Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division

Description

1. 93 audiocassettes

Summary

1. The collection consists of 93 audio recordings, primarily radio broadcasts from the 1980s. Also included is one episode of the television program "The Nat King Cole Show" from 1956-57.

Subject

1. Cole, Nat King, 1919-1965
2. Cole, Maria, 1922-2012
3. King Cole Trio
4. African American singers
5. African American musicians
6. African American jazz musicians
7. African American entertainers
8. Jazz musicians -- United States
9. African American women singers
10. African American women jazz singers
11. African American women entertainers
12. Jazz singers -- United States
13. Women jazz musicians
14. Women singers -- United States
15. Popular music -- United States -- 1971-1980

Genre/Form

1. Sound recordings.

Call number

1. Sc MIRS Cole

Source (note)

1. Maria Cole

Biography (note)

1. Nat King Cole was a popular singer and jazz musician whose 30-year career included recordings, concerts throughout the world, club appearances, television, and film. He was born in 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama, and moved with his family to Chicago in 1923 so his father could pursue a career as a Baptist minister. He played the organ in his father's church and, in high school, became fascinated with jazz music. He made his first recording in 1936 as a pianist with his brother Eddie's sextet. After touring with a revival of Shuffle Along, he settled in Los Angeles and formed the King Cole Trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. Following his first hit, "Straighten Up and Fly Right" in 1943, King gradually reduced his piano playing to concentrate on singing. His 1946 recording of "The Christmas Song" began a string of hits which included "Nature Boy", "Mona Lisa", "Too Young", and "Unforgettable." At the height of his popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, he continued recording popular songs; toured throughout the United States and in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia; had his own television series in 1956; and appeared in films such as China Gate, St. Louis Blues, and Cat Ballou. Nat King Cole died of cancer in 1965 at age 45. Maria Cole (née Hawkins; August 1, 1922–July 10, 2012) was an American jazz singer, and the wife of Nat King Cole. She who worked with Count Basie and Duke Ellington, under the name Marie Ellington. Maria and Nat King Cole were the parents of singer Natalie Cole and Nat Kelly Cole.

Linking entry (note)

1. Forms part of the Nat King Cole archive. Papers can be found in the Manuscripts, Archives & Rare Books Division: Nat King Cole papers, 1910-1996. (Sc MG 695). Photographs can be found in the Photographs and Prints Division. Artifacts can be found in the Art and Artifact Division.

Author

1. Cole, Nat King, 1919-1965, creator.

Title

1. Nat King Cole audio and moving image collection.

Publisher

1. [1996]

Biography

1. Nat King Cole was a popular singer and jazz musician whose 30-year career included recordings, concerts throughout the world, club appearances, television, and film. He was born in 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama, and moved with his family to Chicago in 1923 so his father could pursue a career as a Baptist minister. He played the organ in his father's church and, in high school, became fascinated with jazz music. He made his first recording in 1936 as a pianist with his brother Eddie's sextet. After touring with a revival of Shuffle Along, he settled in Los Angeles and formed the King Cole Trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. Following his first hit, "Straighten Up and Fly Right" in 1943, King gradually reduced his piano playing to concentrate on singing. His 1946 recording of "The Christmas Song" began a string of hits which included "Nature Boy", "Mona Lisa", "Too Young", and "Unforgettable." At the height of his popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, he continued recording popular songs; toured throughout the United States and in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia; had his own television series in 1956; and appeared in films such as China Gate, St. Louis Blues, and Cat Ballou. Nat King Cole died of cancer in 1965 at age 45. Maria Cole (née Hawkins; August 1, 1922–July 10, 2012) was an American jazz singer, and the wife of Nat King Cole. She who worked with Count Basie and Duke Ellington, under the name Marie Ellington. Maria and Nat King Cole were the parents of singer Natalie Cole and Nat Kelly Cole.

Linking entry

1. Forms part of the Nat King Cole archive. Papers can be found in the Manuscripts, Archives & Rare Books Division: Nat King Cole papers, 1910-1996. (Sc MG 695). Photographs can be found in the Photographs and Prints Division. Artifacts can be found in the Art and Artifact Division.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Schomburg Moving Images and Recorded Sound

Added author

1. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.

Research call number

1. Sc MIRS Cole