July 24, 2026 —– Chart #360

Hello music friends,

Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are going all the way back to the early days of rock and roll with one of the greats.

Today’s feature is “Ain’t That a Shame” by Fats Domino.

And before we are done, we are also going to tip our hats to Cheap Trick, who came along years later, plugged the song into a wall socket, and turned it into something completely different and also terrific.

Fats Domino and the sound of New Orleans

Fats Domino was one of the true founding fathers of rock and roll. Born Antoine Domino Jr. in New Orleans, he brought a rolling piano style, warm voice, and easy smile to a string of hits that helped shape popular music in the 1950s.

He did not look or sound like he was trying to start a revolution. That was part of the charm. He sounded relaxed, friendly, and effortless, like the whole band had just wandered in from a good lunch and decided to make history before dessert.

“Ain’t That a Shame” was written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew and released in 1955. It became one of Domino’s breakthrough records and helped introduce him to a much broader audience. The song reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and crossed over to the pop audience, becoming one of the early building blocks of rock and roll.

Of course, like many songs by Black artists in the 1950s, it was quickly covered by a white performer. Pat Boone recorded a polished pop version that became a bigger hit on the pop charts, but the heart of the song belongs to Fats.

Always has. Always will.

The song

What makes “Ain’t That a Shame” so good is how simple and durable it is. The melody is direct. The beat is infectious. The lyrics are easy to remember. And Fats sings it with that wonderful mix of sadness and bounce.

That is the magic of the record. The words are about heartbreak, but the music makes you want to move. That combination shows up again and again in great rock and roll. The heart is broken, but the piano is having a wonderful time.

Fats Domino had that gift. He could make a sad song feel like a party without ever making it seem false. His version swings, rolls, and smiles through the tears.

Then Cheap Trick got hold of it

More than twenty years later, Cheap Trick took “Ain’t That a Shame” and completely reinvented it.

Their live version appeared on Cheap Trick at Budokan, the 1978 album that turned the band into major stars. The original Fats Domino version rolls. The Cheap Trick version attacks. It opens with that huge drum build from Bun E. Carlos, then Rick Nielsen’s guitar comes blasting in, and suddenly a New Orleans R&B classic has become a power-pop rock anthem.

It should not work as well as it does.

But it absolutely does.

Robin Zander sings it with full rock-and-roll swagger, the band hits it hard, and the Japanese audience sounds like they are witnessing a small electrical fire in the best possible way. Cheap Trick did not just cover the song. They reimagined it.

That is the sign of a great song. It can live in different eras, different arrangements, and different worlds. Fats made it roll. Cheap Trick made it roar.

A quick note for the guitar crowd

This one is fun because you can take it either direction. You can play it closer to the Fats Domino version with a loose, swinging feel, or you can lean toward the Cheap Trick version and give it more drive.

Either way, keep it simple. The song does not need to be dressed up too much. The hook is strong, the groove is strong, and everybody knows where it is going.

That is rock and roll at its best.

So this week we honor Fats Domino, the great New Orleans master who gave us the song, and we also salute Cheap Trick, who proved that a great song can be rebuilt with louder guitars and still keep its soul.

Both versions are fantastic.

Ain’t that a shame?

Keep Rockin,

Stan