60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
2/15/65 - Nat King Cole dies of lung cancer
Here's a Forgotten Hits piece we wrote TWENTY YEARS AGO as a tribute to the great Nat King Cole ...
NAT KING COLE
was a merry old soul...
(and a merry old soul was he)!
He was loved by the blacks, he was loved by the whites
And he started the KING COLE THREE.
(As
KING COLE'S TRIO and then THE KING COLE TRIO, NAT, OSCAR MOORE and
WESLEY PRINCE first hit BILLBOARD's Pop Charts in 1943 with the #19 hit
ALL FOR YOU. 14 other TOP 40
HITS followed, including the ORIGINAL version of THE CHRISTMAS SONG,
NAT's holiday classic, that has remained a "chestnut" for the past 80+
years!!! NAT would re-cut the tune in 1954 as a solo artist and that's the one you generally hear to this day.)
NAT KING COLE
had his very own show
on and off for a year on NBC
But the ratings were poor,
sponsors boycotted the show
'cause they weren't ready for "colored" TV.
(In
1956, NBC gave NAT KING COLE his own television show ... it started out
as simply 15 minutes ... truly his "fifteen minutes of fame," I guess
... which ran as part of NBC's MONDAY NIGHTLY NEWS Program. This
format allowed him only enough time to sing a song or two ... there was
rarely a guest star ... and then sign off the air. The program was
later expanded to 30 minutes and moved to Tuesday nights in July of 1957
and NAT had a virtual "Who's Who" of black guest performers on his
program ... COUNT BASIE, PEARL BAILEY, BILLY ECKSTINE, SAMMY DAVIS JR.,
ELLA FITZGERALD, HARRY BELAFONTE, THE MILLS BROTHERS, MAHALIA JACKSON
and CAB CALLOWAY all appeared during the program's short six month
lifespan, as did premier WHITE performers like MEL TORME, PEGGY LEE,
TONY BENNETT and FRANKIE LAINE. Despite
all this talent ... and the fact the COLE was LOVED by blacks and white
alike ... the show never registered higher than a 19% audience share. It aired opposite ROBIN HOOD, which commanded 50% of the viewing audience.)
NAT KING COLE
had his first hit solo
way back in the year 1950 ...
and the hits kept on comin' ... MONA LISA was next ...
By the end, he had had 103!
(Between 1943 and 1966, NAT KING COLE hit BILLBOARD's Jukebox, Disc Jockey and Best Sellers Pop Chart an incredible 103 times!!! This total includes his 15 KING COLE TRIO hits as well as his 88 solo chart entries. By
comparison, during that same time frame, he hit BILLBOARD's R&B
Chart just 47 times, proving once again his undeniable, universal
across-the-boards music appeal. In
fact, at the time our piece first ran, CAPITOL RECORDS had just
released a 4-CD Box Set featuring 100 of NAT's Singles releases! His first solo hit, I ALMOST LOST MY MIND, was released in 1950 and went to #26 on BILLBOARD's "Disc Jockey" Chart.
It
was HIS version of the IVORY JOE HUNTER hit, a #1 R&B Record, that
would also be covered by PAT BOONE six years later and go on to hit #1
on the Pop Charts.
His follow-up hit was the classic MONA LISA, Number One on the Charts for five weeks.)
He had four #1's, he had two #2's
and had one song that peaked at #3.
He was in CAT BALLOU, and in ST. LOUIS BLUES
and a daughter that was named NATALIE.
(NAT "officially" hit the Top Spot four times on BILLBOARD's Pop Chart: I
LOVE YOU FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS (in 1946), NATURE BOY (#1 in 1948) ...
both of THESE hits were with the KING COLE TRIO ... and again as a solo
artist in 1950 with MONA LISA and TOO YOUNG in '51. His two #2's include A BLOSSOM FELL (1955) and the eternal RAMBLIN' ROSE (1962). PRETEND was his one #3 hit in 1953. NAT
was one of the singing narrators in the popular movie CAT BALLOU
starring JANE FONDA and LEE MARVIN and starred in his own right in ST.
LOUIS BLUES. COLE also had the
lead-role in an All-Star Black cast that included a very young BILLY
PRESTON playing COLE's character as a child! His daughter, NATALIE COLE, would go on to have a dozen pop hits of her own in the '70's and '80's. In 1991, she released a digitally produced duet with her father on his classic hit UNFORGETTABLE, which went all the way to #14. (Believe it or not, NAT's original version peaked at the same position in 1952!)
And with that, we'll end this poem and all your misery.
(whew!!!)
kk
Also on 2/15, John Lennon finally gets his drivers license!
Also on 2/15, Pye Records in England announces that they
have signed “The British Bob Dylan” when they put singer/songwriter Donovan
(Leitch) under contract.
While Donovan would go on to have fifteen US Top 40 Hits, I
don’t think anybody ever considered Pye’s announcement anything more than just a hopeful
boast.
Also on 2/15, the red maple leaf flag becomes the official
flag of Canada
And, on the charts, 60 YEARS AGO TODAY ...
The Righteous Brothers have the most popular song in America for the third week in a row. Sneaking up behind it are "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys at #2 and "My Girl" by The Temptations at #4, both in their eighth week on the charts.
Roger Miller, Jewel Akens and Little Anthony and the Imperials all make ten point leaps within The Top 40 ...
But Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Searchers, Herman's Hermits and Shirley Bassey all do better than that, moving from #44 to #27, #43 to #30, #56 to #38 and #64 to #40 respectively. (Notice how these are all British acts, continuing to tear up the charts here in The States???)
Of course Roy Orbison (#58 to #33) and Roy's former guitarist Bobby Goldsboro (#50 to #34) aren't doing too badly either!
Speaking of British Acts, the top debut this week belongs to The Beatles, who bow at #51 with their latest, "Eight Days A Week." (Although considered for single release in Great Britain, The Fabs decided not to go that route ... but it was popular enough here in America to become yet another #1 Record for The Fab Four.)
[You can hear this song evolve in the studio ... scroll back to October 6th of last year and listen to the song develop into what it is today]
And let's not rule out The Supremes ... they're new on the chart this week with "Stop! In The Name Of Love" ... it premiers at #71.
