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.
There Is No Greater Love
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Than what I feel for you
No greater love,
No heart so true
There is no greater thrill
Than what you bring to me
No sweeter song
You're the sweetest thing
I have ever known
And to think that
You are mine alone.
There is no greater love
In all the world, it's true
No greater love
Than what I feel for you
You're the sweetest thing
I have ever known,
And to think that
You are mine alone.
There is no greater love
In all the world, it's true
No greater love
Than what I feel for you
The song "There Is No Greater Love" by Nat King Cole speaks of the complex and intense emotion of love that he feels for someone. The song begins with the phrase "There is no greater love" that is often heard in religious texts to describe the love of God for humanity. Cole uses this phrase to express the depth of his love towards his significant other. The lyrics are simple yet powerful and convey the idea that the love he feels is genuine and true. The second line, "Than what I feel for you," implies that there is no other kind of love that he has ever experienced that can compare to the love he feels for this person.
The following lines, "No greater love, no heart so true," indicate that the love he feels is not only a strong feeling but also genuine and sincere. The second verse continues with the narrative of how the person he loves brings a thrill to his life that no one else can. The phrase "No sweeter song than what you sing to me" implies that the person he loves has a unique way of expressing their love towards him. The lyrics reflect the idea that love can bring about happiness, joy and an overall sense of fulfillment and that is precisely what Cole feels in this song.
Overall, "There Is No Greater Love" by Nat King Cole is a beautiful love song that reflects the powerful emotions of romance and love. The lyrics are straightforward and convey the idea of how true love can make someone feel complete and overwhelmed.
Line by Line Meaning
There is no greater love
The love I have for you surpasses all other loves
Than what I feel for you
I feel an immense and unique love for you
No greater love,
Nothing can compare to the love I have for you
No heart so true
No one else's love is as genuine and sincere as yours
There is no greater thrill
Being with you and experiencing your love is the most exciting thing
Than what you bring to me
The feelings and emotions you bring into my life are unmatched
No sweeter song
No other song is as pleasant and delightful to me
Than what you sing to me
The way you express your love for me through your words and actions is the most beautiful sound to my ears
You're the sweetest thing
You are the most charming and endearing person in my life
I have ever known
Throughout my entire life, I have never met anyone as wonderful as you
And to think that
The mere thought of
You are mine alone.
Knowing that you belong to me and no one else makes my love for you even stronger
In all the world, it's true
I have searched the entire world, and I can confidently say that
No greater love
I have not found a love more immense and sincere than what I have for you
Than what I feel for you
My love for you is unmatched and incomparable to any other love in the world
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ISHAM JONES, MARTY SYMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
john
on A Blossom Fell
i want the song" I'll never settle for less" lyrics,would somebody be so kind to give it to me?