Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of four children, born in New York to Adeline Locket Waller and Reverend Edward Martin Waller. He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag. Waller's first piano solos ("Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues") were recorded in October 1922 when he was 18 years old.
He was the prize pupil, and later friend and colleague, of stride pianist James P. Johnson. Fats Waller was the son of a preacher and learned to play the organ in church with his mother. Overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, Waller became a professional pianist at 15, working in cabarets and theaters. In 1918 he won a talent contest playing Johnson's "Carolina Shout", a song he learned from watching a player piano play it.
Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz". Waller composed many novelty tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller. Waller's son Maurice wrote in his 1977 biography of his father, that once he was playing "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" when he heard his father complaining from upstairs and came down and admonished him never to play that song in his hearing, saying that he had to sell that song when he needed some money. He even made a recording of it in 1938 with Adelaide Hall who, coincidentally, had introduced the song to the world (at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in 1928), in which he played the tune but made fun of the lyrics. Likewise, Maurice noted his father's objections whenever he heard "On the Sunny Side of the Street" played on the radio.
The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album Handful of Keys state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new songs, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy".[citation needed] Gene Sedric, a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930s recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration: "Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio, and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number."
Waller played with many performers, from Nat Shilkret (on Victor 21298-A) and Gene Austin to Erskine Tate to Adelaide Hall, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm".
His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters did not intend to kill him. According to rumor, Waller played for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.
In 1926, Waller began his recording association with Victor Records, his principal record company for the rest of his life, with the organ solos "St. Louis Blues" and his own composition, "Lenox Avenue Blues". Although he recorded with various groups, including Morris's Hot Babes (1927), Fats Waller's Buddies (1929) (one of the earliest interracial groups to record), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929), his most important contribution to the Harlem stride piano tradition was a series of solo recordings of his own compositions: "Handful of Keys", "Smashing Thirds", "Numb Fumblin'", and "Valentine Stomp" (1929). After sessions with Ted Lewis (1931), Jack Teagarden (1931), and Billy Banks's Rhythmakers (1932), he began in May 1934 the voluminous series of recordings with a small band known as Fats Waller and his Rhythm. This six-piece group usually included Herman Autrey (sometimes replaced by Bill Coleman or John "Bugs" Hamilton), Gene Sedric or Rudy Powell, and Al Casey.
Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf. He composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag".[citation needed]
He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in one of the first BBC broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released July 21, just months before his death. For the hit Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates", he and Razaf wrote "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong.
Waller performed Bach organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre-bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances.
Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were performed on a full sized church organ.
Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri on December 15, 1943, after making a final recording session with an interracial group in Detroit that included white trumpeter Don Hirleman. He was on his way back to Hollywood for more film work, after the smash success of "Stormy Weather". Coincidentally, as the train with the body of Waller stopped in Kansas City, so stopped a train with his dear friend Louis Armstrong on board.
Revival and awards
2008 Gennett Records Walk of Fame
2005 Jazz at Lincoln Center: Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame
1993 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1989 Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
1970 Songwriters Hall of Fame
Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honour recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance".
Fats Waller: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards
1934 "Honeysuckle Rose" Jazz (Single) Victor in 1998
1929 "Ain't Misbehavin'" Jazz (Single) Victor in 1984 Listed in the National Recording Registry
by the Library of Congress in 2004.
Subject of the Irish poet Michael Longley's "Elegy for Fats Waller".
Waller's organ music is prominently featured in the David Lynch film Eraserhead.
He was caricatured in several Warner Brothers animated shorts, most notably Tin Pan Alley Cats.
In the 2008 film, Be Kind Rewind Fats Waller was a major theme and influence for the storyline.
Italian comics book artist Igort published a comic book about Waller entitled Fats Waller on Coconino Press in 2009.
Some of Waller's music ("Jitterbug Waltz") is used in the video game series BioShock.
Waller's version of "Louisiana Fairytale" was used for many years as the theme song to This Old House.
A Broadway musical revue showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978. (The show and a star of the show, Nell Carter, won Tony Awards.) The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for over 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988. Performed by five African American actors, it included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose", "This Joint Is Jumpin'", and "Ain't Misbehavin'".
Your Feet
Fats Waller Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mercy
Sounds like baby patter, baby elephant patter, that's what I call it
Say up in Harlem at a table for two
There were four of us, me, your big feet and you
From your ankles up, I'd say you sure are sweet
Yes, your feet's too big
Don't want you 'cause your feet's too big
Can't use you 'cause your feet's too big
I really hate you 'cause your feet's too big
Where did you get 'em?
Your girl, she likes you, she thinks you're nice
Got what it takes to be in paradise
She says she likes your face
She likes your race
Man, oh man, and things are too big
Oh, your feet's too big
Don't want you 'cause your feet's too big
Mad at you 'cause your feet's too big
I hate you 'cause your feet's too big
My goodness, gun the gunboats
Shiff, shiff, shiff
Oh, your pedal extremities are colossal
To me you look just like a fossil
You got me walkin', talkin' and squarkin'
'Cause your feet's too big, yeah
Come on and walk that thing
Oh, I've never heard of such walkin', mercy
Your, your pedal extremities really are obnoxious
One never knows do one?
Fats Waller's "Your Feets Too Big" is a playful, joyful song that pokes fun at the oversized feet of a prospective lover. The lyrics employ a variety of humorous images to describe the size and impact of these big feet, from "baby elephant patter" to "pedal extremities" that are "colossal" and "obnoxious."
The song is set in a Harlem restaurant, where the singer and his companion are joined by the object of his affection, whose big feet take center stage. The verses are filled with clever rhymes and wordplay, as the singer laments that he can't be with this woman because "your feet's too big."
One interesting aspect of the song is its emphasis on dance and movement. The lyrics use "walkin'," "talkin'," and "squarkin'" to describe the impact of these big feet, as if they have a life of their own. The music itself is a catchy, upbeat tune that invites listeners to tap their feet and dance along.
Another interesting aspect of the song is its place in the history of African American music. Fats Waller was a leading figure in jazz and swing music in the 1930s and 40s, and his music helped to bridge the gap between traditional African American music and mainstream popular culture. "Your Feets Too Big" is a great example of this fusion, with its playful lyrics and catchy melody.
Line by Line Meaning
Who's that walkin' round here?
Waller notices someone approaching him and starts wondering who it could be.
Sounds like baby patter, baby elephant patter, that's what I call it
As the person gets closer, Waller realizes that the footfalls are quite heavy and compares them to that of a baby elephant.
Say up in Harlem at a table for two
The scene changes to a restaurant in Harlem where Waller is having dinner with someone.
There were four of us, me, your big feet and you
Despite being only two diners, Waller feels like there are four people since his companion's feet take up so much space.
From your ankles up, I'd say you sure are sweet
Waller thinks highly of his companion's personality and appearance from the ankles up.
From there down there's just too much feet
However, he can't help but notice that his companion's feet are abnormally large and thinks it's unattractive.
Yes, your feet's too big
Waller admits that the size of his companion's feet is a major issue for him.
Don't want you 'cause your feet's too big
He laments that he can't overlook the size of the feet and accept his companion as he is.
Can't use you 'cause your feet's too big
Waller feels like his companion's feet are hindering their potential relationship.
I really hate you 'cause your feet's too big
His frustration with the situation leads him to say that he hates his companion solely because of the size of their feet.
Where did you get 'em?
He's curious to know why his companion's feet are so large.
Your girl, she likes you, she thinks you're nice
Waller acknowledges that the companion has a girlfriend who finds him attractive and has positive thoughts about him.
Got what it takes to be in paradise
The girlfriend thinks highly of the companion's worth and thinks he deserves to be in a better place.
She says she likes your face
The girlfriend likes his face and thinks he's handsome.
She likes your race
The girlfriend also likes the companion's race and is interested in him culturally.
Man, oh man, and things are too big
Despite the girlfriend's positive thoughts, Waller laments that he just can't get past the size of his companion's feet, which he finds unattractive.
Oh, your feet's too big
Waller repeats his earlier sentiment that the size of the feet is too much for him.
Mad at you 'cause your feet's too big
He expresses his anger towards his companion over the feet size issue.
I hate you 'cause your feet's too big
He repeats his previous statement and emphasizes his hatred for his companion due to the size of the feet.
My goodness, gun the gunboats
Waller exclaims his surprise at the enormity of his companion's feet.
Shiff, shiff, shiff
Waller mimics the sound of his companion walking heavily and comically underscores the unreasonable size of the feet.
Oh, your pedal extremities are colossal
Waller is again astounded by the sheer size of his companion's feet.
To me you look just like a fossil
He compares his companion's feet to being prehistoric, outdated and unattractive.
You got me walkin', talkin' and squarkin'
He expresses his irritation by saying that his companion's feet are causing him to act clumsily, speak oddly, and make unnecessary noise.
'Cause your feet's too big, yeah
He reiterates that the real issue is the size of the feet, which is making everything else seem irritating and undesirable.
Come on and walk that thing
In this last line, Waller is suggesting that his companion walk away and leave him be because he can't handle the size of their feet, which is preventing them from having a relationship.
Oh, I've never heard of such walkin', mercy
Waller exaggerates the idea of his companion walking away, implying that it would be almost impossible due to the size of their feet.
Your, your pedal extremities really are obnoxious
He concludes his complaints by stating that his companion's feet are not just unattractive but also annoying in nature.
One never knows do one?
He concludes the song by making a witty remark that suggests there's no way to predict what one will encounter in one's life, such as being unable to handle someone solely because of the size of their feet.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ada Benson, Fred Fisher
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@LitReflex001
I tell you Fats Waller's face is as entertaining as the music. This guy was a natural-born performer.
@rustyshackleford4761
Very vaudeville
@smashinglabu3942
Like Jack Black 🤣
@SamelaHarris
My father also loved this song - so much that we played it as the walk-out song at his funeral.
@eetchit6034
Samela Harris. they dont make em like they did.. bless your father.
@tenhirankei
I believe there was a later line that referred to the guy with big feet at his funeral - they were "sticking right out of the basket!"
@lindakrause4597
That's absolutely wonderful!
@wiscgaloot
Huh. A guy commented 2 years before you that he heard this song "at a neighbor's funeral". What a weird coincidence!
@hippojuice23
Somehow, I feel better about my life having known that, thank you!
@hellacoorinna9995
Dude had a penchant for comedic facial expressions.
What a boss.