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.
Somewhere Along The Way
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Along the avenue
Our hearts were carefree and gay
How could I know I'd lose you
Somewhere along the way?
The friends we used to know
Would always smile "Hello"
Then love slipped through our fingers
Somewhere along the way
I should forget
But with the loneliness of night
I start remembering everything
You're gone and yet
There's still a feeling deep inside
That you will always be part of me
So now I look for you
Along the avenue
And as I wander I pray
That some day soon I'll find you
Somewhere along the way
I should forget
But with the loneliness of night
I start remembering ev'rything
You're gone and yet
There's still a feeling deep inside
That you will always be part of me
So now I look for you
Along the avenue
And as I wander I pray
That some day soon I'll find you
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
The lyrics of Nat King Cole's song, "Somewhere Along The Way," are about a man who reminisces about his past love, and the times they shared together. The opening stanza describes sweet memories of walking with his loved one along the avenue while their hearts were carefree and gay. He had no inkling that he would lose her somewhere down the line. He continues to describe how they had mutual friends who always greeted them with smiles, and praised their love for each other.
However, something seems to have happened along the way, that caused them to drift apart, and lose their love. They had thought their love was unbreakable, but it slipped through their fingers somewhere along the way. Despite the fact that they're no longer together, he still has deep feelings for her, and he can't forget. Even in the loneliness of night, he remembers everything, and he still thinks that she will always be a part of him.
The song is about the hope that he will find her again someday, somewhere along the way. The romantic and nostalgic tone of the lyrics paired with Cole's smooth voice makes this song a classic that still resonates with listeners today.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to walk with you
I used to be with you by my side
Along the avenue
We used to walk down the same street
Our hearts were carefree and gay
We were happy and carefree when we were together
How could I know I'd lose you
I never thought I would lose you
Somewhere along the way?
At some point, we became separated without me realizing it
The friends we used to know
The people we knew together as friends
Would always smile "Hello"
They would greet us warmly
No love like our love they'd say
Our love was unique and special
Then love slipped through our fingers
Our love was lost and slipped away
Somewhere along the way
At some point, we became separated without knowing it
I should forget
I know I should forget about you
But with the loneliness of night
But during the lonely nights
I start remembering everything
I can't help but remember everything about us
You're gone and yet
You're not here, but
There's still a feeling deep inside
I still have a deep feeling inside
That you will always be part of me
That you will always be a part of me, no matter what
So now I look for you
So I search for you
Along the avenue
On the same street we used to walk on
And as I wander I pray
As I wander, I hope and pray
That some day soon I'll find you
That I will find you soon, someday
Somewhere along the way
At some point, we will meet again
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kurt Adams, Sammy Gallop
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Prabhas Ray
Nat King Cole is nostalgic.This is a great poem sung with heavenly melody.Even today he is unparalleled.
Mike Prescott
I'm 87 today, this takes me back to 1953. Lovely memories.
Mirko Schunke
not even my mom knows how to make a comment lol
Kenneth Hodges
I'm nearly 85 and have similar memories! This recording still sounds fresh today!!
GIGI1NYC
❤❤
Jeannine Cathcart
I AM A FEW YEARS YOUNGER BUT I REMEMBER THAT SONG when I was little. xcuse the caps
angelo balzano
This song is another spell of Nat who with his unrivaled voice, extraordinarily deep , velvety and caressing
can create a romantic atmosphere so intense that makes us move.Also the lyrics are very romantic and original.
Raymond Henderson
This Gentleman is immortal .in relation to the manner how he sang for the songs,that Nat King Cole sang.Throughout his career .I would this track is another magnum opus .
voicegirl555
57 years ago today you left this world. You have never been forgotten and never will be. You music lives forever. Thanks for this song and all the others.
Pete
My Judy slipped thru my fingers for 37 years. Luckily I DID find her and we had 18 wonderful years before she passed away. This song sustained me during those 37 empty years. This song always reminded me of what I had lost.