ABSTRACT
Born in Edgard, Louisiana, Barthlomew is best-known for producing and performing on Fats Domino’s seminal 1950s-era sessions. His father was a barber and amateur musician, and Barthlomew studied trumpet as a youngster. He played in various New Orleans bands through his teen years and then in 1941 was drafted into the air force. When he returned from the war, he began leading his own jazz band, and in 1949 had a minor hit with the song “Country Boy” issued on DeLuxe. This brought him to the attention of Imperial Records’s owner Lew Chudd, who signed him to his new label. Chudd also signed at about the same time a local singer named Fats Domino, and asked Barthlomew to accompany him on his first (December 1949) session, which produced the hit “The Fat Man.” This led to a string of hits through the 1950s for Domino, including “I’m Walkin’,” and the much-covered “Blueberry Hill,” always accompanied by Barthlomew, who cowrote, produced, and arranged most of these sessions. He also worked with other Imperial signings, including Smiley Lewis, James Booker, Lloyd Price (“Lawdy Miss Clawdy” from 1949), and Roy Brown. However, Barthlomew’s career pretty much ended when Domino’s popularity waned in the face of the British Invasion and teen pop of the early 1960s. In 1991, he was inducted as a nonperformer into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and seven years later, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his classic compositions.
