This is the debut album from Fats Domino, a major architect of rock & roll with a particular emphasis on its New Orleans branch. Just to clear up a bit of confusion, Carry On Rockin’ is the title of the original UK release. When it was released in the United States, it was under the title Rock & Rollin’ with Fats Domino. I prefer to call this one Carry On Rockin’, however, because when Domino released his second album the following year, in 1956, it was titled Fats Domino Rock & Rollin’, which lead to inevitable confusion that persists until today. When I was tracking down this album, I found an angry review that posited that this wasn’t the “real” Rock & Rollin’ album; the reviewer had apparently purchased Rock & Rollin’ with Fats Domino while looking for Fats Domino Rock & Rollin’. If this seems calibrated to cause confusion, well, maybe it was a prank of sorts; Fats Domino would later release back to back albums titled This is Fats & This is Fats Domino, so I’m starting to see a pattern.
Well, enough about that, I guess; on to the music itself, which is great, of course. When this album came out, Domino had been releasing singles for five years, so this is really just a compilation of his singles. This is kind of the mode of albums back in the early days. It starts with his first big hit, The Fat Man, and it’s an odd number; it doesn’t really sound quite like the Domino we’ve all heard before. The first two or three tracks here really aren’t particularly great; it’s obvious that he didn’t arrive fully-formed. His rollicking, charming New Orleans style sounds so natural that it’s easy to believe that it is, in fact, fully natural, but, like most artists, Domino had to find his groove. But after those first couple of tracks, things get going and the remaining tracks are great. There are twelve tracks and the album clocks in at just shy of thirty minutes (yeah, albums used to be super-short), so it’s a breezy, fun listen. Domino’s vocals are warm, conversational and upbeat as is his signature piano style. Even when he’s singing a song about going to the river to throw himself overboard and drown (can one actually throw oneself “overboard” at a river or is that actually just a boat thing?) he has energy and a bouncy kind of happiness. The most famous track here is Ain’t That a Shame, soon to be covered by Pat Boone, but I found all of the tracks to work. This is just enjoyable, consistently happy and energizing music. It’s hard for me to imagine the person who just wouldn’t like Fats Domino’s music, whether they’re two or a hundred-and-two. A couple of sketchy tracks at the beginning doesn’t hurt this album at all really. 4 stars.
tl;dr – Fats Domino’s debut album is a compilation of previously released singles; the first couple show an artist still searching for his sound, but the vast majority of the record is absolutely brilliant. 4 stars.