Dave Bartholomew was a driving creative force in the history of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, a man whose name may not be well known to the general public, but whose work as a songwriter, bandleader, producer, and arranger was crucial to the success of Fats Domino and many others. Bartholomew was born in Edgard, Louisiana, on Dec. 24, 1918. Although he recorded as a singer or featured instrumentalist for the DeLuxe, Imperial, and King labels among others, as far back as 1947, he had only one jukebox hit, ‘Country Boy,’ in 1950. His work in the studio, however, resulted in a parade of hits by Domino, Lloyd Price, Shirley & Lee, Smiley Lewis, Earl King, and others. Among Bartholomew’s songwriting credits, on his own or as co-composer, are ‘Walking to New Orleans,’ ‘Blue Monday,’ ‘My Ding A Ling,’ ‘I Hear You Knocking,’ ‘I’m Walkin’,’ ‘Let the Four Winds Blow,’ and hundreds more.
Bartholomew passed away in June 2019.