NAT "KING" COLE - Year by Year - Part 2

Oh hopefully. I'd do it for them for free!

If the discs and tapes survive, aren't needlessly baked etc, thrown out, who knows what can happen. Also it's quite possible it's much more of a mess than one might think. One might think there's an archive, in a scholarly manner, wherin are shelves of catalogued complete tapes covering all the sessions, but in every case it's almost certainly a very different situation.

As to the '61 Unforgettable, the two versions I'd heard came from an old cassette comp and the NKC Story CD. Beyond that, it becomes blurry.

Steve's point that they put down a good take - or were confident they could create one from good portions they had - and moved on is doubtless on the money in most cases. There are two scenarios I see as being likely for alternates. 1) There was an edit done in the originally issued version but not done or undone for a reissue, or there was a mono master edited from different portions of takes than a stereo master or visa versa, and the differently edited parts still make a complete and passable version. 2) Tracks from The Nat King Cole Story, since they were trying to "recapture" something and that might have entailed more takes, possibly including more complete takes, than other projects.

So to some extent, I'm less surprised to know there are other complete takes of the '61 Unforgettable or Smile, or that the mono Just One Of Those Things has a few differnet edits than the stereo. That there are alternates of Looking Back or I Don't Want To Be Hurt Anymore especially, that's even more surprising. That they can appear without notice is... baffling.

 

New Alternate version of Smile, 1961 remake

Now that Jordan points it out, when I listened to my copy of Nat King Cole At The Movies, I could hear differences on Smile, comparing it to other CDs.

On the At The Movies CD, the opening orchestra measures sound slightly different.

And Nat has a definite voice box dropout when he sings the word face in "Light up your face with gladness".

Those were the first differences I noticed.

 

I compared the DCC Greatest Hits 1st track, Unforgettable, with the L-O-V-E Bear version.

You know how Nat can hold a note wonderfully. Check this out. On the first phrase, "Unforgettable, that's what you are," there is a violin section phrase that starts with the word are.

The violin phrase has 9 notes in this pattern:
**** *** **

On the DCC, Nat holds his note thru the first 4 violin notes.

On the Bear set, Nat holds his note thru 7+ violin notes.

Can someone verify that for me? Did I hear that correctly??

 

Dale,

I don't have any of my music here to verify. I remember though, that the endings are also slightly different. At the last line, when Nat holds "Unforgettable....too," the orchestra reappears at different points.

 

Dream job, if ever there was one!

I'm afraid you're absolutely right. Much of the archive is split between LA and NYC. I even seem to recall Richard Weize of Bear Family saying that some tapes were in London for some reason. Not just dubs, either, but actual master tapes. With a situation like that, it's no wonder it took us months in some cases to track down a proper tape copy, particularly with regard to the overdubbed material; no wonder still, that in some cases, "Looking Back," for example, we failed to grab the correct master at all, using an unknown alternate instead.

Here's what I know (I think). The take on the original LP, the original CD, and the take (not the one listed as an alt.) on the Bear are all the same. The one listed as alternate may be the one you own on that comp - thought to be the master, but not. To my ears, the alternate sounds like some editing has taken place, but it is still distinct from both the DCC and the LP/CD/Bear. Hell, maybe the LP take is edited from the alternate and the DCC. I don't really know and now my head is starting to hurt a little.

 

Classic Covers

Here is a shot of my 1987 British LP cover. Just One of Those Things has one of the all time classic covers. This British cover is full face. There is no white border or frame and no top phrase: "Capitol STEREO The Full Spectrum of Sound." Also the British LP has only two lights on the right, the newer S & P LP cover shows three.

I prefer the colors on the Steve Hoffman LP, 2004 S & P release, which were restored. The cover is so glossy, that I haven't been able to capture it on my camera. I wish someone would capture it on film and post it. It is a beauty.

Another wonderful cover in its large LP size is the restored cover on the new Penthouse Serenade LP just released by Pure Pleasure.

 

This take is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Thanks so much guys. Things remain crazy at work and most of the time I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel. But I'm so glad to have work. Anyway, I haven't been able to read the thread or post in a few days, and I just love this "new" version of Smile. Just bought it from itunes and I'm listening to it on a loop. As has been said this song is as much about sadness as it is about smiling.

Ah, what a genius this guy is! Three great versions of this song, and all of them great. This version may even be my favorite. Love it.

 

Outstanding essay by apileocole on the very, very first concept album Nat King Cole ever did. The web site is looking great. I like the analysis of the cover art too. Any chance of having larger pictures of the cover art?

"King Cole At The Piano
album_cover

Recorded August 13th 1947
Released 1949 (78) and 1950 (10" LP)

Nat Cole, Piano, Arranger
Oscar Moore, Guitar
Johnny Miller, Bass
Capitol CC-135 (78) and H-156 (10" LP)

1. Three Little Words
2. Moonlight In Vermont
3. Poor Butterfly
4. How High The Moon
5. I'll Never Be The Same
6. These Foolish Things
7. Cole Capers
8. Blues In My Shower

"Nat initiated his 17 years of creating albums with a session devoted to the most focused work at the piano that he had yet committed to commercial record."

For what seems to be the first time, on August 13th 1947, Nat approached a session with the specific intention of producing a set of tracks to be sold as a single work. While he would eventually move millions of albums as a vocalist, Nat initiated his 17 years of creating albums with a session devoted to the most focused work at the piano that he had yet committed to commercial record. There is not one vocal among the eight tracks comprising King Cole At The Piano, each instead consisting of instrumental solo piano backed only by his Trio-mates, Oscar Moore on guitar and Johnny Miller on bass, in supporting rhythm roles.

Bob Dylan had a keen comment about Paul McCartney which went to the effect of, "Every word that comes from his mouth is framed in melody." Likewise for Nat, as his vocals and piano alike are innately melodic. While Nat is clearly not limited to a Trio context in order to create at the keys, it may be interesting to note that without the Trio interplay and structures, Nat proceeds to regularly insert counters and reassert phrases as if providing his own accompaniment and foils. Yet no matter how the worm turns, in the parlance of the time, the melodic currents still flow inevitably through each piece. The focus of this project clearly rewarded with a remarkable coherence through each track.

Wonderful examples of jazz musicianship abound. But there has been some criticism that while his playing is technically amazing, it is emotionally rather cool and aloof. My initial reaction to playing this set reflected that impression a bit. As I've come to know it better, it has became apparent that I wasn't quite tuned in to how he does express himself at the keyboard. Nat isn't the sort to be as intensely demonstrative as some considered as more "emotionally expressive" are. Instead he is at once candid and wry in his proclivity to circumspection, his feelings gently expressed in his own somewhat shy, whimsical way. Also, the commitment obvious in his performance quality seems to be taken for granted at times as well, perhaps a consequence of the level of his mastery making his playing seem to be far easier than it is.

Recurring themes in this set from an emotional standpoint are contrasting senses of freedom and wistfulness. A personal expression of his situation in his life at that time (1947) peeking out, or merely themes which lent themselves to this then-atypically self-focused work? We may never know, and it isn't as if we have many such projects from him to provide much context to begin with. Regardless, there are feelings to be found between the lines.

My favorite in this set is the gripping Blues In My Shower. Sure fingered strong notes and ruminating tinkling run on throughout like thoughts you just can't get rid of, even in the friggin' shower. The medium-slow foot-tap tempo is also wonderful, a great contrasting physical activity to the mental musical notions. Easily deserves a spot among his greatest ever piano works.

Three Little Words has the uncanny distinction of featuring on both his first and last albums. Dazzling gleams from the chrome of superbly placed trim upon notes polished by his exquisite "touch" on the keys ripple across much of his work. This is no exception. And dog-gone it can stick in the head, piano or vocal.

Moonlight In Vermont is a lovely evergreen as a slow-tempo song, but the focus here is strictly musical. Among a number of ideas, Nat seems to particularly enjoy stepping on a higher note every other step here and there.

The descriptive Poor Butterfly begins with a delicate mood sustained through a rather nice melodic piano-only intro, segueing into a solid tempo for Nat to improv with a relatively restrained feel, capped by the tempo segueing gracefully into a turning current that seems to blow us to a final rest.

How High the Moon was a staple of jazz for many years. Nat plays with its grand phrases like so much sand in a sandbox at one turn and "sings" brightly at another turn.

I'll Never Be the Same seamlessly blends a wonderful freedom with a sometimes strong wistfulness, perhaps most distinctly embodying the root themes of the set.

A certain frustration is periodically present among the reflective calm of These Foolish Things. At one point he reflects its climbing intensity with one single travel up to the thin keys, and having made that comment remains relatively calm on through. These Foolish Things would appear on a later album (Just One Of Those Things) as a superb vocal ballad.

Cole Capers features a pulsing (tripping?) theme and fun soaring along his fluid phrases in the uptempo stretch between.

As mentioned, one of my initial reactions at first listen was a mistaken sense that, excepting a few portions of a couple tracks, it was rather lightly tossed-off. There were other sharply mixed reactions I've also had occasion to reconsider. On the one hand, it was a feast of fantastic piano, non-stop delight at superlative playing. On the other hand there was a wish that there had been a lot more variety. Those familiar with taking in an album by the great Art Tatum might find this a relative breeze by comparison to the marathon streams of thought that may flood through a Tatum set, while others might find this too much to take in a single lump. That depends on each listener. But there was a "sameness" to the tempos and the basic approach which had me hankering for some of the classic Trio programming.

With consideration over time and multiple listens, I've come to dispel my qualms. For one thing, the consistency was kind of the point here. Moreover I'd neglected to take in a key factor: while the single, in-depth, consistent and quiet session approach to recording it had been a necessary part of its nature, this set wasn't meant to be played as an uninterrupted stream in the way I had played it. When they recorded these tracks, they expected that the format was only to be 78 rpm records. That entails playing one track and stopping to optionally continue by turning the record over or getting out the next record, cuing it up and then playing it. Deliberately simulating that to some degree by playing track by track at will, I found it easy to take in the whole set without that "sameness" becoming a factor. The distinctiveness of each track was more readily apparent.

King Cole At The Piano was a boxed set of 10" 78 r.p.m. shellac records at first (evidently released a couple of years after being recorded; I've no idea why), joined a year later by an edition on that newfangled format, the microgroove 33 1/3 rpm vinyl long-play album. The session was recorded on 16" 33 1/3 rpm microgroove discs, monaural of course, which if undamaged, can offer quite satisfying fidelity when played with better examples of more recent gear. However, these initial releases are essentially old disc dubs and can't be considered as offering the best sound possible. That's not to imply that more recent reissues of these tracks offer the best possible sound either.

Strangely, 26 years into the CD era I can't think of another complete reissue of it beyond its inclusion as part of the massive Mosaic box set, The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio. It's even managed to miss out in the CD reissue program of his albums by Collector's Choice. The sound quality on the Mosaic set works fine although it's not quite ideal. The source(s) may include an older tape dub with a somewhat thick character, the mono discs were played on a stereo 'table (one track at least wasn't even bridged back to mono) resulting in less than optimal dynamics and it remains a bit uneven in character from track to track. One can discern the shortcomings of the engineering involved and sense the hurry necessary to produce that massive project. Again, at least the sound works well for these recordings. There's always the possibility a newer go will turn out even worse rather than closer to ideal. With no release aspiring to ideal sonically, if one doesn't have the Mosaic set one might be advised to find an original 78 or LP release if possible and if one is so equipped.

The original cover is either brilliant kitsch or hideous, but in either case I suspect that it didn't help to move copies at that time (it might get it more attention now though, just for being so... well, let's say different).

Enthusiasts may want to know that Nat also recorded a similar set around this time for radio transcriptions which one might call a companion piece. That set was made available on a CD reissue by the Music & Arts label, The MacGregor Years.

 

Wait. Wait. So is this the real first concept album? Is this a live or studio recording? Sounds like something I need to get.

 

Another song to get! Cool. Is the DCC something that's long out of print and pricey? Is there another way to get that song?

 

Here you go. This is as large an image file as I can post here, but I do have a much larger, higher-resolution copy I can e-mail to you, if you like. (And, yes, this is the Hoffman-mastered LP version of the album. Number 0166!)

Clark

 

Thanks for the props. As to larger covers, there are some I can do, but for many others we'd need to appeal to Clark.

Concert. Live "straight" jazz. 1944. Jazz at the Philharmonic was a series of concerts, a wonderful piece of the jazz picture you might enjoy looking into at some point. Nat was pleased to play in the very first one.

Long out of print and pricey.

Nice

 

Clark, thank you. Wow you do good work. I will be taking you up on the offer of a higher resolution copy.

From what I saw on the Web, the image you posted is the highest quality, highest resolution source out there.

Dale

 

Could be. I use a flatbed scanner and because the scanner is not big enough to accommodate a 12x12 image, I do LP covers in chunks and then piece them back together using photo software, adjusting the colors to match the original. (It doesn't take too long to do all that, suprisingly)

The high-res copy of the "Just One Of Those Things" cover is on its way to you.

Clark

 

Let me know which ones you need! If I have the discs in my collection, I'll scan them and send them your way. I don't have the JATP discs, however...

 

Wow. Seeing anything at the Egyptian would be grand, but Cole in 3-D?!

Do you recall what songs were performed?

Clark

 

a great find this other "Smile"....grabbed it from itunes as well....now to find the cd....

 

Maybe it's just me -- or the fact that it's a major remix -- but the version of "Ballad Of Cat Ballou" on the "At The Movies" CD sounds like a different take to me. The vocal inflections sound totally different to my ears, but I have yet to do an A/B comparison with the 45, LP or BEar Family set.

Wonder if, in addition to the song "Smile" we've discussed, this "At The Movies" CD uses other alternates? Do the liner notes make any mention of previously unreleased takes?

Clark

 

Just going on the brief itunes clip, my guess would be that it is not an alternate - hard to tell from just 30 seconds though. A new mix most likely. Perhaps that's what you're hearing in the vocal?

I'd be surprised if Capitol owned any alternate vocal takes of this song. This is the vocal that appeared in the movie - the orchestra was an overdub, Cole dying before he could record a Capitol version. What I am curious about is whether Capitol owns the masters to any of the other material from the film besides this and "They Can't Make Her Cry." Would be great if that, and the rest of Cole's movie material could be collected some day. Not the Capitol takes, but those created specifically for the films. A licensing nightmare to be sure.

 

Good point regarding Capitol's access to alternate takes of the "Cat Ballou" material. Must be the mix that's deceiving me...

One thing I never understood, with regard to "Smile," is why the A&E Biography CD (pictured below, with a close -up of one portion of the track list) claims to have previously unreleased tracks from "the Nat King Cole shows" (a 1960s radio program), including a previously unissued version of "Smile."

Granted, the song does include a very nice -- and unique -- spoken intro from Nat, but the song itself seems to be the officially released stereo version with the spoken intro tacked onto the beginning...

Still, I don't think the "previously unreleased" designation in the liner notes could refer to only that spoken intro, because other tracks on the CD -- such as "When You're Smiling" and "I Remember You" -- feature previously unissued spoken intros but those cuts are not listed in the CD booklet as previously unreleased.

 

Just plain old sloppy packaging on this one.

 

As apileocole mentioned, there is no reference to any alternates or remixes in the notes or listing. The only thing not mentioned before, is that this CD Nat King Cole At The Movies, was one of the CDs designated as part of the Capitol 50th Anniversary. I believe I read that some of the 50th Anniversary CDs were issued in limited quantities. Here is the logo from the back cover, enlarged.

 

I'll be darned. I was just doing some web browsing, and looked at the entry for AT THE MOVIES at tower.com. It is not available from them, but there was this note:


Title Note
....
Digitally remastered by Bob Norberg.

"AT THE MOVIES is a collection of songs Nat "King" Cole recorded for movies, (some of which he appeared in) between 1949 and 1964. Includes rare and/or previously unreleased material and liner notes by Will Friedwald."

I suppose one could say that the remastered Song of Delilah is considered rare. And in 1992, My Flaming Heart, Small Towns are Smile Towns, plus I'd Rather Have The Blues could be considered rare. But no mention of what was previously unreleased. Now we know it is Smile.

 

Thanks Clark, will let you know via PM as things come along to that.

Oh a note in event anyone is unaware, Tower.com is no longer part of the defunct Tower Records company. That's not to suggest one not shop there, rather that one can't assume anything from their prior reputation.

Yeah I'd read something to that effect way back when it came out, but with no notes I'd assumed that to be referring only to the rarities as you mention. Also, the French Autumn Leaves might be considered a rarity in the US. Heck releases were so thin by then, especially on CD, that most of the tracks were rarities.

1992. That was about ten years into the CD age, and at that time I thought, "Ah now Capitol is finally going to get digging into Nat's catalog." Ha!