Dave Bartholomew was born on December 24th, 1918, in Edgard, Louisiana. He was the son of Louis Bartholomew, a well-known Dixieland tuba player. Unsurprisingly, Dave followed his father into the world of music, taking up the trumpet and learning to play in a wide range of musical styles, including rhythm and blues and jazz.
Dave was also interested in writing music and he was good at that too, writing over four thousand songs. In 1946 he set up his own band, featuring Earl Palmer (one of the most brilliant drummers of the Rock ‘n’ Roll era), Ernest McLean (rhythm guitar), Herb Hardesty (tenor saxophone), Frank Fields (string bass), Wendell Duconge (alto sax), Clarence Ford (baritone and tenor sax), Justin Adams (guitar) and Lee Allen (tenor saxophone). These musicians created a sound that was extremely tight and yet relaxing, as might be expected of music produced in the great Crescent City.
Dave Bartholomew 1977 with Fats Domino
Photo: Klaus Hiltscher (Wikimedia Commons)
In 1949, Dave Bartholomew was appointed New Orleans A&R man for the Imperial Records label, based in southern California, founded, and owned by Lew Chudd. (It was eventually sold to Liberty Records in 1963). It was a shrewd move by Mr Chudd, as Dave Bartholomew was able, thanks to his local contacts, to identify and sign up the most talented local singers from New Orleans and the surrounding area. In addition, Bartholomew was able to take on arranging and production duties, at a local New Orleans recording studio called J&M Studios. It was only a matter of time before the hits were handed to Mr Chudd on a plate.
In December of that year, Bartholomew recorded a song called “The Fat Man” that he had co-written with a young singer/pianist by the name of Antoine Domino. The name of the record didn’t put the record-buying public off. On the contrary, the song became a big hit locally, selling ten thousand copies in ten days in the city of New Orleans, and going on to sell a million copies world-wide. “Fats” Domino had arrived, and New Orleans R&B was all the rage.
Bartholomew went on to co-write and arrange a large number of hits for Fats Domino, whom he had discovered playing in a nightclub in New Orleans. Together they produced nine R&B number ones, plus an amazing 40 top 10 Billboard R&B entries, filling the number one position for a total of 51 weeks, with ten of their songs going into the pop top 10 between 1950 and 1961. Fats Domino was definitely the most successful cross-over artist of that era. He is credited with having sold 65 million records. Their collaboration made Imperial Records a major force in the R&B market for several years. Dave Bartholomew also directed Domino’s touring band.
For a couple of years Bartholomew worked for other record companies, following a dispute with the boss at Imperial. In particular, he produced Lloyd Price’s hit “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” for Specialty Records and wrote and recorded the song “My Ding-a Ling” for Kent Records, which was later “borrowed” by Chuck Berry.
He then returned to Imperial and worked with a large number of local artists, including Smiley Lewis, Chris Kenner, Shirley & Lee and, of course, Fats Domino. After the sale of Imperial Records, he continued working in New Orleans for other smaller labels.
Dave Bartholomew celebrated his hundredth birthday on December 24th in 2018. He died in June 2019. He was the founding father of New Orleans R&B.
Several of Dave Bartholomew’s songs have been covered successfully by other well-known artists. The following stand out: Dave Edmunds’ “I Hear You Knocking”, Elvis Presley’s “One Night” and Ricky Nelson’s “I’m Walkin’”.
Dave Bartholomew also recorded for Imperial.
