The velvety rasp, the growl, the soaring softness, the pristine enunciation. The crispness, the supple vibrato that didn't compromise strength.



Nat was right to package and sell that. Good stuff!









Gude. Ness. Gray. Shuss.

I'm going to be trying to sing like Nat all week, now.

Nat King Cole is my favorite male singer, two of my favorites songs of his are,


'Nature Boy', written by Eden Ahbez

http://www.youtube.com/wa...q0XJCJ1Srw





&



Theme from the motion picture.. "RainTree County"

http://www.youtube.com/wa...mNFpI_ekDk





If I get a chance I'll upload some of his piano jazz/trio works; Oscar Peterson was a big fan an admire of Mr. Cole's jazz piano playing. In fact, Mr. Peterson said, Cole influenced him greatly.














_____
[Edited 8/9/09 22:21pm]

If you were to make a list of the Top 20 greatest vocalists of the 20th century in the English-speaking world, Nat would no doubt be among the first people you’d include.

After he left is jazz trio, among the best examples of why pop can be as extraordinary as any genre, even if pop by its very nature wears its countless mediocrities and dysfunctions on its sleeve better than anything.

Nature Boy is just too pretty for it's own good.

I remember as a little boy, my mom playing all of his songs, in a greatest hits collection. I was later introduced to his brothers, who were just as talented. His version of "Nature Boy", gets me every time.

to me he tried to sound white

Dewrede said:

I think, if you consider the time he was in, mainstream appeal was key to having the level of success that he had. I believe he was the first black entertainer to have his own TV show, for example. Yes, the hair was conc'd, and he probably had the most perfect enunciation in America. I don't quibble with any of that.

But, I'm talking about his voice. Over-enunciating or not, Nat's voice was a wonder to behold, equal parts satin and lightning.

Dewrede said:

How do you "sound white"? By actually singing so clear that people can understand what you are saying?

ThreadBare said:

ok , you call it over enunciating i call it trying to sound/be white

he did have a good voice though
[Edited 8/10/09 6:23am]

shorttrini said:

no , by trying to sound exactly like the populair white singers of that time to try to appeal to the white masses


for example you wouldn't hear Howlin' Wolf trying to sound like that


to me it seems that he was denying the fact that he was black
(musically speaking)
[Edited 8/10/09 6:21am]

I like him more as a piano player than a singer. He was an amazing player.

Dewrede said:

Hard for me to see how Nat tried to deny he was black. How would you have liked him to sing or present himself? I see unapologetic dignity in Nat, but again I'd love you to explain what you would have preferred from him (and please talk about the context of the times as you do).

Thanks.

ThreadBare said:

There were several occasions where he was invited to sing at events that were segregated but, he refused...That does not sound like someone who denied he was black to me.

@ "Sounding white".

I absloutly LOVE his session days with The Hamp...


He's a slept on pianist, its not even funny. I would dare and put him on the top along with Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson and Eddie Haywood.

My FAVe singing period from him is his trio days, I have this set and I intend to expand my collection...

Dewrede said:

Actually...

It was the other way around,,,,if you followed the career of Billy Eckstine, Erskine Hawkins and all those black "crooners", they adopted that singing style WAAAAY before Sinatra caught that and ran with it,,,,which is why it became mainstream.

White singers back then had Bing Crosby to emulate,,,,it took a smart Italian boy to check out whats cool(Mr.B & Mr.Hawkins) and drew his inspiration from that.

When Frank Sinatra was asked who was his favorite singer he named, Nat King Cole. Mr. Sinatra in an interview with Larry King said, the art of being a good singer was making sure lyrics/words you sing are heard very clearly -- even as you sing the tail-end of a lyric/note/word, "it should be heard distinclty,as smooth as butter".

diction: Degree of clarity and distinctness of pronunciation in speech or singing; enunciation

Cosby, Clooney, Eckstine, Fitzgerald, Holiday, Washington, Vaughan, and Sinatra and others believed that to be so as well. If you want to speak of someone who possed prefect diction you have to look no further than Dinah Washington. Like Mr. Cole, Ms. Washington speaking voice sounded like her singing voice. If that makes any sense. Unlike Sarah Vaughan who upon hearing her talk/speak/voice, one would never guess she could sing the way she did nor have the range/octaves as she possed. (for example)















_____
[Edited 8/10/09 9:06am]

I agree that his voice did seem to have it all. My favorite song of his is "The Very Thought Of You" but his versions of "Autumn Leaves," "Too Young," "L.O.V.E.," and many, many others are simply magical.



He's one of the few singers out there whose singing can make me cry because it's so lovely. He sings with emotion but it's never overbearing or desperate.

Harlepolis said:

To add to this, Ray Charles was heavily influenced by Nat. In fact, if you listen to his early recordings, you could not tell the difference between the two. Ray sounded exactly like Nat on those recordings.

I'm seeing some parallels between the larger history of Nat King Cole's style and influence among his peers of various races and the misguided assertion we often find in school that accuses black A students of trying to be white.

At the risk of asking a P&R question in M:N-P, isn't it time for black Americans to abandon the habit of equating excellence and pinnacle with other peoples?

ThreadBare said:

"I'm not good enough" mentality

We could shoot the view from ANY angle,,,,,it will give us the same picture.

I hate to say this,,,,but there's no other explanation to it.

coolcat said:

I agree, that brother could play the hell out of a fucking piano. It's funny how Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye tried to emulate him until each of them just did their own thing.

Harlepolis said:

I know, and it's soooo deeply ingrained in some of us. I had a chat with a loved one, last week, about a bad business situation she had with a black computer repairman.

"Just shows you -- you can't do business with us," she said, meaning black folks.

And, I had to almost reprimand her: "Is George Bush black?"

"No," she said.

"Dick Cheney?"

"No," she said.

"Bernie Madoff?"

"No, she said, a third time.

"Then why are you acting like untrustworthiness is a black thing? It's a human thing..." I said. She agreed.

It honestly hurts me, to hear folks internalize or characterize bad things as exclusive to a group of people.

HEY!

I thought this was about Nat Cole.

Uh, uh...

That's better.

Now AS I WAS SAYING, it was funny how Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye all tried to emulate him and end up doing their own thing, you hear Nat in 'em in spots.

Timmy84 said:

It's funny how Christian singer Nicole C. Mullens tends to have this dude singing on her CDs in between singles who just about nails Nat's singing style. It's a treat to hear.

ThreadBare said:

Interesting.

The cuban stuff he did was equally great,,,,and if I'm not mistaken, he also sang a famous Japanese song

I got all this info from...



Madame Eartha Kitt was hilarious when asked about the "nature" of their relationship and how his wife reacted to it

GREAT documentary btw.

ThreadBare said:

Spot on!
I'm glad you made that analogy because if you hadn't, I would have.

Anyway, so I can calm down, back to the music...



...When I Take My Sugar To Tea




...Sweet Lorraine

In 1953, Nat King Cole said to Peterson, "I'll make a deal with you, Oscar. You don't sing and I won't play the piano." Peterson had just recorded his first album of vocals, accompanying himself on the piano. His voice sounded remarkably like Cole's and his piano style had also evolved so that it sounded close to Cole's work with Cole's own trio. The two jazz musicians agreed, and Oscar Peterson gave up singing, while Nat King Cole recorded piano-less vocals backed by huge orchestras.

http://www.independent.co...66843.html




...Little Rosetta


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431