Fats Waller

Fats Waller
Background information
Birth name Thomas Wright Waller
Born May 21, 1904(1904-05-21)
Origin New York City
Died December 15, 1943(1943-12-15) (aged 39)
Genres Jazz, swing, stride, New Orleans Jazz
Occupations Pianist, singer, organist
Instruments Piano, vocals, organ

Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 - December 15, 1943) born Thomas Wright Waller was a jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. He was the youngest of four children born to Adaline Locket Waller, wife of the Reverend Edward Martin Waller.

Contents

Significance

Fats Waller started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag. Waller's first piano solos (Muscle Shoals Blues and Birmingham Blues) were recorded in October 1922 when he was just 18 years old.

He was a skilled pianist, and master of stride piano, having been the prize pupil and later friend and colleague of the greatest of the stride pianists, James P. Johnson. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter, and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz".[1] Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 30s, and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album 'Handful of Keys' state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new tunes, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf. After Waller's death in 1943, Razaf described his partner as 'the soul of melody....a man who made the piano sing...both big in body and in mind...known for his generosity...a bubbling bundle of joy'. Gene Sedric, a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930's recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration. 'Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio', he said, 'and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number'.

Musical contributions

Waller's touch varied and he was a master of dynamics and tension and release. He played with many performers, from Nat Shilkret (on Victor 21298-A) and Gene Austin to Erskine Tate to Adelaide Hall, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm".

His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by gangster Al Capone. Fats was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Al Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters didn't intend to kill him. According to rumor, Waller played for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.[2]

Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf. He composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag".

He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in one of the first BBC Television broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released months before his death. For the hit Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates", he and Razaf wrote "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong. This searing treatment of racism refutes the early criticism of Waller that his creations and performances were "shallow entertainment".

Waller performed Bach organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre-bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances, including:

Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri on December 15, 1943. Upon arrival at Kansas City, word of Waller's death immediately spread throughout the station and onto another train headed west. On that train was Louis Armstrong who upon hearing the news cried for hours.

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honour recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

Fats Waller: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards[3]
Year Recorded Title Genre Label Year Inducted Notes
1934 Honeysuckle Rose Jazz (Single) Victor 1999 —
1929 Ain't Misbehavin' Jazz (Single) Victor 1984 Listed in the National Recording Registry
by the Library of Congress in 2004.

Revival and posthumous awards

A Broadway musical revue showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978. (The show and a star of the show, Nell Carter, won Tony Awards for the show.) The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for over 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988. Performed by five African American actors, it included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose", "This Joint Is Jumpin'", and "Ain't Misbehavin'".

Waller's music is featured in the 2008 movie Be Kind Rewind.

Inductions

Year Inducted Title
2008 Gennett Records Walk of Fame
2005 Jazz at Lincoln Center: Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame
1993 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1989 Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
1970 Songwriters Hall of Fame

In popular culture

Discography

Solo discography

Title Recording Date Recording Location Company
African Ripples 3-11-1935 New York, New York Bluebird B-10115
After You've Gone 3-21-1930 New York, New York Victor 22371-B
A Handful Of Keys 3-1-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Ain't Misbehavin' 8-2-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
All God's Chillun Got Wings 8-28-1938 London, England Victor 27460
Alligator Crawl 11-16-1934 New York, New York Bluebird B-10098
Baby Brown 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
Baby, Oh! Where Can You Be? 8-29-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Basin Street Blues 3-11-1935 New York, New York Bluebird B-10115
Because Of Once Upon a Time 3-11-1935 New York, New York RFW
Believe It, Beloved 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
Birmingham Blues 10-21-1922 New York, New York Okeh 4757-B
Blue Black Bottom 2-16-1927 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Blue Turning Gray Over You 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
California, Here I Come 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
Carolina Shout 5-13-1941 New York, New York Victor
Clothes Line Ballet 3-11-1935 New York, New York Victor 25015
Deep River 8-28-1938 London, England Victor 27459
Goin' About 9-11-1929 New York, New York Victor
Gladyse 8-2-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Go Down, Moses 8-28-1938 London, England Victor 27458
Honeysuckle Rose 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling 8-2-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Keeping Out Of Mischief Now 6-11-1937 New York, New York Bluebird 10099
Lennox Avenue Blues 11-17-1922 Camden, New Jersey Victor 20357-B
Lonesome Road 8-28-1938 London, England Victor 27459
Minor Drag 3-1-1929 New York, New York Victor
Messin' Around With The Blues Blues 1-14-1927 Camden, New Jersey Victor
My Fate Is In Your Hands 12-4-1929 New York, New York Victor
My Feelin's Are Hurt 12-4-1929 New York, New York Victor
Numb Fumblin' 3-1-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Russian Fantasy 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV
Soothin' Syrup Stomp 1-14-1927 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Sloppy Water Blues 1-14-1927 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Smashing Thirds 9-24-1929 New York, New York Victor
Sweet Savannah Sue 8-2-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Smashing Thirds 9-24-1929 New York, New York Victor
The Rusty Pail 1-14-1927 Camden, New Jersey Victor
That's All 8-29-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor 23260
Valentine Stomp 8-2-1929 Camden, New Jersey Victor
Vipers Drag 11-16-1934 New York, New York HMV
Zonky 3-11-1935 New York, New York HMV

[4]

Filmography

Title Director Year
King of Burlesque Sidney Lanfield 1935
Hooray for Love Walter Lang 1935
Stormy Weather Andrew L. Stone 1943

[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, David. All You Need Is Love. Viking Press. 1976. ISBN 0-670-11448-0.
  2. ↑ Waller, Maurice and Anthony Calabrese. Fats Waller. Schirmer Books. 1977. ASIN B000JV3G1U.
  3. ↑ Grammy Hall of Fame Database
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.redhotjazz.com/fats.html

External links