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Nat King Cole: Before the Voice, There was the piano. · Timeless Songs with Eileen Ponich

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: When you hear the name Nat King Cole, what comes to mind?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Unforgettable?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Mona Lisa?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: The Christmas Song?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Probably that beautiful, warm voice.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: But did you know that Nat King Cole was a remarkable jazz pianist long
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: before he became a famous singer?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think his years at the piano had a lot to do with what made his singing so special.
• 0:29
  [music]
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Timeless Songs, where great songs live on.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Eileen Ponich.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Today, I want to tell you a little bit about the Nat King Cole you may not know, the pianist.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's a story I love about Nat as a teenager in Chicago.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: He was fascinated by the great jazz pianist Earl Hines.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: But he couldn't always get into the club where Hines was playing.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: So what did he do?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: He stood outside in the alley and listened.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: I love that image.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: This young boy standing outside a nightclub, soaking up every note.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it paid off.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Nat became an extraordinary pianist himself.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, when he first started playing professionally,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: he sounded quite a bit like Earl Hines,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: but eventually he developed a style all his own.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: After moving to Los Angeles, Nat formed the King Cole Trio,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: just piano, guitar,
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: and bass, no drummer.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you might think a jazz group needs a drummer to swing,
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: but this trio proved otherwise.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: The three musicians listened so closely to one another
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: that they created their own wonderful sense of rhythm.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And Nat was right in the middle of it.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of their big hits was Straighten Up and Fly Right.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's a terrific example of that early trio sound.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I've included a recording in the companion blog post, and I hope you'll give it a listen.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a famous story about how Nat became a singer.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently, a customer in a nightclub insisted that he sing Sweet Lorraine.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And according to the legend, that's how his singing career began.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's a good story.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: But Nat had already been singing long before that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: What is true is that audiences began to fall in love with his voice.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And who could blame them?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was so warm, relaxed, and natural.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Almost as if he were having a conversation with you.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what I find interesting.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: As a pianist, Nat had to learn how to shape a musical phrase, when to hold back,
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: when to let the music breathe.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he brought all of that to his singing.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: As a singer myself, I think that's a wonderful lesson.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're so busy trying to make every note beautiful that we forget.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Simply to tell the story.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Nat never seemed to forget that.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually, Nat's voice became the main attraction.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: That little jazz trio gave way to lush orchestras and strings.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And along came songs like Mona Lisa and Unforgettable.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: But here's something worth remembering.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Nat achieved all of this at a time
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: when Black performers faced terrible discrimination.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: He was even attacked on stage during a concert in Alabama.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And although he became the first Black performer to host a television variety show,
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: he couldn't attract the national sponsorship needed to keep it on the air.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to imagine someone so beloved facing that kind of treatment.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yet through it all, he continued making beautiful music.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: In 1956, Nat recorded an album called After Midnight.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And there he was, back at the piano, playing jazz with a small group.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: One of the songs was Sweet Lorraine.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: After all those years, he was still returning to the music that had shaped him.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And when I listen to Unforgettable Now, I hear something I might have missed before.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: I hear the pianist and the singer.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: The way he phrases a line, the little pauses, the feeling that he never has to hurry.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: He just lets the song speak.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the next time you hear Nat King Cole sing, listen a little differently.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Behind that beautiful voice was a musician who had spent years learning how
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: to listen, and maybe that's part of what made him unforgettable.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to hear some of the early playing along
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: with the recordings we've talked about today, Visit my original article,
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Nat King Cole, Before the Voice, There Was the Piano.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put the link in the show notes.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can find it at www.timelesssongs.substack.com.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, wishing you a little beautiful music in your day.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Eileen Ponich.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: With a song in my heart.
• 6:41
  [music]