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Nat King Cole was born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama, on 17 March, 1919. Whilst still a child, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois where his father practised as a minister, and his mother became the church organist. Nat duly became proficient on the organ and piano, learning to play not only gospel and jazz music, but works by the classic masters, ‘from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Rachmaninoff’ as he later recalled. Influenced by the jazz piano playing of Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines, Cole began his career as a jazz pianist in the mid-1930s. He formed his celebrated King Cole Trio in 1939, and progressed gradually from being a pianist who also sang, to primarily a singer.
In 1943 the Trio were signed up to the fledgling Capitol Record label, and one of the recordings they made at their first session, Straighten Up And Fly Right, became a hit. By the end of the decade, the more familiar Nat King Cole we remember so well was beginning to emerge; that is the smooth, intimate vocals with a lush and predominantly string orchestral backing - Nature Boy, from 1947, is an early example. The 1950s was Nat’s decade, with many hits, including Unforgettable, Mona Lisa, Too Young, Smile, When I Fall In Love and many more, all heard here in a wonderfully re-mastered double CD from AVID Entertainment
Nat, who would smoke up to three packets of cigarettes a day, succumbed to lung cancer on 15 February 1965 - a month short of his 46th birthday. Over four decades on, the loss of this major talent is still keenly felt. We can at least continue to enjoy his rich, vast recorded legacy, some of which is represented here, in 53 selections covering the years 1943 to 1957.
CD1
1. Unforgettable
2. Straighten Up And Fly Right
3. Nature Boy
4. Put ‘Em In A Box, Tie ‘Em With A Ribbon (And Throw ‘Em In The Deep Blue Sea)
5. Harmony with Johnny Mercer
6. Mona Lisa
7. Orange Colored Sky (with Stan Kenton & His Orchestra)
8. Because Of Rain
9. Mule Train (with Woody Herman)
10. Too Young
11. The Ruby And The Pearl
12. Walkin’ My Baby Back Home
13. The Story Of My Wife
14. For You My Love (with Nellie Lutcher)
15. Somewhere Along The Way
16. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
17. Because You’re Mine
18. Mother Nature And Father Time
19. Rough Ridin’
20. Faith Can Move Mountains
21. Pretend
22. Can’t I?
23. A Handful Of Stars
24. This Can’t Be Love
25. Tenderly
26. Almost Like Being In Love
27. Make Her Mine
CD2
1. Smile
2. Answer Me, My Love
3. Hold My Hand
4. Teach Me Tonight
5. If I Give My Heart To You
6. Open Up The Doghouse (Two Cats Are Comin’ In) (with Dean Martin)
7. My One Sin (In Life)
8. A Blossom Fell
9. Papa Loves Mambo
10. There Will Never Be Another You
11. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing
12. Dreams Can Tell A Lie
13. Too Young To Go Steady
14. Sweet Lorraine (featuring Harry Edison- muted trumpet)
15. Ballerina (Dance, Ballerina, Dance)
16. My Personal Possession (with The Four Knights)
17. Send For Me with McCoy’s Boys
18. You Are My First Love
19. When Rock And Roll Come To Trinidad (with The Calypso Singers)
20. It’s All In The Game
21. Stardust
22. The Song Is Ended
23. Love Letters
24. Stay As Sweet As You Are
25. The Party’s Over
26. When I Fall In Love
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