Nat King Cole (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965) was an American singer a… Read Full Bio ↴Nat King Cole (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965) was an American singer and musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. He was widely noted for his soft, baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres.
Inspired by the performances of Earl Hines, Cole began his performing career in the mid-1930s while still a teenager, adopting the name "Nat Cole". His older brother, Eddie, a bass player, soon joined Cole's band, and they made their first recording in 1936 under Eddie's name. They also were regular performers at clubs. Cole, in fact, acquired his nickname, "King", performing at one jazz club, a nickname presumably reinforced by the otherwise unrelated nursery rhyme about Old King Cole. He also was a pianist in a national tour of Broadway theatre legend Eubie Blake's revue, "Shuffle Along". When it suddenly failed in Long Beach, California, Cole decided to remain there. He would later return to Chicago in triumph to play such venues as the famed Edgewater Beach Hotel.

Cole and two other musicians formed the "King Cole Swingers" in Long Beach and played in a number of local bars before getting a gig on the Long Beach Pike for US$90 ($1,530 today) per week. The trio consisted of Cole on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Wesley Prince on double bass. The trio played in Failsworth throughout the late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions. Cole was not only pianist but leader of the combo as well.
Radio was important to the King Cole Trio's rise in popularity. Their first broadcast was with NBC's Blue Network in 1938. It was followed by appearances on NBC's Swing Soiree. In the 1940s, the trio appeared on the Old Gold, Chesterfield Supper Club and Kraft Music Hall radio shows. The King Cole Trio performed twice on CBS Radio's variety show The Orson Welles Almanac (1944).
Legend was that Cole's singing career did not start until a drunken barroom patron demanded that he sing "Sweet Lorraine". Cole, in fact, has gone on record saying that the fabricated story "sounded good, so I just let it ride". Cole frequently sang in between instrumental numbers. Noticing that people started to request more vocal numbers, he obliged. Yet the story of the insistent customer is not without some truth. There was a customer who requested a certain song one night, but it was a song that Cole did not know, so instead he sang "Sweet Lorraine". The trio was tipped 15 cents for the performance, a nickel apiece.

During World War II, Wesley Prince left the group and Cole replaced him with Johnny Miller. Miller would later be replaced by Charlie Harris in the 1950s. The King Cole Trio signed with the fledgling Capitol Records in 1943. The group had previously recorded for Excelsior Records, owned by Otis René, and had a hit with the song "I'm Lost", which René wrote, produced and distributed. Revenues from Cole's record sales fueled much of Capitol Records' success during this period. The revenue is believed to have played a significant role in financing the distinctive Capitol Records building near Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles. Completed in 1956, it was the world's first circular office building and became known as "The House that Nat Built".
Cole was considered a leading jazz pianist, appearing in the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts (credited on the Mercury Record label as "Shorty Nadine"—derived from his wife's name—as he was under exclusive contract to Capitol Records at the time). His revolutionary lineup of piano, guitar, and bass in the time of the big bands became a popular setup for a jazz trio. It was emulated by many musicians, among them Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, and blues pianists Charles Brown and Ray Charles. He also performed as a pianist on sessions with Lester Young, Red Callender, and Lionel Hampton. For contract reasons, Cole was credited as "Aye Guy" on the album The Lester Young Buddy Rich Trio.Cole's first mainstream vocal hit was his 1943 recording of one of his compositions, "Straighten Up and Fly Right", based on a black folk tale that his father had used as a theme for a sermon. Johnny Mercer invited him to record it for his fledgling Capitol Records label. It sold over 500,000 copies, proving that folk-based material could appeal to a wide audience. Although Cole would never be considered a rocker, the song can be seen as anticipating the first rock and roll records. Indeed, Bo Diddley, who performed similar transformations of folk material, counted Cole as an influence.

In 1946, the Cole trio paid to have their own 15-minute radio program on the air. It was called, "King Cole Trio Time." It became the first radio program sponsored by a black performing artist. During those years, the trio recorded many "transcription" recordings, which were recordings made in the radio studio for the broadcast. Later they were used for commercial records.
Beginning in the late 1940s, Cole began recording and performing pop-oriented material for mainstream audiences, in which he was often accompanied by a string orchestra. His stature as a popular icon was cemented during this period by hits such as "The Christmas Song" (Cole recorded that tune four times: on June 14, 1946, as a pure Trio recording, on August 19, 1946, with an added string section, on August 24, 1953, and in 1961 for the double album The Nat King Cole Story; this final version, recorded in stereo, is the one most often heard today), "Nature Boy" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950), "Too Young" (the #1 song in 1951), 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 jazz roots; as late as 1956, for instance, he recorded an all-jazz album After Midnight. Cole had one of his last big hits in 1963, two years before his death, with the classic "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer", which reached #6 on the Pop chart.

Nature Boy
The King Cole Trio Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far
Very far, over land and sea

A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he

And then one day, a magic day
He passed my way, and while we spoke
Of many things, fools and kings
This he said to me

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

Overall Meaning

Nature Boy is a song by The King Cole Trio that tells the captivating story of a boy who has traversed the land and sea. The opening lines of the song reveal the boy as someone who is strange and enchanted. He is a wanderer who has explored far and wide – a feat that is made known through the repetition of the phrase “very far, over land and sea.” Despite his achievement of traveling far and wide, however, he is depicted as a little shy and sad of eye but very wise. The use of the word “enchanted” seems to suggest that there is something otherworldly about this boy, and this impression is further emphasised by the fact that he is depicted as someone who has journeyed beyond the normal boundaries of human existence.

Then, the song moves on to describe a magical day when the boy met the singer of the song. During their conversation, the boy spoke wise words about life and love. His message to the singer was simple yet profound: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." These words are full of meaning, as they seem to suggest that love is what gives life its greatest worth. The boy seems to have learned this truth through his travels and experiences, and he imparts it to the listener through the song.

Overall, Nature Boy is a song that explores the complex themes of love, life, and the human experience. Through its beautiful lyrics and stirring melody, the song tells a story of a boy who has seen and done much in his life, and who imparts his wisdom to those around him. It is a song that reminds us of the importance of love and the beauty of the world around us.

Line by Line Meaning

There was a boy
The story starts with a boy

A very strange enchanted boy
He was a unique and captivating boy with an almost captivating aura

They say he wandered very far
Rumors were that he traveled to distant places

Very far, over land and sea
He explored lands and crossed vast oceans to gain wisdom and knowledge about the world he lived in

A little shy and sad of eye
While he had a commanding presence, he was also quite reserved and vulnerable

But very wise was he
Despite being young, he was incredibly knowledgeable and insightful

And then one day, a magic day
On a fateful day, he experienced a magical moment

He passed my way, and while we spoke
He crossed paths with the artist and they engaged in discussion

Of many things, fools and kings
They talked about various topics, from the foolish to the royal

This he said to me
During this conversation, he imparted some wisdom to the artist

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
He advised that the most important lesson one can learn is:

Is just to love and be loved in return"
to give and receive love unconditionally and wholeheartedly.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: EDEN AHBEZ

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

João Takanori jamjao

6y↑4

....................UM GAROTO SÁBIO.............
Havia um garoto
Um garoto diferente e encantador
As pessoas dizem que perambulava bem longe
Bem longe além das terras e mares
E era bem tímido e com um olhar triste
No entanto, era bem sábio
E então, num dia
Num dia mágico a gente se cruzou
E enquanto falávamos de muitas coisas
De amalucados e reis
Ele me falou, assim:
A coisa mais importante
Que você vai aprender
É que não basta só amar
Porém,
Receber esse amor !!!!!

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All comments from YouTube:

Mike McFarland

2y↑3

This version is so much better than the 1948 original, with the added strings and orchestration. The version featured here has SO much more, with SO much less! Nat King Cole's pure, angelic voice with the clean sounds of Irving Ashby's guitar and Johnny Miller's bass and Nat's piano, is all this beautiful song needs!