Artist:Nat King Cole
Song:Mona Lisa
Album:The Greatest Hits
Nat King Cole started out as a jazz pianist and became one of the most popular singers of the 50s. The 1950 single Mona Lisa is one of his earliest and biggest hits. He was born Mar. 17, 1919 in Montgomery, AL. All three of his brothers were jazz musicians. His family soon moved to Chicago where his dad became a Baptist minister. Mom was the church organist and she taught the boys to play. Cole took piano lessons and got serious about music in high school. He sneaked out of the house at night to listen to jazz at clubs. Cole dropped out of school at age 15 and formed a band with his brother Eddie called Eddie Cole's Swingsters. They recorded a couple of singles for Decca and toured with a revival of the musical Shuffle Along. When the tour ended Cole and his wife Nadine settled in Los Angeles. When a club owner asked Cole to form a band, he hired bassist Wesley Prince and guitarist Oscar Moore and called it King Cole Trio after the nursery rhyme Old King Cole. Cole started out as a jazz pianist. But when he started to sing, customers liked it so he continued singing. After Cole signed with Capitol Records, he first recorded as an instrumental trio. He became a star when he started singing. The 1948 single Nature Boy and the 1950 single Mona Lisa were his first two number one hits. Mona Lisa was the top song of 1950. The song was written by veteran songwriters Ray Livingston and Jay Evans for the 1949 film Captain Carey, U.S.A. Livingston and Evans wrote many songs for films. Mona Lisa won the Best Original Song Oscar. It was sung in the film by Cuban bolero singer Sergio De Karlo. Cole recorded it with an orchestra led by Les Baxter and a Nelson Riddle arrangement. Capitol released it as a B side. But DJs turned it over and Mona Lisa topped the charts for five weeks. Moon Mullican scored a top five country hit with Mona Lisa. Plenty of singers recorded Mona Lisa. But Cole's version is the most memorable. You can get it on this budget comp that was released in the 90s after Natalie Cole's duet of Unforgettable with her dad was a big hit. Cole continued to have success in the 50s. He even hosted his own TV show in 1956. His success slowed after Nelson Riddle left Capitol for Frank Sinatra's new label Reprise in 1960. Cole was a heavy smoker and he died of lung cancer on Feb. 15, 1965 at age 45. Here's Nat King Cole performing Mona Lisa on The Nat King Cole Show 1956.
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