Nick Fatool (January 2, 1915 – September 26, 2000) was a prolific American big band and dixieland drummer, variously with the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Les Brown and Harry James. Also recorded with Louis Armstrong, Bob Crosby and Tommy Dorsey and worked in Hollywood during the 1940's.
Albert “Nick” Fatool was born in Milbury, Massachusetts, in 1915. His parents were listed as being from Syria. After his family moved to Rhode Island, he played drums in Cranston High School and studied with George Ball. Just a few years later he was living in New York City and playing with the much-admired Joe Haymes Orchestra. A residency in Dallas with the Don Bestor Orchestra followed, then Fatool went straight to the top—joining the Benny Goodman Orchestra in 1939.
His driving but always musical hi-hats, backbeats, and brushes were integral to the orchestra’s rhythmic pulse at the second Carnegie Hall concert, the second Spirituals to Swing concert and on numerous “Camel Caravan” broadcasts. In 1939, guitarist Charlie Christian joined the Goodman orchestra. Fatool’s swinging rhythm was an integral part of the rhythm section that backed Christian on the classic recordings of “Rose Room,” “Seven Come Eleven,” and other sides.
In 1940, after an acrimonious parting with Goodman, Fatool moved on to another top orchestra: Artie Shaw’s. There, he blended seamlessly with Shaw’s rhythm section. He is seen onscreen with Shaw and the orchestra in the 1940 film “Second Chorus.” During his stay with Shaw, Fatool participated in some of the orchestra’s greatest recordings—including “Concerto For Clarinet.” He also recorded with Shaw’s Gramercy Five, foreshadowing some of the licks which would later project him to the top of the list of “Dixieland” drummers.
Following his stint with Shaw, Fatool worked with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra and then moved to Los Angeles in 1943. He quickly became a favorite with studio musicians and also with the jazz and swing musicians who settled in Southern California during wartime. Between 1945 and 1951 he recorded with specially-assembled recording ensembles such as the Capitol Jazzmen, Lavere’s Chicago Loopers and the Four-Star Rhythm Section as well as established bands such as Bob Crosby’s Orchestra and the Bob Cats. Later he recorded several sessions with Jess Stacy, Tommy Dorsey, Matty Matlock, John Scott Trotter and Glen Gray. He began an association with Bob Crosby, playing with him regularly between 1949 and 1951 and occasionally with Crosby's Bobcats into the 1970s.
Nicknamed “Old Rub-A-Dub,” Fatool became a reliable and sought-after drummer in the Los Angeles music scene. Between 1944 and 1958 he played on sessions for the following Capitol Records artists: Andy Griffith, Andy Russell, Betty Hutton, Billy May, Jeanne Gayle, Charles LaVere, Dave Barbour, Dave Matthews, Dean Martin, Maggie Jackson, Ella Mae Morse, Frank Sinatra, Freddie Slack, Gordon MacRae, Jack Teagarden, Jerry Colonna, Jesse Price, Jo Stafford, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Standley, Margaret Whiting, Marvin Ash, Nat King Cole, Paul Weston, Peggy Lee, Pete Kelly, Ray Anthony, Ray Turner, Red Nichols, Robert Mitchum, Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Andrews Sisters, The Dinning Sisters, The Pied Pipers, The Starlighters, The Capitol Jazzmen, and Wingy Manone.
Fatool was an important member of Buddy Cole and his Trio which worked with Bing Crosby from 1954-1960. In the 1950s and 1960s, Fatool found much work on the Dixieland jazz revival circuit, playing with Pete Fountain from 1962–1965 and the Dukes of Dixieland, then continued to freelance around Southern California. He also developed a love of golf—enough to briefly become a professional golfer!
However, he toured Europe with the World’s Greatest Jazz Band and made his only recording as a leader on a septet jam that also included Eddie Miller, Johnny Mince and Ernie Carson. That music, plus a quintet outing headed by Bud Freeman from 1982, have been combined on the Jazzology CD Nick Fatool's Jazz Band & Quartet. He passed away in Los Angeles on September 26, 2000, at the age of 85.
(Edited
from The Syncopated Times & Wikipedia)