Blue Monday (1954 song)

"Blue Monday" is a song written by Dave Bartholomew,[1] first recorded in 1953 by Smiley Lewis and issued as a single, in January 1954, on Imperial Records (catalog #5268).[2][3] The single, with a slow-rocking beat, features an instrumental electric guitar solo by Lewis.

"Blue Monday"
Single by Fats Domino
from the album This is Fats Domino!
B-side"What's The Reason I'm Not Pleasing You"
Released1956
Recorded1956
GenreRhythm and blues
Length2:20
LabelImperial
5417
SongwriterDave Bartholomew
Fats Domino singles chronology
"Blueberry Hill"
(1956)		 "Blue Monday"
(1956)		 "What's The Reason I'm Not Pleasing You"
(1956)
Official Audio
"Blue Monday" on YouTube

Fats Domino cover

It was later popularized in a recording by Fats Domino in 1956, and became his 7th pop single. It was also released on Imperial (catalog #5417), with the songwriting credit shared between him and Bartholomew.[4] The baritone saxophone solo is by Herbert Hardesty.[5][6]

The song debuted on the Billboard Top 100 (later known as the Hot 100) chart on January 5, 1957, at number 58. It would climb up to number 9 in February, and remain there for 3 weeks. It peaked at number 23 on the UK charts. The January 5 edition 'Rhythm & Blues Notes' column on Billboard called the song the "hottest new record around" and stated orders stood around the 350,000 mark. It would also spend 8 consecutive weeks at number 1 on the R&B chart.[7]

Domino's cover was featured in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It.[8]

The song title was used for a 2006 biography of Domino by Rick Coleman.[9]

Cat Stevens cover

Cat Stevens covered the song during a 1976 jam session with Ringo Starr, but the song remained unreleased until 2001, when it was finally included on a career-spanning box set.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ "BMI | Repertoire Search". January 13, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-01-13.
  2. ↑ "smileyl". home.earthlink.net. Archived from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  3. ↑ "Smiley Lewis - Blue Monday". Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Sexton, Paul (2015-01-05). "Fats Domino Knew All About Blue Mondays". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  5. ↑ Davis, Hank (1993). Fats Domino: Out of New Orleans. Bear Family Records. p. 42.
  6. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (December 10, 2016). "Herb Hardesty, Fats Domino's Saxophonist at Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll, Dies at 91 (Published 2016)". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Sexton, Paul (2015-01-05). "Fats Domino Knew All About Blue Mondays". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  8. ↑ Sexton, Paul (2015-01-05). "Fats Domino Knew All About Blue Mondays". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  9. ↑ Coleman, Rick (2006). Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81491-9. editions:rsrKZ8bNWIsC.
  10. ↑ "Majicat - Cat Stevens /Ringo Starr Copenhagen Jam Session". www.majicat.com. Retrieved 2026-07-05.
  11. ↑ "Blue Monday". Yusuf / Cat Stevens. Retrieved 2026-07-05.


This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.