Nat King Cole
Behind that velvet-smooth voice, he never wanted to leave the keyboard his whole life.
At a glance 🔭💭
Some coordinates adapted from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) · Pleiades (CC BY 3.0)
Those who walked with him ⏳🌊
- FamilyEdward Cole
A Baptist deacon, his pulpit cadences and rhythms left their mark on his son's music.
- FamilyPerlina Cole
A church organist, she taught her four-year-old son piano herself.
- InfluenceEarl Hines
House pianist at Chicago's Grand Terrace Cafe, he was a boyhood idol.
- FriendshipArt Tatum
They crossed paths at Los Angeles after-hours sessions and are said to have treasured each other's playing.
- ColleagueOscar Moore
The trio's guitarist, in step with him for a decade or so.
- SupportNelson Riddle
Together they shaped, through string arrangements, a mature ballad sound unlike anything from the trio years.
I. From Montgomery to Chicago · 1919–1936 (age 0–17)
(Montgomery) He was born in March 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama. His given name was Nathaniel Adams Coles; later he dropped the 's' from his surname to become Nat Cole, and then Nat King Cole. (Father) His father, Edward James Coles, was a Baptist deacon who later became a minister in Chicago. The cadences and rhythms that came down from the pulpit stayed long in his son's ear — the tale of the monkey and the buzzard that would one day underlie "Straighten Up and Fly Right" is said to have come from one of his father's sermons. (Mother) His mother, Perlina Adams Coles, was a church organist. She taught her four-year-old son the piano herself, grounding him in hymns and classical method books. His older brother Eddie (bass) and younger brothers Ike (piano) and Freddy (piano·vocals) all became musicians too — the Cole household was, in effect, a small music school. (Chicago) Around 1923 the family followed the tide of the Great Migration to Bronzeville, on Chicago's South Side. The neighborhood, where the Black middle class lived side by side with laborers, was dense with churches, clubs and theaters, and the boy grew up between the church choir and the blues of the street. (Hines) Earl Hines, the pianist in residence at the Grand Terrace Café, was the boy's idol. Cole later recalled lying about his age and loitering at the club door to listen in — Hines's signature right-hand lines and loose left-hand touch would leave a clear mark on Cole's own light, buoyant piano.
II. The trio in Los Angeles · 1937–1943 (age 18–24)
(Escape) In 1937 he joined a revival of the touring revue Shuffle Along as its pianist and made it as far as Los Angeles, only to be stranded when the show abruptly closed. Lacking even the fare home, he decided to stay out west — a choice forced on him by poverty that became the starting point of his career. (Marriage) In 1937 he married Nadine Robinson, a dancer in the same revue. Their marriage lasted until 1948. (Trio) Drifting from club to club in LA, he formed a trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. The drumless lineup of piano·guitar·bass was at first a matter of budget, but the way the three instruments whispered and traded phrases like chamber music soon became a charm all its own. (Singing) He had started out purely as a pianist, with no thought of becoming a singer. The story goes that a drunk patron at one club insisted he sing "Sweet Lorraine," and that his reluctant performance drew cheers from the room — whether or not it happened that way, it was around this time that the trio began working songs into its repertoire. (Living) These were years without a proper label, spent shuttling between small clubs and radio broadcasts. Money was always tight, and for several years he lived hand to mouth, traveling by car with Moore and Prince.
The song said to have launched the trio's singing repertoire, it shows the drumless trio lineup in its original form.
- With only piano·guitar·bass and no drums, the lineup trades phrases in hushed exchanges, like chamber music (piano trio).
- Cole's right hand, with a light, bouncing touch inherited from Hines, plays the melody as if singing it.
- Oscar Moore's guitar solo picks out one note at a time (single-note soloing), cutting in like a conversation partner for the piano.
- Cole's vocal is relaxed, letting notes slip out softly, and the languid voice that would later become his signature is already unmistakable.
III. Capitol and national fame · 1943–1948 (age 24–29)
(Contract) In 1943 he signed with the fledgling label Capitol Records. Its founder, Johnny Mercer, saw the trio's promise, and Cole became one of the first Black stars on this small company's roster. (Hit) "Straighten Up and Fly Right," recorded that same year, sold explosively. But Cole had already signed away half his share of the song's rights for a mere 50 dollars — a decision made in his poor, unknown days when he needed cash fast, and one he is said to have regretted for years as he watched the song become a runaway hit. (Radio) Songs such as "Route 66" (1946) and "The Christmas Song" (1946) went out over the radio one after another. With Cole's easy, warm voice laid over the trio's light, swinging sound, it became common for white listeners to meet him first as 'an invisible voice on the radio' — and it is said that more than a few fan letters came from people who never guessed the color of his skin. (Fame) With nothing but piano·guitar·bass, the trio rivaled the big bands in popularity, proving that a drumless combo could succeed commercially. This lineup later became the model for countless piano trios, Oscar Peterson's among them. (Capitol Tower) As Cole's records became the company's mainstay, the cylindrical Capitol Records Tower later built in Hollywood picked up the half-joking nickname 'the house that Nat built' — a measure of how much his sales held up the company's foundations.
A song that turned a tale from his father's sermons into lyrics; because he had sold the rights for a pittance, regret tinged the joy of its success.
- Over a 32-bar AABA form (in the rhythm changes family), a push and pull that drags slightly behind the beat (swing) rolls along briskly.
- Cole's piano repeats short phrases, answering the vocal as if in conversation.
- Because bass and guitar pound out the beat without pause, a groove that gets the body moving comes alive even without drums.
- Critics often note the rhythm of the pulpit in Cole's way of tossing off the lyrics as if speaking them.
Bobby Troup's travel song, unfurled in the trio's signature exuberant swing, became a radio hit.
- Within a 12-bar blues form, each line moves briskly along, ticking off one place name after another.
- Oscar Moore's guitar slips in a short, sprightly solo midway, adding life to the song.
- Cole's piano accompaniment mixes light grace notes into the right hand, painting the giddy mood of the open road.
- What stands out is a medium-tempo swing that never hurries yet pushes forward with spring.
IV. The house in Hancock Park · 1948–1956 (age 29–37)
(Remarriage) In 1948 he divorced Nadine and married the singer Maria Hawkins Ellington. Maria had a keen musical eye and is said to have had no small hand in choosing his repertoire. The couple had a daughter, Natalie, who would later become a singer herself and sing her father's "Unforgettable" anew in her own voice. (Hancock Park) That same year he bought a house in Hancock Park, a white middle-class enclave of Los Angeles. Neighbors tried to block a Black family from moving in, and at one point a cross was burned on the lawn. Cole refused to give up the house, and the episode led him to take a steady part in the work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). (Independence) He moved beyond the trio, shifting his center of gravity to that of a solo singer backed by a string orchestra. "Nature Boy" (1948) was a case in point: a song brought to him by Eden Ahbez, an unknown wandering songwriter, which Cole boldly recorded despite its unconventional melody and turned into a national hit. (Ballads) With Nelson Riddle and other arrangers, he released one lyrical ballad after another, such as "Mona Lisa" (1950) and "Unforgettable" (1951). In place of the light, swinging touch of the trio years, the heart of his music moved toward a low, mellow voice speaking softly over a broad bed of strings. (Wealth) As record sales and royalties piled up, he grew financially comfortable. Yet he was still turned away from hotels and restaurants because of the color of his skin, and he had to learn again and again that there were walls money could not break down.
A song by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells, recorded first with a small group and later again with a string orchestra, it became the Christmas standard.
- The arrangement stands out for leaving space so the voice rises clearly above a broad orchestral bed of strings (string orchestration).
- Cole sings as though warmly smoothing each note, with an unhurried breath and a delivery that seems to be telling a story.
- The 1961 re-recording, captured anew in stereo, remains the most widely played version today.
- Played over and over on the radio every year for more than half a century, it has become, in effect, the definitive Christmas standard.
A song by Eden Ahbez, an unknown composer who drifted beneath the Hollywood sign; for all its unfamiliar melody, Cole boldly took it on and made it a hit.
- An exotic atmosphere arises from the sense of a melody flowing over a single scale that settles neatly into neither major nor minor (a modal melody).
- In the introduction, oboe and strings settle in like mist, conjuring a mood rare in the popular songs of the day.
- Cole delivers the melody without exaggeration, almost in a whisper, calmly relating the lyric's tale of a wanderer.
- Though it abandoned the typical 32-bar form for a freer structure, it still found popular success, and it is counted as an exceptional case for its time.
A slow ballad written for a film, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, along with praise for its delicate string arrangement.
- Over a slow ballad in four, the strings wrap around the melody as if painting a picture.
- Cole's voice, in its low register, places each word of the lyric with care, choosing a manner of speech that describes an enigmatic smile.
- With each refrain the string arrangement thickens a little more, gradually deepening the intensity of feeling.
- A delivery that holds each note straight, without exaggerated vibrato, lends the whole ballad a restrained dignity.
Written by Irving Gordon, the song bridged generations in 1991, when his daughter Natalie Cole sang it anew, layering her own voice over her father's original.
- Over a slow-tempo, 32-bar ballad form, the strings draw out their long breaths to support the voice.
- Cole sings as if gently catching and drawing out the ends of words, in a tender manner that seems to address the listener directly.
- The arrangement stacks the strings layer by layer in the refrain, making the climax overwhelming without ever letting the emotion burst.
- In the 1991 re-recording, Cole's original voice and Natalie's overlap like a duet, creating an effect that crosses the years.
V. The stage in Birmingham · 1956–1960 (age 37–41)
(Attack) In April 1956, during a concert in Birmingham, Alabama, he was assaulted by white supremacists who rushed the stage. The show was halted, and Cole had to leave the stage hurt and shaken. The violence took place in the very state where he was born. (Stance) He was not one to make openly radical statements, and this caution drew criticism from some in the Black movement that he was too moderate. Though he supported the NAACP, his continuing to perform before segregated audiences in the South after the Birmingham incident gave grounds for that criticism; he joined the boycott of segregated venues only later. (TV show) In 1956, The Nat King Cole Show premiered on NBC, the first regular variety show on American network television hosted by a Black performer. Fellow musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald and Harry Belafonte are said to have lent their support by appearing without pay. (Cancellation) But national advertisers, wary of the Southern market, hesitated to sign on, and in 1957 the show came to an end, citing poor profitability. Cole is said to have later reflected bitterly that "Madison Avenue was afraid of the dark" — that NBC and the advertising industry had been scared of the South. (Music) Critics have since noted a new shadow in the ballads he recorded during this period. In this reading, the walls he met again and again behind the scenes, in contrast to his dazzling success, seeped into the restrained sorrow of his singing.
VI. The last songs · 1960–1965 (age 41–46)
(Habit) He smoked three or four packs of menthol cigarettes a day. He is said to have believed that cigarettes made his voice deeper and smoother, and colleagues remember him never letting go of a cigarette even in the recording studio. (Illness) In late 1964, feeling unwell, he underwent an examination and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Even while in treatment, he did not stop performing and recording. (The end) On February 15, 1965, he died in a hospital in Santa Monica, California. He was forty-five. (Legacy) From the buoyant swing of the trio to the mellow, orchestra-backed ballads, his music remains proof that a Black singer could stand at the center of mainstream American popular music. In 1991 his daughter Natalie released Unforgettable... with Love, layering her own voice over her father's old recordings, and his songs were called forth again across the generations.
Lesser-known stories
(Year of birth) For a long time many sources gave Cole's year of birth as 1917, and 1917 was even printed on a 1994 commemorative stamp. His widow, Maria, disputed this, however, and today 1919 is accepted as the established year. (Nickname) The nickname "King" is said to have come not from any grand plan but from an impromptu publicity stunt by the owner of a Los Angeles club. Playing on the English nursery rhyme "Old King Cole" (the merry old king Cole), he placed a paper crown on Cole's head onstage, and that was how it began. The nickname stuck as the name of the trio and followed him for the rest of his life. (Hancock Park) When his Hancock Park neighbors sent a representative to say, in a roundabout way, "We don't want any undesirables coming in here," Cole is said to have shot back, "Neither do I. If I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain." That one brief retort sums up the situation he faced at the time. (Foreign-language recordings) To broaden his overseas market, he rerecorded a number of his hits himself with lyrics in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese. These versions, for which he learned the pronunciation of languages not his own word by word, did much to make him known beyond the United States, yet they remain relatively little known at home.
Notes on terms 📚🔎
Piano trio
Trio comes from the Italian word for "three" and refers to an ensemble of three players. In jazz, a piano trio usually means piano, bass and drums, but Nat King Cole's trio replaced the drums with guitar, making it piano·guitar·bass. It is easy to grasp if you listen to how the three instruments fill and leave space as if taking turns in a conversation — like a hand-clapping game played in pairs, when one side rests, the other fills the gap. Elsewhere, outside music, the word trio is widely used for any group made up of three people.
Walking bass
Just as the English word says, it means "walking"; the name comes from the way the bass picks out its notes as if stepping along the ground one pace at a time. In jazz, it refers to a technique in which the bassist, each time the chord changes, plays notes that suit the harmony one by one — usually one note per beat — in an unbroken line. Picture someone stepping on the notes at a steady pace, as if walking without ever stopping — much like stamping your feet to a regular beat while jumping rope.
AABA form
In jazz, a framework common in 32-bar popular songs: the same melody (A) appears twice, a different melody (B, often called the "bridge") cuts in once, and the piece then returns to the opening melody (A) to close. It is easy to think of it as a story that repeats like a round, wanders briefly down a different path in the middle, and then comes back home.
Modal melody
"Mode" comes from the Latin modus, meaning "manner, measure." In music it came to mean the various different ways of arranging notes — in other words, a type of scale. In jazz, it refers to a quality in which the melody lingers freely over a single scale rather than ceaselessly following a fixed chord progression. When an unfamiliar scale that is neither major nor minor is used, as in "Nature Boy," the listener feels as if leaving a familiar road to walk through a strange landscape. It can be likened to the feeling of romping freely around a playground instead of keeping to the set paths.
String orchestration
In jazz, an arranging approach that places many string instruments — violins·violas·cellos and the like — behind a voice or solo instrument to lay down a broad, soft background. It works on the same principle as choir class: when the whole class hums a low harmony underneath, a single soloist's voice sounds clearer and fuller.
Swing
In jazz, a rhythmic feel that does not divide the beat mechanically but slightly drags the offbeat, as if pushing and pulling. Even when the notation looks exactly the same, if the player subtly pushes and pulls within it, the body can't help but move — much like the feeling on a swing of lingering for a moment at the top before coming back down. Elsewhere, swing is also used figuratively to mean "to catch the mood, to give oneself over to the flow."