Search - Fats Domino :: Live From Austin Tx

Classic Domino Show Captured On DVD

Todd Baptista | Westport, MA USA | 08/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Originally broadcast on PBS-TV's Austin City Limits in 1987, this performance is among Domino's finest on film, a 17-track fast-paced romp through his biggest hits and several seldom-heard classics. The sound and video transfer is excellent and Domino is in fine voice throughout. The band, including Dave Bartholomew, Lee Allen, Herb Hardesty, and the great, underrated bass Erving Charles, is the same dynamic lineup that toured extensively with Fats in the 1980s.

Four songs have been added to the original lineup that was broadcast on TV- "I'm In Love Again"/"Honey Chile", "Three Nights A Week", "All By Myself", and "Let The Four Winds Blow" where the singer-pianist uncharacteristically blows the opening lyric lines. Two minor issues keep this from getting 5 stars. The compilers decided to move "Blueberry Hill" from second to 14th in the running order, but in doing so they leave Fats saying "I'm going to stick with songs starting with B" after "I'm Walkin'". It's trivial- but sloppy. Also, inexplicably, this DVD, at 50 minutes, does not include three songs from the original TV broadcast- "I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday", the frantic instrumental "Swanee River Hop", and the 11-minute "When The Saints Go Marchin' In"/"Sentimental Journey" finale that closed all of Domino's shows. The material could have easily fit onto the disc. Still, these minor quibbles should not stop fans from picking up this DVD as a fine example of Fats Domino and his band in concert."