Ain't That A Shame

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Ain’t That a Shame” is a song written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. Domino’s recording of the song, released by Imperial Records in 1955, was a hit, eventually selling a million copies. It reached number 1 on the Bilboard R&B chart and number 10 on the pop chart. The song is ranked number 438 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song gained national fame after being re-recorded by the white recording artist Pat Boone. Domino’s version soon became more popular, bringing his music to the mass market a half-dozen years after his first recording, “The Fat Man“.

After “Ain’t That a Shame“, mainstream artists began covering Domino’s songs. Teresa Brewer, for instance, performed Domino’s version of the folk song “Bo Weevil“.

A version of the song by the Four Seasons reached number 22 on the Billboard charts in 1963.

According to legend, Pat Boone suggested changing the title and lyrics to “Isn’t That a Shame” to make it more appealing to a broader audience but was dissuaded by his producers. Nevertheless, Boone’s recording of the song in 1955 was his first Billboard number-one single. Domino complimented Boone’s cover of the song. Boone liked to tell a story about a concert at which Domino invited Boone on stage, showed a big gold ring and said, “Pat Boone bought me this ring.”

“Ain’t That a Shame” was the first song that John Lennon learned to play. He later covered it on the album Rock ‘n’ Roll. […]

Paul McCartney recorded “Ain’t That a Shame” in 1987 for his Choba B CCCP album. From the liner notes of this album:

I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday/Ain’t That A Shame/I’m In Love Again

It’s interesting to note that through their individual styles couldn’t be more diverse, when recording their innumerable hits at Cosmo Studios in New Orleans, both Little Richard and Fats Domino employed the very same band of musicians.

The living embodiment of the Crescent City’s rich cultural heritage, Fats Domino has been scoring million-selling hits worldwide since 1949, to the extent that he has amassed more gold record awards than any artist other than Elvis and The Beatles.

There is a timeless consistency common to Domino’s repertoire that attracts successive generations and, without question, Paul McCartney’s understanding of the Fat Man’s special qualities, rendering him the most genuinely skillful of the Big Man’s life-affirming music.

Be it the way he eases comfortably into the brisk characteristic 2/4 New Orleans beat of the confidence-boosting I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday, handles the singalong rolling blues Ain’t That A Shame or knowingly defuses the pent-up frustration of I’m In Love Again with one of the greatest of all catch phrases, “Oowee, baby, oowee”, McCartney is in his element.

In Western countries where Choba B CCCP was only released in 1991, this version of “Ain’t That a Shame” was first released as B-side of My Brave Face CD single.

Last updated on September 4, 2016

Lyrics

Videos