Nat "King" Cole - The MacGregor Years (1941-1945) 1995

On this four-CD set are included the bulk of Nat King Cole's radio transcriptions of 1941 and 1944-45. Although the programming could be a little better (the complete sessions are not compiled strictly in chronological order), the music has a strong unity and is consistently enjoyable. Pianist-vocalist Cole and his trio (which also includes important contributions by guitarist Oscar Moore and either Johnny Miller or Wesley Prince on bass) are featured extensively both as a unit and as an accompanying group to singers Anita Boyer, Ida James, Anita O'Day and the Barrie Sisters on 33, 15, five and five songs respectively. There are 120 selections altogether (some are quite brief) including two six-song instrumental medleys that put the emphasis on Cole's piano playing. Some of the music had already been reissued by Laserlight but this compiliation is more complete. Highly recommended to all fans of the King Cole Trio.
Scott Yanow

Tracks:

Cd. 1

1 It's Only a Paper Moon (Arlen, Harburg, Rose) 2:55
2 (What Can I Say) After I SayI'm Sorry ? (Donaldson, Lyman) 1:59
3 I Wanna Turn Out My Light (Cole) 2:35
4 You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love) (Columbo, Conrad, Dubois, Gregory) 2:46
5 If I Had You (Campbell, Connelly, Shapiro) 2:08
6 He's Funny That Way (Moret, Whiting) 2:23
7 They Can't Take That Away from Me (Gershwin, Gershwin) 3:10
8 I'm in Love With Someone (Marcus) 2:21
9 What Is This Thing Called Love ? (Porter) 1:27
10 Somebody Loves Me (DeSylva, Gershwin, MacDonald) 0:52
11 Sing You Sinners (Coslow, Harling) 1:37
12 'Tain't Me (Davis, Palmer) 2:51
13 Laura (Mercer, Raksin) 3:09
14 Keep Knockin' on Wood 2:06
15 If Yesterday Could Only Be Tomorrow (Emmerich, Poll) 2:43
16 Blues and Swing (Cole) 1:09
17 Let's Try Again (Hammond, Monroe) 3:03
18 What'cha Know Joe ? (Young) 2:07
19 Lazy River (Arodin, Carmichael) 1:40
20 Georgia on My Mind (Carmichael, Gorrell) 2:38
21 Rockin' Chair (Carmichael) 3:08
22 This Will Make You Laugh (Higginbotham) 3:34
23 Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me (Ellington, Russell) 2:26
24 The Old Music Master (Carmichael, Mercer) 2:26
25 After You've Gone (Creamer, Layton) 3:00
26 G'bye Now (Evans, Johnson, Livingston, Olson) 2:14
27 My Sister and I (Kramer, Whitney, Zaret) 2:08
28 Windy City Blues (Boyer, Tomboyers) 2:29
29 You've Changed (Carey, Fischer) 2:59
30 A Little Jive Is Good for You (Waters, Yar) 3:35

Cd. 2

1 Is You Is or Is You Ain't MyBaby ? (Austin, Jordan) 2:38
2 I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Fields, McHugh) 2:30
3 Shoo Shoo Baby (Moore) 2:59
4 Solid Potato Salad (DePaul, Prince, Raye) 2:01
5 Miss Thing (Basie, Martin) 2:09
6 Close to You (Smith, Young) 3:45
7 On the Sunny Side of the Street (Fields, McHugh) 2:24
8 Stormy Weather (Arlen, Koehler) 2:07
9 Who's Been Eatin' My Porridge (Cowen, Worth) 2:26
10 Honeysuckle Rose (Razaf, Waller) 1:29
11 Poor Butterfly (Golden, Hubbell) 2:17
12 These Foolish Things (Link, Marvell, Strachey) 2:31
13 Rosetta (Hines, Woode) 1:54
14 The Man I Love (Gershwin, Gershwin) 2:33
15 Liza (All the Clouds'll RollAway) (Gershwin, Gershwin, Kahn) 2:54
16 I'm in the Mood for Love (Fields, McHugh) 2:52
17 Don't Take Your Love from Me (Nemo) 1:52
18 I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You (Crosby, Washington, Young) 2:41
19 It Had to Be You (Jones, Kahn) 1:42
20 Blues in the Night (Arlen, Mercer) 3:45
21 Blue Skies (Berlin) 1:23
22 You Must Be Blind (Alexander, Dunleavy, Fullerton…) 3:02
23 Too Marvelous for Words (Mercer, Whiting) 2:20
24 I Realize Now (Cowen, Miller) 3:14
25 I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful) (Ruskin, Sullivan) 2:53
26 Ain't Misbehavin' (Brooks, Razaf, Waller) 2:23
27 Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone) (Burton, Jason) 3:05
28 Lonesome Road (Austin, Shilkret) 1:43
29 I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Fields, McHugh) 2:39
30 Rosetta (Hines, Woode) 2:11

Cd. 3

1 Little Joe from Chicago (Wells, Williams) 2:20
2 Rhythm Sam (Hanley, MacDonald) 2:16
3 Have Fun (Maurada, Shapiro, Studer) 2:36
4 On the Sunny Side of the Street (Fields, McHugh) 2:31
5 (Back Home Again In) Indiana (Hanley, MacDonald) 1:55
6 Get Away Closer Please 2:16
7 Easy Street (Jones) 2:49
8 The Hut Sut Song (Killion, McMichael, Owens) 1:58
9 Wouldn't You Like to Know (Milton) 2:18
10 Barcarolle (Offenbach) 4:00
11 I Thought You Ought to Know (Carter, Dilbeck) 2:36
12 Bring Another Drink (Belloc, Branker) 1:58
13 My Heart Tells Me (Gordon, Warren) 2:43
14 Harlem Sandman (Adamson, Styne) 2:40
15 Speak Low (Nash, Weill) 2:42
16 Them There Eyes (Pinkard, Tauber, Tracey) 1:39
17 Hit That Jive, Jack ! (Alston, Tolbert) 1:47
18 Besame Mucho (Skylar, Velazquez) 2:49
19 Please Consider Me (Hanley, MacDonald) 2:42
20 That'll Just About Knock Me Out (Jordan) 2:39
21 The Man I Love (Gershwin, Gershwin) 2:27
22 Summertime (Gershwin, Gershwin, Heyward) 2:39
23 I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) (Daugherty, Neiburg, Reynolds) 2:33
24 Frivolous Sal (My Gal Sal) (Dresser) 2:41
25 I Dream of You (Goetschius, Osser) 3:07
26 It Only Happens Once (Laine) 2:30
27 Swingin' the Blues (Basie, Durham) 2:01
28 Baby (We Could Have a Lot ofFun) (Butler) 2:37
29 Baby Won't You Please Come Home (Warfield, Williams) 2:14
30 Boogie a la King (Cole) 2:02

Cd. 4

1 Someone's in the Kitchen With Dinah (Freeman, Lang) 2:25
2 Basin Street Blues (Williams) 3:03
3 On the Sunny Side of the Street (Fields, McHugh) 1:48
4 (I've Got Those) Mad About Him, Sad Without Him, How Can I Be Glad (Charles, Markes) 1:53
5 I've Heard That Song Before (Cahn, Styne) 2:16
6 D-Day 2:36
7 Don't Blame Me (Fields, McHugh) 2:59
8 Smooth Sailing (James) 2:38
9 You're So Different (Fain, Parish) 2:31
10 Sweet Georgia Brown (Bernie, Casey, Pinkard) 1:39
11 I'll Remember April (DePaul, Johnston, Raye) 3:01
12 I Never Knew (Fio Rito, Kahn) 1:23
13 Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Bloom, Koehler) 2:25
14 I'll Be Around (Wilder) 2:32
15 If I Had You (Campbell, Connelly, Shapiro) 2:43
16 Don't Blame Me (Fields, McHugh) 3:13
17 Three Little Words (Kalmar, Ruby) 2:15
18 Body and Soul (Eyton, Green, Heyman, Sour) 2:31
19 How High the Moon (Hamilton, Lewis) 2:25
20 I Got Rhythm (Gershwin, Gershwin) 1:55
21 Sweet Lorraine (Burwell, Parish) 2:37
22 No Love, No Nothin' (Robin, Warren) 2:11
23 Knock Me a Kiss (Jackson) 2:53
24 I Can't See for Lookin' (Robinson, Stanford) 2:58
25 People Will Say We're in Love (Hammerstein, Rodgers) 2:31
26 Shoo Shoo Baby (Moore) 2:20
27 Mexico Joe (Rene) 2:35
28 Lester Leaps In (Young) 2:31
29 Just Another Blues (Charles, Markes) 3:27
30 Wild Goose Chase (Gifford) 2:25

Personnel:

Featuring Nat "King" Cole, Oscar Moore, Wesley Prince, Johnny Miller, Anita Boyer, Ida James, Anita O'Day...

Recorded between February 25, 1941 & May 26, 1945