When you think of an icon in relation to any contribution, it stands out to measure someone with greatness. That measure is exemplified by the “Unforgettable” Nat King Cole.
Nathaniel Adams Coles was the son of a Baptist preacher. He was born on March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama. He played the organ at the age of four, taught by his mother, an organist who played in his father’s church. Nathaniel’s first debut was his organ performance of, Yes! we don’t have bananas. At the age of 12, young Nat was receiving formal training as a jazz pianist. He also played gospel and, what is more surprising, he studied and played the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Born into a very musical family, Nat formed a band as a teenager and was soon joined by bassist brother Eddie. Adopting the name ‘Nat Cole’ early in his career, the ‘King’ was added by peers who most likely took it from the nursery rhyme, “Old King Cole”. The baritone singer was greatly influenced by idols like Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines and it is said that he developed a lot of his style from these talented musicians.
In the mid-1930s, Cole and his band (King Trio) moved to Los Angeles, where they made their first recording. They played local jazz clubs with Cole primarily playing piano. However, he did occasionally throw in some vocals. More and more requests came in for Cole to sing and he eventually became both a vocalist and pianist.
In 1943, Nat King Cole signed with Capital Records. The monumental sales of Coles’ records are believed by many to be what saved the record company from bankruptcy. The band continued to gain popularity and the trio’s combination of bass, piano and guitar became popular and was soon copied by many jazz groups across the country.
Cole’s first success came in 1943 with Straighten up and fly right, which was based on a theme from a sermon his father had preached from the pulpit. Never abandoning his jazz influence, Cole nonetheless crossed over to pop music and found great success doing so. By the late forties he was releasing hits like The Christmas Song and nature boy. In 1951, the firm hit him, Unforgettable was released.
Nat King Cole was considered a singer and is associated with greats, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby. and Dean Martin. Cole’s voice is said to be the most distinctively unique of the group. Cole believed that his voice was kept low and raspy due to his heavy smoking habit. Therefore, he would deliberately chain smoke before his performances.
Unlike his singing counterparts, Cole had to deal with the unique animal of racism. Highly educated musically, he did not fit the mold of many of the black artists of the day. He had a knack for quickly learning other languages and later recorded several albums in Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.
Although Cole possessed brilliance and talent, he was not immune to the barbaric actions of white hate groups. Once, while performing in Birmingham, Alabama (his home state), he was mugged onstage by three members of the North Alabama Council of White Citizens. Cole never performed in the South again. He would later face attempts to exclude him and his family from moving to an exclusive white neighborhood in Los Angeles. He moved anyway!
Fighting the issue of racism his entire life, Cole nonetheless had some defining moments in black history. In 1956, the “Nat King Cole Show” hit the television airwaves. This was the first time a black artist had hosted his own show. Although the show was a huge success and featured many well-known artists of the day, sponsors were reluctant to lend their support to the show, and Cole canceled it in December 1957. It should also be noted that competing shows on the other networks they were drawing in big ratings with westerns and travel shows.
Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, the legendary musician would release several hits. favorites like a flower fell, claim (it is and if I can, kept his fans buying records. Cole even ventured into the rock side of music with his number 6 hit on the charts, Send for me. wandering rose and Those lazy, foggy, crazy days of summer are two of his best-known hits that were released in the early 1960s. His last album, LOVE, was recorded in December 1964, just two months before his death.
The incomparable Nat King Cole lost his battle with lung cancer on February 15, 1965 in Santa Monica, California. At the time of his death, Cole was survived by his five children. He remains a musical icon to this day and has received many tributes and awards since his death. Cole’s talent passed on to his daughter Natalie. In 1991 he released a remixed version, mixing his own vocals with his father’s 1961 rendition of Unforgettable. The duet became a mega-hit and won, along with the album, seven Grammy Awards in 1992.
