Interview: Fats Domino, November 9, 1978, Palumbo’s Restaurant, Philadelphia, PA.

Fats Domino, by Peter Stone Brown, November 9, 1978, Palumbo’s Restaurant, Philadelphia, PA.

It was impossible to escape Fats Domino’s music growing up. “Blueberry Hill,” “I’m Walkin’,” and “Walking To New Orleans” were staples of Top 40 radio. But Fats didn’t seem to come up North to play too often. This show took place in a long-gone Italian Restaurant in West Philly that later turned into one of the major music clubs in Philly in the ’80s. It was one of those places where they served a full dinner and then you watched the show. The interview took place in Fat’s dressing room in the basement of the restaurant. He had quite an entourage of guys in suits and bowties, and of course his famous diamond rings glistened throughout. However he was more than happy to talk, though at the time he hadn’t released a new album in quite a while.

The show was something else though the audience was pretty much a supper club crowd. The only people I knew in the audience were George Thorogood and The De…