The trio specialized in swing music with a delicate touch in that they did not employ a drummer; also unique were the voicings of piano and guitar, often juxtaposed to sound like a single instrument. AllMusic. Instead, his most publicized relationship was his marriage to Maria Hawkins Ellington. Cole was only 17. Omissions? Nathaniel Adams Coles, professionally known as Nat King Cole, (March 17, 1919 - February 15, 1965) was an American jazz musician, singer and songwriter.He was born in the southern city of Montgomery, Alabama.His father was a Christian minister.Millions of Nat King Cole's recordings were sold while he was alive. By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device as described in our cookie policy unless you have disabled them. Singer. In August 1948, the couple moved into their new home. Free delivery for many products. Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, vol. His older brother, Eddie Coles, a bassist, soon joined Nat's band and they first recorded in 1936 under Eddie's name. Friedwald, Will (2006). His father died just two weeks before he did. Nat's youngest brother Freddy Cole, and his daughter, Natalie Cole are also singers. His pop hits were collaborations with well-known arrangers and conductors of the day, including Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Ralph Carmichael. How do the traditional Christmas standards perform on the chart? He was, without a doubt, a pioneer, but that doesn't mean his many successes came without struggles. Victor Young, Jeri Southern with Victor Young and His Orchestra. Facing death himself, Cole was also dealing with grief. 3rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. During a neighborhood meeting, the residents expressed that they simply didn't want undesirables around, to which Cole replied, "Neither do I, and if I see any undesirables coming in here, I'll be the first to complain.". Nat "King" Cole and His Trio. Nat King Cole has a catalog full of both. His birth date was on Saint Patrick's Day in 1919. First airing in November 1956,The Nat King Cole Show was the very first time that a Black man was able to host a variety program, a historic development which saw Americans all across the country turning on their televisions to welcome an African-American host into their homes. In Will Friedwalds well-chosen words, he could do almost anything that any other artist could do, but no one else could do what he did.. Cole Wont Rock and Roll (1962) that served only to make him look even further out of touch. "The Nat "King" Cole Show," Museum of Broadcast Communications, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Nat_King_Cole&oldid=1086902, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, Vocal jazz, swing, traditional pop, jump blues. Grove Music Online. Back to home page | Nat King Cole was making and setting records for his celebrated music decades before Elvis Presley and The Beatles arrived on the scene. A wholly mainstream singer and entertainer, Cole was eventually offered his own TV show, which he very much wanted. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He received music lessons from his mother and his family moved to Chicago when he was only five, where his father, Edward James Coles, was a minister at the True Light Baptist Church and later Pastor of the First Baptist Church . Song Year: 1954. After signing with Capitol Records in 1942, Cole and his trio recorded Straighten Up and Fly Right, Sweet Lorraine and Embraceable You. All became major hits, the first of an uninterrupted series of smash recordings to follow for the next 20 years. Stemming from an upper-class family, Ellington was a jazz singer who performed with notable names like Count Basie and Duke Ellington (no relation), according to The Hollywood Reporter. ISBN links support NWE through referral fees. For a number of these recordings, the orchestral accompaniment was directed and arranged by the gifted Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins during the early 60s. In 1937, after touring with a Black musical revue, he began playing in jazz clubs in Los Angeles. It sold over 500,000 copies, and proved that folk-based material could appeal to a wide audience. Born Nathaniel Adams Coles on March 17, 1919 (although 1916 and 1917 have also been cited), in Montgomery, Alabama, Cole was born into a family with a . Sold for 32.24 USD on 22 Mar 2022 (4 bids) 78 rpm. Be the first to find out about GRAMMY nominees, winners, important news, and events. Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Johnson) on the issue of civil rights. Born . Handy in the movie about the composers life, St. Cole's chain-smoking habits would, sadly, catch up to him. The failure of The Nat King Cole Show left Cole feeling both frustrated and restless, but his options were limited. She began recording again after a stint in rehab in. Handy in St. Louis Blues (1958). His family relocated to Chicago when he was very young, and both of his parents were active church members. "[1] The program featured some of the most acclaimed artists,who performed at a fraction of their usual rate to help keep the show on the air. eBay Money Back Guarantee. He died on February 15, 1965, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California and his funeral was held in Los Angeles. Nat King Cole - Where Did Everybody Go - Used Vinyl Record lp - E34A. Cole Espanol: Greatest Hits by Nat King Cole (Record, 2018) (5) $18.48 New. The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio: The Vocal Classics 1942-46. Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. In 1956, "The Nat King Cole Show" was the first of its kind for a known Black performer. As a result, he presented only singers, dancers, and instrumentalists, never comedians, and the shows lack of range, combined with the absence of national sponsorship, kept it from making money. Eddie strongly encouraged Nat to learn how to read music and become proficient in the technical side of piano playing. Although Nat would never be considered a rocker, the song can be seen as anticipating the first rock and roll records. Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama on March 17, 1919. His keyboarding had actually begun at age four, when he picked out Yes, We Have No Bananas, on the family piano. In addition to being a skilled pianist, famous vocalist, and likable stage personality, according to Britannica, Cole also spent some time acting. To that end, she persuaded him to move to Hancock Park, a wealthy, all-white Los Angeles neighborhood whose residents refused to accept the family (anonymous vandals burned a racial slur into their front lawn). Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra - Vocal Refrain by The King's Men. Revenues from Cole's record sales fueled much of Capitol Records' success during this period, and are believed to have played a significant role in financing the distinctive Capitol Records building on Hollywood and Vine, in Los Angeles. He occasionally revisited his jazz roots, as on the outstanding album After Midnight (1956), which proved that Coles piano skills had not diminished. Before his tragic death, Cole underwent cancer surgery, which resulted in the removal of one of his lungs, per Los Angeles Times. Mannie . Their real estate agent knew about this racist rule and circumvented it by hiring a light-skinned Black woman to buy the place for the Coles with a $6,000 down payment. Coles second wife, Maria Ellington (no relation to Duke), felt the same way. Equally skilled as a jazz pianist and a middle-of-the-road pop crooner, Cole would still be remembered with affection today if he only had one of those musical identities. He made his first professional recordings in 1936 and the following year put together what would become the King Cole Trio. He barely had visitors, as they were apparently barred from his hospital room. His stature as a popular icon was cemented during this period by hits such as "The Christmas Song" (Cole recorded the tune four times), "Nature Boy" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950), "Too Young" (1951), and his signature tune "Unforgettable" (1951). 16.57. Jazz king Nat King Cole registers in the heart of music lovers as the legendary jazz pianist, singer with a melodious and harmless baritone. One of the men was identified to be a member of the white supremacist group White Citizens' Council. Settling in California, the Coles had five children and made their home in Hancock Park in greater Los Angeles. Jazz singer Nat King Cole was best known for songs like "The Christmas Song" and "Ramblin' Rose" (via Billboard).He became a popular crooner in the 1950s, and made history when he became the first Black man to host a regular TV variety show. Cole hit a lull in her career in the early 1980s due to her struggle with drug addiction, subsequently parting ways with Capitol Records. . Not much is publicly known about this first marriage, which came to an end about 11 years later in 1948. In 1991, Mosaic Records released The Complete Capitol Records Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio, a compilation of 349 songs available as an 18-CD or a 27-LP set. Cole, who was greatly disappointed, made the difficult decision to pull the plug on the program. He and one of the dancers, Nadine Robinson, hit it off, and by 1937, the two were married in Michigan, as told by AllMusic. According to the Los Angeles Times, Cole was aware of his impending death. Oxford University Press. Please enter your email address. The nimble, darting interplay heard on records such as This Side Up (1940) and What Is This Thing Called Love? The trio played in Los Angeles throughout the late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions. One of the greatest vocalists of the 20th century, Nat King Cole has given the world countless classics, from timeless love songs like "Unforgettable" and "L-O-V-E" to the holiday standard "The Christmas Song." Later he filled in for his mother playing organ in the church. What he could never have done was become a Sinatra-like cultural colossus, for he lacked Sinatras larger-than-life personality. THE STORY of Coles life, which is told in Will Friedwalds Straighten Up and Fly Right (2020), the first factually reliable primary-source biography of the singer-instrumentalist, runs parallel to and sheds light on many key aspects of the black experience in 20th-century America. His hit song "Ramblin' Rose" jump-started a slight decline that crept up at the end of the '50s. A decade earlier, Cole's mother died, also of cancer. Johnny Mercer invited him to record it for the fledgling Capitol Records label. Get notified of exciting GRAMMY Award news and upcoming events! With a catalog full of memorable love songs, Nat King Cole certainly had his own interesting experiences with romance. Something went wrong. He received music lessons from his mother and his family moved to Chicago when he was five, where his father Edward James Coles was a Baptist minister. Web. He would later be known as Nat King Cole, the "Unforgettable" singer out of Montgomery, Alabama, whose other hits would include "Love" and, in 1946, the instant classic "The Christmas Song." Capitol. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Nat King Cole - Swings Spirituals - Used Vinyl Record lp - E34A at the best online prices at eBay! All that remained was for Cole to fully realize his potential as a vocalistsomething that happened sooner than anyone, even Mercer, could possibly have expected. As of the spring of 1950, Cole's recordings were being credited simply to "Nat King Cole." On July 8 of that year, his recording of the wistful movie theme "Mona Lisa," featuring a string chart arranged by Nelson Riddle, became Cole's third number one pop hit and gold record. Cole voluntarily gave up the show with a simple commentary: Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.. In 1991, Mosaic Records released The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio, an 18 compact disc set, consisting of 349 songs. And yet, many of his 2011. Later, in 1953, he recorded a rearrangement made by Nelson Riddle. After 14 frustrating months, Cole called it quits, crisply telling a newspaper columnist that Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.. The Nat King Cole story is a tale of two major talents, both owned by the same person. Though they recorded for the same label and worked with many of the same arrangers, the two men had little in common as singers. He had always looked for work as a pianist and "played piano at almost every beer joint from San Diego to Bakersfield" before he finally landed a residency. The show ultimately failed due to its inability to attract national sponsors because the program was hosted by a black person. In addition to being an incomparable lyricist, Mercer was also a shrewd talent scout, and he sensed that Coles singing was capable of appealing to white listeners as well as black ones (the trio had previously recorded for Deccas Sepia Series of race records that were specifically marketed to urban blacks). His final days were pretty grim. It became a hit instantly, but Cole was unsatisfied. He was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, cut his last records on December 3, and died 10 weeks later at the age of 45, by all accounts a disappointed man. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Spouse (s) Nat King Cole. Personal Life Cole married for the first time when he was only 17. Liner notes. The diagnosis would cut Cole's life very short, because he died not long after the discovery. Cole was born in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1937, after finishing high school, he wrote his first song, Straighten up and Fly Right, which he eventually sold for $50. Nat King Cole recorded this for the first time in 1946 with his group The Nat King Cole Trio. One of the key jazz voices of the 20th Century, Nat King Cole picked up fourteen UK Top 10 singles while his first album Love Is The Thing reached Number 1 in 1957. This article contains a list of albums by Nat King Cole and compilations of his recordings, together with a list of his chart singles. I think I've finally got this cancer licked.". Incredibly, Coles singing was as extraordinary as his playing. The next month, he underwent surgery to remove the lung, but it was too late. But no national sponsor would advertise on a show hosted by a black manit is no coincidence that Cole was attacked on stage in Birmingham in the same year that The Nat King Cole Show was launchedand the series was further limited by the fact that Cole, though he was a genial host, could not act, meaning that he was incapable of appearing in the comedy sketches that were staples of most other TV variety series of the period. 1st Annual GRAMMY Awards. Apparently, his part-time efforts paid off, because by the time he was 15, he had dropped out of school and was pursuing music full-time. Unfortunately, from the beginning,The Nat King Cole Show always struggled with one thing: sponsors. Cole appeared frequently on popular variety programs hosted by Perry Como, Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan, and others. Inspired by the playing of Hines, Cole began his performing career in the mid-1930s while he was still a teenager, and adopted the name "Nat Cole." Updates? His otherwise smooth-textured voice had a faintly gravelly quality heightened by his chain smoking, and he sang with tuning-fork intonation and lapidary enunciation, though his drawn-out pronunciation of certain vowels, the long i of I and my in particular, was so idiosyncratic that Sammy Davis Jr. exaggerated it to witty effect in his uncanny impersonation of Cole (which can be viewed on YouTube). According to theOrlando Sentinel, after his time with Shuffle Along came to an end in Long Beach, Cole and his wife at the time decided to settle in California. Carlos Gastel, Coles manager, now started thinking of him not as a singer-pianist but as a stand-up vocalist who played piano on the side. Cole retorted "Neither do I. However, he was with his wife during his illness and she stayed with him until his death. What he wanted (even if he never said so) was to become the first black popular singer to be accepted on even terms with his white contemporaries. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. Perhaps her single most popular work to date, was her number one Elektra recording last year of Unforgettable, one of her fathers biggest-selling hits of all. 1936-1955. . View cart for details. In June 1946, the King Cole Trio cut the first record of Mel Torms The Christmas Song (known for its first line, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire). Have one to sell? Despite these horrific acts, the Coles never wavered, and Nat King Cole would live in his Hancock Park home until his death. According to Performing Songwriter, it was the first time that a holiday classic was introduced by a Black American, and it "opened the door for Lou Rawls, Ray Charles and many others to record their own takes on yuletide classics.". Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II. Comparatively few of Coles latter-day fans, however, know that he was more than a singer. ", Singer and actress Eartha Kitt, one of the program's guest stars, later reflected that Cole's sophisticated image, elegance, and interaction with white performers as equals "was dangerous" in an era when blacks appearing on television regularly were only in comic or subservient roles. 34. (This special compilation also was available as a 27 high-quality LP record set.). Nat King Cole 12.12.60 9 12 Wks 01.07.23 38 Ramblin' Rose Nat King Cole 08.04.62 . The program featured some of the hottest stars of the day, both Black and white, including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Count Basie, Peggy Lee, and more. Cole did not finish the concert and never again performed in the South. To speculate about what might have been is obviously fruitless, though it is possible that he might have taken up the piano again and become the elder statesman of jazz that he had it in him to be. Cole, a heavy smoker who would smoke as much as three packs of cigarettes a day, died of lung cancer while still at the height of his singing career. When I Fall in Love: The One and Only Nat King Cole. Louis Blues. During the early 60s, Cole also travelled extensively, doing highly successful concert tours of Latin America, Japan, the European Continent and England. According toThe Guardian,cigarette smoking was not only "the epitome of cool and glamour," but it was also cheap and accessible. Once a week, Americans tuned in to watch as Cole and other musicians performed on television (via Indiana Public Media). The King Cole Trio 78rpm Single 10-inch Capitol Records #311 The Christmas Song. The first cover of "The Christmas Song" was performed by pop tenor and bandleader Eddy Howard on Majestic. Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. 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