these best-known Fats Domino tunes are there, this is a gold mine of GREAT New Orleans music--songs that will be familiar but that are improved upon by the exciting array of performers. No one can hear Big Chief Monk Boudreaux sing So Long and not get a kick out of it. Give this CD set a try!

If you are a fan of Fat's or the New Orleans sound you gotta purchase this CD. This is a veritable lovefest of the Fat man and it shows in the music. You can certainly tell these folks really cared about this man, his music and the City of New Orleans. The songs keep sounding better and better. The coolest thing, is the proceeds from the sale of this CD go toward buying new musical instruments for the students from N.O. public schools and also benefit other community programs. This is a win, win propostion.

I don't know why it says Paul McCartney by the title, there are so many great artists covering the great Fats Domino. You can't go wrong with this CD