R.I.P.: Dave Bartholomew, A NOLA Father Of Rock & Roll

Dave Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019)

Dave Bartholomew, a trumpeter, composer and bandleader whose uncanny ability to spot and nurture promising performers, most notably Fats Domino, helped stamp New Orleans’ imprint on the developing genre of rock ‘n’ roll, died Sunday morning (June 23) .

Bartholomew was 100, according to nola.com.

He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century.

Originally a trumpeter, he was active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz and Dixieland. In his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from jump blues and swing to R&B and as "one of the Crescent City’s greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution."

Bartholomew with Fats Domino

Many musicians have recorded Bartholomew's songs, but his partnership with Fats Domino produced some of his greatest successes. In the mid-1950s they wrote more than forty hits for Imperial Records, including the Billboard R&B number one chart hit "Ain't That a Shame". Bartholomew's other hit songs as a composer included "I Hear You Knocking", "Blue Monday", "I'm Walkin'", "My Ding-A-Ling", and "One Night". He was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame

In addition to Domino, those artists included Smiley Lewis, Snooks Eaglin, Little Sonny Jones, Pee Wee Crayton, Shirley and Lee, Frankie Ford and Sugarboy Crawford.

“He genuinely loved music, and he genuinely loved being part of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll as an expression of New Orleans music,” said Gwen Thompkins, host of WWNO’s “Music Inside Out.”

“He loved not just having hits, but he loved music, and he loved to get the music right,” she said.

Bartholomew, who had served in the Army during World War II, “ran a tight ship in the studio,” said George Ingmire, a documentarian who has done oral histories of New Orleans musicians.

“There was no showing up late. There was no drinking,” Ingmire said. “You wouldn’t have the number of hits that Fats Domino and others who recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s studio were it not for that tight ship. There was an enthusiasm and a work ethic that went around. Dave set the tone.”