Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965),[1] known professionally asNat King Cole, alternatively billed asNat "King" Cole, was an American singer,jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz andpop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts.
Cole started his career as ajazz pianist in the late 1930s, when he formed the King Cole Trio, which became the top-selling group (and the only black act) onCapitol Records in the 1940s. Cole's trio was the model for smalljazz ensembles that followed. Starting in 1950, he transitioned to become a solo singer billed as Nat King Cole. Despite achieving mainstream success, Cole faced intenseracial discrimination during his career. While not a major vocal public figure in thecivil rights movement, Cole was a member of his localNAACP branch and participated in the 1963March on Washington. He regularly performed for civil rights organizations. From 1956 to 1957, Cole hosted theNBC variety seriesThe Nat King Cole Show, which became the first nationally broadcast television show hosted by a black American.
Nat King Cole, Paramount Theater, New York City, November 1946
When he was 15, Cole dropped out of high school to pursue a music career. After his brother Eddie, a bassist, came home from touring withNoble Sissle, they formed a sextet and recorded two singles forDecca in 1936 as Eddie Cole's Swingsters. They performed in a revival of the musicalShuffle Along. Nat Cole went on tour with the musical. In 1937, he married Nadine Robinson, who was a member of the cast. After the show ended in Los Angeles, Cole and Nadine settled there while he looked for work.[21]
One day in 1938, as he was relaxing in his hotel room, Bing Crosby heard the Nat Cole Trio for the first time from Jim Otto’s Steak House, and then took Johnny Mercer to hear them. Crosby soon had the trio on hisKraft Music Hall radio program, and Mercer would later sign them upon foundingCapitol Records. In 1944, “Straighten Up and Fly Right” soared to the top of the charts.With Crosby continually bringing them back on his program, the Trio even substituted for him in the summer of 1946.
Cole led a big band and found work playing piano in nightclubs. When a club owner asked him to form a band, Cole hired bassistWesley Prince and guitaristOscar Moore. They called themselves the King Cole Swingsters after the nursery rhyme in which "Old King Cole was a merry old soul". They changed their name to the King Cole Trio before makingradio transcriptions and recording for small labels.[21]
Cole recorded "Sweet Lorraine" in 1940, and it became his first hit.[22] According to legend, his career as a vocalist started when a drunken bar patron demanded that Cole sing the song. He said that this fabricated story sounded good, so Cole did not argue with it. There was a customer one night who demanded that he sing, but because it was a song Cole did not know, he sang "Sweet Lorraine" instead. As people heard Cole's vocal talent, they requested more vocal songs, and he obliged.[23]
In 1941, the trio recorded "That Ain't Right" for Decca, followed the next year by "All for You" forExcelsior.[21] They recorded "I'm Lost", a song written byOtis René, the owner of Excelsior.[24]
I started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out.
Cole was the original house pianist forJazz at the Philharmonic and performed at the first recorded concert in 1944. He was credited onMercury as "Shorty Nadine", a derivative of his wife's name, because Cole had an exclusive contract withCapitol[27] since signing with the label the year before. He used a variety of otherpseudonyms for the same reason, including Eddie Laguna, Sam Schmaltz, Nature Boy and A Guy, "or whatever name for himself he could think of, but only as an instrumentalist, never as a vocalist."[28] Cole recorded withIllinois Jacquet andLester Young.[22]
King Cole Trio Time on NBC with Cole on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Johnny Miller on double bass, 1947
On November 5, 1956,The Nat 'King' Cole Show debuted on NBC. The variety program was one of the first hosted by an African American.[37] The program started at a length of fifteen minutes but was increased to a half-hour in July 1957.Rheingold Beer was a regional sponsor, but a national sponsor was never found. The show was in trouble financially despite efforts by NBC,Harry Belafonte,Tony Bennett,Ella Fitzgerald,Eartha Kitt,Frankie Laine,Peggy Lee, andMel Tormé.[38] Cole decided to end the program. The last episode aired on December 17, 1957.[39] Commenting on the lack of sponsorship, Cole said shortly after its demise: "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark."[40][41]
Throughout the 1950s, Cole continued to record hits that sold millions throughout the world, such as "Smile", "Pretend", "A Blossom Fell", and "If I May". His pop hits were collaborations withNelson Riddle,[25]Gordon Jenkins, andRalph Carmichael. Riddle arranged several of Cole's 1950s albums, includingNat King Cole Sings for Two in Love (1953), his first 10-inch LP. In 1955, "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" reached number 7 on theBillboard chart.Love Is the Thing went to number one in April 1957 and remained his only number one album.
In 1958, Cole went to Havana, Cuba, to recordCole Español, an album sung entirely in Spanish. It was so popular in Latin America and the U.S. that it was followed by two more Spanish-language albums:A Mis Amigos (1959) andMore Cole Español (1962).
After the change in musical tastes, Cole's ballads appealed little to young listeners, despite a successful attempt at rock and roll with "Send for Me",[25] which peaked at number 6 on the pop chart. LikeDean Martin,Frank Sinatra, andTony Bennett, Cole found that the pop chart had been taken over by youth-oriented acts.
In 1960, Cole's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle left Capitol to joinReprise Records, which was established by Frank Sinatra. Riddle and Cole recorded one final hit album,Wild Is Love, with lyrics byRay Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Cole later retooled the concept album into anOff-Broadway show,I'm with You.
In January 1964, Cole made one of his final television appearances, onThe Jack Benny Program. He was introduced as "the best friend a song ever had" and sang "When I Fall in Love".Cat Ballou (1965), Cole's final film, was released several months after his death.
Earlier on, Cole's shift to traditional pop led some jazz critics and fans to accuse him of selling out, but he never abandoned his jazz roots; as late as 1956, Cole recorded an all-jazz album,After Midnight, and many of his albums after this are fundamentally jazz-based, being scored for big band without strings, although the arrangements focus primarily on the vocal rather than instrumental leads.
Cole had one of his last major hits in 1963, two years before his death, with "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer", which reached number 6 on the Pop chart. "Unforgettable" was made famous again in 1991 by Cole's daughter Natalie when modern recording technology was used to reunite father and daughter in a duet. The duet version rose to the top of the pop charts, almost forty years after its original popularity.[43]
Cole's final studio album was titledL-O-V-E. The album peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965.
Around the time Cole launched his singing career, he entered intoFreemasonry. Cole was raised in January 1944 in the Thomas Waller Lodge No. 49 in California. The lodge was named after fellowPrince Hall mason and jazz musicianFats Waller.[44][45] Cole joined theScottish Rite Freemasonry,[46] becoming a 32nd Degree Mason.[47]
Cole was "an avid baseball fan", particularly ofHank Aaron. In 1968,Nelson Riddle related an incident from some years earlier and told of music studio engineers, searching for a source of noise, finding Cole listening to a game on a transistor radio.[25]
Cole met his first wife, Nadine Robinson, while they were on tour for the all-black Broadway musicalShuffle Along. Cole was 18 when they married and she was the reason why he moved to Los Angeles and formed the Nat King Cole trio.[48] Their marriage ended in divorce in 1948.[49]
On March 28, 1948 (Easter Sunday), six days after his divorce became final, Cole married singerMaria Hawkins. The Coles were married inHarlem'sAbyssinian Baptist Church byAdam Clayton Powell Jr. They had five children:Natalie (1950–2015), who had a successful career as a singer before dying of congestive heart failure at age 65; an adopted daughter,Carole (1944–2009, the daughter of Maria's sister), who died oflung cancer at the age of 64; an adopted son, Nat Kelly Cole (1959–1995), who died ofAIDS at the age of 36;[50] and twin daughters, Casey and Timolin, born September 26, 1961. Maria supported Cole during his final illness and stayed with him until his death. In an interview, she emphasized his musical legacy and the class he exhibited despite his imperfections.[49]
In August 1948, Cole purchased a house from Col. Harry Gantz, the ex-husband of silent film actressLois Weber, in the all-whiteHancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, aburning cross was placed on his front lawn and theproperty-owners association told Cole they did not want any "undesirables" moving into the neighborhood. Cole responded, "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."[51] His dog died after eating poisoned meat, something likely to be connected to his moving to the neighborhood.[52]
In 1956, Cole was contracted to perform in Cuba. He wanted to stay at theHotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana but was refused because it operated acolor bar. Cole honored his contract, and the concert at theTropicana Club was a huge success. The following year, Cole returned to Cuba for another concert, singing many songs in Spanish.
Cole was assaulted during a concert on April 10, 1956, in Birmingham, Alabama, while singing the song "Little Girl" on stage with theTed Heath Band. After photographs of Cole with white female fans were circulated bearing such incendiary, boldface captions as "Cole and His White Women" and "Cole and Your Daughter",[53] three men belonging to theNorth Alabama Citizens Council attacked Cole in an apparent attempt to kidnap him.
The three assailants ran down the aisles of the auditorium towards Cole. Local law enforcement quickly ended their invasion of the stage, but not until Cole was toppled from his piano bench and received a slight injury to his back. He did not finish the concert.[54] Police later found rifles, ablackjack, andbrass knuckles, in a car outside the venue.[55] A fourth member of the group was later arrested. All were tried and convicted.[54]
Six men, including 23-year-old Willie Richard Vinson, were formally charged with assault with intent to murder Cole, but the charges against four of them was later changed to conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. The original plan to attack Cole included 150 men from Birmingham and nearby towns.[56]
"I can't understand it," Cole said afterwards. "I have not taken part in any protests. Nor have I joined an organization fighting segregation. Why should they attack me?" Cole wanted to forget the incident and continued to play for segregated audiences in the American South. He said he could not change the situation in a day. He contributed money to theMontgomery bus boycott and previously sued Northern hotels that had hired him but refused to serve him.
Criticism and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement
Thurgood Marshall, then-the chief legal counsel of theNAACP, said "All Cole needs to complete his role as anUncle Tom is abanjo."Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the NAACP, wrote him a telegram that said:
You have not been a crusader or engaged in an effort to change the customs or laws of the South. That responsibility, newspapers quote you as saying, you leave to the other guys. That attack upon you clearly indicates that organized bigotry makes no distinction between those who do not actively challenge racial discrimination and those who do. This is a fight which none of us can escape. We invite you to join us in a crusade against racism.[57]
The Chicago Defender said that Cole's performances for all-white audiences were an insult to his race. TheNew York Amsterdam News said that "thousands of Harlem blacks who have worshiped at the shrine of singer Nat King Cole turned their backs on him this week as the noted crooner turned his back on the NAACP and said that he will continue to play toJim Crow audiences". To play "Uncle Nat's" discs, wrote a commentator inThe American Negro, "would be supporting his 'traitor' ideas and narrow way of thinking".
Deeply hurt by the criticism in the black press, Cole was chastened. Emphasizing his opposition toracial segregation "in any form", he agreed to join other entertainers in boycotting segregated venues. He paid $500 to become a lifetime member of the Detroit branch of the NAACP. Until his death in 1965, Cole was an active and visible participant in thecivil rights movement, playing an important role in planning theMarch on Washington in 1963.[58][59]
Cole was also present at theDemocratic National Convention in 1960 to support SenatorJohn F. Kennedy. Cole was among the dozens of entertainers recruited byFrank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Cole consulted with Kennedy and his successor,Lyndon B. Johnson, on civil rights.
In September 1964, Cole began to lose weight and experienced back problems.[62] He collapsed with pain after performing at theSands Hotel in Las Vegas. In December, Cole was working in San Francisco when he was finally persuaded by friends to seek medical help. A malignant tumor in an advanced state of growth on Cole's left lung was observed on achest X-ray. Cole, who was a heavycigarette smoker, hadlung cancer and was expected to have only months to live.[63] Against his doctors' wishes, Cole carried on his work and made his final recordings between December 1 and 3 in San Francisco, with an orchestra conducted byRalph Carmichael. The music was released on the albumL-O-V-E shortly before Cole died.[64] His daughter noted later that he did this to assure the welfare of his family.
Cole enteredSaint John's Health Center inSanta Monica on December 7, 1964, andcobalt therapy was started on December 10.Frank Sinatra performed in Cole's place at the grand opening of the newDorothy Chandler Pavilion of theLos Angeles Music Center on December 12.[65] Cole's condition gradually worsened, but he was released from the hospital over the New Year's period. At home, Cole was able to see the hundreds of thousands of cards and letters that had been sent after news of his illness was made public. Cole returned to the hospital in early January 1965. He also sent $5,000 (US$51,000 in 2024 dollars[66]) to actress and singerGunilla Hutton, with whom Cole had been romantically involved since early 1964.[67]
Hutton later telephoned Maria and implored her to divorce him. Maria confronted her husband, and Cole finally broke off the relationship with Hutton.[68] Cole's illness reconciled him with his wife, and Cole vowed that if he recovered, he would go on television to urge people to stop smoking. On January 25, Cole's entire left lung was surgically removed. His father died of heart problems on February 1.[69] Throughout Cole's illness, his publicists promoted the idea that he would soon be well and working, despite the private knowledge of his terminal condition.Billboard magazine reported that "Nat King Cole has successfully come through a serious operation and... the future looks bright for 'the master' to resume his career again".[70] On Valentine's Day, Cole and his wife briefly left St. John's to drive by the sea. Cole died at the hospital early in the morning hours of Monday, February 15, 1965, at the age of 45.[71]
The eulogy was delivered byJack Benny, who said that "Nat Cole was a man who gave so much and still had so much to give. He gave it in song, in friendship to his fellow man, devotion to his family. He was a star, a tremendous success as an entertainer, an institution. But he was an even greater success as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a friend."[73] Cole's remains were interred in Freedom Mausoleum atForest Lawn Memorial Park, inGlendale, California.[74]
Cole's last album,L-O-V-E, was recorded in early December 1964—just a few days before he entered the hospital for cancer treatment—and was released just before his death. It peaked at number 4 on theBillboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. ABest Of album was certified a gold record in 1968. His 1957 recording of "When I Fall in Love" reached number 4 in the UK charts in 1987, released in reaction to a version byRick Astley challenging for the coveted Christmas number 1 spot.
In 1983, an archivist for EMIElectrola Records, a subsidiary ofEMI (Capitol's parent company until 2013) in Germany, discovered some unreleased recordings by Cole, including one in Japanese and another in Spanish ("Tu Eres Tan Amable"). Capitol released them later that year as the LPUnreleased.
In 1991,Mosaic Records releasedThe Complete Capitol Records Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio, a compilation of 349 songs available as an 18-CD or a 27-LP set. In 2008, it was re-released in digital-download format through services likeiTunes andAmazon Music.
Also in 1991,Natalie Cole recorded a new vocal track that was mixed with her father's 1961 stereo re-recording of his 1951 hit "Unforgettable" for a tribute album of the same title onElektra Records. The song and album won seven Grammy awards in 1992 for Best Album and Best Song.
There have been many tribute albums, including one by his brother, Freddy.[75]Randy Napoleon,Freddy Cole's guitarist and arranger for 13 years, has performed and recorded tributes to the Cole family.[76]
In 2009, the year of the inauguration ofBarack Obama as America's first black president, Capitol released an albumVoices of Change, Then and Now. On this album is the song "We Are Americans Too" that Capitol did not release in 1956, the year that Nat King Cole wrote it.[77]
Cole's success at Capitol Records, for which he recorded more than 150 singles that reached theBillboard Pop, R&B, and Country charts, has yet to be matched by any Capitol artist.[81] Cole's records sold 50 million copies during his career.[82] His recording of "The Christmas Song" still receives airplay every holiday season, even hitting the Billboard Top 40 in December 2017.[83] In 2020, Cole was inducted into theNational Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.[84]
^Many sources formerly gave a 1917 birth year, and that appeared on 1994's U.S. postage stamp, which his widow contested. See "Cole's Widow Says New Stamp Has Incorrect Date of Birth," Jet 86:18 (5 September 1994), 56.
^Ruuth, Marianne (1992).Nat King Cole. Holloway House Publishing. pp. 32–.ISBN978-0870675935.Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. RetrievedMay 26, 2017.
^Cole recorded "The Christmas Song" four times — on June 14, 1946, with the Nat King Cole Trio; on August 19, 1946, with an added string section; on August 24, 1953; and in 1961 for the double albumThe Nat King Cole Story. The final version, recorded in stereo, is the one most often heard today.
^Reed, Tom. (1992).The Black music history of Los Angeles, its roots : 50 years in Black music : a classical pictorial history of Los Angeles Black music of the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s : photographic essays that define the people, the artistry and their contributions to the wonderful world of entertainment (1st, limited ed.). Los Angeles: Black Accent on L.A. Press.ISBN096329086X.OCLC28801394.
^"Nat King Cole Star of Cavalcade", Headliner ADLos Angeles Sentinel, May 28, 1953.
^Chilton, Karen (October 15, 2009)."Hazel Scott's Lifetime of High Notes".smithsonian.com. Smithsonian.Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. RetrievedNovember 30, 2016.[Hazel Scott was] the first black performer to host her own nationally syndicated television show....
^Gourse, Leslie (1991).Unforgettable : the life and mystique of Nat King Cole. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 185.ISBN978-0312078775.The network supported this show from the beginning. From Mr. Sarnoff on down, they tried to sell it to agencies. They could have dropped it after the first thirteen weeks. Shows that made more money than mine were dropped. They offered me a new time at 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays on a cooperative basis, but I decided not to take it. I feel played out.
^Teachout, Terry (1992)."Nat King Cole".The American Scholar.26.Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. RetrievedOctober 1, 2014.
^"Famous Masons". Pinal Lodge No. 30. Archived fromthe original on December 24, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 30, 2018.member of Thomas Waller Lodge No. 49, of Los Angeles, CA, being initiated on January 9, 1944, the lodge appropriately named for another legendary jazz musician, Fats Waller, himself a Prince Hall Freemason.
Bill Dobbins and Richard Wang. "Cole, Nat 'King'." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. September 28, 2016.
Pelote, Vincent. "Book Reviews: "Unforgettable: The Life and Mystique of Nat King Cole," by Leslie Gourse." Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, vol. 49, no. 3, 1993., pp. 1073–1074,
.jpg)
.jpg)
