There were, of course, other artists such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday who helped to bridge the social divide by appealing to certain sections of the general public, but it was Nat King Cole who, in the forties, became the first black performer to have his own regular radio show and in the fifties became the first to have his own regular TV show. He gained acceptance with all sections of the community in all countries of the world and did more to further the progress of the coloured cause than anything achieved by the more violent militants.

Nat King Cole, in his own way and with dignity and compassion, won over the world so that today he still remains among the highest record sellers of all time with a consistent reissue and re-release of his recordings, together with a significant number of previously unreleased recordings.

Many people do not realise that as great a singer as Nat King Cole was he was probably an even greater pianist, and had he not taken up singing he may have been the greatest jazz pianist ever. As it was he won many awards in 'Downbeat', 'Metronome' and 'Esquire' for his pianistic abilities but, unfortunately, as Nat King Cole’s fame as a singer spread, his piano performances became less frequent. Nat King Cole always tried to include some piano playing in each concert he gave, but the full extent of his pianistic prowess was never fully expressed during the latter years of his life.

Nathanial Coles (he dropped the 's' when he turned professional) was born on St.Patrick's Day, 17th March 1919, in the town of Montgomery, Alabama. His parents, the Reverend Edward Coles and his wife Perlina, moved the family to Chicago when Nat was about four years old. The rest of the family at that time were his brother Eddie and his sisters Evelyn and Edie-Mae. Lionel (Freddie) and Isaac were not yet born.

It was about this time that Nat King Cole first showed his ability on the piano by playing YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS with both hands, and he was soon taking piano lessons. By the time he was five years old Nat King Cole had made his piano debut in public and before another ten years had passed he had his own High School band.

Although Nat King Cole still at school he was having such success with his piano playing that his brother Eddie came to join him in Chicago and they formed a Sextet called the 'Eddie Coles Solid Swingers'. They were fortunate to gain a stay of six months' duration at a club called the 'Panama' on Fifty Eighth Street. There, Nat King Cole would play until early in the morning and then have to get up for school. It was while Nat King Cole was at the Panama that two important milestones occurred in his life:
-  First Nat King Cole made his initial recordings for the Decca label under the title of 'Eddie Coles Solid Swingers' on 28th July 1936, the tracks being HONEY HUSH, THUNDER, BEDTIME and STOMPIN' AT THE PANAMA.
- The other milestone in Nat King Cole's life was the fact that he met Nadine Robinson who was a dancer at the Panama.

After the group's engagement at the Panama ended, Nat King Cole and Nadine joined a show called 'Shuffle Along' and went on tour with it. It was while they were on tour in 1938 that Nat King Cole and Nadine (who at 29 was 10 years older than Nat) were married. When the show finished its run in Los Angeles, Nat King Cole spent most of his time playing various Beer joints in poor circumstances and on broken down pianos. Nevertheless his style shone through and Nat King Cole gained a following who came to see him at the various spots he was playing. One of these was Bob Lewis who was the manager of a night club called 'The Swanee Inn' and he hired Nat King Cole to bring a quartet to the Swanee Inn to play on a regular basis.

Nat King Cole put together a group consisting of Oscar Moore on guitar, Wesley Prince on bass and Lee Young on drums. Unfortunately, Lee Young didn't turn up on the night and the quartet became a Trio. They called themselves the 'King Cole Swingsters' and they stayed six months at the Swanee Inn.

Nat King Cole's next break came when he was used as the instrumental accompaniment to an Ink Spot style group called 'The Deamers'. Nat King Cole also made recordings for the Davis & Schwegler label as well as various transcription recordings for radio use only, mainly as backing for various girl singers of the time such as Maxine Johnson, Bonnie Lake, Juaneleda Carter, Anita O'Day, Anita Boyer etc. as well as many vocal and instrumental recordings in their own right. Between 1938 and 1941 Nat King Cole was to record some 200 transcription recordings, the majority of which have never been commercially issued. One of these was SWEET LORRAINE, a song which was to become synonymous with Nat King Cole and which he was to record many times.

During this period Nat King Cole changed the title of the Trio to 'King Cole and his Swing Trio' before in 1939 calling it 'King Cole Trio'. Nat King Cole's transcription recordings appeared on Keystone, Standard and MacGregor.

In February 1940 Nat King Cole was signed to the Ammor label where he made four tracks: I LIKE TO RIFF, ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET, BLACK SPIDER and BY THE RIVER SAINTE MARIE.

In May 1940 Lionel Hampton asked Nat King Cole to make a series of recordings with him with a view to the Trio joining Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra. They cut ten sides together in May and July 1940 but Nat King Cole did not take up Lionel's offer and continued on his way. Nat King Cole’s next stop came in December 1940 when he returned to the Decca label and made a series of recordings over the next ten months. During this time Nat King Cole was also playing many jazz dates with people like Lester Young, Harry Edison, Dexter Gordon etc. The first personnel change for the Trio came in 1942 when Wesley Prince was called up to join the Army and Johnny Miller took over the bass spot.

In that same year Nat King Cole recorded six songs for the Excelsior label (Johnny Miller's first recordings) before moving on to the Premier (later to become the Atlas) label where he recorded four tracks on 2nd November 1943. It was at this time that Nat King Cole met Carlos Gastel who became Nat's manager and remained so until the end.

One of the myths surrounding the Nat King Cole legend is that he was forced to sing and was a reluctant vocalist. The facts do not support this because even when Nat King Cole was in his late teens/early twenties and was recording for various Record Companies he still filled in his quota of vocals including many ballads.

Nat King Cole's big break came in 1943 whilst he was playing at the Radio Room in Los Angeles. He was heard by Johnny Mercer, one of the executives of the newly formed record company, Capitol Records. Nat King Cole joined Capitol and was to become their most successful artist and eventually their new premises - the Capitol Tower on Hollywood and Vine, would become known as 'The House That Nat Built'.

Ironically, Nat King Cole's first record for Capitol was not a song that he had actually recorded for the label. The Union ban was on at the time and Dave Dexter, who was then working for Capitol, was looking for a suitable vehicle to promote the newly signed King Cole Trio. He considered a song that Nat King Cole had recorded for the Excelsior label which was getting a few air plays but, because of the smallness of the record company's promotions, would not get the exposure that it deserved. The song was called ALL FOR YOU, and David Dexter secured this song from Capitol Records and it was a fair sized hit for the company.

But a major hit was created in Nat King Cole's first ever recording session for Capitol via a song he had written himself called STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT. This was recorded on 30th November 1943.

Over the next few years the hits rolled off the Capitol assembly line: IT'S ONLY A PAPER MOON, FRIM FRAM SAUCE, ROUTE 66, so that by March 1945 the King Cole Trio was big business for Capitol Records and on 15th March the first album chart was printed in 'Billboard' and there was the King Cole Trio album in No.1 spot. This led to the biggest ever Trio recording of (I LOVE YOU) FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS.

Although Nat King Cole had been singing ballads from the very beginning of his career, the turning point from Small Combo to lush dream balladeer occurred in August 1946 when Nat King Cole recorded THE CHRISTMAS SONG. Nat King Cole first waxed it just as a Trio recording but the studio executives felt that something was missing and Nat did it again with strings. Eventually, Nat King Cole was to make four recordings of THE CHRISTMAS SONG. Apart from the original Trio recording and the 1946 version with strings, Nat King Cole also did another arrangement in 1953 with Nelson Riddle and a further version with Dave Cavanaugh for 'The Nat King Cole Story' in 1961. In 1974 it became one of the first Milestone recordings to be placed in the coveted Hall of Fame at The National Academy of Recorded Arts and Sciences on nationwide TV.

Also in 1946 a major personal decision had to be made by Nat King Cole when, while playing at the Club Zanzibar in New York, he met and fell in love with a singer also appearing at the club, Maria Ellington. Nat King Cole divorced Nadine in 1947 and married Maria on 28th March 1948 at one of the most lavish weddings Harlem has ever seen. Nat King Cole's brother Eddie was Best Man.

By now the Trio had moved from its original concept of a Jazz Trio to being just a backing band for Nat King Cole's vocals and so, in October 1947, Oscar Moore decided to leave the Trio and join his brother John who was fronting an outfit very similar to the King Cole Trio called Johnny Moore and his Three Blazers.

Irving Ashby took over from Oscar Moore although he actually joined the Trio on 27th September 1947 so that he could learn the procedures before Oscar departed.

In 1947 the record companies, realising that there was going to be another ban by the Musicians Union on all recordings, rushed their artists into the studios to record as much as possible before the ban started on lst January 1948.

During the last six months of 1947 Nat King Cole recorded 80 songs (more than many pop stars record in their lifetime), but because of the wealth of material that this gave them, many of the songs that Nat King Cole recorded have still to see the light of day. There were almost thirty of these and many more that were released have only been out in the 78 rpm format to date.

Some of Nat King Cole's hits recorded in this short space of time were IF I HAD YOU, LITTLE GIRL, LOST APRIL, NATURE BOY, WHEN I TAKE MY SUGAR TO TEA, THERE, I'VE SAID IT AGAIN, I'LL STRING ALONG WITH YOU, NO MOON AT ALL and A BOY FROM TEXAS.

NATURE BOY was brought to Nat King Cole by Eden Ahbez who was a Yogi (and normally signed his name without the capital initials). He supposedly slept under the letter 'L' in the Hollywood sign that is situated in the Hollywood Hills. In an interview Nat King Cole says this song was brought to him in June 1947, together with two other songs, I'M A REAL GONE YOGI and POGO STICK BOUNCE, but Nat King Cole recorded the latter song many years earlier so possibly NATURE BOY was also waiting around for many years before it was recorded.

Capitol, realising the potential of NATURE BOY, decided not to release it until after the Petrillo ban cane into effect on 1st January 1948, because by then other artists would not be in a position to be able to record the song with an instrumental background. The song was formally released on 29th March 1948 and reached No.1 while Nat King Cole and Maria were on their honeymoon in Mexico and it stayed at No.1 for seven weeks. Many other artists recorded it without instrumental backing - Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dick Haymes - but they were unable to dent the lead that Nat King Cole's rendition of the song had established and the song became a million seller. In Britain the song entered our sheet music charts in June 1948, and the Vaughan and Haymes singles were released during the song's ten week chart life in the Top Ten.

Capitol records remained unavailable here until December of the same year and it wasn't until then that we had the benefit of the Nat King Cole version - this some three months after the song had left the charts.

When Nat King Cole and Maria first married they lived in an hotel for the first few months and began to look for a house. They found the house they wanted, an English Tudor style house, in South Murrayfield Road in the Hancock Park section of L.A. Unfortunately, this area was restricted to whites only and Nat King Cole had many problems before he was finally accepted. In fact, the day he moved in one of his neighbours requested police protection and for a time the neighbour's house was protected by guards!

While they were living in the house many unpleasant acts were perpetrated against them: their dog was poisoned and the word 'Nigger' was burned into the grass outside their home. Shortly after moving into their house, whether by accident or design, Nat King Cole suddenly found he had problem with the Inland Revenue, which took many years to overcome.

In 1948 Johnny Miller left the Trio to be replaced by Joe Comfort, and Jack Costanzo joined on bongo. To accommodate these changes the group's name was adapted from 'King Cole Trio' to 'Nat King Cole and his Trio'.

The recording ban ended in 1949 and Nat King Cole was teamed more and more with orchestral backings and vocal groups. PORTRAIT OF JENNIE was a notable recording made with Carlisle Hall, but the main orchestral accompaniment at this time was provided by Pete Rugolo. Pete, fresh from his success with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, was soon to be involved with Nat King Cole's recordings of LUSH LIFE, LAND OF LOVE, IT WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED, TUNNEL OF LOVE, MAKE BELIEVE LAND, THAT'S MY GIRL and FUNNY as well as many others.

Les Baxter was also assisting in the making of some classic Nat King Cole hit recordings at this time such as MONA LISA, THE MAGIC TREE, ALWAYS YOU, TOO YOUNG, EARLY AMERICAN and BECAUSE OF RAIN, as was Stan Kenton with the song ORANGE COLOURED SKY.
Another of the myths about Nat King Cole is that by making one of his many hits, THE CHRISTMAS SONG, TOO YOUNG, MONA LISA or whatever, he was suddenly transformed from rags to riches. Certainly Nat King Cole was elevated to millionaire status but not from poverty, for even in the early forties Nat King Cole was earning around 50,000 dollars per year which, fifty years later, is still not an unreasonable income.

Through the late forties and early fifties it was Capitol's policy to combine their artists to record duets. Because of this we are left with a wealth of recordings that Nat King Cole made with artists such as Nellie Lutcher, Stan Kenton Woody Herman, Johnny Mercer, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole's wife Maria and even a young Natalie Cole.

In 1951 Nat King Cole was teamed with the up and coming arranger, Nelson Riddle. Reports had it that Nelson had scored some of Nat King Cole's earlier hits under the baton of Les Baxter. The first song recorded at that Nelson Riddle/Nat King Cole session in June was UNFORGETTABLE. Following that song's worldwide success Nat King Cole and Nelson were to record together regularly over the next nine years, producing such songs as NIGHT LIGHTS, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, YOU OUT THERE, FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS, STRANGE, PRETEND, BLUE GARDENIA, SMILE, A BLOSSOM FELL, DAME CRAZY, BALLERINA and such noteworthy albums as 'Two in Love', 'St Louis Blues', 'To Whom it may Concern' and 'Wild is Love'.

One of the best songs recorded by Nat King Cole and Nelson Riddle was in fact their second recording after UNFORGETTABLE at their original session and was called MY FIRST LOVE AND LAST LOVE (not to be confused with YOU ARE MY FIRST LOVE). It has yet to be released in the UK and has never appeared in album form anywhere in the world, having been issued only as a single in the USA. Also in 1951 Nat King Cole began a long and fruitful association with Billy May, commencing with WALKING MY BABY BACK HOME and including I'M HURTIN', CAN'T I?' LOVER COME BACK TO ME etc.
Although the Trio was officially disbanded in 1953 it was reconstituted for two important albums - the 'After Midnight' album in 1956 and the Trio tracks re-recorded for 'The Nat King Cole Story' albums in 1961.

All through the fifties and sixties Nat King Cole continued to have success in all areas of the media. In films, apart from singing over many film credits and making various guest appearances, Nat King Cole also had starring roles in the W.C. Handy biographical movie 'St Louis Blues 'The Nat King Cole Story' and a non singing role in 'China Gate'.

On TV, in addition to many guest appearances and, in 1957, being the subject of 'This Is Your Life', Nat King Cole also had his own TV show, the first black artist to do so. The show ran for 68 weeks and included as guests the cream of American vocalists and jazzmen.

And of course in the recording studio Nat King Cole continue to produce a steady stream of classic singles and albums such as 'Love is the Thing', 'The Very Thought of You', 'Where did Everyone go' and 'Let's face the music and dance'.

Nat King Cole also made a big impact outside of America, particularly in Latin America, where he made albums in Spanish and Portuguese, but probably the highlight for Nat King Cole at this time was appearing at The Royal Command Performance in 1960.

One of the most interesting facets of Nat King Cole's recording career, which is unique amongst major artists, is the 'moonlighting' he did with his piano. All through the forties and fifties Nat King Cole continued to make jazz appearances in public and on record with jazz greats of the day such as Lester Young, Buddy Rich and Willie Smith etc. whilst being under exclusive contract to Capitol Records.

Nat King Cole appeared in these circumstances under various aliases such as 'Sam Schmaltz', 'Shorty Nadine', 'Lord Calvert', 'Eddie Laguna', 'Aye Guy' etc. Some of the names used like 'Nature Boy' and 'The King' were so transparent that it is probable that Capitol knew of Nat King Cole's undercover activities but didn't want to bring them into the open for fear of losing their main earner.

Nat King Cole's family consisted of five children - Carol (Cookie) who was Maria's sister's child and who Nat King Cole and Maria adopted in 1949 when she was 3 1/2 years old, Natalie (Sweetie) born in 1950, Kelly adopted in 1959 and twins Casey and Tamolin born in 1961.

The sixties opened with Nat King Cole celebrating reaching his 50 million record sales by recording some outstanding albums: 'Wild is Love', 'The Touch of your lips', 'The Nat King Cole Story' (a three album boxed set of re-recordings of Nat'. bits) and the George Shearing album which produced LET THERE BE LOVE.

In 1962 Nat King Cole departed from his normal style by recording two Country & Western albums, 'Ramblin' Rose' and 'Dear Lonely Heart', the title track of the former reaching No.1 in the U.S. Charts when released as a single.

More albums followed - 'Those Lazy Hazy Days of Summer', 'Where Did Everyone Go', 'My Fair Lady' and 'Let's Face the Music and Dance'. All were best sellers but Nat's career was coming to a close.

It was in Chicago in November 1964 that Nat King Cole first noticed his loss of weight. He was starring in a touring snow called 'The Sights and Sounds 1964' with artists like the Merry Young Souls and Barbara McNair, and at the same time filming 'Cat Ballou'. It had also been set up for Nat King Cole to record an album while in Chicago which was built around his current successful single hit, the Bert Kaempfert song 'L-O-V-E'. Ralph Carmichael tells how he went into the studio to record the album and found Nat King Cole to be in an irritable mood, which was most unusual. Nat King Cole was insisting that all the arrangements be rewritten with more brass infills and to a more modern rhythm.

The album was recorded on 1st to 3rd December, 1964 and titled 'L-O-V-E'. On 7th December Nat King Cole entered St John's Hospital where lung cancer was diagnosed. Nat King Cole only left hospital on two further occasions, once to spend Christmas with his family and once for a last quiet drive to the seafront with Maria.

Nat King Cole died on 15th February 1965.

One of the most amazing facts in relation to the recording career of Nat King Cole is the fact that to this day there are still literally hundreds of unreleased tracks which have never appeared anywhere in the world. They lie in the vaults at Capitol. It is difficult to think of any artist of comparable standard, rated as one of the top selling artists of all time, having this number of unreleased tracks at the record company's disposal for 25 years without being used. These are by no means substandard recordings as the 'Unreleased Nat King Cole' album demonstrates. They include such diverse items as the track omitted from the 'Dear Lonely Hearts' album, MISERY LOVES COMPANY and the original follow up to NATURE BOY, HONEY LOVES MONEY which was never released due to the continued and sustained success of NATURE BOY in the American Charts.

Even without these recordings, Chart success has continued for Nat King Cole in the intervening quarter of a century. Many of Nat King Cole's albums have sold continually through the years with 'Ramblin' Rose' remaining in the American Top 100 for over three years.

In the UK also, Nat King Cole's albums have been good sellers including in 1978 '20 Golden Greats' occupying the No.1 spot and Nat King Cole’s single of WHEN I FALL IN LOVE reaching the UK Top Singles Chart on Christmas 1988.

Finally, what would have happened had Nat King Cole survived? The indications are that Nat King Cole would have become more of an all round entertainer with regular TV and film appearances, less touring and probably his own TV series. In the recording studio Nat King Cole was spending much more time recording foreign language songs in German, Italian, French and Japanese, in addition to his regular Spanish output. Some of these songs, such as YOU ARE SO AMIABLE were not even recorded in English, so it is probable that Nat King Cole would have continued in that direction. Certainly Nat King Cole would have encountered the problem all the great singers now face in where to find the songs to sing.

But, even without additional releases, the magic of Nat King Cole will go on through future generations - a testimony to Nat King Cole’s supreme artistry.

Roy Holmes heads the Nat King Cole International Fan Club and can be contacted by post or telephone as follows:

Roy Holmes
18 Rutland Drive
Morden
Surrey SM4 5QH
England

Telephone: +44 208 648 8858

Roy Holmes issues the Nat King Cole International Fan Club Newsletter “King Cole Comments” three times each year.  There are no subscription charges and the club is supported by voluntary donations.  A copy of King Cole Comments is available free upon request – just send a stamped, self addressed envelope to Roy.