Ain’t it a Shame

AIN’T IT A SHAME

“Ain’t That a Shame” (originally called “Ain’t it a Shame”) is a song written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. Released by Imperial Records in 1955, the song was a hit for Domino, eventually selling a million copies. It reached #1 on the “Black Singles” chart and #10 on the “Pop Singles” chart. The song is ranked #438 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song gained national fame after being re-recorded by white recording artist Pat Boone. Domino’s version soon became more popular, bringing Domino’s music to the mass market a half dozen years after his first major recording, “The Fat Man”. (More from Wikipedia)

Also, Pat Boone was not in competition with the original release of “Ain’t That a Shame” by Fats Domino (which also came out in July 1955 and was originally called “Ain’t it a Shame”); quite the contrary: White teenagers often bought the original single – actually, both 78’s and 45’s were being released in this period – after they heard Pat Boone’s version of “Ain’t That a Shame”. This was a little before my time, but I knew several people from that era who liked both Boone’s recordings and the originals. Pat Boone was a major force in introducing white audiences to R&B music, because the original recordings were not being played on white radio stations more than any other reason.

(June 2013/1)