NAT "KING" COLE - Year by Year - Part 3

jtaylor · Feb 10, 2011

Dale said: ↑

I only downloaded the first one so far. I was also curious about the quality. This is what the file says:

January 14th, 1957
14:04
Protected MPEG-4 Video file
160.1 MB
Bit rate: 104 kbps

I am not sure if there is more info. Maybe others versed in video specs will know. I thought there may have been some deterioration of the consistency of the sound on parts of it, just on a first listen. Not that I am surprised if that it so. The video quality is about the same as I had seen in other NKC show excerpts on youtube etc. -- so on the low end, again as I would have expected.

This Monday night show has Stuff Smith as the guest. There was one break for a commercial from NBC for two shows coming up later that night, a game show and a drama from Robert Montgomery Presents.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, Dale. Hopefully future releases will feature Cole singing the Rheingold jingles/commercials that he did on several programs.

dale 88 · Feb 13, 2011

Forty-five years ago today, Ben Irwin, a press agent, wrote this for the magazine of the Sunday Los Angeles Times -- Calendar, Feb. 13, 1966.

Homage to a King---Nat Cole
BY BEN IRWIN
• He was only 45 and most people insisted, when they read the obituaries, that he had to be older because it seemed as if that voice had been around forever.

The tributes at the funeral, in the press, on television and radio mounted to a torrent those several days before and after his death. Some of them were heartfelt and meaningful; many, maybe most, were empty, even foolish and had nothing to do with this man. He hated, among other things, the foolish and the phony when he could detect it. Like all of us he had his blind spots but he also had a pretty good eye. Which is one reason for this piece.

Capable of Fury
Yes, Nat Cole was capable of fury. Even Sammy Davis who knew and loved Nat and who said "He was the gentlest man 1 ever knew" was aware of this. Nat Cole played it cool but he was never, not really, as detached, as quiet, as soft as he often appeared and was so frequently pictured. He could be gentle but there were deep passions in this man, deep affections but angers, too.

I was there when this reporter came to him after the photo of the dogs tearing at Negro civil rights demonstrators in Alabama were on the front pages of our newspapers. He asked Nat what he thought of Gov. Wallace. A moment before Nat had been pleasantly relaxed, happily studying the cold beads on the glass of his martini. He set it down so that it almost shattered and stared at the interviewer.

"Why would you ask me what I think of him?" Nat said. "What kind of a question is that, anyhow? You expect I’d be writing him fan letters?" I think the reporter was embarrassed. I think it was what Cole intended.

I worked with Nat the last four years of his life which makes me no authority on the man, to be sure. I knew a few things about him, not everything, not even most of what the man really was. Because the truth about any man, alive or especially dead, is a very difficult thing to arrive at. And if he's a celebrity like Nat Cole, it's a hundred, make that a thousand times, more difficult. There's the public face and the private one and where one begins and the other one ends who is to say? But this is not an inquiry into that. This is just one man's perspective on Nat Cole. If I was sad at the funeral (I know I was before, seeing him dying in the hospital and certainly afterward but not right then) it was because somehow I knew that the true notes I hoped to hear coming from that chapel about Nat Cole were so faint as to be almost inaudible.

Someone might have observed, for example, that he was a man with an inbuilt sense of dignity, unmistakably so.

A lot of people paid to hear and see the talent of this sharecropper's son who carried himself like the progeny of a Nigerian prince. No one ever bought anything more than that. You could not buy him and if his last name had been Smith instead of Cole (so that the nickname naturally attached itself), he could very easily still have ended up with the name King.

About that, and not that it makes any large point, but people who called him King to his face amused him. No one who really knew him ever called him that (anymore than anyone who knows Sinatra well ever calls him Frankie). He was Nat.

But above all he had his own special brand of humor. And, now that I am getting around to it, that is chiefly what this piece was meant to be about.

Growing Old Together
It is true that even in life people found it hard to accept the fact that he was so young and there was this type who came up to him. at his very last engagement in San Carlos just outside of San Francisco and said: "The wife says you're maybe in your mid-40s, I know you're not because, hell, I was little more than a kid just dating girls when I used to listen to the trio. She's got to be wrong, no?" Nat looked at the man impassively, smiled economically and said: "No, she's right. Time you're talking about I was like 22 myself. Trouble with you is you grew middle-aged along with me."

The humor could be sly, too. This one came up to him in a bar, not really drunk, just expansive and said: "You're not Nat Cole, are you?" Nat's expression asked: "With this face, how could I deny it?" Instead he just nodded. "I knew you were," said the man, happily. "In fact, I bet my buddy at the bar," gesturing to him, "six bits that you were. Will you wave to him so he knows?" Nat turned the question over in his mind for a moment, then shook his head. "You wave to him," he suggested politely, "You made the bet."

Or abrasive. He was listening, this night, to some musicians in. a lounge in Las Vegas and one of the Crosby offspring was hosting a large and vocal group at a nearby table, making it a bit difficult for the audience to give full attention to the Castro Brothers, The waiter arrived and inquired, "Mr. Crosby said to say 'hello' and he wants to know whether he might buy you a drink." Cole looked toward the boisterous table, considered the offer carefully and answered: "Tell Mr. Crosby, no thanks. If he was his father I'd think about it; but if he wants to say 'hello' he's young enough he doesn't have to send a messenger."

Oblique Aside
Or oblique. Again, on another night in Vegas, he was sitting with The Times' Art Seidenbaum with whom he'd been making a tour of the lounges, sampling the music that was offered. Their last port of call was a spot that featured Harry James. Since they had been discussing musical trends all evening Seidenbaum commented that James' style had not changed appreciably in over 20 years and what did Nat think of him? "Him?" answered Nat deadpan, "I think he's putting us all on."

Or wry. Waiting for a cab on a rainy winter's day in front of the Plaza in New York, a stranger said: "You and I go way back, way, way back." Nat nodded and appeared to cherish the information. "I remember you," the man continued, "Philadelphia, back in 1939, I think the place was Jerry's or maybe it was the Circus Bar but it was my girl's birthday and you played 'Paper Moon.' You remember that?" Nat nodded again, his eyes peeled for the non - existent cab. The stranger continued to recite a complete, unexpurgated list of Nat's 1939 repertoire, vigorously punctuating each reminiscence with a challenge as to whether the singer remembered the song. After a while the cab arrived. Persistent to the end. the stranger accompanied him to the car's door, proclaiming jovously: "But the one . . . the one that really tore it for me and my girl was when you sang 'Sweet Lorraine.' You remember that?" Turning just before he entered the cab, Nat said affectionately but just the slightest bit. weary: "Sure, I remember. You. forget, man. I was there."

Or innocent. It was when Nat and Maria moved into the exclusive Hancock Park section of Los Angeles a decade ago and some of the neighbors called on Nat to tell him that he would have to understand — and he did—and that they had a lot of money in their homes and what with the children growing up there, well, they were worried about undesirable elements moving into the neighborhood, Nat couldn't have been more reasonable, or concerned as befitted a man who had just invested over $100,000 in his home. He assured them that if he saw any of those undesirable elements he would let them know immediately.

At His Best
Or biting. Which was when he was really at his best. The time his producer, Ike Jones,' came to him and told him that the owner of one of the West Coast's top hotels wanted them to bring their integrated "S i g h t s and Sounds" variety musical into his fancy inn for three weeks and would pay a substantial bonus provided that Nat and Jones would recast the show and make it an all-Negro divertissement. Jones confidently expected Cole to turn the offer down instantly. Instead, the singer seemed to weigh the proposal for a full 30 seconds. Then he said, "You tell Mr. Charlie . . , just tell him we'll be glad to make this an all-colored show. Provided he agrees to staff his whole hotel with Negroes while we're there."

And one last bite. A private Park Avenue party tendered for Nat after one of his New York openings a dozen or so years ago, brought the usual quota of snobs along with other folk. One of the smartly dressed, pale, ladies introduced to him shook his hand warmly ("I knew she thought she was doing something very daring-—right in front of all those people," Nat said later) and commented: "Wait till I tell my maid, Gracie, that I met you. My maid just loves you, King." Nat gave her the meager smile and answered: "Well, if you're ever in Los Angeles, you make sure to look us up. Because I know our maid will love you, too."

All this was Nat Cole. For good measure add to this a rare sense of being alive, of tasting life. It was a feeling he imparted to all of us. And I know all this is no unique view of the man but I was afraid he would get away without somebody telling about it. Which he wouldn’t have liked, I think. Because I can still hear the closing line from his last show (a favorite line of his in private, too). “Enjoy yourself. Because when you’re dead--when you’re dead life just ain’t worth living.”

Irwin, a press agent, worked closely with Nat (King) Cole for four years before the singer was fatally stricken with cancer. Cole died a year ago Tuesday.
Click to expand...

dale 88 · Feb 13, 2011

I rather like this drawing of Nat.

dale 88 · Feb 13, 2011

In his column in the same magazine, Leonard Feather talks about some of the tribute albums that have been issued, and he mentions that Maria has just appeared on the Ed Sullivan show singing "There'll Never Be Another You".

dale 88 · Feb 14, 2011

Steve Hoffman said: ↑

The Tiller Girls? You sure this is 1950 and not 1927? So weird..
Click to expand...

Heh. I didn't know much about them, so I looked up some info. I guess they pre-date the Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall by a number of years. Anyway here is a photo of the Tiller Girls in the early 1950's in one of their routines at the London Palladium.

ROLO46 · Feb 14, 2011

Just been looking at 'An evening with Nat King Cole' the BBC TV show of 64 repeated after his death with an added appreciation from Sammy Davis.
The sound is terrific, no mikes in shot,it has been colorised, I would like to see the original, but this UTube viewing is fine.
As for his 1950 trio show not going well in the UK Im amazed at that.
He was very popular here.

dale 88 · Feb 15, 2011

Finally received the LP that has some radio tracks. This record brings us 7 song interpretations we didn't have on the list before. They are from 4 dates new to the RADIO list.

Nat King Cole | Mel Torme | Vic Damone. BiAC Records. BRAD 10528-529, 1979 Gatefold 2-LP album. [Belgium]

Studio: Paul Leponce [Brussels recording studio]
Photos: L.F.I. London Features International Limited U.K.
Maquette de l'Album et Realisation: Jean Sablon

November 8, 1943
AFRS Jubilee #51
NBC Studios
Straighten Up and Fly Right
1:48
I'm An Errand Boy For Rhythm (listed on Lp as Manhattan Boy for Rhythm)
1:38

April 16, 1945
AFRS Jubilee #129
NBC Studios
If You Can't Smile and Say Yes
2:30

January 4, 1947
Baltimore, Maryland
AFRS "King Cole Trio" #1
Come In Out Of The Rain
2:14
Somebody Loves Me
2:25

July-August 1947
McCormack General Hospital
Pasadena, California
AFRS Jubilee #256
I'm In The Mood For Love
1:45
I've Found A New Baby
2:18

dale 88 · Feb 15, 2011

The two numbers - Straighten Up and Fly Right & I'm An Errand Boy For Rhythm - from November 8, 1943 let us hear the Trio 3 weeks before their first Capitol recording date. I would guess that hardly anyone would be able to recognize these tunes from just hearing the introductions. The intros are completely different from what we are accustomed to hearing. It shows how much preparation and arranging went into Fly Right. The lyrics are the same but only one piano phrase and the ending piano trio phrase seem familiar. There were some people in the studio that day because you can hear them laugh at one line. I realize now that Errand Boy had been around at least 3 years before Capitol recorded it and of course another 9 or 10 years before it was released.

At first I thought the radio track If You Can't Smile and Say Yes was going to be the original Capitol recording since it had the same timing. But, on comparison it is a different interpretation and a pretty good one too. The sound is not bad for an AFRS radio transcription.

The tracks from 1947 have Oscar Moore not long before he left the Trio.

coleman · Feb 18, 2011

Thanks, Dale.

The November 8, 1943 show was actually already on the list, but without any details other than the guests. I add everything to the list as-is just to capture it (including the duplication) and will work on organization and formatting later.

coleman · Feb 18, 2011

I came across this tonight, the original version of Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You by Don Redman and His Orchestra. The only version I ever knew was by the KC3, so hearing the original with the additional verses was a treat.

http://mog.com/Spike/blog/2019916

apileocole · Feb 18, 2011

Dale said: ↑

The two numbers - Straighten Up and Fly Right & I'm An Errand Boy For Rhythm - from November 8, 1943 let us hear the Trio 3 weeks before their first Capitol recording date. I would guess that hardly anyone would be able to recognize these tunes from just hearing the introductions. The intros are completely different from what we are accustomed to hearing. It shows how much preparation and arranging went into Fly Right. The lyrics are the same but only one piano phrase and the ending piano trio phrase seem familiar.
Click to expand...

Nat sure had a knack for those intros. In many cases where we have multiple recordings of the same number, the intros will vary. Almost all are really nice, pouring you into the number with just the right feel.

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

.
I received this promo "ADVANCE CD" today. It was for the newly assembled Capitol album of 2001: Night Lights

"In Stores June 5, 2001"

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

Something "New" not on the TV appearances list of Nat King Cole:

This is from a TV program. Here are thirty seconds from an Italian mp3 site. The CD for it has been available for 24 years, but no one told me. I don't believe it has been mentioned on these Cole threads.

It turns out it is not indexed on Amazon with Cole's name. I will copy the cover and post.

Cole on TV [mp3 sample]

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

.
It is evidently March 19, 1955 on CBS-TV.

Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and their orchestra. STAGE SHOW. Sounds of Yester Year DSOY 700, 1987. CD. Made in England.

This is the best sounding and most complete set of the songs Nat sang on this TV series that I have found. Warning: there are some wretched sounding copies of some of these songs on various rip-off CDs.

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

There are four numbers that feature Nat King Cole. Nat sings three songs and plays piano with the Dorsey big band on the 4th song.

1. Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup

2. It's Crazy But I'm In Love

3. The Sand and the Sea

4. Stompin' Down Broadway

I had deduced that it was late Winter or Spring 1955 from Nat's comment that The Sand and the Sea was a new release. Then I happened to look in the biographies and found the date, although Epstein makes it sound like it was a "recording session". He doesn't mention that it was TV. I don't think he had any idea that it was a TV series and that it is was live.

The notes mention Elvis Presley's appearances on the series Stage Show but I believe his six appearances were the next year in 1956.

coleman · Feb 18, 2011

Dale said: ↑

Something "New" not on the TV appearances list of Nat King Cole:

This is from a TV program. Here are thirty seconds from an Italian mp3 site. The CD for it has been available for 24 years, but no one told me. I don't believe it has been mentioned on these Cole threads.

It turns out it is not indexed on Amazon with Cole's name. I will copy the cover and post.

Cole on TV [mp3 sample]
Click to expand...

Who's the announcer?

I found the same song on Amazon, but with absolutely horrible reverb added.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K2ZU4K/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1298086105&sr=8-2-spell

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

coleman said: ↑

Who's the announcer?

I found the same song on Amazon, but with absolutely horrible reverb added.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K2ZU4K/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1298086105&sr=8-2-spell
Click to expand...

That is Tommy Dorsey, himself.

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

There doesn't seem to be much information about the episodes of early Fifties TV. Here are some tidbits about the TV series Stage Show.

Bandleaders Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey hosted this music dominated variety series. First airing as the hour-long summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show, the show returned as a weekly half-hour series during the 1955-56 season, filling out the hour airing the "Classic 39" episodes of The Honeymooners. In between, it popped up as a fill-in special for the Gleason Show during 1954-55.
The series, obviously, was a Jackie Gleason production, with Gleason personally booking the guests.
Stage Show is now best remembered as the show where Elvis Presley made his national TV debut. Beginning on 1/28/1956, Presley would make a total of six appearances.

The series' theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You".
Jimmy & Tommy Dorsey were co-hosts. Jack Carter became the emcee.

“Stage Show was predominantly stocked with traditional recording artists as guest stars. They included The Four Aces, The DeMarco Sisters, The McGuire Sisters, Eileen Barton, Lillian Roth, and Roy Hamilton. Jazz musicians such Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, drummer Cozy Cole, and trumpeter Henry “Red” Allen were other guest stars. The show with Armstrong was highlighted by the Dorsey’s spirited version of “That’s A-Plenty,” on which they traded solos with their old friend. Each program opened with the camera entering Studio 50 at Broadway and Fifty-third Street (then the home of the Ed Sullivan Show and now the David Letterman Show), taking the home viewers down the aisle to their seats.”
From Peter Levinson's book on Tommy Dorsey.

Other guests:
Nat King Cole
Ella Fitzgerald
Della Reese
Bobby Darin
Elvis Presley
Sarah Vaughan

Final Episode 9/22/1956

In the series finale, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's guests include singers Ella Logan and Gale Storm, and comedian Archie Robbins.
Click to expand...

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

coleman said: ↑

I found the same song on Amazon, but with absolutely horrible reverb added.
Click to expand...

Let me find the links -- I have the 3 vocals from youtube in fairly acceptable sound from this disc, evidently.

coleman · Feb 18, 2011

Dale said: ↑

That is Tommy Dorsey, himself.
Click to expand...

Very cool. I don't believe I've ever heard his voice, at least not that I recall.

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

The Nat King Cole vocals on the show:

Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup

It's Crazy But I'm In Love

The Sand and the Sea

coleman · Feb 18, 2011

Dale said: ↑

The Nat King Cole vocals on the show:

Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup

It's Crazy But I'm In Love

The Sand and the Sea
Click to expand...

Cool. Awesome finds. These all seem to have a speed issue, but a little software magic can fix that.

Thanks, Dale.

coleman · Feb 18, 2011

Awhile back, Cole autographs came up briefly. I got the bug and was finally able to pick one up after a whole lot of searching online.

8"x 10", nice, bold signature in fountain pen. PSA/DNA letter of authenticity. Pretty cool. I also like the fact that it's a Maurice Seymour photo. I'd like to get a solo, signed picture, too, but that will have to wait a while.

Pretty excited about it. Just wanted to share.

dale 88 · Feb 18, 2011

coleman said: ↑

Awhile back, Cole autographs came up briefly. I got the bug and was finally able to pick one up after a whole lot of searching online.

8"x 10", nice, bold signature in fountain pen. PSA/DNA letter of authenticity. Pretty cool. I also like the fact that it's a Maurice Seymour photo. I'd like to get a solo, signed picture, too, but that will have to wait a while.

Pretty excited about it. Just wanted to share.
Click to expand...

Nice one. Nat is so relaxed and cool in that shot.

coleman · Feb 19, 2011

All,

Does anyone know anything about the first three discs? Content looks to be culled from the NKC Show. Quality is a concern.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...gital-music&field-keywords=nat+king+cole+show

I've also seen another 3 disc set on ebay with much of the same material. Not sure of the quality there, either.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...t+king+cole+show+cd&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Log in or Sign up

NAT "KING" COLE - Year by Year - Part 3

jtaylor Senior Member

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

ROLO46 Forum Resident

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

coleman Forum Resident

apileocole Lush Life Gort

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

coleman Forum Resident

Attached Files:

colepic.jpg

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

NAT "KING" COLE - Year by Year - Part 3

jtaylor Senior Member

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

ROLO46 Forum Resident

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

coleman Forum Resident

apileocole Lush Life Gort

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

coleman Forum Resident

Attached Files:

colepic.jpg

dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

coleman Forum Resident

Share This Page

Useful Searches