In the late 1940s in New Orleans, two young black men were forging a brand new kind of music in the city of jazz. They were architects of a groundbreaking sound that made the transition from jump blues and big band swing to rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

In 1949 the musical team of Dave Bartholomew and Antoine Domino Jr. recorded a rollicking tune that many argue is the first ever rock and roll record.  The song was “The Fat Man.”  It was named after Domino’s nickname – Fats.

The record was the start of a string of hits for Fats Domino…and Dave Bartholomew - his arranger, producer and band leader. And it was the start of one of the most important partnerships in all of rock and roll.  The records they made together introduced the “Big Beat” of the Crescent City to the world, and changed the course of music in the process.

 Dave Bartholomew was born into a musical family in a small Louisiana town. In high school he began taking trumpet lessons from Peter Davis – who had also taught a young Louis Armstrong.

By the age of 14, Bartholomew was supporting his mother and three sisters by playing music.   A year after Pearl Harbor, he was drafted in to the service, where he played in the Army Band. He credits that experience with honing his skills not just as a player, but as a scorer and arranger.

 “(BARTHOLOMEW)…That’s where I learned to play, and write and do almost everything right. I was with some great musicians, some great leaders there. That really was my beginning of being a professional musician…”

After his stint in the Army, Bartholomew began to make a name for himself in New Orleans.   Bartholomew started recording for the Deluxe label in 1948. The next year he cut his fourth single, “Country Boy,” which became a national hit.

That same year, Imperial Records owner Lew Chudd hired Bartholomew as an arranger, band leader, and talent scout. Bartholomew suggested they check out a hot new performer that was packing in the crowds at a New Orleans club.

 “(BARTHOLOMEW)…There was a club down there called the hideaway. And what actually happened, I heard someone say ‘man, there’s a young man down there, when he’s on the bandstand people can’t stand still. People gotta get in line, and the line is outside the club. And that was the Hideaway, and sure enough that was Antoine Fats Domino. And when he and I finally got together, I would say we were very appropriate for eachother. I knew what he needed, and he knew what I could do and couldn’t do, and the rest is history…”

The two went on to record than three dozen hits throughout the ‘50s and early ‘60s.   One of their songs, “Ain’t That a Shame,” was recorded by white singer Pat Boone.  But that was forgotten when Domino and Bartholomew released their own version in 1955. It exploded with black and white audiences alike.    Once their music crossed the color barrier- there was no stopping them.  Songs such as “Bo Weevil,” “I’m In Love Again,” and “My Blue Heaven” were hits on both the Rhythm and Blues and pop charts. In 1956 the duo produced a monster record that got Fats Domino on the Ed Sullivan show… “Blueberry Hill”

Their music also had an enormous influence on other musicians. Elvis Presley paid tribute to the duo with his version of “Blueberry Hill,” and Ricky Nelson’s debut was a cover of “I’m Walkin.’”  Fats Domino met The Beatles in 1964, and his music later inspired their song “Lady Madonna.”

Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and Bartholomew was part of the class of 1991.   The Hall of Fame's vice president of education and public programs, Dr. Lauren Onkey, says the decision to salute two seminal figures this year just made sense..

ONKEY:    The music dictated it. Dave, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1991, was key to Fats Domino’s records as a trumpet player, as a producer, as an arranger, and as a co-writer. Most Fats hits that you know, Dave co-wrote. So it was a real opportunity there to tell the unique story of this unique collaboration in the history of rock and roll…”

Grammy-award winning singer Irma Thomas, known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans, also recorded for Imperial Records in the ‘60s. She says the recognition for the New Orleans sound is long overdue….

“(THOMAS)…New Orleans hasn’t been given its just due. And a lot of things have been taken and told that they did it before we did it. But they couldn’t have done it before we did it, because we were the cradle city in the south, we were the cradle city for it…”

Thomas will be among the artists saluting the duo at Saturday’s concert.  Also on the bill are “Mr. Personality” Lloyd Price, the Rebirth Brass Band, and reggae greats Toots and the Maytals.  Dr. John and the Lower 911 will serve as the house band for the evening.   The 89 year-old Bartholomew will also perform at the concert on Saturday but Domino, who last performed in 2007, no longer travels outside of his home city of New Orleans.

For his part Bartholomew is modest…

“(BARTHOLOMEW)…We were very lucky. We wasn’t better than anybody else, we were just very lucky…”