Fat Man
Mockup of the original weapon
Type	Nuclear weapon
Place of origin	United States
Specifications
Weight	10,213 pounds (4,633 kg)
Length	10.7 feet (3.3 m)
Diameter	5 feet (1.5 m)
Filling	plutonium
Blast yield	21 kt (88 TJ) ~75 Million sticks of dynamite.

"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date (the other being "Little Boy"), and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more generically to the early nuclear weapon designs of U.S. weapons based on the "Fat Man" model. It was an implosion-type weapon with a plutonium core, similar to "The gadget", the experimental device detonated only a month earlier in New Mexico.^[1]

"Fat Man" was possibly named after Winston Churchill,^[2] though Robert Serber said in his memoirs that as the "Fat Man" bomb was round and fat, he named it after Sydney Greenstreet's character of "Kasper Gutman" in The Maltese Falcon.

The original target for the bomb was the city of Kokura, but obscuring clouds necessitated changing course to the alternative target, Nagasaki. "Fat Man" was dropped from the B-29 bomber Bockscar, piloted by Major Charles Sweeney of the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, and exploded at 11:02 AM (JST), at an altitude of about 1,650 feet (500 m), with a yield of about 21 kilotons of TNT or 88 terajoules.^[3] Because of poor visibility due to cloud cover, the bomb missed its intended detonation point, and damage was somewhat less extensive than that in Hiroshima. An estimated 39,000 people were killed outright by the bombing at Nagasaki, and a further 25,000 were injured.^[4] Thousands more died later from related blast and burn injuries, and hundreds more from radiation illnesses from exposure to the bomb's initial radiation. The bombing raid on Nagasaki had the third highest fatality rate in World War II^[5] after the nuclear strike on Hiroshima^[6][7][8][9] and the March 9/10 1945 fire bombing raid on Tokyo.^[10]

Technology[link]

Replica displayed in the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum, beside the Bockscar B-29 that dropped the original device.

Fat Man exploding over Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945.

Weapon effects

It was 128 inches (3,300 mm) long, 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and weighed 10,200 pounds (4,600 kg). In accordance with the name, it was more than twice as wide as Little Boy, which was dropped on Hiroshima three days earlier; however, the mass was only 15% more than that of Little Boy.

"Fat Man" was an implosion-type device using plutonium-239. A subcritical sphere of plutonium was placed in the center of a hollow sphere of high explosives. Thirty-two pairs of detonators located on the surface of the high explosive were fired simultaneously to produce a powerful inward pressure on the core, squeezing it and increasing its density, resulting in a supercritical condition and a nuclear initiation.

At first it was thought that two pieces of subcritical plutonium (Pu-239) could simply be shot into one another to create a nuclear explosion, and a plutonium gun-type design of this sort (known as the "Thin Man" bomb) was worked on for some time during the Manhattan Project. In April 1944, Emilio Segrè discovered that plutonium created for the bomb in the nuclear reactors at Hanford, Washington—even though it was supergrade plutonium containing only about 0.9% Pu-240—was not as pure as the initial samples of plutonium developed at the cyclotrons at Ernest O. Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Because of the presence of the Pu-240 isotope, reactor-bred plutonium had a much higher rate of spontaneous neutron emission than was previously thought, and if a gun-type device was used it would most likely pre-initiate and result in a messy and costly "fizzle". The spontaneous fission rate of Pu-240 is 40,000 times greater than that of Pu-239, so that in a gun-type plutonium device of the sort planned during the Manhattan Project, the last few centimeters would have to be traveled in less than 40 microseconds. After this problem was realized, the entire Los Alamos laboratory re-organized around the problem of the implosion bomb, the "Fat Man" starting in June 1944.

The "Trinity" device was similar to the "Fat Man" bomb.

Flash X-Ray images of the converging shock waves formed during a test of the high explosive lens system.

The difficulty in the design of an implosion device lay primarily in properly compressing the plutonium core into a near-perfect sphere; if the compression was not symmetrical it would cause the plutonium to be ejected from the weapon, making it an inefficient "dirty bomb". In order to accomplish the compression, the high explosive system had to be carefully designed as a series of explosive lenses which used alternating fast- and slow-burning explosives to shape the explosive shock wave into the desired spherical shape. An early idea of this sort had been raised by physicist Richard Tolman during early discussions of possible bomb designs, specifically in having many pieces of fissile material attached to explosives that would then assemble them in a spherical fashion. This idea was further developed by Seth Neddermeyer, who attempted to find a way to collapse a hollow sphere of plutonium onto a solid sphere of it inside itself. Neither of these ideas relied on compression of the plutonium, and neither would assemble the device fast enough to avoid preinitiation (see discussion below).^[11]

The idea of using shaped charges came from James L. Tuck^[12] and was developed by mathematician John von Neumann,^[13] and the idea that under such pressures the plutonium metal itself would be compressed may have come about from conversations with Edward Teller, whose knowledge of how dense metals behaved under heavy pressure was influenced by his theoretical studies of the Earth's core with George Gamow.^[11] Von Neumann and George Kistiakowsky eventually became the principal architects behind the lens system. Robert Christy is credited with doing the final calculations that showed that a solid subcritical sphere of plutonium could be compressed to a critical state greatly simplifying the task since earlier efforts had attempted the more difficult compression of 3D shapes like spherical shells. After Christy's report, the solid-plutonium core weapon was referred to as the "Christy Gadget".

Because of its complicated firing mechanism, and the need for previously untested synchronization of explosives and precision design, it was felt that a full test of the concept was needed before the scientists and military representatives could be confident it would perform correctly under combat conditions. On July 16, 1945, a device using a similar mechanism (called the "gadget" for security reasons) detonated in a test explosion at a remote site in New Mexico, known as the "Trinity" test. It gave about 20 kt (80 TJ), 2 to 4 times the expected yield.

The gun-type method, though inadequate for plutonium, could still be used for highly enriched uranium, and was employed in the "Little Boy" device, used against Hiroshima. The implosion method is more efficient than the gun-type method, and also far safer, as a perfect synchronization of the explosion lenses is required for the core to properly detonate, greatly reducing the chances of an accidental nuclear initiation. After the success of the first implosion "gadget", almost all subsequent American fission designs utilized implosion, with a rare few that used the gun-type design out of special design requirements (like extreme narrowness of weapon, such as nuclear artillery).

Espionage information procured by Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall, and to a lesser extent David Greenglass, led to the first Soviet device, "RDS–1" (above) closely resembling Fat Man, even in its external shape.

The Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon detonated at Operation First Lightning (known as "Joe 1" in the West) was closely based on the "Fat Man" device, on which they had obtained detailed information from the spies Klaus Fuchs, Theodore Hall, and David Greenglass.^[14][15]

The names for all three projects ("Fat Man", "Thin Man", and "Little Boy") were allegedly created by Robert Serber, a former student of Los Alamos director Robert Oppenheimer who worked on the project, according to Serber. According to his later memoirs, he chose them based on their design shapes; the "Thin Man" would be a very long device, and the name came from the Dashiell Hammett detective novel and series of movies by the same name; the "Fat Man" bomb would be round and fat and was named after Sidney Greenstreet's "Kasper Gutman" character in The Maltese Falcon. "Little Boy" would come last and be named only to contrast to the "Thin Man" bomb.^[16]

Other sources say the names originated with the Army Air Forces. According to this version, the B-29 bombers would need certain modifications to enable them to carry the weapons. A cover story was created that the modifications were to fit out two B-29s as transportation aircraft for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The "Fat Man" was supposedly Churchill, the "Thin Man", Roosevelt.^[17] When it was discovered that the gun-bomb could be shorter than first thought, "Thin Man" was renamed "Little Boy."

After the war, the Fat Man (technically the model 1561 Fat Man) was modified—improved detonators, a more reliable firing system, and other minor changes. It thus emerged as the Mark III (or Mark 3) atomic bomb. Approximately 100 units were added to the arsenal before retirement by 1950.

Interior of bomb[link]

The original blueprints of the interior of both Fat Man and Little Boy have been classified since World War II. However, much information about the main parts is available in the unclassified public literature. Of particular interest is a description of Fat Man sent to Moscow by Soviet spies at Los Alamos in 1945. It was released by the Russian government in 1992.^[18]

Below is a diagram of the main parts of the "Fat Man" device itself, followed by a more detailed look at the different materials used in the physics package of the device (the part responsible for the nuclear initiation).

AN 219 contact fuze (four) Archie radar antenna Plate with batteries (to detonate charge surrounding nuclear components) X-Unit, a firing set placed near the charge Hinge fixing the two ellipsoidal parts of the bomb Physics package (see details below) Plate with instruments (radars, baroswitches and timers) Barotube collector California Parachute tail assembly (0.20-inch (5.1 mm) aluminium sheet)

Physics package[link]

Assembly[link]

Jim Sanborn's 2003 re-creation, Critical Assembly. The bottom hemisphere of the pusher, with pieces of the boron shell, tamper, pit, and urchin.

The physics package getting its shell

Fat Man on its transport carriage

To allow insertion of the 3.62 inch (92 mm) diameter plutonium pit, containing the 0.83 inch (21 mm) diameter "Urchin" initiator, as late as possible in the device's assembly, the spherical 8.75 inch (222 mm) diameter U-238 tamper surrounded by a 0.125 inch (3.2 mm) thick shell of boron impregnated plastic had a 5 inch (130 mm) diameter cylindrical hole running through it, like the hole in a cored apple. The missing U-238 tamper cylinder, containing the plutonium pit, could be slipped in through a hole in the surrounding 18.5 inch (470 mm) diameter aluminium pusher.

In August 1945, it was assembled on Tinian Island. When the physics package was fully assembled and wired, it was placed inside its ellipsoidal aerodynamic bombshell and wheeled to the bomb bay of the B-29 Superfortress named "Bockscar", after its normally assigned command pilot, Fred Bock (who flew a different plane on the Nagasaki mission).^[19]

In 2003, these concentric spheres and cylinder were recreated as the centerpiece of an art installation called Critical Assembly by sculptor Jim Sanborn. Using non-nuclear materials, he replicated the internal components of the "Trinity" device, which had the same design as Fat Man. Critical Assembly was first displayed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC.^[20]

The plutonium must be compressed to twice its normal density before free neutrons are added to start the fission chain reaction:

•   An exploding-bridgewire detonator simultaneously starts a detonation wave in each of the 32 tapered high explosive columns (pentagons and hexagons arranged as on a soccer ball—a truncated icosahedron).
•   The detonation wave (arrows) is initially convex in the
•   faster explosive, Composition B: 60% RDX, 39% TNT, 1% wax. The wavefront shape becomes concave in the
•   slower explosive (Baratol). The 32 waves merge into a single spherical implosive wave before they hit the
•   faster explosive, Composition B, of the inner charges.
•   The medium-density aluminium "pusher" transfers the imploding shock wave from low-density explosive to high-density uranium, minimizing undesirable turbulence; the shock wave then compresses the inner components. At the very center, the

Fat Man Detonation

•   beryllium–polonium-210 "initiator" (the "urchin") is crushed, bringing the two metals in contact to release a burst of neutrons into the compressed
•   "pit" of plutonium-239–plutonium-240–gallium delta-phase alloy (96%–1%–3% by molarity). A fission chain reaction starts. The tendency of the fissioning pit to prematurely blow itself apart is retarded by the inward momentum of the
•   natural-uranium "tamper" (inertial containment). The tamper also reflects neutrons back into the pit, speeding up the chain reaction.
•   The boron plastic shell was intended to protect the pit from stray neutrons, but was later deemed unnecessary.

The result was that in the Fat Man bomb, about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of the 6.2 kilograms (14 lb) of plutonium in the pit (about 17%) fissioned. In this process 1 gram (0.035 oz) of matter in the bomb was converted into the active energy of heat and radiation (see mass-energy equivalence for detail), releasing the energy equivalent of 21 kilotons of TNT or 88 terajoules.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fat Man

• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Bockscar
• Enola Gay
• Fat Man and Little Boy, a 1989 film that reenacts the Manhattan Project
• The gadget
• Little Boy
• RDS-1, the first Soviet atomic device, closely modeled after "Fat Man"
• Thin Man nuclear bomb
• Trinity test
• Tsar Bomba aka Kuzka's mother

References[link]

External links[link]

• thorough descriptions of Gadget ("a great deal of tissue paper and Scotch tape were used to make everything fit snugly") and Fat Man at Nuclear Weapons Archive
• The Design of Gadget, Fat Man, and "Joe 1" (RDS-1)
• Fat Man Model in QuickTime VR format
• Naming of "Fat Man" & "Thin Man" after Churchill, Roosevelt
• The final bomb design, with pictures
• Atomic John: A truck driver uncovers secrets about the first nuclear bombs. Essay and interview with John Coster-Mullen by David Samuels in the New Yorker, December 15, 2008 issue. Coster-Mullen is the author of Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man, 2003 (first printed in 1996, self-published), considered a definitive text about Fat Man; illustrations from which are used in the Physics Package section above.

v t e Manhattan Project Sites Clinton Engineer Works Hanford Engineer Works Oak Ridge National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory Berkeley Radiation Laboratory Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory Ames Laboratory Montreal Laboratory Sandia National Laboratories Trinity Test Site Dayton Project Administrators Vannevar Bush James Conant Thomas Farrell Leslie Groves Kenneth Nichols Robert Oppenheimer William Parsons Scientists Robert Bacher Hans Bethe Niels Bohr James Chadwick Arthur Compton Enrico Fermi Richard Feynman Klaus Fuchs George Kistiakowsky Ernest Lawrence William Penney Emilio Segrè Glenn Seaborg Louis Slotin Leó Szilárd Edward Teller Richard Tolman Stanislaw Ulam Harold Urey Leona Woods Chien-Shiung Wu Related articles Timeline History of nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons and the United States S-1 Uranium Committee Interim Committee Chicago Pile-1 X-10 Graphite Reactor Y-12 National Security Complex Alsos Mission Smyth Report Project Alberta Silverplate 509th Operations Group Fat Man Little Boy Enola Gay Bockscar The Great Artiste Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (debate) Atomic Spies Atomic Energy Act of 1946 Operation Crossroads Tube Alloys See also: All articles in the Manhattan Project category

Coordinates: 32°46′25.5″N 129°51′47.5″E / 32.77375°N 129.863194°E / 32.77375; 129.863194

Fats Domino
Domino in concert in Germany in 1977
Background information
Birth name	Antoine Dominique Domino
Also known as	Fats, The Fat Man
Born	(1928-02-26) February 26, 1928 (age 84) New Orleans, Louisiana United States
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana United States
Genres	R&B, rock and roll, piano blues, boogie-woogie
Occupations	Songwriter, musician
Instruments	Piano, vocals
Years active	1949–present
Labels	Imperial, ABC, Mercury, Broadmoor, Reprise, Sonet, Warner Bros. Records, Toot Toot

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino Jr. (born February 26, 1928) is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Domino was French Creole and Creole was his first language. Domino was delivered at home by his midwife grandmother who was born into enslavement in 1857. Like most families in the Lower Ninth Ward, Domino's family were new arrivals from the sugar and cotton plantations.^[1] His father was a well known violinist, and Domino was inspired to play himself. He eventually learned from his Uncle, jazz guitarist Harrison Verrett. ^[2] Fats released five Gold (million selling) records before 1955.^[2] Domino also had 35 Top 40 American Hits and has a music style based on traditional R&B ensembles or Bass, Piano, Electric Guitar, Drums, and Saxophone.^[2]

Life[link]

Imperial Records era (1949–1962)[link]

Fats Domino singing "Blueberry Hill" on "The Ed Sullivan Show" circa 1956

Domino first attracted national attention with "The Fat Man" in 1949 on Imperial Records. This song is an early rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing "wah-wah" vocalizing over a strong back beat. "The Fat Man" sold one million copies by 1953. ^[3] Fats Domino released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer Dave Bartholomew, saxophonists Herbert Hardesty and Alvin "Red" Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp, Domino's trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That A Shame" (1955), which hit the Top Ten, though Pat Boone characteristically hit #1 with a milder cover of the song^[4] that received wider radio airplay in a racially-segregated era. Domino eventually had 37 Top 40 singles.

Domino's first album, Carry on Rockin', was released under the Imperial imprint, #9009, in November 1955 and subsequently reissued as Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino in 1956.^[5] Combining a number of his hits along with some tracks that had not yet been released as singles,^[5] the album went on under its alternate title to reach #17 on the "Pop Albums" chart.^[6]

His 1956 up-tempo version of the 1940 Vincent Rose, Al Lewis & Larry Stock song, "Blueberry Hill" reached #2 in the Top 40, was #1 on the R&B charts for 11 weeks, and was his biggest hit.^[4] "Blueberry Hill" sold more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956–57. The song had earlier been recorded by Gene Autry, and Louis Armstrong among many others. He had further hit singles between 1956 and 1959, including "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Pop #14), "I'm Walkin'" (Pop #4), "Valley of Tears" (Pop #8), "It's You I Love" (Pop #6), "Whole Lotta Loving" (Pop #6), "I Want to Walk You Home" (Pop #8), and "Be My Guest" (Pop #8).

Domino appeared in two films released in 1956: Shake, Rattle & Rock!^[7] and The Girl Can't Help It.^[8] On December 18, 1957, Domino's hit "The Big Beat" was featured on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

On November 2, 1956, a riot broke out at Fats Domino's show in Fayetteville, NC, with police resorting to tear gas to break up the unruly crowd. Domino jumped out of a window to avoid the melee; he and two other band members were slightly injured.^[9]

Domino continued to have a steady series of hits for Imperial through early 1962, including "Walkin' to New Orleans" (1960) (Pop #6), co-written by Bobby Charles, and "My Girl Josephine" (Pop #14) from the same year. After Imperial Records was sold to outside interests in early 1963, Domino left the label: "I stuck with them until they sold out," he claimed in 1979. In all, Domino recorded over 60 singles for the label, placing 40 songs in the top 10 on the R&B charts, and scoring 11 top 10 singles on the pop charts. Twenty-two of Domino's Imperial singles were double-sided hits.

Post-Imperial recording career (1963–1970s)[link]

Domino moved to ABC-Paramount Records in 1963. The label dictated that he record in Nashville rather than New Orleans. He was assigned a new producer (Felton Jarvis) and a new arranger (Bill Justis); Domino's long-term collaboration with producer/arranger/frequent co-writer Dave Bartholomew, who oversaw virtually all of his Imperial hits, was seemingly at an end.

Jarvis and Justis changed the Domino sound somewhat, notably by adding the backing of a countrypolitan-style vocal chorus to most of his new recordings. Perhaps as a result of this tinkering with an established formula, Domino's chart career was drastically curtailed. He released 11 singles for ABC-Paramount, but only had one top 40 entry with "Red Sails In The Sunset" (1963). By the end of 1964 the British Invasion had changed the tastes of the record-buying public, and Domino's chart run was over.

Despite the lack of chart success, Domino continued to record steadily until about 1970, leaving ABC-Paramount in mid-1965 and recording for a variety of other labels: Mercury, Dave Bartholomew's small Broadmoor label (reuniting with Bartholomew along the way), and Reprise. His final Top 100 chart single was on Reprise, a cover of The Beatles' "Lady Madonna" which peaked at #100 in 1968. He also continued as a popular live act for several decades.

He made a cameo appearance in the movie Any Which Way You Can, filmed in 1979 and released in 1980, which resulted in a Country Chart hit, "Whiskey Heaven".

Later career (1980s–2005)[link]

In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked any place else. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an invitation to perform at the White House failed to persuade Domino to make an exception to this policy.

Fats Domino was persuaded to perform out of town periodically for Dianna Chenevert, agent, founder and president of New Orleans-based Omni Attractions, during the 1980s and early 1990s. Most of these engagements were in and around New Orleans, but also included a concert in Texas at West End Market Place in downtown Dallas on October 24, 1986.

On October 12, 1983, USA Today reported that Domino was included in Chenevert's Southern Stars poster ^[10] which was created for the agency (along with historically preserving childhood photographs of other famous living musicians from New Orleans and Louisiana).^[11] Domino provided a photograph of his first recording session, which was the only one he had left from his childhood. Domino autographed these posters, whose recipients included USA Today's Gannett president Al Neuharth, and Peter Morton founder of the Hard Rock Cafe. Times-Picayune columnist Betty Guillaud noted on September 30, 1987 that Domino also provided Chenevert with an autographed pair of his shoes ^[12] (and signed a black grand piano lid) for the Hard Rock location in New Orleans.

Domino lived in a mansion in a predominantly working-class Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, where he was a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac automobile. He makes yearly appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and other local events. Domino was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. Domino's last tour was a three week European Tour in 1995 ^[13] 1998, President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts.^[14] In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #25 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."^[15]

By the end of his career, Domino was credited with more charted Rock hits than any other classic rock artist except for Elvis Presley ^[3]

Domino and Hurricane Katrina[link]

Graffiti on Domino's home from the time he was rumored dead

Fats Domino's office, June 2007

When Hurricane Katrina was approaching New Orleans in August 2005, Dianna Chenevert encouraged Domino to evacuate, but he chose to stay at home with his family, partly because of his wife Rosemary's poor health. His house was in an area that was heavily flooded. Chenevert e-mailed writers at the Times Picayune newspaper and the Coast Guard with the Dominos' location.

Someone thought Domino was dead, and spray-painted a message on his home, "RIP Fats. You will be missed", which was shown in news photos. On September 1, talent agent, Al Embry, announced that he had not heard from the musician since before the hurricane had struck.

Later that day, CNN reported that Domino was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Prior to this, even family members had not heard from Domino since before the storm. ^[16] Embry confirmed that Domino and his family had been rescued. The Domino family was then taken to a Baton Rouge shelter, after which they were picked up by JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team, and Fats' granddaughter's boyfriend. He let the Dominos stay in his apartment. The Washington Post reported that on September 2, they had left Russell's apartment after sleeping three nights on the couch. "We've lost everything," Domino said, according to the Post.^[17]

By January 2006, work to gut and repair Domino's home and office had begun. For the meantime, the Domino family resided in Harvey, Louisiana.

Chenevert replaced the Southern Stars poster^[10] Fats Domino lost in Katrina and President George W. Bush also made a personal visit and replaced the National Medal of Arts that President Bill Clinton had previously awarded Fats. The gold records were replaced by the RIAA and Imperial Records catalog owner Capitol Records.^[18]

Post-Katrina activity[link]

Fats Domino, wearing a National Medal of Arts; a replacement by President George W. Bush on August 29, 2006, after the original, bestowed upon him by former President Bill Clinton was lost in the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina.

Domino was the first artist to be announced as scheduled to perform at the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival. However, he was too ill to perform when scheduled and was only able to offer the audience an on-stage greeting. Domino also released an album Alive and Kickin' in early 2006 to benefit the Tipitina's Foundation, which supports indigent local musicians. The title song was recorded after Katrina, but most of the cuts were from unreleased sessions in the 1990s.

On January 12, 2007, Domino was honored with OffBeat magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Best of the Beat Awards held at House of Blues in New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared the day "Fats Domino Day in New Orleans" and presented Fats Domino with a signed declaration. OffBeat publisher Jan Ramsey and WWL-TV's Eric Paulsen presented Fats Domino with the Lifetime Achievement Award. An all-star musical tribute followed with an introduction by the legendary producer Cosimo Matassa. The Lil' Band O' Gold rhythm section, Warren Storm, Kenny Bill Stinson, David Egan and C. C. Adcock, not only anchored the band, but each contributed lead vocals, swamp pop legend Warren Storm leading off with "Let the Four Winds Blow" and "The Prisoner Song," which he proudly introduced by saying, "Fats Domino recorded this in 1958.. and so did I." The horn section included Lil' Band O' Gold's Dickie Landry, the Iguanas' Derek Huston, and long-time Domino horn men Roger Lewis, Elliot "Stackman" Callier and Herb Hardesty. They were joined by Jon Cleary (who also played guitar in the rhythm section), Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, Irma Thomas, George Porter, Jr. (who, naturally, came up with a funky arrangement for "You Keep On Knocking"), Art Neville, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint, who wrote and debuted a song in tribute of Domino for the occasion. Though Domino did not perform, those near him recall him playing air piano and singing along to his own songs.

Fats Domino returned to stage on May 19, 2007, at Tipitina's at New Orleans, performing to a full house. A foundation has been formed and a show is being planned for Domino and the restoration of his home, where he intends to return someday. "I like it down there" he said in a February, 2006 CBS News interview.^[19]

In September 2007, Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday. In December 2007, Fats Domino was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In May 2009, Domino made an unexpected appearance for The Domino Effect, a namesake concert aimed at raising funds to help rebuild schools and playgrounds damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Influence[link]

He was an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s and acknowledged as such by some of the top artists of that era. Paul McCartney reportedly wrote The Beatles song "Lady Madonna" in an emulation of Domino's style, combining it with a nod to Humphrey Lyttelton's 1956 hit "Bad Penny Blues," a record Joe Meek engineered.^{[citation needed]} Domino did manage to return to the "Hot 100" charts one final time in 1968—with his own recording of "Lady Madonna." That recording, as well as covers of two other songs by The Beatles, appeared on his Reprise LP Fats Is Back, produced by Richard Perry and recorded by a band that included New Orleans piano player James Booker; Domino played piano only on one track, "I'm Ready." Also was the influence behind the naming of Jamaican ska band Justin Hinds and the Dominoes in the 1960s; Justin's favorite singer being Fats Domino. In 2007, various artists came together for a tribute to Fats Domino by recording a live session with all Fats Domino covers. Guests included on the album, titled "Going Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino" include Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and Elton John ^[20]

Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney later recorded Fats Domino songs. Domino's rhythm, accentuating the offbeat as in the song "Be My Guest," was an influence on ska music.^[21]

Singles discography[link]

Nationally charted hits shown in bold.