Natalie Cole

[El Toro]

I was sad to learn that Natalie Cole passed away from complications associated with her long battle with Hepatitis C, which came about due to her use of drugs at one time.

She had a beautiful voice, perfect phrasing, and a wonderful sense of performance. We are listening to her album "Unforgettable" at the moment. This is the final cut, and it is a studio produced duet with her father, based on posthumous use of tapes cut by Nat before his own death.

We love Nat's Christmas Song. It's probably our favorite. In fact, it has caused me to buy and roast chestnuts a couple of holiday seasons. If it's been long enough since the last chestnut roasting, I will forget that I don't like them, and I'll roast some more ...

I'm going to dig out that album that has several Natalie & Nat duets if I can find it. I think I must have it on vinyl because I've been through all the CDs.

Edit: My recollection that there was a whole album of duets by Nat and Natalie was another example of old guy brain fart. I've looked it up, and it was the CD "Unforgettable ... With Love" that was like a joint project with Nat. I knew she'd covered many of the songs that he had done, and I knew that there was the artificial duet at the end of the album, but I thought there was another whole album, and it appears that there is not.

On the bright side, that means I can quit looking. However, it's good fun to dig through the CDs and LPs. I've found several gems and we're giving the system a January 2nd workout.

Ron Affif, Jack Wilkins, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, .... Great start to the New Year.

 

[Tiger_993]

I purchased "Unforgettable" on CD in 1991 while I was in college. I still have the album although I converted it to digital years ago. It's one of my all-time favorites and is filled with fantastic songs top to bottom. I too was saddened to hear of her passing earlier this week.

 

[bluesdog]

Just... wow!

 

[HotRodZilla]

I was gonna say something, but "if you can't say something nice..."

 

[its just rain]

WOW indeed!

 

[Pterodactyl]

Always a treat to watch Aretha Franklin perform. Thought I was going to be ill watching Carole King.

 

[El Toro]

They're both 73.

I had not remembered that Aretha had covered this song. King's version was a hit too.

King was certainly overwhelmed by Aretha's surprise appearance.

Thanks for sharing the video. BBC seems to have given it more press than US media outlets.

 

[yanktar]

Beautiful voice, conquered so much adversity, and did one of the most amazing albums with her late father. RIP.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I was gonna say something, but "if you can't say something nice..."

Good call.

 

[El Toro]

I was gonna say something, but "if you can't say something nice..."

Good call.

And yet obviously so difficult to achieve.

(one for each)

We all make choices. Some of Natalies were poor, but were consistent with her background and the industry that supports that talent. In the end, she's paid the ultimate price.

It doesn't diminish the beauty of her voice, or the wonder of the arrangements that were used on that Grammy winning album.

Whitney Houston was another woman with a beautiful voice, and she paid too ... but she never achieved the period so stability that Natalie achieved. It shows that you can pay now, or you can pay later ... but most folks do eventually pay.

I don't celebrate Natalie's passing, but it is easy to celebrate the beautiful voice, and to remember Nat as well. That final duet on the album is really special, and at the time it was done, it was quite a technical achievement. At that time I was a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS, the folks who award the Grammys). That album caused quite a stir.

Edit added: I was at a CD release party last year, and the CD included a duet with Willie Nelson.

The main artist had planned to do the duet with Willie live, and travelled to Austin.

Willie, not wanting to do the duet live, travelled to Nashville at the same time.

He cut his part, and when the artist was looking for him in Austin and called him, he was already done and on the way home.

I know that cutting multiple tracks and mixing them together is very old technology. Some of the most notable early efforts that many remember are Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Their Satanic Majesties Request. And, of course, there was all the work by Brian Wilson (see the movie Love and Mercy which was released in 2015 and had a limited run in selected venues).

But still, this Natalie and Nat duet was special for the time. Frank and Nancy Sinatra did some songs together too, but I don't remember if any of them were done after Frank's death.

Incidentally, there is another Christmas CD that's a lot of fun ... it's a compilation of Frank's Christmas work, Bing's Christmas work, and Nat's Christmas Song. So Nat was thought of well enough to be included on this Frank and Bing project. Recently Nancy was interviewed and observed that Frank's goal was to be bigger than Bing, and in Nancy's words "And he was."

 

[BanjoBoy]

"Queen of soul." Yeah she iz, butt iz that real fur?

 

[El Toro]

"Queen of soul." Yeah she iz, butt iz that real fur?

I'll bet it was, and I'll be that this was killing Carole (possibly softly).

 

[Big Sky]

I missed a chance to see Aretha in about 1975. I still regret that. I did get to see the Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor. Now she's gone but there are no regrets.When Koko sang "I'd Rather Go Blind" the hair on my scalp literally stood up.

 

[steveoreno]

I got to see a number of the famous bluesmen. I saw Muddy Waters in a small club in Bloomington, In on my 21st birthday, saw BB several times in big venues but my favorite was seeing John Lee Hooker at Purdue University. I showed up solo and was buying a ticket when the girl in the booth said, "I don't have any tickets together" To which I replied that there was no mouse in my pocket. I got front row center seat!

 

[wfooshee]

Aretha didn't cover it, hers was the first release. Carole King wrote it (with Gerry Goffin) and later recorded it herself for Tapestry.

That performance almost made me forget everyone else that was on the show!!! Buncha nobodies, anyway: Cicely Tyson, Rita Moreno, George Lucas, and Seiji Ozawa.

 

[El Toro]

Aretha didn't cover it, hers was the first release. Carole King wrote it (with Gerry Goffin) and later recorded it herself for Tapestry.

Yeah, I see that.

I knew Carole had written it, or apparantly co-written it. I missed Aretha's original release, and it appears to be a pretty big miss on my part since it had "hit" status.

The song first got my attention on King's Tapestry album, and that was later.

 

[wfooshee]

I was the same way, didn't mean to pretend otherwise.

Might be because I was not a Motown fan as a kid.... Except it was on Atlantic, not Motown. But Motown "style" i guess.