Nat King Cole
Ernest Heifort, Rachel Wood & Will Siegel
Birth
•
•
•
Born Nathaniel Adams Coles
Born March 17, 1919 to Edward James Coles
and Perlina Adams
Born in Montgomery, Alabama
Growing Up
•
•
•
•
Moved to Chicago when he was five years old
His father was a minister at True Light Baptist
Church, and then Pastor of the First Baptist
Church.
His mother was a choir director
His three brothers, Ike, Eddie, and Frankie also
played piano.
First Interest in Music
•
•
When he was four years old his mother taught
him how to play piano
He most likely would have been taught gospel
music if his parents
Education
•
Attended DuSable High School, but dropped out
at age 15 to become a jazz pianist full time.
His musical education was limited to the lessons
that his mother gave him when he was young.
Like many other musicians, he did not have
formal training, and developed his musical style
on his own.
Music of the Era
•
•
The major musical influences of the time were:
- Large bands
- Jazz
- Pop
Jazz influenced Nat the most, presumably, as he
became a jazz pianist. He also formed a 14 man
band when he was 14, The Royal Dukes
Musical Influences
•
•
•
Earl "Fatha" Hines, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, and Albert
Ammons all had very large influences on Nat King Cole's
piano playing style.
"It was his (Hines) driving force that appealed to me ... I was
just a kid and coming up, but I latched onto that new Hines
style..." Nat said in an interview in 1957
Nat influenced many artists, one of whom, Aaron Neville
talks about the people that Cole influenced, "I think Nat was
everybody's favorite singer..." "From Ray Charles to Sam
Cooke to Marvin Gaye — all of them loved him. Everybody
wanted to do some Nat King Cole."
Music Played
•
The style of music that Cole Played started out
considered R&B but after the contract with
Decca Records expired and Capitol Records
picked up the King Cole Trio, they crossed over
into the Pop Chart.
Groups He Was A Part Of
•
•
•
While performing at the Café Century during the summer of
1937, Cole the manager of a club called the Swanee Inn
approached him and asked him to put together a band to play
at the club.
With guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince,
combined together to create The King Cole Swingsters
Later, they shortened it to The King Cole Trio.
Hits
•
•
One of the top songs ever played by Nat was the
song Mona Lisa, it was #1 on the Charts for 8
weeks, and won the Academy Award for Best
Original Song.
Two other popular songs played by Nat were I
Love You for Sentimental Reasons, which was
#1 on the Charts for 6 weeks, and his first
number 1 hit. And the next is Nature Boy, which
was #1 on the charts for 8 weeks.
TV Show
•
•
•
Nat "King"Cole made television history in 1956
when he became the first African-American to
host his own national TV program.
The Nat "King" Cole Show featured many of the
leading performers of the day, including Count
Basie, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Tony
Bennett.
This series did not last long however, going off
the air in December 1957. Cole blamed the
show's downfall on the lack of a national
Racism
•
•
•
Nat accredited racism to the ending of his
television show
In 1956, while performing at a concert in
Birmingham, Alabama, Nat was attacked onstage
by two members of a white racist organization
called the White Citizens Council
He left the scene with a few inguries to his back
but recovered quickly.
Politics
•
•
•
Addressed the Republican National Convention
in 1956.
Attended the Democratic National Convention in
1960.
Performed at President John F. Kennedy's
inauguration on 20 January 1961.
Health
•
•
•
He often smoked three packs of cigarettes a day
during his lifetime
He did this because he believed it kept his voice
low.
This unfortunately contributed to his early death
Death
•
•
•
Died of lung cancer a few months after being
diagnosed; he was only 45 years old
His music remained popular well after he passed
and was featured in many featured films
His daughter carried on the family name by
becoming successful in her own way
Posthumous Awards
•
Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award - 1989
He was nominated one other time
(1958) and did not win until after he passed
Conclusion
•
•
Nat "King" Cole was a combination of Rhythm
and Blues and Rock and Roll. He had been
influenced by Rhythm and Blues since he grew
up in the south. Later, he morphed it into his own
musical style combining the elements from each
genre.
He fits into the evolution of Rock and Roll
because his music was somewhat R&B which
lead to the Rock and Roll we know today.
References
bio.true story. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/nat-king-cole9253026
Imdb- the internet movie database. (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170713/bio
Jazz Profiles from NPR Nat King" Cole: The Pianist (2008). Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/cole_natpianist.html
Musical trends of the 1930s and 1940s. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://otal.umd.edu/~vg/amst205.F97/vj04/p6b.html
Zoomer radio am740. Retrieved from http://zoomerradio.ca/blog/uncategorized/top-tensongs-by-nat-king-cole/
Nat King Cole Biography. Ruhlmann, W. (n.d.). Retrieved from