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.
The Trouble With Me Is You
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who bought trouble? Who brought woe? You did
Friends don't want me around anymore
'Cause I'm not the guy I was before
Once I didn't have a kid
And no despair ever came to me
Now I'm blue and the trouble with me is you
Yes, I know I was alone and on my own
Still my heart was green and blue
And the trouble with me is you
You took a heart, took it apart
You took a dream, threw out the scene
You took a fool, acted so cruel
You took the sun away, leavin' me a cloudy day
But I don't suppose you care
Our love affair wasn't meant to be
So I'm blue and the trouble with me is you
You took a heart, took it apart
You took a dream, threw out the scene
You took a fool, acted so cruel
You took the sun away, leavin' me a cloudy day
But I don't suppose you care
Our love affair wasn't meant to be
So I'm blue and the trouble with me is you
The lyrics of "The Trouble With Me Is You" by Nat King Cole explore the emotions of a person who has been left alone and disappointed by someone they loved. The song expresses the idea that the person singing, who had no trouble or woes before, is now facing an emotional turmoil that is caused by the actions of a former lover, who brought trouble and woe into their life. This pain has left the person feeling deserted and alone, with no friends around to offer support.
The lyrics also reminisce about a time when the person was not burdened with these emotions - when they were carefree and happy. The song implies that it was the relationship with the former lover that has caused this pain, taking something precious and leaving the person feeling like they have lost everything.
Furthermore, the lyrics suggest that the love affair had a negative impact on the person's life as a whole. The former lover acted cruelly and broke the person's heart, effectively taking away the sun and leaving only cloudy days behind. Although it is clear that the love between the two was not meant to be, the person singing is still struggling to come to terms with the emotional turmoil and is left feeling blue.
Overall, Nat King Cole's "The Trouble With Me Is You" presents a poignant and heartfelt insight into the pain of heartbreak and the long-lasting effects of love gone wrong.
Line by Line Meaning
Who has trouble? Who has woe? I have
The singer is expressing that they are the one who is going through difficult times.
Who bought trouble? Who brought woe? You did
The singer is blaming the person they are addressing for causing their troubles and difficulties.
Friends don't want me around anymore
The singer is feeling isolated and rejected by their friends due to their current state of being.
'Cause I'm not the guy I was before
The artist acknowledges that they have changed and are not the same person they used to be.
Once I didn't have a kid
The artist reflects on a time in their life when they didn't have a child.
And no despair ever came to me
The singer didn't experience any feelings of hopelessness or discouragement during the aforementioned time.
Now I'm blue and the trouble with me is you
The singer attributes their current state of feeling down and upset to the person they are addressing.
Yes, I know I was alone and on my own
The artist is aware that in the past they were independent and didn't have someone else to rely on.
Still my heart was green and blue
Although the artist felt a range of emotions, including sadness, they were still hopeful and optimistic about life.
You took a heart, took it apart
The person being addressed has hurt the artist emotionally and broken their heart.
You took a dream, threw out the scene
The person being addressed has ruined the singer's idea of a perfect future.
You took a fool, acted so cruel
The person being addressed may have taken advantage of the artist's naivety and acted in a hurtful manner.
You took the sun away, leavin' me a cloudy day
The person being addressed has taken away the light and happiness from the singer's life, leaving them feeling sad and downcast.
But I don't suppose you care
The singer doesn't believe that the person being addressed has any concern or sympathy for their pain.
Our love affair wasn't meant to be
The singer acknowledges that their relationship with the person being addressed was not meant to work out.
So I'm blue and the trouble with me is you
The artist again blames the person being addressed for their current state of feeling down.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ALFRED, FISHER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rafael47921
amazing
sneef
@imairborne123 That was Red Mckensie's version. Still good.
sneef
What year was this exactly?
jrock0789
@inukirby992 The year is 1955.
mark malak
Can't be. Years ago when I was a kid I saw this same footage in a movie made in 1949.