King Cole Trio's "Route 66"

To commemorate a year since my Route 66 road trip of a year ago (and ponder the possibility of a return to uncharted portions), Nat "King" Cole (and Trio) would like to play their version of Bobby Troup's musical tribute to the Mother Road. This is from around 1946:

"A Blossom Fell"

Another beautiful tune as interpreted by Nat King Cole, this one discovered whilst watching Badlands. The best known and commercially successful version of "A Blossom Fell," Cole's version reached #2 on the Billboard charts in April 1955 (source).

"Night Lights"

I'd never heard of this Nat King Cole recording, from a 2001 re-release, but it's one of those times where, although I've never heard the song before (I don't think), it sounds utterly familiar. It's a 2001 rerelease of this material, featuring the singer's (and Frank Sinatra's) arranger/conductor, Nelson Riddle. Perhaps that's why this sounds so familiar to me. Whatever is the case, I just love this kind of stuff. It's so elegant and delicate, yet it swings like a mother. I think if I could go back in time to any place in the 20th century, I think it would be this era.



There is no Wikipedia entry for it, but the Amazon description is as follows:

Night Lights is the Nat "King" Cole album that time forgot. Recorded with Cole's regular musical director Nelson Riddle over Christmas and New Year of 1955-1956, it's never been released complete until now. This is Cole as pop singer rather than jazz pianist, and while the album is only now making its debut on this 24-bit digitally mastered CD, several numbers were released as singles and became chart hits: "Too Young to Go Steady," "To the Ends of the Earth," and "Never Let Me Go." That still leaves 12 cuts which have never been issued before, and as these were all brand-new songs at the time, that makes them world premiere recordings. The nostalgic "Sometimes I Wonder" plays virtually as a trial run for Cole's classic take on "Stardust," while "Once Before" and "I'm Willing to Share This with You" add ethereal voices in distinctive 1950s Hollywood style. Impeccably produced, with sophisticated arrangements by Riddle that balance lush strings, subtle rhythms, and instrumental colors from instruments such as flutes and celesta, this is warm-hearted, tender, and glowingly romantic music. Though they don't match the very best in Nat "King" Cole's catalog, these 20 ballads still make a fine album. They sat on the shelf for decades but the restored sound is first rate.

"Love Is the Thing"

The title track to Nat King Cole's 1957 album

Nat King Cole's "Stardust"

Nat King Cole recorded the Hoagy Carmichael tune "Stardust" for the Love Is the Thing (1957) album. Here is an excellent live performance on some TV program or another, I'd say in 1957 or '58 (possibly The Nat King Cole Show):

"Love Is the Thing"

"Theme from Route 66"

Stiles, Milner, and that car
It was on TV for four seasons(!), but I've gotten the impression from what I've read about it and things my Dad (who watched it only because of the Corvette) has said that Route 66 was average at best. I've only caught glimpses of it when it was on Nickelodeon. But what a theme song! I love this tune. It can turn me into a finger snappin' fool. It's like one of the last, great gasps of the Big Band Era (The Beatles are coming very soon, America!). The production on it is so clear and pristine, melodically it's very cool, and it swings like a mother. No wonder, it's Nelson Riddle.

From the Wikipedia entry:

Nelson Riddle was commissioned to write the instrumental theme when CBS decided to have a new song, rather than pay royalties for the Bobby Troup song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." Riddle's theme, however, offers an unmistakable homage to the latter's piano solo (as originally recorded by Nat King Cole) throughout the number. Riddle's Route 66 instrumental was the first television theme to make Billboard Magazine's Top 30, and earned two Grammy nominations in 1962 (yay! for Nelson).

Here's the song, with slideshow accompaniment of beautiful things along Historic Route 66:

"You're the Top"

From the Wikipedia page:

"You're the Top" is a Cole Porter song from the 1934 musical Anything Goes. It is about a man and a woman who take turns complimenting each other.

It was the most popular song from Anything Goes at the start with hundreds of parodies.

The lyrics are particularly significant because they offer a snapshot as to what was highly prized in the mid-1930s, and demonstrate Porter's rhyming ability.

Porter's own 1934 recording of it was just recently added to the United States National Recording Registry.


Here are Bing Crosby and the 28-year-old Ethel Merman singing "You're the Top" in the 1936 film version (also know as Tops Is the Limit:


Time was not kind to her. She was sort of cute back in the day. Same nutty voice and crazy eyes, but not bad! Kind of a Christina Aguilera thing going on there. And, oh yeah, we're drinking it up in the post-Prohibition-era world aboard a luxury liner on a long ocean voyage, so anything goes!

From the 1946 Porter biopic Night and Day, here are Cary Grant and Texan Ginny Simms (San Antonio) doing their take on "You're the Top." Cary Grant is surprisingly good. While I could never believe he is Cole Porter, I can believe he is playing that piano. I think this has been colorized:


The song was also covered by Barbra Streisand for the 1972 film What's Up, Doc?:

The House That Nat* Built

Pic via caitlinc's excellent Flickr set.

There is nothing sacred:

"Iconic Capitol Records Tower May Be Sold"

"Rumors that the Capitol Records tower, which looks like a stack of records and is one of the world's most recognizable buildings, could be sold to a developer who might convert it into condos has sparked concern among city leaders and preservationists. They say the building where Capitol Records helped produce and distribute music for Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and many other musicians, is too much of an icon to be turned into housing."

This was slightly encouraging: "...city officials were working with EMI to head off a sale. About 160 Capitol Records employees work in the building." Good luck to them!



*Nat King Cole