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The Crooners:

Nat King Cole

Intro

  • Nat King Cole was an American musician who first came to prominence as a jazz pianist.
  • He owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres.
  • In 1956, Cole became the first African-American performer to host a variety television series
  • He has maintained worldwide popularity since his death in 1965.

Intro

Early Life

  • Nathaniel Adams Cole
  • Born on March 17, 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama
  • He first learned to play around the age of four with help from his mother, a church choir director.
  • The son of a Baptist pastor, Cole may have started out playing religious music.
  • In his early teens, Cole had formal classical piano training.
  • He eventually abandoned classical for his other musical passion—jazz.
  • At 15, he dropped out of school to become a jazz pianist full time.
  • Cole joined forces with his brother Eddie for a time, which led to his first professional recordings in 1936.
  • He later joined a national tour for the musical revue Shuffle Along, performing as a pianist.
  • Cole recorded "Sweet Lorraine" in 1940, and it became his first hit
  • According to legend, his career as a vocalist started when a drunken bar patron demanded that he sing the song.
  • Cole said that this fabricated story sounded good, so he didn't argue with it.
  • In fact there was a customer one night who demanded that he sing, but because it was a song Cole didn't know, he sang "Sweet Lorraine" instead.
  • As people heard Cole's vocal talent, they requested more vocal songs, and he obliged.

King Cole Trio

  • The following year, Cole started to put together what would become the King Cole Trio, the name being a play on the children's nursery rhyme.
  • They toured extensively and finally landed on the charts in 1943 with "That Ain't Right," penned by Cole.
  • "Straighten Up and Fly Right," inspired by one of his father's sermons, became another hit for the group in 1944.*
  • The trio continued its rise to the top with such pop hits as the holiday classic "The Christmas Song" and the ballad "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons."*

King Cole Trio

Success

  • By the 1950s, Nat King Cole emerged as a popular solo performer. He scored numerous hits, with such songs as "Nature Boy," "Mona Lisa,"* "Too Young, " and "Unforgettable.*"
  • In the studio, Cole got to work with some of the country's top talent, including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, and famous arrangers such as Nelson Riddle.
  • He also met and befriended other stars of the era, including popular crooner Frank Sinatra.
  • As an African-American performer, Cole struggled to find his place in the Civil Rights movement.
  • He had encountered racism firsthand, especially while touring in the South.
  • In 1956, Cole had been attacked by white supremacists during a mixed race performance in Alabama.
  • Cole did not actively get involved in activism, he took the stance that he was an entertainer, not an activist.

Success

TV and Film

TV and Film

  • Cole made television history in 1956, when he became the first African-American performer to host a variety TV series.
  • The Nat King Cole Show featured many of the leading performers of the day, including Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett. *
  • **2:05
  • Unfortunately, the series didn't last long, going off the air in December 1957.
  • After his show went off the air, Cole continued to be a presence on television.
  • He appeared on such popular programs as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Garry Moore Show.
  • On the big screen, Cole had first started out in small roles in the 1940s, largely playing some version of himself.
  • He landed some sizable parts in the late 1950s, appearing in the Errol Flynn drama Istanbul (1957).
  • That same year, Cole appeared in the war drama China Gate with Gene Barry and Angie Dickinson.
  • His only major starring role came in 1958, in the drama St. Louis Blues, also starring Eartha Kitt and Cab Calloway. (6:30)*
  • Cole played the role of blues great W.C. Handy in the film.
  • His final film appearance came in 1965: He performed alongside Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin in the light-hearted Western Cat Ballou.

Late Career

  • Cole's presence on the record charts dwindled in the late 1950s. But this decline did not last long.
  • His career returned to top form in the early 1960s.
  • The 1962 country-influenced hit "Ramblin' Rose" reached the number two spot on the Billboard pop charts.
  • The following spring, Cole won over music fans with the light-hearted tune "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer." *
  • He made his last appearances on the pop charts in his lifetime in 1964.
  • Modest successes compared to his earlier hits, Cole delivered two ballads—"I Don't Want to Hurt Anymore" and "I Don't Want to See Tomorrow"—in his signature smooth style.
  • "It's All Right with Me," Ella Fitzgerald*

Late Career

Legacy

Personal Life and Legacy

  • In 1964, Cole discovered that he had lung cancer.
  • He succumbed to the disease just months later, on February 15, 1965, at the age of 45, in Santa Monica, California.
  • Released around this time, L-O-V-E proved to be Cole's final recording.
  • The title track of the album remains hugely popular to this day, and has been featured on a number of film soundtracks.
  • Since his death, Cole's music has endured.
  • His rendition of "The Christmas Song" has become a holiday classic and many of his other signature songs are frequently selected for film and television soundtracks.
  • His daughter Natalie also carried on the family profession, becoming a successful singer in her own right.
  • In 1991, she helped her father achieve a posthumous hit. Natalie Cole recorded his hit "Unforgettable" and put their vocals together as a duet.
  • He topped the charts year after year, sold more than 50 million records, pushed jazz piano in a new direction and paved the way for later generations of performers.
  • Ramblin' Rose (44:00)

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