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.
Let's Fall In Love
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Our hearts are made of it
Let's take a chance
Why be afraid of it?
Let's close our eyes
And make our own paradise
Still we can try
To make a go of it
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Now is the time for it
While we are young
Let's fall in love
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Now is the time for it
While we are young
Let's fall in love
The song "Let's Fall in Love" by Nat King Cole is a timeless love anthem that encourages two people to take a chance on love. The lyrics speak to the idea that love is a natural inclination of the heart and that there is no reason to be afraid of it. Instead, the song suggests that two people should close their eyes, take a leap of faith, and create their own paradise together.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of optimism and possibility. The lyrics suggest that the two people in question might have been meant for each other, and that their hearts should take the lead in determining if they are meant to be together. The line "To be or not to be, let our hearts discover" highlights the importance of following one's heart and taking a risk in love.
One of the most famous lines in the song is "Now is the time for it, while we are young." This line speaks to the idea that love is something that should be pursued while we still have the time and energy to do so. It is a reminder that life is short, and that we should not waste time waiting for the perfect moment to fall in love.
Overall, the song is a beautiful tribute to love and the power of the heart. It encourages two people to take a chance on each other and to create something beautiful together.
Line by Line Meaning
Let's fall in love
Let's enter the beautiful world of love.
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
There's no reason to stop us from falling in love. Love is free and open for everyone.
Our hearts are made of it
Love is the foundation of our hearts. It's what keeps us alive and motivated to love each other.
Let's take a chance
Let's take a risk and see where love can take us, even if we don't know what will happen.
Why be afraid of it?
We shouldn't be afraid of love because it's one of the most beautiful experiences we can have in life.
Let's close our eyes
Let's forget about the world and focus on each other. Let's create our own private paradise.
And make our own paradise
Let's create a place where only we exist, where our love is the only thing that matters and everything else fades away.
Little we know of it
We may not know everything about love, but that doesn't mean we can't experience it or try to make it work.
Still we can try
Even though we don't know everything about love, we should still do our best to make it work.
To make a go of it
We should make a sincere effort to make our relationship work and overcome any obstacles that may come our way.
We might have been meant for each other
It's possible that we were destined to be together, and that's why we should give our love a chance.
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
We should let our hearts guide us and discover whether we are meant to be together or not.
Now is the time for it
We shouldn't wait for the perfect moment to fall in love. The time is now.
While we are young
We should experience love while we are young, energetic and passionate about life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@susieeques
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Our hearts are made of it
Let's take a chance
Why be afraid of it?
Let's close our eyes
And make our own paradise
Little we know of it
Still we can try
To make a go of it
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Now is the time for it
While we are young
Let's fall in love
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Now is the time for it
While we are young
Let's fall in love
@fineartist7710
Nat King Cole was Elegance, Class, Charm, and Pure Talent in one Noble Man....
@ColonelMarcellus
My mother used to sing this while working in the kitchen when I was a little boy.
@keythdanielsen5533
There was only one Nat King Cole. A shame we only had him on this earth for 47 years. It’s never Christmas without Nat King Cole music (and Johnny Mathis, also).
@susieeques
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Our hearts are made of it
Let's take a chance
Why be afraid of it?
Let's close our eyes
And make our own paradise
Little we know of it
Still we can try
To make a go of it
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Now is the time for it
While we are young
Let's fall in love
We might have been meant for each other
To be or not to be, let our hearts discover
Let's fall in love
Why shouldn't we fall in love?
Now is the time for it
While we are young
Let's fall in love
@elarche3957
Conocí esta canción a los 16 años (1987), pues compre 2 cassettes de Nat,King Cole ,muy bella canción.
@coraggio93
Love this song. This version by Nat King Cole is so rich and lovely and hopeful.
Thank you for posting it.
@monikataizi7928
😮
@rachelford5570
Suchhhh A Beautiful Voice‼️Amazing ❤️
@hoomanshariat4464
Wonderful song & voice!
@onion2316
❤