NAT "KING" COLE - Year by Year (part4)

I'm starting to think far too many for me to really collect! However, since you are peeking in here, I once again want to thank you for your efforts in getting the NKC mono versions on these definitive SACD's, especially "Just One of Those Things" and "St. Louis Blues".

 

Hilarious! He was extremely prolific!

Unrelated: Elaine Stewart, the actress who starred in "The Adventures of Hajji Baba" (with theme song sung by you know who) passed away last Monday at age 81. I must admit that I've never seen the film, though I've seen her in a couple others. RIP.

 

I hadn't heard that. I found this photo of Elaine Stewart playing a record. That player design is a monster.

 

Elaine was quite a looker herself back then!!!

 

Suddenly I want to see "Hajji Baba."

 

Before the topic changes, I'll share one pic of Elaine let you guys know that the movie is available on youtube in both French and English.

 

Something fun...

I decided to slow down the intro to "Your Voice" to see what Maria Cole was saying:

"I feel so smoochie, but where were you tonight? You promised to be home right after the last show at Bob City. How dare you come boppin' in here at this hour of the morning. Listen, nature boy, if you don't straighten up and fly right and stop livin' this lush life, we wouldn't have the save the bones for Henry Jones, and brother, that's the beginning of the end, that's what!"

Nice string of song titles.

The song was recorded May 20, 1949. Bop City was only around from 1949-1950 or 1951, so it's an interesting reference since the club was around for such a short time.

 

I have yet another question for the NKC knowledgeable persons in this thread:

For the *Capitol* CD versions of "Penthouse Serenade" and "Ballads of the Day", were either (or both) of these mastered by Bob Norberg? If they were, I will pass. I am interested in those versions for the bonus tracks on each release, but I am just not a fan of Mr. Norberg's mastering. Thanks in advance!

 

Only Ballads of the Day was remastered by Norberg. Don't bite off your nose to spite your face, though. Some of those bonus tracks are only available on that disc, so if you don't hear them there, you won't hear them at all.

 

The Capitol CD of "Ballads Of The Day" doesn't sound bad at all to me, and it has a LOT of great, hard-to-find bonus tracks. Sound quality is much, much better than, say, "Classic Singles" or "Night Lights."

 

Hello guys - been hard to find as a good sounding copy of Moody Blues Go Now, but I'm okay. Should get more time to hang around soon. Dropped by as I was playing the great SACD of Just One of Those Things and realised I've been neglecting to rave at Steve: love that mono take of You'll Never Know. Great job, the SACD sounds Capitol in the best senses, mono and marvellously, the stereo too. Been getting lots of play here. Nat, that arrangement, those musicians. What a job Lee had on a Nat session.

Penthouse Serenade CD sounds nice so no worries there; the best of any of the Capitol CDs mastering wise (though it's not perfect; Steve mastered the Pure Pleasure LP which not surprisingly is the best option if you can go vinyl). For Ballads of the Day, coleman is right, it's Norberg'd (definitely his mastering though not his worst) but there hasn't been any other release (ever, any format) for some of the bonus tracks.

 

Agreed, not his worst. Last night I compared a few tracks on Norberg's CD to the CC version and the difference most of the time was marginal. On one track, his even sounded a little better. Penthouse Serenade does sound great and it, too, has a number of bonus tracks not available elsewhere. One track, though, "Too Marvelous for Words," can also be found on the 1995 Capitol release, Spotlight on... Nat King Cole. That was, I believe, the second domestic Cole CD I ever purchased, the first being the Capitol Masters set.

 

On the Analogue Productions discs that also have the mono included, I think the mono is one of the best things that has happened for Nat's legacy. The remastered sound is a marvel, capturing the impact of the sessions.

 

apileocole: nice go have you back!!!!

I've been loving your liner notes for some of these special releases. Many, many thanks.

 

Yes, indeed.

It's nice that they are selling well...

top sellers in Hybrid Multichannel SACD
1. The Nat King Cole Story
Nat "King" Cole
2. Just One of Those Things
Nat "King" Cole
3. St. Louis Blues
Nat "King" Cole
4. Brothers In Arms 20th Anniversary (import)
Dire Straits
5. Love Is The Thing
Nat "King" Cole
6. The Very Thought of You
Nat "King" Cole
7. Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd
8. Concord Jazz Sampler - Volume 2
Various Artists
9. Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
10. Where Did Everyone Go?
Nat "King" Cole

 

I don't know if the new SACDs have anything to do with this, but I've noticed more nice-quality vintage vinyl by Nat showing up on ebay. Collecting Nat Cole on vinyl has always been a relatively inexpensive exercise, but that's been particularly true in recent months.

I've spent years looking for a really good-quality used copy (in terms of the box, booklet and the discs) of "The Nat King Cole Story." I didn't want a still-sealed copy, as that giant paper sticker on the beautiful cloth cover, if it was still on there after all these years, would leave a lot of residue if removed. (You see copies on ebay all the time where the left-hand side of teh front cover is stained dark, obviously by the glue that penetrated the cloth.) So basically I've been hunting for an original pressing that was opened 50 years ago, had its sticker immediately removed, and then was treated very kindly for the past half-century. I finally found one two weeks ago and it is flawless in every respect. The original owner even preserved the cover sticker by adhering it to the inside front cover! The three LPs look as if they never were played and the booklet is abolutely mint. And I got it for just $15, shipping included.

The week before, I picked up a still-sealed, original stereo pressing of "Just One Of Those Things" for only $9. And at about the same time, I picked up sealed, original pressings of "Love Is The Thing" and "The Very Thought Of You" for only $9.99 each.

Anybody else score some nice Nat vinyl lately?

 

Some nice scores, Clark. I am also wondering if the economy is affecting the Ebay listings.

Oh yes, over the past year I have acquired a number of items on LP and 45 that I will be posting over the next few months. Sometimes I have a perfectly acceptable CD issue, but I still want to hear either the original pressings or in the case below a vinyl re-mastering from 1977. Reissue prepared by Robert Hurwitz and Mastered by Robert Ludwig. It is a double LP, gatefold, which includes eight tracks with Nat King Cole.

 

Nice find, Clark. I see the NKC STORY on ebay all the time, but typically it's a 1966 pressing with inner sleeves advertising NKC at the SANDS and The Beatles et.al. Don't actually come across all that many original pressings of that particular album.

 

Yeah, I think I had been looking for one for about five years -- right after I first started collecting Nat.

My first NKC purchase was actually a big batch of EPs and singles. About 30 records in all. I had been looking for a 45 of "Ramblin' Rose" for my jukebox, and a guy on ebay had this big stack of purple-label singles and green-label EPs, all by Nat. I think I was the only bidder and got 'em all for about $10. I cleaned them and recorded them all to Minidisc so I could listen to them all in one sitting and figure out which out ones were good, musically, and worth keeping. I couldn't believe it: I liked every single song. (Even now, with hundreds of Cole songs in my collection, there are only two that I really don't like: "Wishing Well" and another track that escapes me right now -- I think it's on the "Night Lights" CD.)

At any rate, I started buying a lot more Nat Cole 45s after that first purchase, then I started buying some compilation CDs, then some sealed vinyl LPs and promos, and eventually the Bear Family boxes. Lately, Ive been picking up the now-out-of-print Collectors Choice CDs -- when I can find them for a good price, that is. Earlier this year, when I found a great copy of "King Cole Trio For Kids," I decided to start grabbing some of the trio's 78s...

 

No good vinyl scores, but I did manage to get the VJC 4-Disc "Sweet Lorraine" set for around $30.00 (in fantastic condition!), the VJC "Straighten Up..." CD for $12.00, and "The King Cole Trio: The Macgregor Years, 1941-1945" for...well, much more than those two CDs combined. But, I did manage to find it in very good condition and it was worth every penny (all of them were!). Thanks to everyone for their recommendations on these. All of them sound fantastic for the age of the recordings.

 

Those are great buys. Congrats. Some fabulous music there.

 

Referring back to Part 3 where I posted about the Biggest Show of '51 with Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Sarah Vaughan, I recently acquired the Souvenir Program. It is a good thing I got it for less than 10 dollars since there is not much in it that is new.

 

There were a couple of bits that were new to me. On the page that has info on Nat, it says:

If we find radio recordings of these, we will have to revise our radio appearances list.