| Blue Monday | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Fats Domino |
| B-Side: | What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasing You |
| Released: | 1956 |
| Recorded: | 1956 |
| Genre: | Rhythm and blues |
| Label: | Imperial 5417 |
| Prev Title: | Blueberry Hill |
| Prev Year: | 1956 |
| Next Title: | What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasing You |
| Next Year: | 1956 |
"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.
It was later popularized in a recording by Fats Domino in 1956, also on Imperial (catalog # 5417), on which the songwriting credit was shared between him and Bartholomew. Most later versions have credited Bartholomew and Domino as co-writers. The baritone saxophone solo is by Herbert Hardesty.[4] [5]
Domino's version was featured in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It. It became one of the earliest rhythm and blues songs to make the Billboard charts, peaking at number five and reaching the number one spot on the R&B Best Sellers chart.[6] The single reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart[7] It was included on the 1957 Liberty album This Is Fats and the 1959 Liberty album Fats Domino Sings 12,000,000 Records.
The song title was used for a 2006 biography of Domino by Rick Coleman.[8]