Thursday music corner: Nathaniel Adams Coles, famously known as Nat 'King' Cole (1919-65), was a silky-voiced jazz and pop singer, pianist and actor with dozens of albums and single releases over his career. Hit singles he released include Straighten Up and Fly Right, Frosty the Snowman, Unforgettable (twice, solo in 1951 and posthumously with his daughter Natalie Cole in 1991) and this song, Nature Boy.
Recorded in 1947 and released in March 1948, Nature Boy was written by Eden Ahbez (1908-85), who later became a influential figure in the West Coast hippie movement. A devotee of alternative lifestyles, at the time Cole's version of Nature Boy topped the US Billboard charts Ahbez was reputedly living underneath the Los Angeles Hollywood sign on Mt Lee.
Cole's version of Nature Boy was number one in America for eight weeks, his second pop chart-topper after 1946's (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons. The song was also covered by Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan.
No comments:
Post a Comment