The Nat "King" Cole Trio - Great Capitol Masters

Side 1:

01. I'm An Errand Boy For Rhythm

02. Kee Mo Ky Mo

03. I Used To Love You

04. These Foolish Things

05. Dream A Little Dream Of Me

06. The Love Nest

07. But All I've Got Is Me

08. I've Got A Way With Women

Side 2:

01. When I Take My Sugar To Tea

02. I Miss You So

03. You're The Cream in My Coffee

04. But She's My Buddy's Chick

05. Naughty Angeline

06. The Best Man

07. I Think You Get What I Mean

08. That's What

Download from:

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This 1985 Pathe Marconi collection of King Cole Trio recordings for Capitol contains quite a few rarities, as can be seen from the information I've compiled below. Most of the tracks were recorded by the classic Trio lineup of Nat "King" Cole (piano, vocals), Oscar Moore (guitar) and Johnny Miller (bass). Oscar Moore left the Trio in September 1947 to join his brother's successful group, Johnny Moore and the Three Blazers which featured Charles Brown on piano and vocals. Irving Ashby replaced Oscar Moore in the Trio. Johnny Miller left in the spring of 1948 and also joined Johnny Moore and the Three Blazers. He was replaced by Joe Comfort. In 1949 bongo player Jack Costanzo was added to the Trio, which was now billed as King Cole and his Trio.

This lineup lasted into 1951. In 1952 the Trio consisted of Nat "King" Cole, John Collins (guitar) and Charlie Harris (bass) with Jack Costanzo on bongos. Variants of this lineup continued to record until 1956 by which time Nat's popular song recording work with full orchestras had taken over completely from the jazzy trio sound of the 1940s.

There's no discographical information on the LP cover, so your intrepid blogger has been hunting through websites, books and CD booklets to get the lowdown on these tracks. Below you'll find details of the recording date and personnel plus the original release of each track on "Great Capitol Masters."

01. I'm An Errand Boy For Rhythm - recorded October 18th 1945, NYC. First released on "Nat King Cole 10th Anniversary Album" 1954. *

02. Kee Mo Ky Mo - recorded August 15th, 1947, Los Angeles. First released on "King Cole For Kids" album, August, 1948. *

03. I Used To Love You - recorded November, 1949, NYC. Unreleased. ***

04. These Foolish Things - recorded August 13th, 1947, Los Angeles. Released on Capitol 10189 b/w "Cole Capers", February 1949. *

05. Dream A Little Dream Of Me - recorded October 28th, 1947, NYC. First released on "Nat King Cole 10th Anniversary Album" 1954. **

06. The Love Nest - recorded October 28th, 1947, NYC. First released on "Nat King Cole 10th Anniversary Album" 1954. **

07. But All I've Got Is Me - recorded July 3rd, 1947, Los Angeles. First released on "Nat King Cole 10th Anniversary Album" 1954. *

08. I've Got A Way With Women - recorded November 24th, 1947, NYC. First released on Capitol 15110 as B Side of "Don't Blame Me", June 1948. **

09. When I Take My Sugar To Tea - recorded Hollywood, August 6th, 1947. First released on Capitol 813, b/w "If I Had You", February 1950. *

10. I Miss You So - recorded Hollywood, June 13th, 1947. First released on Capitol B444, b/w "I Think You Get What I Mean", August, 1947. *

11. You're The Cream in My Coffee - recorded in NYC, December 18th, 1946. First released on Capitol 10086, a disc which was part of a 4 disc album, CD-49, "Capitol Artists Present Somebody Loves Me: The Beloved Songs of Buddy DeSilva." The other side of Capitol 10086 was by Clark Dennis with the Paul Weston Orchestra. Issued, May 1947. *

12. But She's My Buddy's Chick - recorded in Los Angeles, May 1st, 1946. First released on Capitol 328, B Side of "That's The Beginning Of The End", December 1946. *

13. Naughty Angeline - recorded in Los Angeles, June 13th, 1947. First released on Capitol 437 b/w "That's What", July, 1947. *

14. The Best Man - recorded in NYC, August 19th, 1946. First released on Capitol 304 b/w "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons", September, 1946. * (with Jack "The Bear" Parker on drums)

15. I Think You Get What I Mean - recorded in Los Angeles, July 3rd, 1947. First released on Capitol B444 b/w "I Miss You So", August, 1947.*

16. That's What - recorded in Los Angeles, June 13th, 1947. First released on Capitol 437 b/w "Naughty Angeline", July, 1947. *

* = Nat "King" Cole (piano, vocal); Oscar Moore (guitar); Johnny Miller (bass)

** = Nat "King" Cole (piano, vocal); Irving Ashby (guitar); Johnny Miller (bass)

*** = Nat "King" Cole (piano, vocal); Irving Ashby (guitar); Joe Comfort (bass); Jack Costanzo (bongos)

Above: "King Cole For Kids", the 1948 album (set of three 78rpm discs) which featured "Kee Mo Ky Mo." The album was re-released as a 10" LP with two additional tracks in 1951.

Above: "Nat King Cole 10th Anniversary", the 1954 LP which featured first releases of  "I'm An Errand Boy For Rhythm", "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", "The Love Nest" and "But All I've Got Is Me". The LP was also released as a set of four EPs.

Above: "Capitol Artists Present Somebody Loves Me: The Beloved Songs of Buddy DeSilva", the 1947 album (set of four 78rpm discs) which contained "You're The Cream In My Coffee." This was the only King Cole Trio side on the collection.

Discographical information from:

Bruyninckx Discography

Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll - Nick Tosches

Nat King Cole: The Man and his Music - James Haskins with Kathleen Benson

Billboard

Notes to "Cool Cole: The King Cole Trio Story" (Proper 4CD set) by Joop Visser

Notes to "The Cocktail Combos" (Capitol Blues Collection 3CD set) by Billy Vera

Worth looking out for:

The Cocktail Combos - superb Capitol 3CD set compiled by Billy Vera in 1997. The King Cole Trio (including "Get Your Kicks On Route 66"), Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, Charles Brown, Floyd Dixon.

Cool Cole: The King Cole Trio Story - Proper 4CD set with some Decca, Exelsior and Premier sides, but mostly featuring the great Capitol sides.

The Nat "King" Cole Trio - Trio Days

Side 1:

01. Honeysuckle Rose

02. Sweet Lorraine 

03. This Side Up

04. Gone With The Draft

05. Call The Police

06. That Ain't Right

07. Are You Fer It?

08. Hit That Jive Jack

Side 2:

01. Early Morning Blues

02. Babs

03. Scotchin' With Soda

04. Slow Down

05. I Like To Riff

06. This Will Make You Laugh

07. Hit The Ramp

08. Stop, The Red Light's On

Download from:

http://www49.zippyshare.com/v/RfuzkA6G/file.html

Personnel on all tracks: Nat "King" Cole (piano, vocal); Oscar Moore (guitar); Wesley Prince (bass).

Group vocals on "Babs", "Scotchin' With The Soda", "Stop The Red Light's On", "I Like To Riff", "Call The Police", "Hit That Jive Jack", "Are You Fer It".

Nat "King" Cole solo vocal on "Sweet Lorraine", "Gone With The Draft", "Slow Down", "This Will Make You Laugh", "That Ain't Right".

"Honeysuckle Rose", "Sweet Lorraine", "This Side Up" and "Gone With The Draft" were recorded in Los Angeles on December 6th, 1940. They were released on the following two singles:

Sweet Lorraine / This Side Up (Decca 8520) - March 1941

Honeysuckle Rose / Gone With The Draft (Decca 8535) - April 1941

"Babs", "Scotchin' With The Soda", "Slow Down" and "Early Morning Blues" were recorded in Chicago on March 14th, 1941, and released on the following two singles:

Babs / Early Morning Blues (Decca 8541) - May 1941

Scotchin' With The Soda / Slow Down (Decca 8556) - June 1941

"This Will Make You Laugh", "Stop The Red Light's On", "Hit The Ramp" and "I Like To Riff" were recorded in New York on July 16th, 1941 and released on the following two singles:

Hit The Ramp / This Will Make You Laugh (Decca 8571) - September 1941

Stop The Red Light's On / I Like To Riff (Decca 8592) - December 1941

"Call The Police", "Are You Fer It", "That Ain't Right" and "Hit That Jive Jack" were recorded in New York on October 22nd, 1941 and released on the following two singles:

Call The Police / Are You Fer It? (Decca 8604) - March 1942

That Ain't Right / Hit That Jive Jack (Decca 8630) - June 1942

Discographical info from:

"Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll" by Nick Tosches

"Nat King Cole: The Man And His Music" by James Haskins with Kathleen Benson

Bruyninckx Discography

My dad was a big Nat King Cole fan. He had LPs with songs like "Ramblin' Rose" and "Roll Out Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer" and he used to love listening to the older hits like "Mona Lisa" and "When I Fall In Love." But deep in a cupboard lay a pile of my dad's old 78s by the likes of Artie Shaw, The Ink Spots and Art Tatum. And in among the slabs of shellac was a a different kind of Nat King Cole record - "It's Only a Paper Moon" by The King Cole Trio. Here was the same velvet smooth voice but without an orchestral backing, just a tight, jazzy combo with piano, guitar and bass. And oh, how cool did they sound?

Over the years I gradually became more aware of the earlier phase of Nat King Cole's career - the 1940's hepcat leader of a jazz trio on the new West Coast label Capitol Records. Cool vocals and immaculate jazz piano by Nat King Cole, smooth guitar by Oscar Moore and solid bass by Johnny Miller. A trio which started off a trend in black music sometimes referred to as "The Cocktail Combos." Perhaps their most well known stylistic offspring (at least to us R&B fans) was the group started by Oscar's brother and fellow guitarist Johnny - Johnny Moore's Three Blazers.

But that it is to anticipate matters by a few years, for The King Cole Trio didn't start recording for Capitol until the end of 1943. The material in this featured LP was recorded by the first iteration of the group, Nat Cole, Oscar Moore and Wesley Prince, for Decca in 1940-1941. Here we find the trio still developing the sound which was to bring them such great success soon afterwards. Quite a few tracks feature unison vocals by the whole group, a style which harks back to the jive groups of the late 1930s such as The Cats And The Fiddle. We also find some tracks such as "Sweet Lorraine" with solo vocals by Nat, an arrangement which would prove to be the way forward for the group.

I ripped this LP way back in the early days of the blog and posted it with incomplete cover scans. I have added new cover and label scans for this post. There is some popping and clicking on some of these tracks. Apologies!

The King Cole Trio - Trio Days

Early Nat “King” Cole Trio sides recorded for Decca in late 1940 and early 1941. The line up is Nat “King” Cole – piano and lead vocals, Oscar Moore – guitar and ensemble vocals, Wesley Prince – bass and ensemble vocals.

These are mostly jazzy, jivey numbers with plenty of instrumentals, ensemble vocals and hepcat lyrics. The early version of “Sweet Lorraine” hints at the future career of Cole as a peerless ballad singer.

This was a 1984 LP in the Charly jazz subsidiary Affinity’s “Big Band Bounce & Boogie” series although what this album has to do with big bands (or boogie) defeats me. I guess it has got plenty bounce, though!

Ripped from vinyl at 320 kbps.

Download link:

https://www49.zippyshare.com/v/RfuzkA6G/file.html

1. Honeysuckle Rose
2. Sweet Lorraine
3. This Side Up
4. Gone With The Draft
5. Call The Police
6. That Ain't Right
7. Are You Fer It?
8. Hit That Jive Jack
9. Early Morning Blues
10. Babs
11. Scotchin' With Soda
12. Slow Down
13. I Like To Riff
14. This Will Make You Laugh
15. Hit The Ramp
16. Stop, The Red Light's On

Please note: this LP was re-upped in June 2016 in a new post with more information here:

https://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-nat-king-cole-trio-trio-days.html