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Cole was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990, and in 1997 was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. New (and updated) Christmas albums for 2021, Festive favourites that could reach the Top 40 for the first time this Christmas, NAT 'KING' COLE AND THE GEORGE SHEARING QUINTET, Miley? In 1991, Mosaic Records released The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio, an 18 compact disc set, consisting of 349 songs. King Cole!" The name stuck. Coles second wife, Maria Ellington (no relation to Duke), felt the same way. They were also regular performers at clubs. Explore the scintillating March 2023 issue of Commentary. 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's family moved to Chicago, Illinois, while he was still a child. It opens with an out-of-tempo reading of the first eight bars that is sung with hushed delicacy, after which Cole slips almost imperceptibly into a very slow but nonetheless danceable tempo. With his immense popularity, his first couple of roles in the 1940s were guest appearances that had him "largely playing some version of himself," as told by Biography. In August 1948, the couple moved into their new home. While he is best remembered today for his musical legacy, Nat King Cole was a multitalented entertainer. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. Cole was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Nat King Cole, byname of Nathaniel Adams Cole, family name originally Coles, (born March 17, 1919, Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.died February 15, 1965, Santa Monica, California), American musician hailed as one of the best and most influential pianists and small-group leaders of the swing era. Instead, his most publicized relationship was his marriage to Maria Hawkins Ellington. Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over. The female solo artists with the most Number 1 albums, Miley Cyrus reigns at Number 1 for a sixth consecutive week with Flowers, NAT 'KING' COLE SINGS AND THE GEORGE SHEARING QUINTET PLAYS. Cole become an internationally popular recording star, making such enormous hits as Mona Lisa, Nature Boy, Too Young, Route 66, Non Dimenticar, Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer, The Christmas Song and Ramblin Rose, among them. 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. Ballerina, Funny, The Continental, I Wish You Love, You Leave Me Breathless, Thou Swell, My Kind Of Love, Surrey With The Fringe On Top, Where Or When, Miss Otis Regrets, Joe Turner's Blues, Mr. Cole Won't . On February 15, 1965, Nat King Cole passed away in his sleep at the age of 45. He died on February 15, 1965, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California and his funeral was held in Los Angeles. 49, no. Nat King Cole albums and discography on AllMusic including all best, old, and new album information. NAT KING COLE Vinyl Records and CDs Nat King Cole's great piano work with his jazz trio got overshadowed by his massive vocal success in the 1950s yet each phase of his career offers up so many riches that it proves that the lines between jazz and popular music just don't matter. Cole appeared frequently on popular variety programs hosted by Perry Como, Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan, and others. His enjoyable personality landed him the iconic gig as the host of his very own nationally televised show, as told by NPR. The first of these is the so-called Great Migration that brought 6 million Southern blacks northward to seek better, freer lives in Americas largest cities. Nor have I joined an organization fighting segregation. Back to home page | 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." The couple's lavish Harlem wedding took place only six days after Cole and Robinson's divorce was finalized. The prejudices of the era in which Cole lived hindered his potential for even greater stardom. During the late 1930s and early 40s the trio made several instrumental recordings, as well as others that featured their harmonizing vocals. He even left the hospital to see his children one last time in a brief car ride home with his wife. The next month, he underwent surgery to remove the lung, but it was too late. 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. A fourth member of the group who had participated in the plot was later arrested in connection with the act. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain.". November 23, 2019. 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. Jazz king Nat King Cole registers in the heart of music lovers as the legendary jazz pianist, singer with a melodious and harmless baritone. During World War II, Wesley Prince left the group and Cole replaced him with Johnny Miller. Nat King Cole 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. Cole hit a lull in her career in the early 1980s due to her struggle with drug addiction, subsequently parting ways with Capitol Records. He also appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia (1953). 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. [12] A handful of Cole recordings have made appearances on the Holiday 100 and are noted below according to the holiday season in which they charted there. Coles piano style would have made an impression under any circumstances, but it was the setting that he now created for himselfa drummerless trio consisting of piano, electric guitar, and bassthat showed it off most advantageously. Nat King Cole. Jenkins arranged Love Is the Thing, #1 on the album charts in April 1957. (This special compilation also was available as a 27 high-quality LP record set.). He was also present at the Democratic National Convention in 1960 to throw his support behind President John F. Kennedy. 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. Sold for 19.99 USD on 28 May 2022 (Buy It Now) 78 rpm. Cole was only 17. The change in musical tastes during the late 1950s meant that Cole's ballad singing did not sell well with younger listeners, despite a successful stab at rock n' roll with "Send For Me" (peaked at #6 pop). But the ballads he sang with his trio were so enthusiastically received by the public that he started cutting vocal records accompanied by studio orchestras, and these proved even more successful than their jazz-oriented predecessors. Their first chart success, Straighten Up and Fly Right (1943), was followed by hits such as Sweet Lorraine, Its Only a Paper Moon, (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons, and Route 66. Eventually, Coles piano playing took a backseat to his singing career. Nat King Cole's early career and trio. Congo paint? Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Might Cole have undergone a similar professional revival had he not died prematurely? I swing the band.) But it was his recordings of ballads that made him a household name, and among the most memorable of them is the version of Ray Nobles The Very Thought of You that he cut with Gordon Jenkins, another of Sinatras preferred arrangers, in 1958. Though they recorded for the same label and worked with many of the same arrangers, the two men had little in common as singers. 16.57. NAT KING COLE 78 RPM GRAMOPHONE RECORDS X 8. Evan Tyrone Martin's homage to the late beloved singer continues with a holiday tribute show, "An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas," which Martin will perform at the Marriott Theatre on . It is this final version that is the standard we hear today. Cole's chain-smoking habits would, sadly, catch up to him. 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." The trio consisted of Nat on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Wesley Prince on double bass. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. The King Cole Trio signed with the fledgling Capitol Records in 1943 and Cole stayed with the recording company for the rest of his career. Naxos of America / OKeh Records AllMusic Quiz. This vintage song carries the timeless message to keep your chin up when life looks bleak. "Justin and I did the classic record 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.' This record is . Cole attained his greatest commercial success, however, as a vocalist specializing in warm ballads and light swing. Reportedly, the all-white audience begged Cole to continue with the show, but he fervently refused and flew to Chicago after canceling his remaining three performances in the South. Page 2", "From the Archives: Nat 'King' Cole dies of cancer at 45", "Bud Billiken Day Parade reaches 89th year", "Phillips High School is cradle of history", "Tracing the Highs and Tragic End of Sam Cooke", "Buck-Five Disk of Indies Seen Different Ways", "Show 22 Smack Dab in the Middle on Route 66: A Skinny Dip in the Easy Listening Mainstream. Personal Life Cole married for the first time when he was only 17. By the time he contracted lung cancer, he was estranged from his wife Maria while in a relationship with actress Gunilla Hutton, best known as Nurse Goodbody of Hee Haw fame. Thanks to electronics, she dusted beautifully on the song with the great Nat King Cole himself. Born into Bostons black bourgeoisie, she was similarly determined to put an upper-middle-class veneer on her new husband, who in 1946 still spoke and sang with a noticeable touch of the Southern accent he had acquired from his parents. By the 1950s, Nat King Cole had become a household name. Handy in St. Louis Blues (1958). This song would be a great choice if your husband was a positive person who took an upbeat approach to life and rarely let things get him down. As if in recognition of the fact, his health began to deteriorate in the fall of 1964. With Cole on the piano, Oscar Moore on the guitar, and Wesley Prince on string bass, the three became known as the famous King Cole Trio. Eventually, NBC was able to get about 30 local sponsors, but there was never a national corporate sponsor that would support the program, as mentioned by NPR. Something went wrong. Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP legal counsel at the time, even saw Cole as an "Uncle Tom." 11 offers from $53.29. Initially, Cole refused, replying, "We don't sing." This article contains a list of albums by Nat King Cole and compilations of his recordings, together with a list of his chart singles. @ 2023 - Recording Academy. Missing, however, is the element of contrast that Cole supplied when he started singing with the trio. According to police, a plan had been developed four days earlier for a group of 150 white men to attack Cole. Settling in California, the Coles had five children and made their home in Hancock Park in greater Los Angeles. A multi-talented musician who played piano, bass, and tuba, Eddie would sneak out in the night to perform at various gigs around town, and it wasn't too long before young Nat started following him around, too. Sponsored. While Cole was not the first African-American to host a network television showan honor belonging to jazz pianist and singer Hazel Scott in 1950 Cole's stature made the venture more socially significant, which Cole himself recognized. Cole first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist, then switched his emphasis to singing, becoming one of the most popular and best-known vocalists of all time. Suddenly, while he was right in the middle of a song, a group of white men who were associated with an "offshoot of the KKK" ran toward the stage and assaulted him. When I Fall in Love: The One and Only Nat King Cole. In London, he performed at a March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, AL. Full-time combos of any sort were uncommon in the swing era, and the King Cole Trio would have stood out for that reason alone. What some may not know, though, is that he recorded four versions of the song. How Biden Intends to Misuse the CHIPS Act. Cole received 28 Gold Record awards for such hits as "Sweet Lorraine" and "Ramblin' Rose" in 1962, "Too Young" in 1951, "Mona Lisa" in 1949, and Mel Torm's "Christmas Song." 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. Featured New Releases . Eddie strongly encouraged Nat to learn how to read music and become proficient in the technical side of piano playing. 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.". The classic "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" was popularized by Cole in the late 1940s. Now they became the focus of his second career, and he soon became one of the preeminent pop singers of his generation, Frank Sinatras only male peer. Maria also encouraged him to part with his expensive sidemen and turn the group from the King Cole Trio into Nat King Cole and His Trio, assuring him that his singing was the draw. PinkPantheress? The first was in 1946 with the King Cole Trio. Nat King Cole was making and setting records for his celebrated music decades before Elvis Presley and The Beatles arrived on the scene. The last episode of The Nat King Cole Show aired December 17, 1957. He passed away in February 1965 aged 45. Handy in the movie about the composers life, St. His show only lasted for one season, but in one year Cole had filmed some 53 episodes, per IMDb,paving the way for other Black television hosts. With a catalog full of memorable love songs, Nat King Cole certainly had his own interesting experiences with romance. ", 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. . After Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole is the best remembered of the singers who dominated American popular music between the end of the big-band era and the advent of rock n roll. Here's a look into the untold truth of Nat King Cole. His remains were interred inside Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Nat soon married a dancer, Megan Robinson, and moved to Los Angeles where he formed the Nat King Cole Trio. He passed away. At the start of the '50s, Nat King Cole was a solo jazz performer (via Biography). Chalk? Cole performed a posthumous "virtual" duet with his daughter, recording star Natalie Cole, for the title track of the 1991 Grammy Awardwinning album Unforgettable . At that point of his career, he was a highly recognized singer. It was emulated by many musicians, among them Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Tommy Flanagan, and blues pianists Charles Brown and Ray Charles. 34. 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. Sold for 32.24 USD on 22 Mar 2022 (4 bids) 78 rpm. Constant touring paid the bills, and he remained one of the most sought-after acts in Las Vegas, but it galled him that he could not stay in the hotels where he performed, and though he continued to sing beautifully, he spent more and more studio time recording throwaway material such as the country-style Ramblin Rose (1962) and Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer (1963), as well as a sour-grapes novelty called Mr. 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! After 14 frustrating months, Cole called it quits, crisply telling a newspaper columnist that Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.. Natalie recorded his hit "Unforgettable" and put their vocals together as a duet. I think I've finally got this cancer licked.". They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Tragic Death Of Nat King Cole Explained. A decade earlier, Cole's mother died, also of cancer. One of the men was identified to be a member of the white supremacist group White Citizens' Council. According toThe Guardian,cigarette smoking was not only "the epitome of cool and glamour," but it was also cheap and accessible. Naacp legal counsel at the Democratic National Convention in 1960 to throw his support behind John..., though, is the Thing, # 1 on the scene 1930s... To see his children one last time in a brief car ride home with his.! Hospital to see his children one last time in a brief car ride home with his wife his one. And new album information Coles piano playing Cole albums and discography on AllMusic including all,... Have undergone a similar professional revival had he not died prematurely AllMusic including best. `` we do n't sing. during the late 1940s only Nat King certainly., even saw Cole as an `` Uncle Tom. is this how many records did nat king cole sell! 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