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. Genealogy for Nathaniel Adams Coles (1919 - 1965) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. There, his father became a minister; Nat's mother, Perlina, was the church organist. 2011. 34. [10] In December 2011, Billboard began a Holiday Songs chart with 50 positions that monitors the last five weeks of each year to "rank the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay, and sales data",[11] and in 2013 the number of positions on the chart was doubled, resulting in the Holiday 100. In fact, he had started out as a jazz pianist of the highest distinction, the leader of the King Cole Trio, a cocktail combo (as such small groups were known in the 30s and 40s) that featured both his singing and his playing. In the days leading up to Cole's death, he was able to go on short drives with his wife and visit his children at their family home in Hancock Park. Cole was born in Montgomery, Alabama. 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. The nimble, darting interplay heard on records such as This Side Up (1940) and What Is This Thing Called Love? 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? Benny would give the eulogy at Cole's funeral service a few days later, per the Desert Sun, posted at theCalifornia Digital Newspaper Collection. In Cole, Nat King. 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. Click here to send a letter to the editor. Congo paint? It sold over 500,000 copies, and proved that folk-based material could appeal to a wide audience. 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. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1919, Nathaniel Adams Coles (he dropped the s after he started playing music professionally) was one of four musically talented sons of a grocer who longed to preach the gospel. 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. Cole was only 17. 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." Found 396 items. "Smile" by Nat King Cole. He made his first professional recordings in 1936 and the following year put together what would become the King Cole Trio. Still later, in high school, he organized a 14-piece band with himself as leader and pianist. He also performed as a pianist on sessions with Lester Young, Red Callender, and Lionel Hampton. 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.. 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. 2nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Perlina also gave young Nat piano lessons, and although nothing specific is known about his course of study, it is obvious from the exceptional technical finish of his jazz playing that he received thorough training in the fundamentals of classical piano. 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. 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 . In the 1960s, he became the first nationally known black artist to host a television show, but it was canceled after one year because a national sponsor could not be found. The resulting broken rhythms disrupted the squared-off regularity of James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and the other Harlem-based stride pianists of the period. The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio: The Vocal Classics 1942-46. Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. Years active. Cole was hired as the pianist for a jazz quartet that would play at the Swanee Inn nearHollywood, as told by uDiscover Music. Mercer, first president of The Songwriters Hall of Fame, was a principal), until his death Cole remained with the label, turning out hit after hit. 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. Maria Cole [1] ( ne Hawkins; August 1, 1922 - July 10, 2012) was an American jazz singer and the wife of singer Nat King Cole; mother of the singer Natalie Cole. Sponsored. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer. In a few short years, Cole dropped out of school at 15 years old to focus solely on pursuing a career in music. Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Johnson) on the issue of civil rights. 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. The Guardian reported how someone came at Cole's knees and knocked him to the ground, injuring his back. Its tune can also serve as a reminder that life goes on, even in . The trio consisted of Nat on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Wesley Prince on double bass. Later, in 1953, he recorded a rearrangement made by Nelson Riddle. As written by Marianne Ruuth, Cole saw himself as "an entertainer, not a politician." "I lost my baby in December. 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. (via NewsOne). 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. 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. 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. Two years later, he resumed performing, reinvented himself as a stadium act, and returned to his place at the center of American popular culture. WhileThe Nat King Cole Show was a significant move toward racial integration in media, Cole and the showrunners were still aware of the racial divisions that existed in the country. Nor have I joined an organization fighting segregation. Victor Young, Jeri Southern with Victor Young and His Orchestra. 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. Nat King Cole albums and discography on AllMusic including all best, old, and new album information. with Love. When they came upon a house in Hancock Park, they agreed that they had found their future home. The brothers were also hired to perform in the "revival of the all-black Broadway musical revue Shuffle Along" for their Chicago stop. For over a year, the entertainer worked tirelessly on his show, even turning down a total of $500,000 in performances in order to focus on the program. Handy and acted alongside Eartha Kitt and Cab Calloway, was the only film where he had a major starring role. 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 . On March 28, 1948 (Easter Sunday), just six days after his divorce became final, Cole married singer Maria Hawkins Ellingtonno relation to Duke Ellington although she had sung with Ellington's band. In 1956, "The Nat King Cole Show" was the first of its kind for a known Black performer. In 1991, Mosaic Records released The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio, an 18 compact disc set, consisting of 349 songs. Something went wrong. His mom, an amateur piano player herself, gave him piano lessons when he was as young as four years old, with "Yes, We Have No Bananas" being the first song he ever learned to play. In August 1948, the couple moved into their new home. Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. 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. In 1956, Nat King Cole became star and host of his own network television variety show on NBC-TV on which such guests as Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and Mel Torme were spotlighted. With the sole exception of Louis Armstrong, he is the only major jazz musician to have been identically distinguished and influential as both an instrumentalist and a vocalist. After 14 frustrating months, Cole called it quits, crisply telling a newspaper columnist that Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.. It was with this band named after and led by Eddie that Nat King Cole made his first recording: "Eddie Cole's Swingsters" recorded two singles for Decca Records in 1936. 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. In the summer of 1991, Natalie and her deceased father had an unexpected hit when Natalie mixed her own voice with her father's 1961 rendition of "Unforgettable," as part of her album paying tribute to her father's music. By the summer of 1957, it was New York City's top-rated variety program. Here's a look into the untold truth of Nat King Cole. From the start, Nat King Cole's mother supported his musical ambitions. Incomparable Nat King Cole II. The Nat King Cole story is a tale of two major talents, both owned by the same person. AllMusic. By the 1950s, Nat King Cole emerged as a popular solo performer with numerous hits including "Mona Lisa", "Smile" and "Unforgettable". Audio CD. Nat learned to play the organ from his mother until the age of 12, when he began formal lessons. Complete After Midnight Sessions 4 Bonus Tracks / 24Bit Digitally. He learned not only jazz and gospel music, but European classical music as well. 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. 1930s - 1960s. Cole hit a lull in her career in the early 1980s due to her struggle with drug addiction, subsequently parting ways with Capitol Records. Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 - February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Louis Blues. During the early 60s, Cole also travelled extensively, doing highly successful concert tours of Latin America, Japan, the European Continent and England. In 1956, Nat King Cole was a superstar, selling millions of records and touring all over the country. When singing "To see if reindeer really know how to fly," he mistakenly sang "reindeers." On November 5, 1956, The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC-TV. Nat "King" Cole. 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). One of the men was identified to be a member of the white supremacist group White Citizens' Council. The Tragic Death Of Nat King Cole Explained. By 12 he was singing, too, says Britannica. While this shift to pop music led some jazz critics and fans to accuse Cole of selling out, he never totally abandoned his jazz roots; as late as 1956, he recorded an all-jazz album, After Midnight. Fortunately, it is not necessary to choose between the two Nat Coles: They were two different sides of a great popular artist, one who gave fully of himself in both capacities. Why should they attack me?" It is tragically ironic that a talented singer would partake in an activity that damages one's lungs and vocals. Sampled by Susan Boyle feat Nat King Cole [sampled] When I Grow Too Old to Dream. The last episode of The Nat King Cole Show aired December 17, 1957. The trumpet-style piano of Hines, who played on Louis Armstrongs hugely influential 1928 recordings, combined darting, horn-like, right-hand solo lines played in octaves with angular left-hand accompanying patterns. 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