SH Spotlight The Nat King Cole Trio AFTER MIDNIGHT AP 45 RPM 3 disk vinyl set still in stock at Acoustic Sounds!

Steve... can you explain that. Does it mean Pure Pleasure didn't used the original tapes for the Nat King Cole release?

 

Here are the dates of the seven releases...

1956 After Midnight
1957 Love Is The Thing
1957 Just One Of Those Things
1958 St. Louis Blues
1958 The Very Thought Of You
1961 The Nat King Cole Story
1962 Where Did Everyone Go?

These titles were carefully selected.

Perhaps it's not realistic to hope for more, but....even though his life was cut tragically short, Nat King Cole recording career stretched from 1936 to 1964, with well over a thousand tracks, instrumental and vocal. Maybe, just maybe, it's possible for a few more at some point down the line to continue to "broaden appreciation of Cole's catalog," as Jordan says.

I know I've already campaigned a little for this before, but other titles to consider might include

1958 Welcome to the Club
1960 Live at the Sands
1960 The Touch of Your Lips
1961 Let's Face the Music and Dance
1961 Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays

As you can see by the dates though, these stay within roughly the same period as the other releases that have gotten the deluxe treatment--the late 50s to early 60s.

I think it'd be great--and I know I'm almost certainly dreaming--to stretch out beyond that. This is esp. true because the Capitol release 7 years ago of the 4 CD 100 track set "Nat King Cole: The Classic Singles" has really pretty poor sound quality. Some people have used stronger words than poor. Even some die-hard Nat King Cole fans have just refused to have this in their collection.

And The Nat King Cole Story, even in the expanded edition coming out in a few months, has only 38 tracks, out of a career that had more than 1000. It would be quite possible to pick another 40, 50, or 100 tracks even of equal quality to that found on Story. Some of these tracks could, and again I realize I'm almost certainly dreaming, go back to the very early stuff before magnetic tape. The one track from this era that SH mastered many years ago, "You Call it Madness (But I Call it Love)," from c. 1945 sounds amazing....So, maybe a Story volume 2??

Just a dream, I realize....

 

A "Live at the Sands" 45rpm would get my dollar.(if all the Forum Caveats are in place).

 

This should be a great SACD! It's on my list!

When did Steve do that one? Was that released on CD?

 

Yes, it's on the DCC greatest hits from about a dozen years ago. It'd be interesting to see if he's willing to share any thoughts of what it was like to deal with the metal (?) master for that...

Sounds quality on that seems, to my ears, better than any of the tracks from that era on the Mosaic set...

In that era of the King Cole Trio the music was more jazzy and less poppy. I like both, but there's some clear quality to those early tracks. Some have, I think, glass masters...

 

Nat's "The Magic Of Christmas" (which would have to include, as a bonus track, the stereo version of "The Christmas Song") would be at the very top of my wish list for 45rpm LPs and SACDs.

Unfortunately, this is probably the Cole album LEAST likely to get the deluxe treatment since Capitol might be inclined to think it would cannibalize sales of their standard-edition CD, which is a perennial seller. I don't think that would actually happen since these $35 SACDs and $50 LPs are not aimed at the casual buyer... Anyway, "The Magic Of Christmas" is my "dream" SACD...

 

Clark: Wow. Love that mock up! I would enjoy this too on sacd.

 

My sets are in more or less mint condition. I bought them from an old fellow who transferred them to tape when they were new, so they were played only once. The sound is pretty good. I usually bump a record out of my collection when I find a pressing (of the same title) that bests it. These have stayed through a number of attempts to oust them. I think I like the mono mixes, that's why they have stayed and the S&P title (Love is the Thing?) didn't stay. I'll put them up against the AP versions when I take delivery.

 

Steve, do you know why they dubbed the session tapes to create a "master" for this album, instead of using them as the master like was usually done with the "live" mono recordings/mixes? Was it because of them being too dynamic for the time considering the typically bad playback equipment, and they dubbed them with a compressor or limiter (instead of having to always do this in mastering)? Did having so many extra songs have any influence?

 

Makes sense. Great info, thanks Steve.

Using copies back then worked out for the best now - it helped keep the real masters pristine.

 

Despite the fact that I, personally, would love to hear alternate after alternate, and am certainly grateful for the few that you choose to include, I have no doubt that you are correct in saying that it would dilute the impact of the original album.

Steve: Considering all the Cole session reels you've listened to, would you say that the common perception of Nat not really being involved with how the arrangements took shape, orchestrally-speaking, is accurate? I'm sure he was much different in this respect than Sinatra, but was he as hands off as perhaps some have suggested?

Thanks.

 

I think Nat Cole was by nature a very humble guy. But I also tend to think that he was well aware of how innately gifted he was musically. No doubt about that in my mind. That certainly could have manifested itself in the studio in ways other than it did, but his naturally even temperament - his diplomacy - I think prevented his sessions, and his relationships with his arrangers, from being more contentious than they might otherwise have been. Ralph Carmichael, his arranger from 1960-1964, summed Nat up this way:

As far as Gillette goes, I think he's one of the truly unsung heroes of Nat Cole's career, and according to David Axelrod the "greatest producer who ever lived."

 

Although I have a grey label copy of this album I find myself getting excited about this reissue. Is there much difference between the lps and the SACD?

 

Do you think Chad will put out a 45 box eventually? I'm a vinyl guy but I'm going for the SACD's now for the mono mixes and also conservative funds. If a box of the 45's come out down the road I may go for that and if not then I'll do my best to get the 45's (tight funds now).

 

That would be my normal inclination. I could always make a cdr of the vinyl which is something I've been doing with the Music Matters BN records. There are times when I don't want to be bothered with flipping records every ten minutes. I can't cook and listen to these 45's at the same time so if I want to hear the music it's nice to have that option.

 

Thanks! Makes perfect sense. I'm tempted to get some of the 45's now but will have to wait for down the road. Acting is going well but I need to hold onto what I earn in case there are some slow months. Pay my rent/bills or get 45's. A few years ago I would have done the latter but that's what helped lead me off onto the wrong road. I also miss getting the Blue Notes but must resist......