Chapter 1
Written on the Wind

In the biography, Blue Monday, the author Rick Coleman considers Fats Domino to be the creator of rock and roll. There are, of course, many claims to that title. But, for our purposes, it is irrelevant, for Coleman defines the creation of rock and roll thus: ‘Domino himself was at the crossroads of black and white worlds, as he led the way in the crucial fusion of popular music with the West African tradition of polyrhythms, which moved the body, and emotive story telling, that moved the soul.’ Coleman is precise about the origins of polyrhythms; they did indeed come from West Africa. But he gives no mention of the Northern European roots of that emotive story telling. Which is where we come in.