Nat
King Cole
by Daniel Mark Epstein
Pianist/vocalist Nat King Cole made everything look easy. His warm
and haunting tenor voice, suave demeanor, and elegant piano style influenced
dozen of singers and instrumentalists, including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett,
Oscar Peterson, and Diana Krall. But as Daniel Mark Epstein unveils in
this illuminating biography, it took years of dues-paying for Cole to reach
superstardom. With prose that reads like Cole's lyrical phrasings, Epstein
takes the reader through the eventful places and spaces of the artist's
life: from his birth in Alabama in 1919, his family's turbulent move to
Chicago, and his rise as an Earl Hines-influenced teen jazz sensation,
to the formation of his famous piano-guitar-bass trio in the '40s.
Epstein doesn't shy away from the lows, describing the anguish Cole
caused his preacher father, the failed first marriage, tax and health problems,
sibling rivalry, and the jealousy that destroyed his combo when Cole made
the transition from jazz artist to pop singer. But these are balanced with
the highs, like the tremendous success of Cole's vocal hits "Straighten
Up And Fly Right" "Route 66," "Mona Lisa," and "The Christmas Song," and
his second marriage to Maria Ellington. Epstein also cites Cole's quiet
battles on the Civil Rights front. He purchased a home in an exclusive,
all white Los Angeles neighborhood; insisted on performing for integrated
audiences in the south and heroically survived a vicious racial attack
during a Birmingham concert in 1956. "Nat King Cole was not a political
philosopher schooled in rhetoric or the dialectics of history," the author
writes. "He was a clear thinker with sound instincts and compassion....
Where he had gone--to riches, fame, and honor--he hoped his brothers and
sisters would soon follow." By he time died of lung cancer in 1965, his
artistry had left its mark on the 20th century and on everyone who loved
him. As Epstein summarizes, "[H]e paid attention to his friends, his children,
his sideman, his audiences and most of all his music." --Eugene Holley,
Jr. - Amazon.com
Paperback: 437 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.37 x
9.20 x 6.16
Publisher: Northeastern University Press; (November )
ISBN: 1555534694
The
Best of Nat King Cole
by Peter Foss (Editor)
Publisher: Warner Brothers Publications; (November 26, )
Nat
King Cole All Time Greatest Hits
Unforgettable
: The Life and Mystique of Nat King Cole
NAT
"KING" COLE - ALL TIME GREATEST HITS
Nat
King Cole
by Daniel Mark Epstein
Hardcover: 437 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.50 x 10.00 x 6.75
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux;
ISBN: 0374219125
Nat
King Cole : An Unforgettable Life of Music (African American Profiles for
the Young)
Nat
King Cole : A Personal and Professional Biography
by James Haskins, Kathleen Benson (Contributor)
Publisher: Scarborough House; Reprint edition (December 1990)
Nat
King Cole (Black American Series)
Nat
King Cole (G K Hall Large Print Book Series (Cloth)) [LARGE PRINT]
Nat
King Cole
Unforgettable
: The Life and Mystique of Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole LPs
Publisher: Warner Brothers Publications; (December 1993)
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
Natalie
and Nat King Cole (Star Families)
Natalie
and Nat King Cole (Star Families)
Nat
King Cole : An Intimate Biography
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