All hail the King! The velvet voice of Nat “King” Cole is coming this weekend to Public Television as TJ Lubinsky’s My Music series premieres a centennial celebration of the late singer-pianist born March 17, 1919. My Music: Nat King Cole’s Greatest Songs includes full performances of his greatest hits, most beloved classics, and favorite standards including the timeless “Mona Lisa,” “Unforgettable” and “When I Fall in Love,” the cool “Route 66,” and jubilant “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer.” In the My Music tradition, Nat King Cole’s Greatest Songs will present rarely-seen…
Darling, It’s Incredible: Nat King Cole’s Centennial Celebrated With Two New Compilations and Marvin Gaye Tribute Album
Unforgettable…that’s what he is. This year marks what would have been the 100th birthday of one of America’s finest performers of popular song: Nat “King” Cole. In his decades-long career, Cole blazed the trail for many entertainers to come, influencing the likes of Count Basie and Ray Charles along the way. Universal Music Group will celebrate his milestone centennial with a pair of retrospectives this spring, plus a digital expansion of another vocal icon paying tribute to the legend. Born in Montgomery, Alabama on March 17, 1919, Cole first broke through as…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
A Granz Old Time: Verve/UMe Honors ‘The Founder’ On New Box Set
On December 7, Verve/UMe will release The Founder, a 4-CD box set in honor of Norman Granz’s centennial earlier this year (August 6, 1918). The collection will also be available as a digital download and on streaming services. The set includes 44 tracks, some appearing on CD for the first time ever. It presents a chronological overview of the first two decades of the jazz impresario’s impressive career by way of recordings of the musicians he recorded. The booklet includes new liner notes by Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Reviews: A Real Gone Trio From The Mamas and the Papas, King Curtis and Nat “King” Cole
Real Gone Music has had some of its most expansive collections released this winter. Today, Randy takes a look at three of them, from The Mamas and the Papas, King Curtis, and Nat “King” Cole! “You gotta go where you wanna go, do what you wanna do, with whoever you want to do it with…” From their very first single, 1966’s “Go Where You Wanna Go,” The Mamas and the Papas spread their singular brand of California sunshine. The group’s songs espoused the up-to-the-minute virtues of freedom and liberation at a time of seismic…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 4
Well, this is it – the final big release week of the year! While next week will see releases slow to a trickle, this week is packed with exciting box sets and much more! Bruce Springsteen, The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (Columbia) 4-CD/3-DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada 4-CD/2-BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada This 4-CD/3-DVD or 4-CD/2-BD set celebrating The Boss’ seminal album The River features a treasure trove of previously unreleased material across its 53 audio tracks plus four hours of never-before-seen video footage. Read the full track…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Release Round-Up: Week of November 13
It may be Friday the 13th, but today’s choice releases are hardly scary, with box sets, archival releases, new music from veteran artists, and much, much more! Aretha Franklin, The Atlantic Albums Collection (Atlantic/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This 19-CD box set brings together 16 of the Queen of Soul’s Atlantic albums as previously released on CD including the deluxe 2-CD Live at Fillmore East, the 2-CD Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of Soul and Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live in Philly 1972. There are no…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Real Gone “Goes Crazy” With December Releases From The Dictators, Nat King Cole, King Curtis, More
Real Gone Music has just announced its December release slate, and the label is closing out 2015 with as dizzyingly eclectic a line-up as ever – from the proto-punk clamor of The Dictators to the velvet vocals of Nat “King” Cole. Real Gone previews its December 4 offerings on Record Store Day – Black Friday, November 27, with a special 10″ EP from The Dictators featuring previously unreleased tracks unavailable anywhere else! Then, the following week comes an expanded edition of the band’s The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! with nine previously unreleased…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 9
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up highlighted by the first course of a Christmas feast, plus a trio of deluxe box sets, new albums from veteran artists, and more! The Three Suns, A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas / George Melachrino and His Orchestra, Christmas Joy / John Gary, The John Gary Christmas Album / The Soulful Strings, The Magic of Christmas (Real Gone Music) The Three Suns: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. George Melachrino: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. John Gary: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Soulful Strings: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K….
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Straighten Up and Fly Right: Universal Creates Nat King Cole’s “Musical Autobiography” On New Box Set
Over 50 years ago, on February 15, 1965, the world lost Nat “King” Cole at the age of 45. But in a career sadly cut short by lung cancer, Cole left an indelible legacy in the worlds of jazz and popular vocals. That immense legacy is being celebrated this fall by Universal Music with the release tomorrow, October 9, of His Musical Autobiography, a 10-CD/2-DVD retrospective box set featuring 262 tracks spanning the period of 1939 to 1965. Cole’s familiar classics, both solo and with his King Cole Trio, can be found…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 3
Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin I / Led Zeppelin II / Led Zeppelin III: Deluxe Editions (Swan Song/Atlantic) Anyone ever heard these albums? Interesting stuff. I don’t know about you, but I’d predict big things for these guys. Led Zeppelin 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD/3LP Super Deluxe: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Led Zeppelin II 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD/2LP Super Deluxe: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Led Zeppelin III 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD/2LP Super Deluxe: Amazon…
Still Unforgettable: “The Extraordinary Nat King Cole” Collects Hits, Rarities, Unreleased Songs
The title of Capitol’s upcoming Nat King Cole compilation is a simple but accurate one: The Extraordinary Nat King Cole. In his too-short 45 years, Cole transformed himself from an acclaimed jazz pianist to one of America’s pre-eminent vocalists. His smooth-voiced baritone helped put Capitol Records on the map, and he broke down barriers previously unheard of for African-American entertainers. Cole’s posthumous 1991 duet on “Unforgettable” with daughter Natalie Cole earned him a new generation of fan, and his rendition of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” keeps him…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 19
Duane Allman, Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective (Rounder) A massive seven-disc box set celebrates the life and work of a guitar legend, gone far too soon. Read Joe’s review here! (Amazon U.S.) Elvis Presley, Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite: Legacy Edition (RCA/Legacy) The classic best-selling live album, taken from the famed TV special, is paired with a newly-remixed version of The Alternate Aloha (a rehearsal show recorded days earlier) and rare bonus performances. You’ll find Joe’s review here. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Bing Crosby, Bing in Dixieland / Seasons: The Closing Chapter – Deluxe Edition / Return to Paradise Islands: Deluxe Edition / On…
Yes! Audio Fidelity Rushes to SACD with Prog and Classic Vocalists, Plus: Elton, Scorpions Go for the Gold
The audiophile specialist label Audio Fidelity has a busy March ahead, kicking off a new series of SACD releases and continuing its long-running series of 24k Gold compact discs. On March 5, the team at AF is scheduled to return to the high-resolution SACD format with two new hybrid stereo SACDs (playable on all CD players). Yes’ 1972 album Close to the Edge was the fifth studio album from the progressive rock heroes. Jon Anderson (vocals), Steve Howe (guitar/vocals), Chris Squire (bass/vocals), Rick Wakeman (keyboards) and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion) crafted this epic…
Weekend Wround-Up: Pat Metheny, Nat “King” Cole and More!
href=”https://theseconddisc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/nat-cole-st-louis-blues.jpg”> Analogue Productions continues its indispensable SACD reissue series of some of Nat King Cole’s finest releases on the Capitol label with the September 13 arrival of Just One of Those Things (1957) and St. Louis Blues (1958). Billy May handles the orchestrations for Just One of Those Things, which is playable as follows: a three-channel SACD section and Stereo SACD section include all songs except for the alternate take of “Just For The Fun Of It,” which was recorded in mono. There is a Mono SACD section with all songs included….
Friday Feature: “Catch Me If You Can”
It’s hard not to be skeptical over the fact that Catch Me If You Can, the amazing “true story of a real fake,” is coming to Broadway. Modern musicals based on existing properties either hew too close to their original musical source material (if they were already rooted in song, like Footloose) or not close enough; consider Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, for instance. (Or don’t!) The few songs this author’s heard from the Catch Me musical score, sent on a promotional disc, are jaunty and fun enough – score writers Marc…
Review: Nat “King” Cole, “Love is the Thing” and “The Very Thought of You”
The time is 1957. The place is the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles, California – the Capitol Tower. And you are there. Such is the magic of Analogue Productions’ pair of hybrid Super Audio CDs, part of the label’s Nat “King” Cole reissue program. Thanks to the gorgeous remastering and improved quality afforded by the format, you’ll hear every breath, as if you were in the studio alongside Cole himself during a recording session. The versatile artist is today remembered for many things: his pioneering jazz sides, his posthumous…
Unforgettable – I Think
For someone with such an iconic tune in “Unforgettable,” there seems to be a lot of Nat “King” Cole’s discography that gets lost in the shuffle. While he’s known for his work as founder of The Nat “King” Cole Trio, and later a pop crooner with few equals, for Capitol Records starting in 1943 (indeed, the label’s famous Hollywood offices are informally called “the house that Nat built”), he did a great deal of work for other labels – not only with The King Cole Trio, but as a piano man for…
- « Previous
- 1
- 2
