Album Reviews

Analogue Productions'  The Nat King Cole Story box set, originally scheduled to be released Spring of 2010 is finally here. We reviewed the box's sound quality last March based on test pressings but the actual box didn't arrive under early 2011. What's below is that review with additional information about the box and overall presentation quality—Ed.

Analogue Productions'  The Nat King Cole Story box set, originally scheduled to be released Spring of 2010 is finally here. We reviewed the box's sound quality last March based on test pressings but the actual box didn't arrive under early 2011. What's below is that review with additional information about the box and overall presentation quality—Ed.

Completed in 1956, the thirteen-story circular monument to Nat “King” Cole’s success known as the Capitol Records building still stands near the corner of Hollywood and Vine, probably on firmer ground than the company for which it’s named—and that’s in an earthquake zone (rimshot)!

It’s referred to as “the house that Nat built” because much of the money came from Cole’s phenomenal success as a recording artist. It was Nat’s house though some of the other artists on the label at that time included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Louis Prima and Keely Smith and of course Mickey Katz and Stan Freeberg, whose parodies of hit songs and television shows were wildly popular. That’s how big Nat “King” Cole was.

Cole’s Capitol recording career began at 78rpm and ended in 33 1/3 stereo, with 10” and then 12” mono LPs in between. This two decade-spanning set originally issued in 1961 featured 36 Cole favorites re-recorded in stereo using then (and now IMO) state of the art gear in Capitol’s legendary Studios.

Though Cole began as a jazz pianist in a unique guitar, bass, piano trio he created, he also occasionally sang. Over time his velvety, yet somehow simultaneously gritty baritone vocalizing became more popular with the public than his piano playing.

This set covers all of Cole’s musical interests and accomplishments, beginning, appropriately, with “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” a cool, self-penned number that was his Capitol debut and a big hit and followed by Nat’s equally cool cover of Bobby Troup’s enduring “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.”

Also here are the kitschy “Nature Boy” and the 50’s schmaltz of “Mona Lisa,” as well as Nat’s signature version of Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song.” Jews write some of the best Christmas songs ever for some reason.

Oldsters will surely remember hearing on the AM radio songs like “Too Young,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Unforgettable,” not to mention “Ballerina” and “ Non Dimenticar.” Nat and his arrangers caught the vibe of the time and ran with it for an unprecedented string of hits even as rock’n’roll took over the airwaves. The pop vibe back then could be pretty corny. So much so, that today, while some of it sounds retro-kitsch hip, some of it remains just plain corny.

While Cole’s later hits (recorded after the release of this box) “Rambling Rose” and “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer”came uncomfortably close to “Sing Along With Mitch territory, even on those his voice had a transportive quality that soothed the clichés.

His stardom was worldwide, he was a huge hit in Las Vegas, where all the big celebrities turned out to see his show, and he was the first African-American to host his own network television show. It was a controversial move at the time and despite guest appearances by the greatest names in entertainment at the time (Ella, Mel Tormé, Peggy Lee among them), many working for scale, incredible as it may seem today, the show could not attract a national sponsor.

Cole could make magic with whatever his voice touched as this set demonstrates. He continued having hits and remained incredibly popular until his passing on February 15th, 1965 at the way too young age of 45. He was a heavy smoker and lung cancer got him.

Time hasn’t diminished Cole’s popularity as the excitement surrounding this and the other Cole reissues produced by Analogue Productions from original master tapes indicates.

To produce this set, reissue producer Chad Kassem and the mastering team of Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman chose to go back to the original unmixed three track master tapes and for the LPs, mix them live down to lacquer, thus saving a generation.

This required an echo chamber to be constructed at the RTI pressing plant, where AcousTech is located as well as the addition of three track monitoring and playback heads, additional painstakingly matched playback amplifiers and an additional monitoring channel.

The results on this six 45rpm 180g LP set are simply astonishing, particularly if you’ve heard the originals. The transparency, dynamics and three-dimensionality create the intense sensation of being in the studio with the musicians and especially with Cole who appears as a visceral, floating apparition between the speakers. The size and three-dimensionality of the vocal image produces the sensation of the listener being a “fly on the microphone mike stand” listening to Cole perform, surrounded by the musicians.

The arrangements and performances are faithful to the originals but the sound of course is far superior. The feeling is of sitting in on history by being there, not merely eavesdropping after the fact.

 I’ve played these five 45rpm LPs repeatedly and the listening thrill did not fade. This is a stupendous achievement accomplished at great expense and is sure to become a collector’s item. While readers have unanimously praised the production and sound quality of Analogue Productions' double 45rpm LP reissues, mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI, many have complained about the packaging—particularly compared to the spectacular Blue Notes from Music Matters and the Impulses from ORG. Analogue Productions' thin double width paper jackets simply don't compare, yet the sets cost the same $50.00

So when AP announced this box set, many wondered how they would present it given that the original Capitol box was sumptuous: cloth covered, with gold leafed sides, a "bound"  half-round spine and a carefully turned out inner booklet.

Well, AP has come through with packaging worthy of the original and of Nat King Cole's legacy. It is about is close to the original as can be expected in the 21st Century, years after production of finely crafted LP box sets had ceased. In fact, AP's Chad Kassem told me the delay was caused not by LP production issues, but by finding the right people to correctly reproduce the box and deliver it in sufficient quantities.

That's been accomplished and the completed sets are now on sale. The adjacent image  shows the mono and stereo originals next to the new box. The cloth color is somewhat more beige than the original that had a yellower cast. "The Nat King Cole Story" in gold lettering on the original is black on the new box  and the booklet's cover has a different color. The inner layout has been "modernized" and made more attractive and easier to read. The original photos and annotation by Ralph J. Gleason, Leonard Feather and others has been retained. A new Nat appreciation by Jordan Taylor has been added to the booklet as well as my two page essay about the remastering itself by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman.

As a Nat King Cole fan since childhood both for his music and for his considerable contribution to improving race relations in America simply for his being who he was, being able to contribute something to this historic reissue is something for which I will always be grateful.

Given the sonics and the superb packaging, it's easy to say that this box set is worth every penny of its considerable cost. I cannot recommend it more highly (also available on SACD featuring both 3 track and two-track mixes). 

Your appreciation and enjoyment will be greatly enhanced by two DVDs: One is “Swing era, Nat ‘King’ Cole Soundies and Telescriptions,” ( idem IDVD1017NT) a collection of 27 black and white trio performances recorded before Cole signed with Capitol and “The Legendary Nat “King” Cole,” (Eforfilms DVD2869001NT) a bio-documentary that includes some great footage and a reasonably well done narrated bio. It also includes clips from Cole’s TV show and scenes from movies in which he appeared.