The non-chronological survey of the Cole oeuvre spans 1943-1964 and includes many of his greatest and most indelible hits including his solo top ten smashes "Nature Boy" (in its 1961 re-recording), "Mona Lisa" (1950), "Unforgettable" (1951), "Pretend" (1953), "Smile" (in its 1961 re-recording), and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" (1963) as well as the King Cole Trio's top ten entries "Straighten Up and Fly Right" (1943) and "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" (1946). These diverse selections showcase the voice that influenced and inspired artists as disparate as Ray Charles and Johnny Mathis: smooth, seductive, and entrancing. (A vinyl edition arrives in June.) Its 21 tracks reflect the artist's many personas: fleet-fingered piano man and bandleader of The King Cole Trio, perennial hipster, peerless interpretive singer. The Cole centennial has just been celebrated by Capitol Records and UMe with a pair of new CD collections including Ultimate Nat King Cole. At the time of his death, at the height of Beatlemania, he was selling some seven million records a year. ![]() He paved the way for African-American artists as the first black man to host a nationwide television variety show, and quietly but devotedly crusaded for civil rights. While the man born Nathaniel Adams Coles only lived to the age of 45, he more than earned his royal moniker over his three decades of performing. Mawould have been Nat "King" Cole's 100th birthday.
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