[.ca] Classic Singles (Rm)

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT...:
Nat King Cole was one of the top performers of the 20th century, but it seems like only Capitol fails to realise that. They are the guardians of his musical legacy, the ones that have the responsibility of making his music live on well into the 21st century, and what do they give us? Compilation after compilation of previously released material (when hundreds of unreleased tracks still lay dormant in their vaults),and when they finally come up with an interesting project, they mess it up with average sound quality! I wouldn't quite agree with the notion, expressed by another reviewer, that Capitol should leave the Nat Cole material solely in the hands of their Capitol Jazz label... Capitol Jazz has excellent releases, liner notes, packaging, etc. (The 'Billy May sessions' 2-CD set, for instance, is brilliant), but it doesn't mean that plain Capitol isn't capable of equaling that quality, even surpassing it, given the right budget and an able team of archivists and reviewers (the 'Complete Capitol Singles' by Sinatra is a case in point). Only problem is, Sinatra sells more than Cole, and so they refuse to invest the same amount of money on an artist that is not so "cost-efficient"... What a disgrace that they forgot where they come from... Capitol Tower, the symbol in their logo and headquarters for more than half a century, was described at its creation as "the house that Nat Cole built", referring to the huge popularity of his Trio recordings that gave the label its biggest revenue in the 1940s. The Nat King Cole catalog on Capitol has been artificially divided between the two labels. Why not leave the Trio era recordings to Capitol Jazz and the later, solo recordings to the main label? After all, they are exactly in the same vein as the Sinatra recordings of the same period! As for this here collection, I still dream of two separate singles sets: 'the Trio years'containing all Trio single sides, and 'the Solo years', covering the second half of his career. Stereo recordings whenever possible, all the sides (there were quite a few, but real fans would agree to pay a little more for it). Not only Nat deserves this, but his fans do, too... and the 21st century music listeners deserve to discover the legacy of one of the most extraordinary vocalists and pianists of all time.

These Are "Classics" - Not "Hits":
I suppose, for the true audiophile, that a CD produced in this day and age with some background hiss is unforgiveable, and for that reason I can appreciate some of the negative comments. On the other hand if, like me, that is not an issue (unless the background noise is unbearable), then don't let that stop you from getting a copy of this box set. Nor should you be dissuaded by the number of "hit singles" omitted. This does not, after all, purport to be his "greatest hit singles" but, rather, "classic singles" - a definition which is open to interpretation. Sweet Lorraine, for example, was a failed single release by The King Cole Trio, and yet today is regarded as one of his classics. Much like, in the Country field, where Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry never charted as the flipside of My Bucket's Got A Hole In It in 1949, and yet no Hank Williams compilation would be complete without it. I also have to wonder at the reviewer who says "songs from before extended play records (1949) can't rightly be called singles..." I'm not sure what he is driving at, but extended play (or E.P.) records had nothing to do with single releases. These were 45rpm \osometimes 33 1/3\c records with two songs per side - at times three - with picture sleeves, sort of like mini-LPs. Once in a while a selection from an EP \oor even an LP\c would enter the singles charts based upon demand for air play. Elvis did this a few times, and where Nat is concerned just one EP cut made the Billboard singles charts. That was Stardust (# 79 pop in 1957) which formed part of Capitol EP 824 "Love Is The Thing" which also contained When Sunny Gets Blue, Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much, and It's All In The Game. Aside from such exceptions, true singles were always the one-song-per-side records - whether 78 or 45 rpm. Using the example of Kee-Mo Ky-Mo (The Magic Song), this became a # 10 hit on what then passed for the R & B charts in 1949 b/w Rex Rhumba on Capitol 15240 so, in every respect, this was not only a single, but a hit as well. For the record, just 18 of the cuts in this 102-song setwere not "hit" singles, but in just about every case you could make an argument for them as Nat "King" Cole classics. Such as his renditions of Tenderly, Dreams Cann Tell A Lie, and When I Fall In Love.

Capitol, art thou deaf?:
This is 2003, the era of high resolution CDs, SACDs and DVD-Audio. Today labels claim to be feeling the effects of file swapping via mp3s. To help discourage going the mp3 swapping route, CDs over the last 5-10 years are finally coming to offer a resolution that is noticeably degraded by converting to low bitrate mp3. Even Columbia has wizened up and offered high quality reissue audio, something nobody would have believed they could do judging from their '80's garbage. Columbia! But not Capitol. No, this set sends me right back to the '80's. Capitol mastering still has their '70's, '80's boys playing with signal processing toys. "Gee whiz! Isn't it cool sounding when out of phase? The tape hiss is gone!" Of course, things like tone, textures and colors are severely damaged too. And of course, the well engineered magnetic session tapes never had harmful levels of hiss to begin with. They've been getting in the way of really great sound for far too long. That Capitol has been letting these people handle and use the original sources is frightening. Capitol's idea of upgrading was to use 24 bit mastering for the same sound. Garbage in, garbage out! CDs like this aren't hurt appreciably by converting to the 128-bitrate mp3s popular in file swapping, which is where many will be getting these tracks, I have a hunch. Were the original Capitol high resolution tape sources from the '50's and '60's well transferred, the loss would be obvious. The artificial-sound Capitol mastering approach is not helping discourage any piracy, let's put it that way. Of course that Capitol's artificial sound mastering is more a detriment than an asset to the listening experience should go without saying, but I guess it has to be pointed out anyway. I'm copying this set (for private use only) and selling it. I suggest buying new Nat CDs from Capitol Jazz, which does better sound, and getting others used or borrowing. Capitol: get people who are serious about musical sound, not people playing around with audio. It is past time to quit playing with your recorded treasures and get serious.

Bear Family, where are you?:
If you're a die hard collector of Nat "King" Cole recordings you may look at the contents of this collection and fantasize about finally having stereo versions of some of his 60's material that has NEVER been released on LP or CD in stereo. Well, forget it. Only two tracks on cd four ("Let There Be Love" and "Dear Lonely Hearts") are in stereo. Not even "Stardust" and "When I Fall In Love" which were among the first tracks recorded by Capitol in stereo are in stereo here! In all fairness it should be mentioned that they did go back to the original masters for "You Made Me Love You" and "Let True Love Begin" instead of using the putrid David Cavanaugh rhythm track versions we've been stuck with since Mr. Cole's death but they're not in stereo. In fact, that in itself is ironic because the notes include a picture of the stereo EP that contained "You Made Me Love You"! As for the rest, you probably have everything on cd one because you probably have the Mosaic box. There are 4 or 5 nice rarities on cds two and three but you've got everything else. When oh when will Bear Family in Germany step in and do for Nat "King" Cole and Perry Como what they did for Dean Martin, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney etc.? We seem to be incapable of it in the US.

5 stars for Nat King Cole 2 stars for this.:
Nat King Cole is the most beautiful and expressive popular vocalist in history. Period. His piano is also a must. He's first rate there too. This isn't a good set of his classics. You want the "Nat King Cole" "Masters" box set. This isn't a good set of his singles. There are many other songs on it and many singles are missing. There are \ostill!\c no CDs of all his singles. The songs not on other CDs could have fit on part of one CD. I don't know why they did this thing. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd also like to hear his real voice without all the digital monkeying. The music is the point that matters, so I'm sorry to tell you the criticism I'm seeing is on the mark. I guess people are finally noticing these record people fiddled around to long. Don't you bother. Pray for a real single set. Get Nat King Cole. Other CDs of Nat King Cole. You'll love and cherish them. The King rules.

• That Ain't Right
• All For You
• I'm Lost
• Straighten Up and Fly Right
• Gee Baby, Aint I Good To You?
• If You Can't Smile And Say Yes
• Sweet Lorraine
• It's Only A Paper Moon
• I (Just) Can't See For Lookin'
• I Realize Now
• I'm A Shy Guy
• Don't Blame Me
• Come To Baby, Do
• The Frim Fram Sauce
• (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
• You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)
• The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)
• (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
• You Don't Learn That in School
• Meet Me at No Special Place (And I'll Be There)
• What'll I Do?
• Kee-Mo Ky-Mo (The Magic Song)
• Nature Boy
• Little Girl
• A Boy From Texas - A Girl From Tennessee
• Lost April
• My Mother Told Me
• Exactly Like You
• I Almost Lost My Mind
• Always You
• Mona Lisa
• Orange Colored Sky
• Jet
• Too Young
• Because of Rain
• Red Sails in the Sunset
• Unforgettable
• Walkin' My Baby Back Home
• Walkin'
• The Ruby and the Pearl
• Somewhere Along the Way
• Funny (Not Much)
• Can't I?
• Don't Let Your Eyes Go Shopping...
• Strange
• Because You're Mine
• I'm Never Satisfied
• Faith Can Move Mountains
• Mother Nature and Father Time
• Pretend
• A Fool Was I
• Lover Come Back to Me
• If Love is Good to Me
• Tenderly
• Return to Paradise
• Make Her Mine
• I Am in Love
• Why
• Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup
• Answer Me, My Love
• Alone Too Long
• It Happens to Be Me
• Unbelievable
• Haji Baba (Persian Lament)
• Smile
• My One Sin (In Life)
• The Sand and the Sea
• A Blossom Fell
• Forgive My Heart
• If I May
• Someone You Love
• Ask Me
• Too Young to Go Steady
• Dreams Can Tell a Lie
• My Personal Possession
• That's All There Is to That
• Night Lights
• To the Ends of the Earth
• Ballerina
• Stardust
• When I Fall in Love
• With You on My Mind
• Send for Me
• Angel Smile
• Looking Back
• Come Closer to Me (Acercate Mas)
• Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps)
• Non Dimenticar
• You Made Me Love You
• That's You
• Midnight Flyer
• My Love
• Let True Love Begin
• Let There Be Love
• Dear Lonely Hearts
• Ramblin' Rose
• Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer
• That Sunday, That Summer
• I Don't Want to Be Hurt Anymore
• L-O-V-E
• The Christmas Song
• L-O-V-E (medley in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian & Japanese) (Bonus Track)