Born in 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama, Nathaniel
Adams Cole grew up in Chicago, in a family where music was just a part
of life, like breathing. His mother, Perlina, who hoped he would someday
be a classical pianist, gave him his start in music, teaching him the basics.
In 1938, Cole formed the Jazz group, the King Cole Trio, with Oscar
Moore on guitar and Wesley Prince on string bass, who was later replaced
by Johnny Miller. In the days before World War II, the trio worked
for what they could get, sometimes a week's pay of no more than $99 split
three ways.
In 1943, Cole made his first sell of an original song -- "Straighten
Up and Fly Right" -- to Capitol Records for $50. About a monkey and
a buzzard, the song became a wartime hit, and helped Cole develop strong
ties with Capitol. In 1947, Cole's destiny became a bit more defined
when he recorded the hit "The Christmas Song."
Cole expanded the scope of his career by moving into acting. Movies
included St. Louis Blues, in which he played fellow Alabamian
W. C. Handy, and Blue Gardinia, for which he was paid $10,000
for a single day's work. He last appeared in the 1964 film Cat
Ballou which co-starred Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin.
Cole's rise to fame with both white and black audiences came at a volatile
period in U.S. history, a time when racial tensions were heightened by
a strong civil rights movement. In early 1956, Cole returned to Alabama,
to perform in an integrated show before a segregated audience in Birmingham,
but everyone in the audience was not a fan, as Cole found out when three
men jumped on stage and attacked him in a bizarre plot to kidnap the singer.
The attackers threw him to the floor, but Cole wasn't seriously injured,
and the men were arrested.
Race again was a factor in late 1956 when Cole became the first black
host of a national network television show. Although critics hailed
the variety show, national sponsors shied away. In December 1957,
the network canceled the show when it failed to sustain advertising.
Cole blamed ad agencies for seeing him as a black man, not as an entertainer
who drew in large television audiences each week.
In 1962, the single "Rambling Rose" and the album by the same name became
million-sellers, followed by two more million-selling albums, Love Is
The Thing and Unforgettable. At the end of his
career, Cole's records had grossed some $50 million for Capitol.
Christopher
S. Fuqua -- Music Fell On Alabama
