Fats Waller: The Cheerful Little Earful

Continuum International Publishing

Fats Waller (1904-1943) was an outsize man in all respects: five feet eleven inches tall, he weighed 285 pounds. He was the greatest of the Harlem stride pianists, he composed hundreds of songs, he led a band which made over 400 recordings and he wrote several Broadway shows. 

In this fully revised and updated biography of Waller, Alyn Shipton re-examines his career, arguing that his talents as a songwriter, show composer and brilliant recording and broadcasting artist have not been fully appreciated.
A new final chapter, provides a comprehensive survey of Waller's recordings as they have been reissued for the CD era.