Originally Posted by
rattman
Just looked it up and I am right came from the Fat Albert and Cosby kids cartoon
OK, I guess I'm going to have to give the answer.
Remember I said you were on the right track? The character
did appear in that cartoon starting in 1972, but that was not where the character originated. In
1967 Bill Cosby recorded a comedy album titled "Revenge". One of the stories on that album was called "Buck Buck", about teams of kids who would bend over in a line and another team of kids would jump on their backs one by one until the first team couldn't hold any more and would collapse. Then the teams would reverse roles. The team that held the most would be the winner. A team of big tough kids from the other side of town challenged Bill and his buddies and it looked bad for the local guys until Bill's team brought out their secret weapon:
FAT ALBERT
(who weighed, "2,000 pounds")
It was that routine that inspired naming the Blue's aircraft specifically and other "stout" types in general Fat Albert.
P.S. There should be a link here where everyone can hear the routine, but I'm not always seeing it.