(92) NAT KING COLE - CROSSING OVER

NAT KING COLE was also an exceptional singer, in that crooner category, who we could not help but notice, talk about, and enjoy. By the late 1950's Nat had made his way from his Southern roots, to Chicago, through the jazz scene, and had hits of "Nature Boy" in 1948, "Mona Lisa," in 1950, and "Unforgettable" in 1951. He was an artist who had commercial success, had fought prejudice, and had somehow made it.

By the fall of 1956 he, like Perry Como, had his own television show on NBC, and like other shows in the early days of television, his had gone from fifteen minutes, to a half hour. His show lasted about a year. No one took television for granted back then. It was an event - a gathering - to sit in front of a set - and I think as a result we gave shows and performers on them our attention.

Now, though I don't think Nat was lifelong partial to one political party or another, in 1960 he got behind our soon to be President, John F. Kennedy, and sang at the Democratic National Convention. Elvis and I and our friends watched what was happening with Kennedy and civil rights with great interest. We had grown up with segregation. We had met, worked with, and liked Black musicians and singers, people in the business.

Looking back I can't say exactly when the 1950's ended or the 1960's began, or our nation would begin to dramatically change in character. But it was small things first, small things like a black man having his own television show that other black performers could go on. The late great Frank Sinatra was known to insist on black performers being treated as equals. He did that for Sammy Davis Junior and he did it for Nat King Cole, when in 1961 he had Nat perform at the Kennedy Inaugural party. That was only fair.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame : Nat King Cole

http://rockhall.com/inductees/nat-king-cole/

Official Site of the Nat King Cole Society

http://www.nat-king-cole.org/

NEW! LINK ABOVE TO THE ULTIMATE NAT KING COLE!

Here's a YouTube video presentation of Nat King Cole singing "Nature Boy."

I call him "The Man With the Velvet Voice."