Fats Domino covered “Blueberry Hill” in 1956 after hearing Louis Armstrong’s version. Sammy Kaye and The Glenn Miller Orchestra also had recordings of “Blueberry Hill,” but it was hearing his fellow New Orleans’ native that convinced Domino to give the song his treatment. He had already asserted himself as one of the earliest stars of rock and roll with 16 hit singles, including “The Fat Man,” “Ain’t That A Shame,” and “I’m Walkin’.” His version of “Blueberry Hill” became his most successful hit, sitting at number one on the R&B chart for 11 weeks, number two on the Billboard Juke Box chart and selling five million copies within two years of its release. The song was included on his third album, This Is Fats Domino!, released in 1956. The popularity of his music made his record sales only second to Elvis. 

Elvis Presley told Jet Magazine in 1957 that Domino was the true king of rock and roll but Domino told the Hearst organization that same year that the music being called rock and roll was actually R&B and he had been playing it in New Orleans for 15 years. Domino was one of the Black artists that integrated audiences and he survived four riots at his shows, even jumping out of the window to escape cops spraying tear gas. His fame grew with movie appearances in Shake, Rattle & Rock, The Girl Can’t Help It, The Big Beat, and a television performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. He also had an appearance in the TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee in 1968. Domino continued to record after the early successful days of his career and he always managed to remind the public of his presence in every decade after his initial rise. In 1980, he had a cameo in Clint Eastwood’s Any Which Way You Can. Domino was in the first class of artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. His rescue during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was televised and he was seen again in the third season of the New Orleans-based show Treme in 2012.

Domino passed away in 2017 at the age of 89 of natural causes. Led Zeppelin, Elvis, and Little Richard released versions of “Blueberry Hill” after him, but of all the recordings of the song, Domino’s version is the one credited with making it a rock and roll standard. 

Why was the Quincy Jones tribute at the Oscars relegated to Queen Latifah singing “Ease on Down the Road” by Charlie Smalls from The Wiz from the soundtrack that Jones produced? 

Roy Ayers died March 4th in New York City at the age of 84 after a long illness. Ayers’ work as a vibraphonist, composer, and producer is always cited as a wellspring of the Acid Jazz scene of the ’90s. The Los Angeles native came from a musical family and was blessed with his first pair of mallets at the age of five from legendary jazz vibes player Lionel Hampton. He started his career in the ’60s playing bebop but his work on the 1973 film Coffy, starring Pam Grier, took him into the direction of funk and R&B. The discovery of his sonic home was informed by a desire to put a happy feeling into all of music. 

The reinvention of his sound produced several key albums from Ayers in the ’70s and ’80s, including Mystic Voyage, Everybody Loves The Sunshine, You Send Me, and Africa, Center Of The World. Jazz players like Miles Davis and Weather Report opted for a more rock-oriented sound in their fusion. Others, like Lou Donaldson, blended jazz with blues and soul. Ayers had found a style somewhere between funk, R&B and jazz that was more accessible to the average listener. This sensibility was picked up on by people like Jamiroquai, Sade, The Brand New Heavies, Omar, Erykah Badu, and Digable Planets. When he named his band Ubiquity in the ’70s, he achieved the goal of being everywhere with an influence on every artist that tapped into feel-good grooves from the jazz, funk, and soul nucleus. 

In the ’80s, he appeared on Rick James’ Throwin Down album and produced Sylvia Striplin’s much-loved debut album, Give Me Your Love.  Ayers released new music in the ’90s and several popular compilations came out, including the Polydor Anthology. He also managed to have his vibes heard on two of the decade’s seminal albums: the Red Hot Organization’s Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool and Guru’s Jazzmatazz Vol. 1. In the 2000s, he started working with house music artists, including Masters At Work and Kerri Chandler. His connection to rap made it to another generation with an appearance on Tyler, The Creator’s 2015 Cherry Bomb album. Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge fulfilled their wish and had Ayers on a 2020 release from their Jazz Is Dead project. Ayers’ reach continues to grow because he is one of the most sampled artists. His last collection as a leader was Mahogany Vibe, which was his 40th studio album released in 2004.

DJ, singer, songwriter, and producer Ruby Francis drops “Pages of Philosophy” before the release of her spring EP. Francis dips into some jazz chords with an almost demure style as she sings about falling in love. On her 2021 debut album, Archives, she introduced herself as a serious student of R&B and let her voice stretch out more. On “Pages of Philosophy,” she sounds a lot like Syd and Rahsaan Brown’s bass bubbles up, creating a plush book end to the arrangement. All of the components together have the warmth and crackly feel of old vinyl records being played. Francis shared her process in a statement,

“I programmed the drums and added chords inspired by warm sunset colours. “Pages of Philosophy“ is all about those first moments of being fully infatuated and in love, where the outside world has disappeared, and you and your lover are wrapped in the cocoon you’ve created. Over the years, I’d fallen hard and deeply in love and really wanted to capture those early moments of vulnerability, intimacy, and stepping into the unknown.”

Stay tuned for Francis’ spring EP.