From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Mar 14, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Nat "King" Cole
 
NAT "KING" COLE

Born Nathaniel Adams Coles, 17 March 1917, Montgomery, Alabama
Died 15 February 1965, Santa Monica, California

Jazz pianist, transformed into leading ballad singer.
Nat Cole was born in the Deep South, but raised in Chicago. He first
recorded (as a pianist) with his brother's band, Eddie Cole's Solid
Swingers, in 1936. In 1939 he formed his own trio, with guitarist Oscar
Moore and bass player Wesley Prince, replaced later by Johnny Miller.
The recordings that Cole made between 1939 and 1944 are unjustly
forgotten. Drawing from jazz, he remade the blues into a thing of his
own time and place. Cole's small-group sound was the main influence
on those younger and wilder singing piano-players - Amos Milburn,
Charles Brown, Cecil Gant, Ray Charles, and others - who led the
first great wave of West Coast rock 'n' roll in the late forties. Inklings
of rock 'n' roll to come can especially be heard in "I Like To Riff"
(1940) and "Got A Penny" (1943).
In late 1943, Nat Cole and his trio were signed by Capitol, where he
would stay for the rest of his life. The trio's first R&B chart entry,
"That Ain't Right" (# 1, 1942), was still on Decca, though. Ironically,
but not surprisingly, Cole's first crossover hit, "Straighten Up And Fly
Right" (# 1 R&B, # 9 pop), marked the end of his contributions to the
birthing of rock 'n' roll. By the late forties, Cole adopted a more polished
MOR sound, choosing lush orchestral backing in place of his trio
(which dissolved in 1951). A string of giant hits followed, including
"Nature Boy" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950) and "Too Young" (1951),
all # 1 pop hits. Cole continued to record succesfully until shortly before
his untimely death (of lung cancer) in 1965.

Further reading: Nick Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock "n' Roll (2nd ed.
1991), p. 30-38 and 211-214.
Daniel Mark Epstein, Nat King Cole. Boston : Northeastern University Press,
2000.
Recommended listening: Nat King Cole Trio, Original Records, 1936/1941,
Complete Edition (2 CD's). (Jazz Archives)
Website:
http://www.homestead.com/nat_king_cole/unforgettable_nat_king_cole.html