"Walking to New Orleans" is a 1960 song by

Bobby Charles Robert Charles Guidry (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010), known as Bobby Charles, was an American singer-songwriter. Early life An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, and grew up listening to Cajun mus ...

, written for and recorded by

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

. The record was a hit, released on

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to 19 ...

, reaching #6 on the pop chart and #2 on the R&B chart.

Background

Domino was a hero of Charles. Domino had previously recorded the Charles tune "Before I Grow Too Old". When Domino stopped on tour in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

, he invited Charles into his dressing room, and regretted he did not have a copy of his new record to give to Charles, but invited Charles to come visit him in Domino's home of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Charles replied, "I don't have a car. If I'd go, I'd have to walk." Afterwards, the thought remained on Charles's mind, and he said he wrote the song for Domino in some 15 minutes. After he got to New Orleans to accept Domino's invitation, Charles sang "Walking to New Orleans" for Domino. Domino was enthusiastic about the number and made a few modifications to it, including adding a quote from his earlier hit, "

Ain't That a Shame "Ain't That a Shame" is a song written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. Domino's recording of the song, originally stated as "Ain't It a Shame", released by Imperial Records in 1955, was a hit, eventually selling a million copies. It reached n ...

Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...

made an orchestration for the backup band, and Domino with Bartholomew and band recorded it in

Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowsk ...

's studio on

Rampart Street Rampart Street (french: rue du Rempart) is a historic avenue located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The section of Rampart Street downriver from Canal Street is designated as North Rampart Street, which forms the inland or northern border of the Fr ...

. After the recording was made, Bartholomew decided to

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

a string section from the New Orleans Symphony. Use of classical strings was unusual for early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. Domino was at first somewhat surprised when Bartholomew played back the new version with strings, but warmed to the distinctive sweet melancholy sound it added. The strings were arranged by Milton Bush, a trombonist who was the first-call string arranger at Cosimo's Studio. Bush wrote the arrangements standing up in 10 minutes while Domino looked on. He basically had the strings mimic the melody in the previous phrase. When finished, Domino asked Bush how much he wanted for the arrangement. Bush figured that $1 a minute was pretty good, so he charged Fats $10. The song went on to sell over two million copies.

Charts

Cover versions

*In 2007,

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

covered the song on the album '' Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino''.

Bibliography

* ''Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll'', by Rick Coleman, Da Cappo Press, 2006,

References

Music of New Orleans 1960 singles Songs about New Orleans Fats Domino songs Songs written by Bobby Charles 1960 songs Songs written by Fats Domino Songs written by Dave Bartholomew {{1960s-single-stub