NAT KING COLE

'Nathaniel Adams Coles', known professionally as 'Nat King Cole' (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965) was a popular American singer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.
He first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist, then switched his emphasis to singing, becoming one of the most popular and best-known singers of the 1950s.

Contents

Childhood and Chicago

Los Angeles and the King Cole Trio

Early singing career

Making television history

Cancellation & racism

1950's and beyond

Death & posthumous achievements

Marriage, children and other personal details

Politics

Trivia

Notable TV appearances (other than his own)

Discography (albums)

Filmography

See also

References

External links

Childhood and Chicago

He was born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama. His birth date, according to the World Almanac, was on Saint Patrick's Day in 1919 [1]; other sources have erroneously listed his birthdate as 1917. His father was a butcher and a deacon in the Baptist church. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois while he was still a child. There, his father became a minister; Nat's mother Perlina was the church organist. Nat learned to play the organ from his mother until the age of 12, when he began formal lessons. His first performance, at age four, was of ''Yes, We Have No Bananas.'' He learned not only jazz and gospel music, but European classical music as well, performing, as he said, "from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Rachmaninoff."
The family lived in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. Nat would sneak out of the house and hang outside the clubs, listening to artists such as Louis Armstrong, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Jimmie Noone. He participated in Walter Dyett's renowned music program at DuSable High School.
Inspired by the playing of Earl Hines, Cole began his performing career in the mid 1930s while he was still a teenager, and adopted the name "Nat Cole". His older brother, Eddie Coles, a bassist, soon joined Nat's band and they first recorded in 1936 under Eddie's name. They were also regular performers at clubs. In fact, Nat got his nickname "King" performing at one jazz club, a nickname presumably reinforced by the otherwise-unrelated nursery rhyme about Old King Cole. He was also a pianist in a national touring revival of ragtime and Broadway theatre legend, Eubie Blake's revue, "Shuffle Along". When it suddenly failed in Long Beach, California, Cole decided to remain there.

Los Angeles and the King Cole Trio

Nat Cole and three other musicians formed the "King Cole Swingers" in Long Beach and played in a number of local bars before getting a gig on the Long Beach Pike for $90 per week.
Nat married a dancer Nadine Robinson, who was also with ''Shuffle Along'', and moved to Los Angeles where he formed the Nat King Cole Trio. The trio consisted of Nat on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Wesley Prince on double bass. The trio played in Los Angeles throughout the late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions. Nat's role was that of piano player and leader of the combo. He didn't begin his singing career until a patron asked Nat to sing "Sweet Lorraine," at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Nat ignored the request. The patron said, "What's the matter, don't you know it?" Nat said, "Sure, I know it. But I'm a piano-player, not a singer." The irritated patron went to the owner of the club and complained. Soon the owner came to Nat and said, "He's one of our best customers. Every night he comes in and spends 2 or 3 dollars. If he wants to hear "Sweet Lorraine," he's going to hear "Sweet Lorraine." And so, Nat's singing career was born. In 1940 "Sweet Lorraine," written in 1928, became Nat's first hit. Nat's subdued style contrasted well with the belting approach of most jazz singers.
During World War II, Wesley Prince left the group and Cole replaced him with Johnny Miller. The King Cole Trio signed with the fledgling Capitol Records in 1943 and stayed with the recording company for the rest of Cole's career. 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. Completed in 1956, it was the world's first circular office building and became known as "the house that Nat built."
Cole was considered a leading jazz pianist, appearing, for example, in the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts (credited on the Mercury Record labels as "Shorty Nadine," apparently derived from the name of his wife at the time). His revolutionary lineup of piano, guitar and bass in the time of the big bands became a popular set up for a jazz trio. 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. He also performed as a pianist on sessions with Lester Young, Red Callender, and Lionel Hampton.

Early singing career

Cole's first mainstream vocal hit was his 1943 recording of one of his compositions, "Straighten Up and Fly Right", based on a black folk tale that his father had used as a theme for a sermon. Johnny Mercer invited him to record it for the fledgling Capitol Records label. It sold over 500,000 copies, and proved that folk-based material could appeal to a wide audience. Although Nat would never be considered a rocker, the song can be seen as anticipating the first rock and roll records. Indeed, Bo Diddley, who performed similar transformations of folk material, counted Cole as an influence.
Beginning in the late 1940s, Cole began recording and performing more pop-oriented material for mainstream audiences, often accompanied by a string orchestra. His stature as a popular icon was cemented during this period by hits such as "The Christmas Song (Cole recorded the tune three times: in 1946, his first recording to include strings and the only one where he sings "reindeers," 1953, and 1961 - the last version is the one most often played today), "Nature Boy" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950), "Too Young" (the #1 song in 1951)[2], and his signature tune "Unforgettable" (1951). 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, for instance, he recorded an all-jazz album, ''After Midnight''.

Making television history

On 5 November 1956, ''The Nat King Cole Show'' debuted on NBC-TV. While commentators have often erroneously hailed Cole as the first African-American to host a network television show — an honor belonging to jazz pianist and singer Hazel Scott in 1950 — the Cole program was the first of its kind hosted by a star of Nat Cole's magnitude.
Initially begun as a 15-minute show on Monday night, the show was expanded to a half hour in July 1957. Despite the efforts of NBC, as well as many of Cole's industry colleagues (beginning with Frankie Laine, who was the first white singer to break the "color barrier" by appearing as a guest on a black entertainer's show) -- most of whom, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, Mel Tormé, Peggy Lee, and Eartha Kitt — worked for industry scale in order to help the show save money, ''The Nat King Cole Show'' was ultimately done in by a lack of national sponsorship. Companies such as Rheingold Beer assumed regional sponsorship of the show, but a national sponsor never appeared.
The last episode of ''The Nat King Cole Show'' aired 17 December 1957. Cole had survived for over a year, and it was he, not NBC, who ultimately decided to pull the plug on the show. NBC, as well as Cole himself, had been operating at an extreme financial loss. Commenting on the lack of sponsorship his show received, Cole quipped shortly after its demise, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." This statement, plus the passing of time, has fueled the urban legend that Cole's show had to close down despite enormous popularity. In fact, the Cole program was routinely beaten by the competition at ABC, then riding high with its travel and western shows. In addition, musical variety series have always been risky
enterprises with a fickle public; among the one-season casualties are Frank Sinatra in 1957, Judy Garland in 1963 and Julie Andrews in 1972.

Cancellation & racism

The TV show was ultimately cancelled because potential sponsors shied away from showcasing a black artist. Cole fought racism all his life and refused to perform in segregated venues. In 1956, he was assaulted on stage while singing the song "Little Girl" in Birmingham, Alabama by members of the White Citizens' Council who apparently were attempting to kidnap him. Cole completed the performance despite injuries, but never again performed in the South.

1950's and beyond

Throughout the 1950s Cole continued to rack up hit after hit, including "Smile", "Pretend", "A Blossom Fell", "If I May". His pop hits were collaborations with well-known arrangers and conductors of the day, including Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Ralph Carmichael. Riddle arranged several of Cole's 1950s albums, including his first 10-inch long-play album, his 1953 ''Nat King Cole Sings For Two In Love''. Jenkins arranged "Love Is the Thing", #1 on the album charts in April 1957.
In 1958, Cole went to Havana, Cuba to record ''Cole Español'', an album sung entirely in Spanish. The album was so popular in Latin America as well as in the USA, that two others in the same vein followed: ''A Mis Amigos'' (sung in Spanish and
Portuguese) in 1959, and ''More Cole Español'' in 1962. ''A Mis Amigos'' contains the Venezuelan hit "Ansiedad", whose lyrics Cole had learned while performing in Caracas in 1958. Cole learned songs in languages other than English by rote.
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). Along with his contemporaries Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, Cole found that the pop singles chart had been almost entirely taken over by youth-oriented acts. In 1960, Nat's long-time collaborator Nelson Riddle left Capitol Records for Frank Sinatra's newly formed Reprise Records label. Riddle and Cole recorded one final hit album ''Wild Is Love'', based on lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Cole later retooled the concept album into an off-Broadway show, ''I'm With You''.

Cole did manage to record some hit singles during the 1960s, including the country-flavored hit "Ramblin' Rose" in August of 1962, "Dear Lonely Hearts", "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days Of Summer", and "That Sunday, That Summer".
Cole performed in many short films, and played W. C. Handy in the film ''Saint Louis Blues'' (1958). He also appeared in ''The Nat King Cole Story'', ''China Gate'', and ''The Blue Gardenia'' (1953) (see photo above). ''Cat Ballou'' (1965), his final film, was released several months after his death.

Death & posthumous achievements

Cole, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer on February 15, 1965 while still at the height of his singing career.
His last album, ''L-O-V-E'', was recorded in early December 1964 — just a few days before entering the hospital for lung cancer treatment — and released just prior to his death; it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. A ''Best Of'' album went gold in 1968. His 1957 recording of "When I Fall In Love" topped the UK charts in 1987.
In 1983, an archivist for Electrola Records, Capitol Records' subsidiary in the Netherlands, discovered some songs Cole had recorded but that had never been released, including one in Japanese and another in Spanish ("Tu Eres Tan Amable"). Capitol released them later that year as the LP ''Unreleased''.
He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.
In 1991, Mosaic Records released ''The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio'', an 18 compact disc set, consisting of 349 songs. (This special compilation also was available as a 27 high-quality LP record set.)
Nat's youngest brother Freddy Cole, and Nat's daughter, Natalie Cole are also singers. In the summer of 1991, Natalie and her 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 her father's music. The song and the album of the same name won seven Grammy awards in 1992.

Marriage, children and other personal details

There has been some confusion as to Cole's actual year of birth. Nat himself used four different dates on official documents: 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1919. However, Nathaniel is listed with his parents and older siblings in the 1920 U.S. Federal census for Montgomery Ward 7 and his age is given as nine months old. Since this is a contemporary record, it is very likely he was born in 1919. This is also consistent with the 1930 census which finds him at age 11 with his family in Chicago's Ward 3. In the 1920 census, the race of all members of the family (Ed., Pelina, Eddie M., Edward D., Evelina and Nathaniel) is recorded as mulatto. Cole's birth year is also listed as 1919 at the Nat King Cole Society's web site.[3]
Cole's first marriage, to Nadine Robinson, ended in 1948. On March 28, 1948 (Easter Sunday), just six days after his divorce became final, Nat King Cole married singer Maria Hawkins Ellington — no relation to Duke Ellington although she had sung with Ellington's band. They were married in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. They had five children: daughter Natalie was born in 1950, followed by adoption of Carol (the daughter of Maria's sister, born in 1944) and a son Nat Kelly Cole (born in 1959), who died in 1995 at 36. Twin girls Casey and Timolin were born in 1961.
In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The property owners association told Cole they did not want any undesirables moving in. Cole retorted "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."
Cole carried on affairs throughout his marriage. By the time he contracted lung cancer, he was estranged from his wife Maria in favor of actress Gunilla Hutton, best known as Nurse Goodbody of ''Hee Haw'' fame. However, he was together with his wife during his illness and she stayed with him until his death. In interview, his wife Maria has expressed no lingering resentment over his affairs, but rather emphasised his musical legacy and the class he exhibited in all other aspects of his life.
Cole was a heavy smoker of KOOL menthol cigarettes, smoking up to three packs a day. He believed smoking kept his voice low. (He would, in fact, smoke several cigarettes in quick succession before a recording for this very purpose.) He died of lung cancer on February 15, 1965, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His funeral was held at St. James Episcopal Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. His remains were interred inside Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Politics

On August 23, 1956, Cole spoke at the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. He was also present at the Democratic National Convention in 1960, to throw his support behind President John F. Kennedy. Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Nat King Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Johnson) on the issue of civil rights. Yet he was dogged by critics, who felt he shied away from controversy when it came to the civil rights issue. Among the most notable was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was upset that Cole did not take stronger action after being attacked on stage by white supremacists in 1956.

Trivia

★ Ray Evans, the lyrics writer of "Mona Lisa", died on February 15, 2007, the 42nd anniversary of Cole's death.

Notable TV appearances (other than his own)

★ 'Ed Sullivan:' Nat King Cole was on the Ed Sullivan show six times before his own show ran regularly in 1957. He appeared twice after his show ended, once in 1958 and once in 1961.
''Nat King Cole Appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show by:''
''Season, Episode and Production Number, Air Date, Episode Title''

★
★ Season 9 ''(380.9-2 02-Oct-1955)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Nat King Cole; "Fanny" cast and Josh Logan

★
★ Season 9 ''(383.9-5 23-Oct-1955)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Nat King Cole & wife Maria; Jack Palance and Rod Steiger

★
★ Season 9 ''(404.9-26 18-Mar-1956)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Marcel Marceau; Eli Wallach; Nat King Cole and Cesare Siepe

★
★ Season 9 ''(405.9-27 25-Mar-1956)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Nat King Cole; Jack Carter and Reese & Davis

★
★ Season 9 ''(411.9-33 06-May-1956)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Tony Martin; Nat King Cole; Edie Adams; The Lovers and Will Jordan

★
★ Season 9 ''(416.9-38 10-Jun-1956)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Nat King Cole; Bob Hope (on film); Jack Carter and film: "A Short Vision"

★
★ Season 11 ''(510.11-29 13-Apr-1958)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Nat King Cole; Mickey Mantle; Yogi Berra and Jack Norworth

★
★ Season 14 ''(648.14-16 29-Jan-1961)''

★
★
★ Scheduled: Carmen McRae; Carol Channing and Nat King Cole

★ 'Dinah Shore:' Nat King Cole was also on the Dinah Shore show – singing ''"Mr. Cole Won’t Rock & Roll"'' — in the early-1960s.

★ 'Your Show of Shows' ... aka Sid Caesar's Show of Shows - Episode dated 12 September 1953.

Discography (albums)

'Year'	'Album Title'
1944	The King Cole Trio - Capitol Records (10 inch LP)
1946	The King Cole Trio Volume 2 (10 inch LP)
1948	The King Cole Trio Volume 3 (10 inch LP)
1950	Nat King Cole At The Piano (10 inch LP)
1952	Penthouse Serenade (10 inch LP)
1952	Top Pops (10 inch LP version)
1952	Harvest Of Hits (10 inch LP)
1953	Sings For Two In Love (10 inch LP)
1954	Unforgettable (10 inch originally, 12 inch following year)
1955	Penthouse Serenade (12 inch LP version)
1955	Nat King Cole Sings For Two In Love (12 inch LP version)
1955	10th Anniversary Album (12 inch LP version)
1955	Top Pops (12 inch LP version)
1955	The Piano Style of Nat King Cole
1956	Ballads of the Day
1957	This Is Nat King Cole
1957	After Midnight
1957	Just One Of Those Things
1957	Love Is The Thing
1958	Cole Español
1958	St. Louis Blues
1958	The Very Thought Of You
1958	To Whom It May Concern
1959	Welcome To The Club
1959	A Mis Amigos
1960	Tell Me All About Yourself
1960	Everytime I Feel The Spirit
1960	Wild Is Love
1960	The Magic of Christmas
1961	The Nat King Cole Story
1961	The Touch of Your Lips
1962	Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays (Bonus LP added to later pressings)
1962	Ramblin' Rose
1962	Dear Lonely Hearts
1962	Chartbusters: Volume 2 (Capitol Compilation LP, features "Ramblin Rose")
1962	More Cole Español
1962	Swingin' Side Of Nat King Cole (Reissue Of "Welcome To the Club")
1963	Nat King Cole Sings the Blues (Reissue Of St. Louis Blues)
1963	Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer
1963	Chartbusters: Volume 3 (Capitol Compilation LP, features "That Sunday, That Summer" & "Mr. Wishing Well")
1963	Top Pops (Reissue of 1955 album)
1963	Where Did Everyone Go?
1963	The Christmas Song (Reissue Of Magic Of Christmas plus title song)
1964	Chartbusters: Volume 4 (Capitol Compilation LP, features "My True Carrie, Love")
1964	Nat King Cole Sings My Fair Lady
1964	Let's Face The Music!
1964	I Don't Want To Be Hurt Anymore
1965	L-O-V-E (Released weeks before Cole Died)
	'Re-Releases ''(Released Posthumously)'''
1965	Sings Songs From Cat Ballou & Other Motion Pictures
1965	Looking Back
1965	Unforgettable (1965 reissue of 1954 album)
1965	Sings Hymns & Spirituals (Reissue Of Every Time I Feel the Spirit)
1965	Nat King Cole Trio: The Vintage Years
1965	Nature Boy
1966	Nat King Cole At the Sands (Recorded Live on January 14, 1960)
1966	Sincerely, Nat King Cole
1966	Nat Cole Sings the Great Songs!
1966	Longines Symphonette Society Presents the Unforgettable Nat King Cole (Box Set)
1967	The Beautiful Ballads
1967	Thank You, Pretty Baby
1968	Best Of Nat King Cole
1970	The Magic Of Christmas With Children (Safeway Supermarket Promo LP)
1973	Nature Boy
1974	Love is a Many Splendored Thing
1979	Reader's Digest Presents: The Great Nat King Cole (4LP Box Set)
1982	Greatest Love Songs
1983	Unforgettable (Australia)
1990	Hit That Jive, Jack
1990	Jumpin' at Capitol
1990	Capitol Collectors' Series
1990	Cole, Christmas and Kids
1991	Big Band Cole (Repackaging of "Welcome To the Club" with bonus tracks)
1991	The Unforgettable Nat King Cole
1992	Christmas Favorites
1992	''Selections From'' The Nat King Cole 4-CD Box Set ''(Promo)''
1992	The Best Of The Nat King Cole Trio: The Instrumental Classics
1993	The Billy May Sessions (2Cd Set)
1993	Mis Mejores Canciones - 19 Super Exitos
1994	Greatest Hits (DCC Gold Disc version released 1995)
1994	Let's Face the Music & Dance (Not the 1964 album)
1998	The Frim Fram Sauce
1999	Live At The Circle Room (Radio Transcriptions From a 1944 Performance)
2000	Coast To Coast Live (1963 Concert At the Riverside Inn, Fresno, CA/1962 WNEW Radio Show)
2000	Route 66
2000	Christmas & Kids: From One To Ninety Two (Reissue Of Cole, Christmas & Kids)
2001	The King Swings
2001	Try Not To Cry
2001	Night Lights (album recorded in 1956, but never released)
2003	Stepping Out of a Dream
2003	The Classic Singles (4 CD Book)
2003	20 Golden Greats
2003	The Best Of...
2003	Love Songs
2003	The Nat King Cole Trio '(With Famous Guests)'
2003	The One And Only Nat King Cole
2005	The World Of Nat King Cole (Bonus DVD added 2006)
2006	The Very Best of Nat King Cole
2006	Stardust: The Complete Capitol Recordings, 1955-59
2006	L-O-V-E: The Complete Capitol Recordings, 1960-64

Filmography

Features:

★ ''Citizen Kane'' (1941) (off-screen)

★ ''Here Comes Elmer'' (1943)

★ ''Pistol Packin' Mama'' (1943)

★ ''Pin Up Girl'' (1944)

★ ''Stars on Parade'' (1944)

★ ''Swing in the Saddle'' (1944)

★ ''See My Lawyer'' (1945)

★ ''Breakfast in Hollywood'' (1946)

★ ''Killer Diller'' (1948)

★ ''Make Believe Ballroom'' (1949)

★ ''The Blue Gardenia'' (1953)

★ ''Small Town Girl'' (1953)

★ ''Rock 'n' Roll Revue'' (1955)

★ ''Rhythm and Blues Revue'' (1955)

★ ''Basin Street Revue'' (1956)

★ ''The Scarlet Hour'' (1956)

★ ''Istanbul'' (1957)

★ ''China Gate'' (1957)

★ ''St. Louis Blues'' (1958)

★ ''Night of the Quarter Moon'' (1959)

★ ''Schlager-Raketen'' (1960)

★ ''Cat Ballou'' (1965)
Short Subjects:

★ ''King Cole Trio & Benny Carter Orchestra'' (1950)

★ ''Nat King Cole and Joe Adams Orchestra'' (1952)

★ ''Nat King Cole and Russ Morgan and His Orchestra'' (1953)

★ ''The Nat King Cole Musical Story'' (1955)

See also

★ List of African American firsts

References

External links

★ The Nat King Cole Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving his memory

★ Discography.

★ Capitol Records' Nat King Cole website.

★ The Unfortgettable Nat King Cole

★ NPR Jazz Profiles - The Pianist.

★ NPR Jazz Profiles - The Singer.

★ Biography at Tiscali Music.

★ Biography at everything2.

★ Allmusic entry.

★ Blackprincess.

★ Nat King Cole's Gravesite