Mark Pentleton » nat king cole

362/365 Songs: Let there be love – Nat King Cole

admin — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:20:54 +0000

We’re into the final few songs in my 365 collection and today I’ve decided to play this classic song from 1940. The piano part to the song is notoriously difficult to play, so I ended up doing a few takes of this and decided to do a full backing track with strings, kit and bass. And then I decided to sing it too, although I’ve included the instrumental version here too, which is perhaps more in keeping with the rest of the tracks in my collection! My favourite version of the song is Nat King Cole’s and that’s what I’ve based my version on. We danced to this song at our wedding and it brings back many happy memories!

344/365 Songs: The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 06:45:13 +0000

This is one of my all-time favourite Christmas songs, and it has to be the original Nat King Cole version from 1946! It was written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in the heat of the 1944 summer: the idea was that Tormé and Wells would “stay cool by thinking cool” about Jack Frost biting at your nose and folks dressed up like Eskimos. Forty minutes later and the pair had written the most-performed Christmas song (according to the BMI) in history!

306/365 Songs: Dream a little dream of me – Mama Cass

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:40:36 +0000

Today’s song was written in 1931 by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was first recorded by Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra, but has been covered many times since by artists including Doris Day, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Dean Martin. In 1968 the song was recorded by the Mamas and the Papas. However it was widely suspected at the time that the group was set to split up, so the single was released by Mama Cass as a solo release. It was also covered by the Beautiful South in 1995, included in the album Carry On up the charts. The Beautiful South recorded a French version for the movie French Kiss.

240/365 Songs: Fly me to the moon

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:00:50 +0000

Today’s song was requested by my mum who celebrates her birthday today. I’ve been warned not to say too much or mention her age, so I’ll simply say “happy birthday, Mum!” Fly me to the moon was written in 1954 by Bart Howard and has been recorded by many artists from Nat King Cole to Doris Day and Tony Bennett. More recently it was performed by Diana Krall at the 40th anniversary concert of the Apollo 11 mission at the Smithsonian.

216/365 Songs: For sentimental reasons – Nat King Cole

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:59:18 +0000

A lovely romantic song today, first recorded in 1946 by Nat King Cole. Since then it has been covered by many different artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and in 1986 by Linda Ronstadt.

154/365 Songs: Around the World – Nat King Cole

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:30:17 +0000

I’ve played this song hundreds, if not thousands of times, but it wasn’t until this morning when I was doing my ‘research’ to write today’s blurb that I found out that the song was actually originally written as the theme tune for the 1956 film Around the World in Eighty Days! The vocal version wasn’t used in the film, but has since been recorded by many artists.

126/365 Songs: Unforgettable – Nat King Cole

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:49:48 +0000

I had been thinking long and hard about what would be the best song to play for the UK General Election, but I was saved by Jenny O who asked me to play the Nat King Cole song Unforgettable. This song was No. 1 in the UK charts on the day Jenny was born – and since today is Jenny’s birthday it seems most appropriate to play this for her! Feliz cumpleaños, Jenny!

122/365 Songs: Answer me – Nat King Cole

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:06:02 +0000

This song was written by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch and was originally called Mutterlein. However, in 1952, David Whitfield and Frankie Lane recorded an English version, written by Carl Sigman. I have to be honest – I had no idea about the history of this song, and I’ve been playing it for years. It turns out that the English version asked God why the singer had lost his love: “Answer me, Lord above…” This resulted in many complaints and the BBC banned the song! The lyrics were changed to “Answer me, oh my love…” and it became a UK number one single for Frankie Lane and Dean Whitfield. Interestingly the version by Whitfield got to the number one spot first, and was knocked off by Laine’s version! This has never happened since in UK chart history. Answer me was rerecorded by Nat King Cole and it’s this version which is perhaps the most famous, and certainly how I got to know the song.

365 Songs: When I fall in love – Nat King Cole

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:25:22 +0000

Bit late today – sorry! Today’s song is the classic When I fall in love. I’ve always associated this song with Nat King Cole, but it turns out that his was not the original. Doris Day recorded it in 1952 and Nat King Cole’s recording dates from 1956. I hope you enjoy it, even if it is a bit late…

365 Songs – Mona Lisa – Nat King Cole

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:09:53 +0000

This one’s for my mum! I wonder if she’ll post a comment now…

Mona Lisa was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1950 and since then has been covered by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and … Shakin’ Stevens!