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ent001034-006
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University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

NAT KING COLE - Biography - Page 5 who upon hearing him sing earnestly advised him, "With a throat like that, son, you should be home in bed!" Conversely, now that Nat is world-famed as a vocalist, many people are not aware that he is one of the best jazz pianists extant. He credits "the hip classics" with developing his style. He has played everything from Bach to Rachmaninoff. At the time the new "King?╟╓ changed his style from trio to big band to balladeer, some of the jazz purists reproached him for deserting that field of popular music. Nat has a very realistic attitude concerning the change. For the last 17 years he has made a great deal of money, his prestige has soared all over the world, and he has reached many millions of people who do not dig the jazz hour. The broader appeal of popular music has, for him, written his success story. He became one of the first artists to join Capitol Records, after the company was formed in 1942, and in the interim has recorded more tfran 600 songs for the label. Neither Nat nor Capitol would claim that every record he has cut has been a hit, but he probably has had more hits than any other artist in the business. These included "Mona Lisa," "Nature Boy," "Too Young," "Route 66," "Non Dimenticar" and others. Considered one of the best song "salesmen" in the business, every record he makes has an 80-20 per cent chance of hitting the financial jackpot. His discs sell more than 7 million copies a year, a formidable ?╟≤ t ?╟≤ more