'Fats Domino put more records on the pop chart than any other rock or R & B star of the fifties, (except Elvis of course) - sixty-five singles in an almost uninterrupted stream from 1955 to 1964. And 1955 is just when the pop charts started making consistent sense. He started scoring on the R & B chart (which usually listed only about ten or fifteen national best sellers) in 1950, and if the charts had been desegregated sooner, his statistics would be even more impressive.
His music could hardly be expected to impress more. It's difficult not to underrate Fats, because his records so often feel the same: rollicking New Orleans piano shuffle exponents of winking lust. But in his case, that's a hallmark of consistent style not formulaic drudgery. Whole Lotta Loving is typical, which makes it very fine indeed.'
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