Nat King Cole had two overlapping careers. He was one of the truly great swing pianists, inspired by Earl Hines and a big influence on Oscar Peterson. And he was a superb pop ballad singer whose great commercial success in that field unfortunately resulted in him greatly de-emphasizing his piano after 1949. Perhaps if his talents had been divided between two different people!

Nat Cole grew up in Chicago and by the time he was 12 he was playing organ and singing in church; his three brothers ( Eddie, Fred and Isaac) would become jazz musicians. After making his recording debut with Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers in 1936, he left Chicago to lead the band for the revival of the revue Shuffle Along, and settled in Los Angeles when the show ended. Cole struggled a bit, put together a trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince and eventually settled in for a long residency in Hollywood. In the early days (documented on radio transcriptions), most of the group's repertoire was comprised of instrumentals although the Trio often sang jivey novelty vocals together. However by the time the Trio had its first opportunity to record for Decca in December 1940, Nat King Cole had gained more confidence in his own singing. "Sweet Lorraine" resulted from that session and the Trio soon became quite popular. In future years Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal would all form piano/guitar/bass combos inspired by Cole's group.

Nat Cole recorded a great deal of exciting jazz during the 1940s including dates featuring Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet, the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert (1944) and a countless number of selections for Capitol with his trio; all of the latter are included on a gigantic Mosaic limited-edition box set. Although his singing began to become quite popular by the mid-'40s (and particularly after "The Christmas Song" and "Nature Boy"), Cole mostly performed with his Trio during this era; Johnny Miller took over on bass and in 1947 Irving Ashby became the guitarist. Nat Cole was open to the influence of bop and in 1949 started utilizing Jack Costanzo on bongo and conga for some songs. However his career changed permanently in early 1950 with the recording of "Mona Lisa" which became a number one hit. Suddenly Nat King Cole became famous to the nonjazz public as a singer, and many new fans never realized that he also played piano! During the 1950s and '60s he mostly recorded pop ballads although there were a few exceptions (including 1956's After Midnight album) and he never lost his ability to play stimulating jazz. Cole had a regular television show during 1956-57 (some of which has been released on video) but due to the racism of the period he could never find a sponsor. However the popularity of his records and public appearances remained at a remarkable level and the world mourned Nat King Cole's death from lung cancer in early 1965 at age 47. -- Scott Yanow, All-Music Guide

LINKS YEAR TITLE 1998 Best Of The Nat King Cole Trio 1998 A & E Biography 1997 Revue Collection 1996 Best Of-Vocal Classics 1947-50 1996 Vol. 1-Nat King Cole Shows 1996 Vol. 2-Nat King Cole Shows 1995 Spotlight On Nat "King" Cole 1995 Favorite Ballads 1995 Swingin Easy Down Memory Lane 1995 Best Of-Nat King Cole Trio 1994 Greatest Hits 1993 Lush Life 1992 Unforgettable Nat King Cole 1962 Sings George Shearin 1962 Ramblin' Rose 1961 Billy May Sessions 1959 Big Band Cole 1958 Very Thought Of You 1957 Just One Of Those Things 1957 Love Is The Thing 1956 Complete After Midnight 1955 Piano Stylings Of Nat King Cole 1945 Anatomy Of A Jam Session

Best Of The Nat King Cole Trio 1998

DISC 1
01. Jumpin' At Capitol 02. The Man I Love 03. Body And Soul 04. Prelude In C Sharp Minor 05. What Is This Thing Called Love 06. Easy Listening Blues 07. Sweet Georgia Brown 08. This Way Out 09. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes	10. Honeysuckle Rose 11. Rhumba Azul 12. Moonlight In Vermont 13. How High The Moon 14. I'll Never Be The Same 15. These Foolish Things 16. Laugh! Cool Clown 17. Bop Kick 18. Peaches
DISC 2
01. All For You 02. Straighten Up And Fly Right 03. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You 04. If You Can't Smile And Say Yes 05. Sweet Lorraine 06. Embraceable You 07. It's Only A Paper Moon 08. I Realize Now 09. I'm A Shy Guy 10. You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You 11. What Can I Say Dear After I Said I'm Sorry	12. I'm Thru With Love 13. Do Come To Baby 14. The Frim Fram Sauce 15. How Does It Feel 16. Route 66, (Get Your Kicks On) 17. Baby, Baby All The Time 18. But She's My Buddy's Chick 19. You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love) 20. The Best Man 21. For Sentimental Reasons, (I Love You) 22. You're The Cream In My Coffee
DISC 3
01. Meet Me At No Particular Place 02. Naughty Angeline 03. I Miss You So 04. That's What 05. When I Take My Sugar To Tea 06. What'll I Do 07. This Is My Night To Dream 08. Makin' Whoopee 09. There I've Said It Again 10. I'll String Along With You 11. Too Marvelous For Words	12. Love Nest 13. Dream A Little Dream Of Me 14. Little Girl 15. No Moon At All 16. If I Had You 17. For All We Know 18. 'Tis Autumn 19. Yes Sir, That's My Baby 20. I Used To Love You (But It's All Over Now) 21. Don't Let Your Eyes Go Shopping (For Your Heart) 22. Ooh Kickeroonie

A & E Biography 1998

01. Opening (From Nat King Cole Shows) 02. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 03. St. Louis Blues 04. Unforgettable 05. Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer 06. Mona Lisa 07. Straighten Up And Fly Right(1943 Nat King Cole Trio Version) 08. Sweet Lorraine(1943 Nat King Cole Trio Version) 09. Non-Dimenticar (Don't Forget) [With Studio Introduction]

10. Embraceable You (1943 Nat King Cole Trio Version) 11. It's Only A Paper Moon (1956 Version) 12. If I May 13. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) 14. I Remember You (From The Nat King Cole Shows) 15. When You're Smiling [From The Nat King Cole Shows] 16. The Party's Over 17. Smile (From The Nat King Cole Shows)

Revue Collection 1997

01. I'm Lost 02. Pitchin' Up The Boogie 03. Fine, Sweet & Tasty 04. Let's Spring One 05. Beautiful Moons Ago 06. My Lips Remember Your Kisses

07. Honky Tonk Town 08. Bugle Call Rag 09. Springtime Of Their Love/My Lips Remember Your Kisses 10. Let's Pretend 11. Got A Penny 12. Melancholy Madeline

Best Of-Vocal Classics 1947-50 1996

01. Meet Me At No Special Place(And I'll Be There At No Particular Time) 02. Naughty Angeline 03. I Miss You So 04. That's What 05. When I Take My Sugar To Tea 06. What'll I Do 07. This Is My Night To Dream 08. Makin' Whoopee 09. There I've Said It Again 10. I'll String Along With You 11. Too Marvelous For Words

12. Love Nest 13. Dream A Little Dream Of Me 14. Little Girl 15. No Moon At All 16. If I Had You 17. For All We Know 18. 'Tis Autumn 19. Yes Sir, That's My Baby 20. I Used To Love You (But It's All Over Now) 21. Don't Let Your Eyes Go Shopping (For Your Heart) 22. Ooh Kickeroonie

Vol. 1-Nat King Cole Shows 1996

01. Intro 02. Somebody Loves Me 03. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face 04. Can't You See How Happy We Will Be ( Piano Solo) 05. Unforgettable 06. This Can't Be Love 07. A Beautiful Friendship 08. ( I'll See You In ) Cuba 09. Mona Lisa 10. Thou Swell 11. Night Lights 12. Two Different Worlds

13. It's Only A Paper Moon 14. The Dream I'm Building 15. To The End Of The Earth 16. My Foolish Heart 17. Sweet Sue - Just You 18. Love Letters 19. I'm Shooting High 20. Autumn Leaves 21. Just One Of Those Things(Piano Solo) 22. There Goes My Heart 23. Closing Theme

Vol. 2-Nat King Cole Shows 1996

01. Intro 02. Little Girl 03. Medley: Repeat After Me True Love 04. Too Marvelous For Words 05. Too Young 06. When You're Smiling 07. Night Lights 08. Take Me Back To Toyland 09. Just In Time 10. Somewhere Along The Way 11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 12. A House With Love In It 13. Mrs. Santa Clause 14. Jingle Bells

15. The Christmas Song 16. Silent Night (Instr.) 17. Just In Time #2 18. Jealous Lover 19. You Are My First Love 20. The Banana Boat Song (Day-0) 21. Ballerina 22. Ro Ro Rolling Along 23. This Can't Be Love 24. Namely You 25. Oh Lady Be Good (With Count Basie) 26. September Song 27. Closing Theme

Spotlight On Nat "King" Cole 1995

01. She's Funny That Way 02. Sunday, Monday Or Always 03. Crazy She Calls Me 04. Spring Is Here 05. You'll Never Know 06. Funny (Not Much) 07. I Want A Little Girl 08. Am I Blue? 09. It Will Have To Do Until The Real Thing Comes Along

10. Embraceable You 11. Should I? 12. Say It Isn't So 13. Too Marvelous For Words 14. Mood Indigo 15. For You 16. I Remember You 17. That's All 18. Lights Off

Favorite Ballads 1995

01. The Very Thought Of You 02. Just One Of Those Things 03. Stardust 04. I Had The Craziest Dream 05. These Foolish Things

06. Tenderly 07. Spring Is Here 08. I Should Care 09. Autumn Leaves 10. You're My Thrill

Swingin Easy Down Memory Lane 1995

01. It's Only A Paper Moon 02. Almost Like Being In Love 03. Straighten Up And Fly Right 04. How High The Moon 05. Sunny Side Of The Street 06. How Deep The Ocean 07. Tea For Two 08. Route 66 09. After You've Gone 10. Could You (Would You)

11. Perdido 12. Frim Fram Sauce 13. Hip Hip Hooray 14. It's Only A Paper Moon - (alternate track) 15. Give Me That Jazz 16. This Way To Love 17. Almost Like Being In Love - (version #2) 18. I've Found A New Baby 19. Nice Work If You Can Get It 20. Exactly Like You

Best Of-Nat King Cole Trio 1995

01. All For You 02. Straighten Up And Fly Right 03. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You 04. If You Can't Smile And Say Yes 05. Sweet Lorraine 06. Embraceable You 07. It's Only A Paper Moon 08. I Realize Now 09. I'm A Shy Guy 10. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You 11. What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry

12. I'm Thru With Love 13. Come To Baby, Do 14. The Frim Fram Sauce 15. How Does It Feel 16. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 17. Baby, Baby All The Time 18. But She's My Buddy's Chick 19. You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love) 20. The Best Man 21. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons 22. You're The Cream In My Coffee

Greatest Hits 1994

01. Unforgettable 02. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 03. Orange Colored Sky 04. Mona Lisa 05. Walkin' My Baby Back Home 06. Straighten Up And Fly Right 07. Send For Me 08. Looking Back 09. You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love) 10. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons 11. Nature Boy

12. Ramblin' Rose 13. Pretend 14. Too Young 15. Somewhere Along The Way 16. Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer 17. Smile 18. Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup 19. Answer Me, My Love 20. A Blossom Fell 21. If I May 22. Unforgettable

Lush Life 1993

01. Lush Life 02. You Stepped Out Of A Dream 03. Hey, Not Now! (I'll Tell You When) 04. I'll Always Remember You 05. Where Were You? 06. Tunnel Of Love 07. It's Crazy 08. Funny (Not Much) 09. That's My Girl 10. Roses And Wine 11. It's A Man Every Time 12. Time Out For Tears 13. Get To Gettin'

14. It Was So Good While It Lasted 15. The Way I'm Loving You 16. Ev'ry Day 17. Wish I Were Somebody Else 18. Home (When Shadows Fall) 19. You Can't Make Me Love You 20. Red Sails In The Sunset 21. Get Out And Get Under The Moon 22. My Brother 23. Land Of Love (Come My Love And Live With Me) 24. Poor Jenny Is A-Weepin' 25. Summer Is A Comin' In

Unforgettable Nat King Cole 1992

01. The Very Thought Of You 02. It's Only A Paper Moon 03. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 04. Mona Lisa 05. L-O-V-E 06. This Can't Be Love 07. Smile 08. Lush Life 09. That Sunday, That Summer 10. Orange Colored Sky 11. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons 12. Tenderly

13. Autumn Leaves 14. Straighten Up And Fly Right 15. Avalon 16. Don't Get Around Much Anymore 17. Too Young 18. Nature Boy 19. Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup 20. Almost Like Being In Love 21. Thou Swell 22. Non Dimenticar 23. Our Love Is Here To Stay 24. Unforgettable

Sings George Shearin 1962

01. September Song 02. Pick Yourself Up 03. I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good 04. Let There Be Love 05. Azure-Te 06. Lost April 07. A Beautiful Friendship 08. Fly Me To The Moon

09. Serenata 10. I'm Lost 11. There's A Lull In My Life 12. Don't Go 13. Everything Happens To Me 14. The Game Of Love 15. Guess I'll Go Back Home

Ramblin' Rose 1962

01. Ramblin' Rose 02. Wolverton Mountain 03. Twilight On The Trail 04. I Don't Want It That Way 05. He'll Have To Go 06. When You're Smiling 07. Dear Lonely Hearts 08. All Over The World

09. All By Myself 10. Goodnight, Irene, Goodnight 11. Your Cheatin' Heart 12. One Has My Name The Other Has My Heart 13. Skip To My Lou 14. The Good Times 15. Sing Another Song (And We'll All Go Home)

Billy May Sessions 1961

DISC 1
01. Walkin' My Baby Back Home 02. What Does It Take 03. Walkin' 04. I'm Hurtin' 05. Angel Eyes 06. Lover Come Back To Me 07. Can't I? 08. Papa Loves Mambo 09. Teach Me Tonight 10. Blue Moon 11. With You On My Mind	12. Don't Try 13. Send For Me 14. Let's Make More Love 15. Don't Get Around Much Anymore 16. The Song Is Ended 17. You'll Never Know 18. Just For The Fun Of It (Alt. Take) 19. Who's Sorry Now 20. These Foolish Things 21. Once In A While
DISC 2
01. Just One Of Those Things 02. I Should Care 03. The Party's Over 04. Just For The Fun Of It 05. A Cottage For Sale 06. I Understand 07. When Your Lover Has Gone 08. Ebony Rhapsody 09. Day In, Day Out 10. Too Little, Too Late	11. When My Sugar Walks Down The Street 12. Cold, Cold Heart 13. Let's Face The Music And Dance 14. Something Makes Me Want To Dance 15. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter 16. Rules Of The Road 17. Warm And Willing 18. Bidin' My Time 19. Moon Love

Big Band Cole 1959

01. She's Funny That Way 02. Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere 03. I Want A Little Girl 04. Mood Indigo 05. The Blues Don't Care 06. Avalon 07. Baby Won't You Please Come Home 08. The Late Late Show 09. Welcome To The Club

10. Look Out For Love 11. Wee Baby Blues 12. Madrid 13. Orange Colored Sky 14. Jam-Bo 15. Orange Colored Sky 16. Steady 17. My Love

Very Thought Of You 1958

01. The Very Thought Of You 02. But Beautiful 03. Impossible 04. I Wish I Knew The Way To Your Heart (Notorious) 05. I Found A Million Dollar Baby(In A Five And Ten Cent Store) 06. Magnificent Obsession 07. My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?) 08. Paradise

09. This Is All I Ask 10. Cherie, I Love You 11. Making Believe You're Here 12. Cherchez La Femme 13. For All We Know 14. The More I See You 15. Don't Blame Me 16. There Is No Greater Love

Just One Of Those Things 1957

01. When Your Lover Has Gone 02. A Cottage For Sale 03. Who's Sorry Now? 04. Once In A While 05. These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You 06. Just For The Fun Of It 07. Don't Get Around Much Anymore 08. I Understand

09. Just One Of Those Things 10. The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On) 11. I Should Care 12. The Party's Over 13. Day In-Day Out 14. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter) 15. Something Makes Me Want To Dance With You

Love Is The Thing 1957

01. When I Fall In Love 02. Stardust 03. Stay As Sweet As You Are 04. Where Can I Go Without You? 05. Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much 06. Love Letters 07. Ain't Misbehavin' 08. I Thought About Marie

09. At Last 10. It's All In The Game 11. When Sunny Gets Blue 12. Love Is The Thing 13. Someone To Tell It To 14. The End Of A Love Affair 15. If Love Ain't There

Complete After Midnight 1956

01. Just You, Just Me 02. Sweet Lorraine 03. Sometimes I'm Happy 04. Caravan 05. It's Only A Paper Moon 06. You're Looking At Me 07. Lonely One 08. Don't Let It Go To Your Head 09. I Know That You Know

10. Blame It On My Youth 11. When I Grow Too Old To Dream 12. Route 66 13. What Is There To Say 14. You Can Depend On Me 15. I Was A Little Too Lonely 16. Two Loves Have I 17. Candy

Piano Stylings Of Nat King Cole 1955

01. Love Walked In 02. My Heart Stood Still 03. Imagination 04. I Never Knew 05. Stella By Starlight 06. What Can I Say After I'm Sorry 07. I Didn't Know What Time It Was 08. Takin' A Chance On Love 09. April In Paris

10. I Want To Be Happy 11. I See Your Face Before Me 12. Just One Of Those Things 13. I Get A Kick Out Of You 14. If I Could Be With You 15. I Hear Music 16. Tea For Two 17. My Heart Stood Still (Alternate Take)

Anatomy Of A Jam Session 1945

01. Black Market Stuff - (incomplete) 02. Black Market Stuff - (take 1) 03. Black Market Stuff - (take 2) 04. Black Market Stuff - (take 3) 05. Laguna Leap - (take 1) 06. Laguna Leap - (take 2)

07. Laguna Leap - (take 3) 08. I'll Never Be The Same - (take 1) 09. I'll Never Be The Same - (take 2) 10. Swingin' On Central - (take 1) 11. Swingin' On Central - (take 2) 12. Kicks