As a piano player, he formed a jazz trio in 1938 that played Los Angeles nightclubs, one of the first jazz trios featuring guitar and piano. Prior to this he had played music since he was a child and had worked with bands since he was sixteen. He was raised in Chicago and exposed to the abundant jazz scene there. He was heavily influenced by pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines.
Later he became more popularly known as a singer and crooner and his work became more orchestrated.
His first mainstream vocal hit was in 1944 with Straighten Up and Fly Right, based on a black folk tale that his father had used as a theme for a sermon. Although hardly a rocker, the song's success proved that an audience for folk-based material existed. It is considered a predecessor to the first rock and roll records. Indeed, Bo Diddley, who performed similar transformations of folk material, counted Cole as an influence.
Beginning in the late 1940s, Cole began recording and performing more pop-oriented material for mainstream audiences, often accompanied by a string orchestra. His stature as a popular icon was cemented during this period with such hits as The Christmas Song (1946), Nature Boy (1948), Mona Lisa (1950), and his signature tune Unforgettable (1951). While this shift to pop music led some jazz critics and fans to accuse Cole of selling out, he never totally abandoned his musical roots; as late as 1956, for instance, he recorded an all-jazz album, After Midnight. In 1991, Mosaic Records released the Complete Nat King Cole Trio Recordings on Capitol, which contained 349 songs on twenty-seven LPs or eighteen CDs.
Throughout the 1950s Cole continued to rack up hit after hit, including Smile, Pretend, A Blossom Fell, and If I May. Most of his pop hits were collaborations with famed arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle. It was with Riddle that Cole released his first ten-inch long-play album in 1953 entitled Sings for Two in Love. Several more albums followed, including the Gordon Jenkins arranged Love Is the Thing, which reached number one on the album charts in April 1957.
Inspired by a trip to Havana, Cuba in 1958, Nat went back there that same year and recorded Cole Espanol, an album sung entirely in Spanish and Portuguese. The album was a hit not only in the U.S., but in Latin America as well. The album was so popular, that two others followed: A mis amigos in 1959, and More Cole Espanol in 1962.
Musical tastes were changing in the late 1950s, and despite a successful stab at rock n' roll with Send for Me, Cole's ballad singing had grown old to younger listeners. Like contemporaries Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, Nat found that the pop singles chart had been almost entirely taken over by youth oriented acts. In 1960, Nat's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle, left Capitol Records for Frank Sinatra's newly formed Reprise Records label. The two parted ways with one final hit album Wild Is Love, based on lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Nat would later re-tool the concept album into an off-Broadway production called I'm With You.
As the 1960s progressed, Nat once again found success on the American singles chart, starting with the country/pop flavored hit Ramblin' Rose in August of 1962. Three more hit singles followed: Dear Lonely Hearts, Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer, and That Sunday, That Summer. Nat's final album was entitled L.O.V.E, and was recorded in late 1964. It was released just prior to his death and reached number four on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. A "Best Of" album went gold in 1968. His 1957 song When I Fall in Love was a chart topping hit for the U.K. in 1987.
Cole was the first African-American to have his own radio program. He repeated that success in the late-1950s with the first truly national television show starring an African-American. In both cases, the programs were ultimately canceled because sponsors shied away from a black artist. Cole fought racism all his life, refusing to perform in segregated venues. In 1956, he was attacked on stage in Birmingham, Alabama by members of the White Citizens' Council who apparently were attempting to kidnap him. Despite injuries, Cole completed the show but vowed never to perform in the South again.
On 23rd August 1956, Cole spoke at the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. He was also present at the Democratic National Convention in 1960, to throw his support behind President John F. Kennedy. Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Nat King Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Johnson) on the issue of civil rights. Yet he was dogged by critics, who felt he shied away from controversy when it came to the civil rights issue. Among the most notable was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was upset that Cole didn't take stronger action after the 1956 on-stage attack.
In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The property owners association told Cole they didn't want any undesirables moving in, to which Cole retorted "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."
He and his second wife, Maria Ellington, were married in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. They had five children, including twin girls. Daughter Carol Cole, and son Kelly Cole were adopted. Kelly Cole died in 1995. Nat's daughter, Natalie Cole, and his younger brother, Freddie Cole are also singers.
Natalie and her father had an unexpected hit in the summer of 1991. The younger Cole mixed a 1961 recording of her father's rendition of Unforgettable with her own voice, creating an electronic duet. Both the song and the album of the same name won several Grammy awards the following year.
Cole performed in many short films, and played W. C. Handy in the film Saint Louis Blues. He also appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia.
Nat King Cole was a heavy smoker of Kool menthol cigarettes, believing that smoking up to three packs a day gave his voice the rich sound it had (Cole would smoke several cigarettes in rapid succession before a recording for this very purpose). Cole died of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, on 15th February 1965. His funeral was held at St. Victor's Catholic Church in West Hollywood, and he was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Cat Ballou, his final film, was released several months later.
A Blossom Fell
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It settled softly on the lips you turned to me
The Gypsies say, and I know why
A falling blossom only touches lips that lie
A blossom fell and very soon
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon
I thought you loved me, you said you loved me
The dream has ended, for true love died
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied
A blossom fell and very soon
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon
I thought you loved me, you said you loved me
We planned together to dream forever
The dream has ended, for true love died
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied
The song "A Blossom Fell" by Nat King Cole is a heartbreaking ballad about lost love and unfulfilled promises. The lyrics describe a situation in which a couple's relationship is on the brink of collapse because one partner has been unfaithful. The image of a "blossom" falling from a tree and landing on the lips of the person who is lying evokes a sense of beauty and fragility that is all too vulnerable to betrayal.
The song's second verse is even more poignant, as the singer observes his love interest kissing someone else and realizes that their relationship is over for good. The reference to the "Gypsies" suggests that this kind of betrayal is a well-known phenomenon that is recognized by people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The final lines of the song, "The dream has ended, for true love died / The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied," capture the sense of tragedy and finality that comes with the end of a once-promising romance.
Overall, "A Blossom Fell" is a beautifully crafted song that speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and the pain of lost love. Through its evocative lyrics and lush orchestration, the song has become a timeless classic that continues to resonate with listeners of all ages.
Line by Line Meaning
A blossom fell from off a tree
A flower fell from a tree
It settled softly on the lips you turned to me
It gently landed on your lips as you faced me
The Gypsies say, and I know why
The Gypsies have a saying about this, and I understand its meaning
A falling blossom only touches lips that lie
A flower falling on lips is a sign that those lips have deceived
A blossom fell and very soon
Another flower fell shortly after the first
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon
I witnessed you kissing someone else under the moonlight
I thought you loved me, you said you loved me
I believed you had feelings for me because you expressed them
We planned together to dream forever
We made long-term plans and had shared aspirations
The dream has ended, for true love died
Our shared vision is now over, as genuine love no longer exists
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied
The night when the flower landed on deceitful lips marked the end of our relationship
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Howard Barnes, Harold Cornelius, Dominic John
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
john
i want the song" I'll never settle for less" lyrics,would somebody be so kind to give it to me?
Rebecca Natasya
A blossom fell from off a tree
It settled softly on the lips you turned to me
The Gypsies say, and I know why
A falling blossom only touches lips that lie
A blossom fell and very soon
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon
I thought you loved me, you said you loved me
We planned together to dream forever
The dream has ended, for true love died
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied
A blossom fell and very soon
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon
I thought you loved me, you said you loved me
We planned together to dream forever
The dream has ended, for true love died
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied
sauquoit13456
On this day in 1955 {June 23rd} "A Blossom Fell" by Nat King Cole peaked at #2 {for 1 week} on Billboard's 'Most Played In Juke Boxes' chart, the week it was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Prez Prado and His Orchestra...
"A Blossom Fell" reached #3 on United Kingdom's Singles chart...
Between 1948 and 1966 the Montgomery, Alabama native had eighty-six records on the Billboard's charts; fourteen made the Top 10 with three peaking at #1, "Nature Boy" in 1948, "Mona Lisa" in 1950, and "Too Young" in 1952...
Sadly, Mr. Cole passed away at the young age of 45 on February 15th, 1965...
May he R.I.P.
* "A Blossom Fell" was the second of three of his records to peak at #2, his other two #2 records were "Pretend" in 1953 and "Ramblin' Rose" in 1962}...
And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, the remainder of Billboard's 'Most Played On Juke Boxes' Top 10 on June 23rd, 1955:
At #3. "Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower)" by Georgia Gibbs
#4. "Unchained Melody" by Les Baxter, His Chorus and Orchestra
#5. "(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets
#6. "Learnin' The Blues" by Frank Sinatra
#7. "Unchained Melody" by Al Hibbler
#7. "Honey-Babe" by Art Mooney and His Orchestra {a tie}
#9. "Something's Gotta Give"/"Rhythm 'N' Blues" by The McGuire Sisters
#10. "Unchained Melody" by Roy Hamilton
kath ☆
I'm a teenager and I heard this song playing on the radio, and I came here.. I am absolutely in love with this song.
She Rei
A character in The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson mentions this song and led me here.
Catherine Russo
His voice is beautiful. I love this song.❤
ROBERT CHESNOSKY
THIS WAS MY FAVORITE SONG AS A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD. IM 72 NOW. ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT NAT. HIS SONGS NEVER LEAVE YOU..
SOPHIA
🌹🌹
Cold Spaghetti
Much sweeter than whatever modern love songs we have. ❤
Joshua Philander
No question there
Johan Karuyan
depends
Elise H.
What a magnificent voice.