Books in Righteous Rockers series

While he would become very popular later in his life, Fats Domino had a simple beginning. He was raised by parents who loved music. He had seven siblings, many of which loved to play music too. Fats Domino spent his childhood chopping wood, boxing, and collecting scrap metal. When Domino was ten years old, his family got a piano. After that, every Saturday was a party at his house. There was music, dancing, and friends. Fats Domino fell in love with the piano and in doing so, set himself on a musical path that would shape the rest of his life. Step into this book to see how Fats Domino went from playing for his neighbors in his backyard to playing for all of New Orleans!

It's obvious that Chuck Berry was destined for greatness from the very beginning. After all, even Berry himself joked that he was born crying and reaching out for the world. Berry didn't just have a noisy start, but a noisy childhood too. Because his family's church was located near his home, the church choir would often rehearse in Berry's house. Chuck Berry remembered being a young boy and tapping his foot to his mother's piano. His family would sing almost all the time, even while washing the dishes or eating dinner. While Berry did try carpentry and even hairdressing, he always returned to music. After all, music was in his bones.

Sam Cooke came from a very close family. He had seven siblings, most of which had musical talent just like Cooke. As kids, the eight siblings formed a group the church called the Singing Children. Even when he was little, Cooke stood out from his brothers and sisters. His talent and good looks made it easy to recognize him, both as a young boy and later as an adult. Sam Cooke spent his entire childhood singing at different churches with his family. When that ended, he sang with kids on the street or neighbors living in his family's building. Little did Sam Cooke know that he'd spend the rest of his life singing for larger and larger audiences! And his family would remain his biggest and truest fans.

Not every famous musician had a smooth beginning. Bo Diddley became one of the most well-known names in blues music. Despite that, he was still thrown off the Ed Sullivan Show in 1955. Diddley's first few performances were on street corners and in tiny bars. While the musician had a small start, he went on to do things that made him quite unique in the blues world. He was one of the first musicians to have women in his band and sometimes even doing lead vocals. Read his story and find out the answers to questions like who trained him, what his first instrument was, and what in the world he has to do with the line "you don't know diddley!"