Nick Fatool

Who was Nick Fatool?

Nick Fatool was an American jazz drummer.

Fatool first played professionally in Providence, Rhode Island, which he followed with time in Joe Haymes's band in 1937 and Don Beston's in Dallas soon after. In 1939 he played with Bobby Hackett briefly, and then became a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. He became one of the most visible drummers of the 1940s, playing with Artie Shaw, Alvino Rey, Claude Thornhill, Les Brown, and Jan Savitt. In 1943 he moved to Los Angeles and took work as a session musician, recording profusely. Credits include Harry James, Erroll Garner, Louis Armstrong, Jess Stacy, Tommy Dorsey, Matty Matlock, 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.

Between January 7, 1944 and April 23, 1958 Nick Fatool played on sessions for the following Capitol Records artists: The Capitol Jazzmen, Charles LaVere, Eddie Miller and His Orchestra, Ella Mae Morse, Johnny Mercer, Betty Hutton, Paul Weston and His Orchestra, Jo Stafford, The Pied Pipers, Peggy Lee, Dave Matthews and His Orchestra, Billy May and His Orchestra, Freddie Slack, Nat "King" Cole, Jesse Price and His Orchestra, Dave Barbour and His Orchestra, Wingy Manone, Andy Russell, Benny Goodman, Margaret Whiting, The Starlighters, Jerry Colonna, Dean Martin, Gordon MacRae, The Marvin Ash Trio, Ray Turner, Pete Kelly and His Big Seven, Maggie Jackson, Bob Crosby and His Orchestra, The Dinning Sisters, Jeanne Gayle, Joe "Fingers" Carr and His Ragtime Band, Red Nichols and His Aaugmented Pennies, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ray Anthony and His Orchestra, Bobby Hackett and His Jazz Band, Jack Teagarden, Glen Gray and His Casa Loma Orchestra, The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Standley, Andy Griffith, and Robert Mitchum.