Initially, Cole refused, replying, "We don't sing." From 1942, when he and his Nat King Cole Trio became one of the first artists to sign with the fledgling Capitol Records, (a company in which the late Johnny Initially begun as a 15-minute show on Monday night, the show was expanded to a half hour in July 1957. Displaying items, You can list a specific format by selecting one here, 78 RPM RECORD CAPITOL 2130 NAT KING COLE FUNNY, Vintage King Cole Trio 78rpm 4 Album Set Capitol Records, Capital presents THE KING COLE TRIO 78 RPM RECORDS Vol 1 and 2 BD-8 BD-29 Debut, The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole Trio - Capital 15201 - vintage 78rpm record, two vintage Nat King Cole Christmas songs 78rpm records - Frosty the Snow Man, Nat King Cole 78 RPM Capitol The Christmas Song My Two Front Teeth 1954 10" 2955, The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole Trio - Capital 311 - vintage 78rpm record, (4) 78 rpm 10" records Nat King Cole Capitol 1808-1501-2346-2687 (UNFORGETTABLE), King Cole Trio 78rpm Set Capitol Records #BD 8 New Old Stock, unopened, NAT "KING" COLE : THE CHRISTMAS SONG / NATURE BOY. Cole had greater success with concert performances during the late 1950s and early 60s and twice toured with his own vaudeville-style reviews, The Merry World of Nat King Cole (1961) and Sights and Sounds (1963). Sampled by Susan Boyle feat Nat King Cole [sampled] When I Grow Too Old to Dream. Congo paint? Cole's family moved to Chicago, Illinois, while he was still a child. The Weeknd? March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, AL. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. Later, Cole was chosen by Paramount Pictures to play W.C. According to Reel Rundown, Nat King Cole never planned to be the first Black man to host his own television program, but when he was offered the gig, he knew its significance. Unfortunately, the cancer had spread. (This special compilation also was available as a 27 high-quality LP record set.). His father died just two weeks before he did. Sold for 32.24 USD on 22 Mar 2022 (4 bids) 78 rpm. The King Cole Trio 78rpm Single 10-inch Capitol Records #311 The Christmas Song. They found their greatest success, however, when Cole began doubling as a solo singer. 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. The prejudices of the era in which Cole lived hindered his potential for even greater stardom. According to UDiscover Music, Cole also had perfect pitch, making him able to pick out and identify a note on the piano in an instant. Cole performed a posthumous "virtual" duet with his daughter, recording star Natalie Cole, for the title track of the 1991 Grammy Awardwinning album Unforgettable . Spouse (s) Nat King Cole. This page was last edited on 8 January 2023, at 04:04. At the same time, though, Cole wasn't an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement initially. 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. 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. His deep, smooth voice remains one of the most recognizable on record, while his pop material and sentimental arrangements appealed to mainstream tastes. Pelote, Vincent. Cole mastered this style as a teenager, adding to it an idiomatic feel for the blues that Hines lacked, along with a forward-looking harmonic vocabulary that prefigured bebop, the avant-garde jazz style of the 40s. 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. Unlike Sinatra, Cole was not a confessional performer whose interpretations reflected the dark side of his personality. UK. 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. When white stars, particularly women, came on the show, there was a pointed effort to make sure there was always some kind of barrier (such as a chair) between them and Cole to ensure audiences wouldn't be angry. Legend has it that, one night, a drunk customer demanded that the group sing. His family later moved north to Chicago, where he grew up. In December of 1964, Cole had a health crisis that forced him to cancel a show (via Los Angeles Times). 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. He formed his first jazz group, the Royal Dukes, five years later. 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. 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. In a few short years, Cole dropped out of school at 15 years old to focus solely on pursuing a career in music. Marianne Ruuth writes how it was his mom who convinced his father to allow him to look for work as a jazz pianist on weeknights, so long as he continued playing for the church. In 1955, he acted as himself in a short biographical film,The Nat "King" Cole Musical Story, whichcovered his musical career and life story. For a brief time when it debuted, the show had no sponsors. Sponsored. But while Coles studies were central to his artistic development, he became obsessed early on with jazz in general and the pianism of Earl Hines in particular. The brothers were also hired to perform in the "revival of the all-black Broadway musical revue Shuffle Along" for their Chicago stop. They were the big act on Columbia Records, who had them re-record the song with a string section - the first time the trio used strings on a record. How Biden Intends to Misuse the CHIPS Act. Cole died in his sleep at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. All were later tried and convicted for the assault. The Nat King Cole Story [45rpm 200g Vinyl] by Nat King Cole (Vinyl, Jan-2011, 5 Discs, Analogue Productions) 49, no. (via NewsOne). Yet despite this and other close encounters with the evils of racism, Cole remained outwardly unfazed and his white fans staunchly loyal. 10731074, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 05:16. Nat King Cole recorded this for the first time in 1946 with his group The Nat King Cole Trio. 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. 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. 1st Annual GRAMMY Awards. Cole retorted "Neither do I. Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, vol. 78.rpm (1948), NAT KING COLE THE CHRISTMAS SONG, LAGUNA MOOD 10 INCH 78 RPM VG, Nat King Cole 78 RPM Capitol 4754 The Christmas Song My Two Front Teeth, Nat King Cole 78 RPM Capitol 4754 The Christmas Song My Two Front Teeth 1954 10", The King Cole Trio The Christmas Song 78 RPM Well-Torme Capitol 311 Dust Cover. It's rare for songs to withstand the test of time and become classics. And yet, many of his He learned not only jazz and gospel music, but European classical music as well. The album was so popular in Latin America as well as in the United States that two others in the same vein followed: A Mis Amigos (sung in Spanish and 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." Sold for 19.99 USD on 28 May 2022 (Buy It Now) 78 rpm. At the start of the '50s, Nat King Cole was a solo jazz performer (via Biography). 2nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Here's a look into the untold truth of Nat King Cole. Continuing to market himself as an instrumentalist, Cole and his newly formed combo, including guitar, bass and drums, along with his piano, finally won some success on the club circuit, at a time when larger band groups and singers were considerably more popular than trios and quartets. In 1939, he formed the King Cole Trio in Southern California and became an immensely popular recording artist for Capitol Records, helping to make the company's fortune as well as his own. We want to hear your thoughts about this article. Singer. Incredibly, Coles singing was as extraordinary as his playing. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. Thanks to electronics, she dusted beautifully on the song with the great Nat King Cole himself. Between 1900 and 1950, the population of Black people living in Los Angeles grew exponentially, multiplying by more than 150. It also inspired NBC to offer him his own weekly TV series, which debuted in 1956. January 1957. Handy in St. Louis Blues (1958). On August 23, 1956, Cole spoke at the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. In July 1948, Nat King Cole and his new wife began house-hunting, as described by Curbed. The racist mob never showed up, resulting in the smaller-scale attack that transpired. 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. Cole struggled against racism throughout his career and on April 10, 1956, at Birmingham, Alabama, he was attacked by three white men from a white-supremacist group during a concert and sustained minor injuries to his back. Copyright Songwriters Hall of Fame 2023. Nat King Cole Capitol Records LP Vinyl Records, Go Betweens LP Vinyl Records, "I lost my baby in December. Apparently, he felt that smoking gave his voice the unique quality it had and would smoke "several cigarettes in rapid succession before a recording for that very purpose.". When Capitol Records signed the Beatles to its roster, Cole knew that his days as a pop superstar were numbered. The failure of The Nat King Cole Show left Cole feeling both frustrated and restless, but his options were limited. One cosmetics representative claimed that a "negro" couldn't sell lipstick, to which Cole angrily responded, "What do they think we use? 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. Active. 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. Lullaby of Harlem. The six men arrested were all originally charged with "assault with intent to murder," but the charges were later changed to "conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor" for four of them. Be the first to find out about GRAMMY nominees, winners, important news, and events. 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. He rejected it, cheekily requesting $1 million instead. In addition, the absence of a drummer gave the trio a transparent sound that made it easier for Cole and Oscar Moore, an unsung pioneer of jazz guitar, to toss musical ideas back and forth, supported only by the swinging bass lines of Wesley Prince and, later, Johnny Miller. 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 . In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Although her father, Nat King Cole, passed away when she was just a teenager, Natalie Cole has still been able to perform duets with her father via . . By the start of the 1960s, Cole was only getting more popular. While Cole certainly had a more understated public role in the Civil Rights Movement, he was apparently quite outspoken in private among his high-profile friends, including Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. New Releases. Incomparable Nat King Cole II. (1944) has lost none of its freshness eight decades later. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nat-King-Cole, Turner Classic Movies - Biography of Nat King Cole, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Biography of Nat "King" Cole, Encyclopedia of Alabama - Biography of Nat "King" Cole, Nat King Cole - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). He always blamed the advertising executives for the show's end, bitterly commenting, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.". What he could never have done was become a Sinatra-like cultural colossus, for he lacked Sinatras larger-than-life personality. How do the traditional Christmas standards perform on the chart? Nat King Cole 78rpm Single 10-inch Capitol Records #1010 Mona Lisa. eBay Money Back Guarantee. Nat King Cole was in the final stages of lung cancer. Nat took the advice seriously and, around the age of 12, started to dive into the classics, "playing everything from Bach to Rachmaninoff," according to Ruuth. When the drummer never showed up, the quartet became a trio. . Cole was dedicated to seeing the pioneering show succeed, not for the money but to break down barriers and disprove racial prejudices. Jenkins arranged Love Is the Thing, #1 on the album charts in April 1957. 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. 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. and The Ed Sullivan Show (on which he appeared 14 times). An influence on jazz pianists such as Oscar Peterson, Cole was known for a compact, syncopated piano style with clean, spare, melodic phrases. His revolutionary lineup of piano, guitar and bass in the time of the big bands became a popular set up for a jazz trio. 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. 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. He was criticized by some for regularly performing in segregated-audience venues in the South, for instance. Twin girls Casey and Timolin were born in 1961. Victor Young, Jeri Southern with Victor Young and His Orchestra. 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. On February 15, 1965, Nat King Cole passed away in his sleep at the age of 45. All rights reserved. Nat King Cole has a catalog full of both. Coles popularity allowed him to become the first African American to host a network variety program, The Nat King Cole Show, which debuted on NBC television in 1956. The oldest of the five was his daughter Natalie, who would also become a singer later in life and revitalized the popularity of some of her father's songs. NAT KING COLE 78 RPM GRAMOPHONE RECORDS X 8. Cole would form a few jazz music groups before creating the King Cole Trio. These critiques hurt the musician, who would eventually take a more active role in the movement, including participating in the 1963 March on Washington and regularly performing at benefit concerts for civil rights groups. Without a large sponsor, NBC was unable to keep the show scheduled during prime time and had to move it to a less coveted time slot. 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 . In 1956, "The Nat King Cole Show" was the first of its kind for a known Black performer. The day before he died, he did a radio interview, stating: "I am feeling better than ever. Click here to send a letter to the editor. Nat King Cole At The Sands (1966) - Antonio Morelli - Capitol Records SMAS-2434 Recorded live 1/14/1960 at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. 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 . Feb. 28, 2023 2 PM PT. Noted for his warm tone and flawless phrasing, Cole was regarded among the top male vocalists, although jazz critics tended to regret his near-abandonment of the piano. Each phrase is laid out with soft-spoken clarity and every syllable, even the second syllable in flower, comes through with etched but unexaggerated precision (so much so that one instantly notices his rare lapses from standard pronunciation, as when he makes mere and idea rhyme). According to AL.com, his comments sparked criticisms among civil rights leaders, who felt that Cole hadn't done enough in pushing for change, especially since he had always agreed to perform for segregated audiences. Chiefly known today as a performer of romantic ballads, he had a dark, grainy baritone voice with which he sang in a style at once intimate and unmannered. Cole agreed, both because he was an ambitious man who hungered for wider popularity and because he felt that he had exhausted the creative and commercial possibilities of the trio, with which he had been working for nearly a decade. 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." He churned out song after song, including classics like "Unforgettable" and "Mona Lisa." Hittin The Ramp: The Early Years 1936-1943 by Nat King Cole (Record, 2019) $148.99 New. Shop with confidence. 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. Nathaniel Adams Coles (he changed his last name to . Cole attained his greatest commercial success, however, as a vocalist specializing in warm ballads and light swing. With a catalog full of memorable love songs, Nat King Cole certainly had his own interesting experiences with romance. Still later, in high school, he organized a 14-piece band with himself as leader and pianist. It is this final version that is the standard we hear today. Cole grew up in Chicago, where, by age 12, he sang and played organ in the church where his father was pastor. Nat's youngest brother Freddy Cole, and his daughter, Natalie Cole are also singers. Personal Life Cole married for the first time when he was only 17. In his spare time, Cole also became a hot sandlot baseball player, and while he never made it to the pros, he became an ardent follower of the Los Angeles Dodgers. As a teenager, Cole became caught up in a relationship with a woman ten years older than him, according toObserver. 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." They tried a couple of places, including Beverly Hills, but ultimately wanted somewhere away from the paparazzi and rowdy fans. 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. "Smile" by Nat King Cole. The cancellation would turn out to be the permanent end of his career. By the 1950s, Nat King Cole emerged as a popular solo performer with numerous hits including "Mona Lisa", "Smile" and "Unforgettable". Riddle and Cole recorded one final hit album Wild Is Love, based on lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Nat would sneak out of the house and hang outside the Chicago jazz clubs, listening to artists such as Louis Armstrong, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Jimmie Noone. Cole was only 17. [Part 1]", "Pop Chronicles Interviews #131 - Nat "King" Cole", "Study: Ad Agencies Exhibit 'Pervasive Racial Discrimination' | News", "17 Of The Most Influential Freemasons Ever", "Gale:Free Resources:Black History:Biographies: Nat King Cole", "L.A.'s Ugly Jim Crow History: Nat King Cole's Dog Poisoned in Hancock Park", "Nat 'King' Cole attacked on stage archive, 12 April 1956", "It's All Right to Still Like Ike: History: Once Painted as a 'Distanced' President, Dwight Eisenhower Now is Heralded for his Strong Sense of Service", "Nat King Cole | Songwriters Hall of Fame", "Special Awards Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame", Nat "King" Cole article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama, All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio, You're Lookin' at Me (A Collection of Nat King Cole Songs), The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You), Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon, and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea, Caroling, Caroling: Christmas with Natalie Cole, Unforgettable A Musical Tribute to Nat King Cole, Sophisticated Lady (She's a Different Lady), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nat_King_Cole&oldid=1139844406, 20th-century African-American male singers, African-American television personalities, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners, Racially motivated violence against African Americans, Spanish-language singers of the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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. After 14 frustrating months, Cole called it quits, crisply telling a newspaper columnist that Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.. View cart for details. His enjoyable personality landed him the iconic gig as the host of his very own nationally televised show, as told by NPR. PinkPantheress? When he was attacked in Birmingham, Alabama, by a group of white supremacists, he was baffled at the violence he endured, saying, "I can't understand it. A heavy smoker, Cole died of lung cancer at age 45. Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 - February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Grove Music Online. Born . 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. In 1956, Nat King Cole was a superstar, selling millions of records and touring all over the country. This page was last edited on 11 November 2022, at 01:27. "Cole, Nat 'King'." As a kid, Cole played the organ and sang at church with his family. Omissions? The public, who knew very little about the severity of his condition, was shocked. By 12 he was singing, too, says Britannica. Jazz king Nat King Cole registers in the heart of music lovers as the legendary jazz pianist, singer with a melodious and harmless baritone. A decade earlier, Cole's mother died, also of cancer. Not until 1951 did Cole drop the trio for good, but in the ensuing years he had recorded a series of orchestra-accompanied ballads, among them Mona Lisa, Nature Boy, and Too Young, that made his artistic intentions clear. 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.. 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. Only one person other than Cole's wife would get to visit Cole before he died, and that was comedian Jack Benny. When the Hancock Park Property Owners Association found out, though, they were furious and offered Cole his money back plus some profit. This article contains a list of albums by Nat King Cole and compilations of his recordings, together with a list of his chart singles. Nat King Cole The Christmas Song LP Red Colored 180g Vinyl. Volumes 1-4 released as separate booklets in 10" format. Once a week, Americans tuned in to watch as Cole and other musicians performed on television (via Indiana Public Media). However, he was with his wife during his illness and she stayed with him until his death. Eddie strongly encouraged Nat to learn how to read music and become proficient in the technical side of piano playing. Cole learned songs in languages other than English by rote. A Best Of album went gold in 1968. His last album, L-O-V-E, was recorded in early December 1964just a few days before entering the hospital for treatmentand released just prior to his death; it peaked at number four on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. The trio played in Los Angeles throughout the late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions. Please enter your email address. Lp Vinyl Records, & quot ; I lost my baby in December of 1964, Cole refused replying. ) $ 148.99 new few jazz music groups before creating the King Cole certainly his... Wife began house-hunting, as a 27 high-quality LP record set... 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