Post by Skyy on Dec 14, 2005 10:01:38 GMT -5
Mr. Christmas
He was born Nathaniel Adams Coles on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1919? (There was no birth certificate, so this is the estimated year of birth) in segregated Montgomery, Alabama. A child prodigy, he could play piano effortlessly by the age of four. He became famous first as a jazz pianist. But soon his silky smooth baritone vocals, wrapped mostly around standards, which Nat loved singing, eclipsed his popularity as a musician. Many of his new fans were completely unaware that he played piano and that he had made a living as the leader of the jazz and swing ensemble, The King Cole Trio. Nat later made history as the very first African-American to host his own weekly radio and television program. Nat was reluctantly pushed into the Civil Rights struggle and was vilified by many people because of how he stood on issues concerning race. Even so, many opportunities that are commonplace in the music industry today came about because of Nat "King" Cole.
After his death, Cole continued to appeal to the two almost mutually exclusive audiences that had appreciated him during his life. Jazz fans continued to treasure his recordings of the 1930s and 1940s and to dismiss the non-jazz recordings he had made later. (In 1994, German discographer Klaus Teubig compiled Straighten Up and Fly Right: A Chronology and Discography of Nat "King" Cole, which pointedly cut off in the early '50s.) Pop fans clamored for reissues of Cole's 1950s and '60s music, awarding gold record status to compilations that Capitol continued to assemble, without much worrying about the singer's talent as a piano player. (And, as his recordings fell into the public domain in Europe, where there is a 50-year copyright limit, a spate of low-quality reissues assumed flood levels.) But the ongoing debate was only testament to Cole's ongoing attraction for music lovers, which, in the decades following his untimely end, showed no signs of abating.
Nat King Cole forever made famous the beautiful song of Christmas entitled, "The Christmas Song", nobody quite sang it like he did and it is the top christmas song requested during the christmas holidays over the air waves that still today bring back fond memories of christmas for many. He has an unforgettable voice.