Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Louisiana Fairy Tale
Words and music by Mitchell Parish, Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots
Played by 'Fats' Waller and his Rhythm
Recorded March 6, 1935, New York
Victor 24898
Personnel: Herman Autrey (trumpet) / Rudy Powell (clarinet) / Fats Waller (piano, vocal) / Albert Casey (guitar) / Charles Turner (bass) / Harry Dial (drums)
'Fats' Thomas Wright Waller was born in New York City, May 21, 1904 and died in Kansas City Missouri on December 15, 1943. Fats' father was a church minister and his mother played piano and organ. He began on piano at the age of six and later played in his school orchestra. He left school in 1918, did various day jobs and also won a talent contest at the Roosevelt Theatre (playing 'Carolina Shout'). He received informal lessons from James P. Johnson then studied with Carl Bohn and Leopold Godowski.. His recording career began in 1922 and then became the resident organist at the Lincoln Theatre. In the mid-twenties he played residency in a silent movie theatre in Washington D.C., and led his own trio in Philadelphia. During the late twenties, his career expanded to various theatre venues, concerts and musicals. He continued recording under his own name and also recorded with Fletcher Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Jack Teagarden and Ted Lewis. In 1930 he began broadcasting on WABC in New York, in 1932 on WLW in Cincinnati. In 1934 he formed his recording group 'Fats Waller and his Rhythm' and had his own CBS radio series. He toured Europe in 1938, in Glasgow, Denmark and London where he was featured in an early BBC television series. Returning to New York he played with his own small band at the Yacht Club. In 1942, he began working as a single and was featured in concert at Carnegie Hall, New York. Fats' last big show, 'Early to Bed', opened in Boston in May 1943. Later that year he moved to Hollywood to work at the Zanzibar Club, Los Angeles, until December 1943. While returning to New York with his manager, Ed Kirkeby, on the Sante Fe Railroad, he died of pneumonia.
A partial list of Fats Waller compositions include ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, ‘Black and Blue’, ‘I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby’, ‘I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling’, and ‘Honeysuckle Rose’.
Louisiana Fairy Tale
Words and music by Mitchell Parish, Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots
Played by 'Fats' Waller and his Rhythm
Recorded March 6, 1935, New York
Victor 24898
Personnel: Herman Autrey (trumpet) / Rudy Powell (clarinet) / Fats Waller (piano, vocal) / Albert Casey (guitar) / Charles Turner (bass) / Harry Dial (drums)
'Fats' Thomas Wright Waller was born in New York City, May 21, 1904 and died in Kansas City Missouri on December 15, 1943. Fats' father was a church minister and his mother played piano and organ. He began on piano at the age of six and later played in his school orchestra. He left school in 1918, did various day jobs and also won a talent contest at the Roosevelt Theatre (playing 'Carolina Shout'). He received informal lessons from James P. Johnson then studied with Carl Bohn and Leopold Godowski.. His recording career began in 1922 and then became the resident organist at the Lincoln Theatre. In the mid-twenties he played residency in a silent movie theatre in Washington D.C., and led his own trio in Philadelphia. During the late twenties, his career expanded to various theatre venues, concerts and musicals. He continued recording under his own name and also recorded with Fletcher Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Jack Teagarden and Ted Lewis. In 1930 he began broadcasting on WABC in New York, in 1932 on WLW in Cincinnati. In 1934 he formed his recording group 'Fats Waller and his Rhythm' and had his own CBS radio series. He toured Europe in 1938, in Glasgow, Denmark and London where he was featured in an early BBC television series. Returning to New York he played with his own small band at the Yacht Club. In 1942, he began working as a single and was featured in concert at Carnegie Hall, New York. Fats' last big show, 'Early to Bed', opened in Boston in May 1943. Later that year he moved to Hollywood to work at the Zanzibar Club, Los Angeles, until December 1943. While returning to New York with his manager, Ed Kirkeby, on the Sante Fe Railroad, he died of pneumonia.
A partial list of Fats Waller compositions include ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, ‘Black and Blue’, ‘I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby’, ‘I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling’, and ‘Honeysuckle Rose’.
