This volume of great performances from NBC's 'The Nat King Cole Show' brings Nat Cole's classic pop vocals and sharp piano playing together with the talents of special guests Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte, Johnny Mercer, the Mills Brothers, and the Oscar Peterson Trio. As in volume 1 (The Timeless Nat King Cole Shows), the collaboration between Cole and musical director Nelson Riddle makes for great music - and here Gordon Jenkins too adds some beautiful arrangements.
These clips focus on Cole's special 'home-away-from-home' relationship with the Sands Hotel of Las Vegas. In keeping with the Vegas spirit, Sammy Davis and Nat engage in friendly duet mockery, and Cole covers the Frank Sinatra hit 'So Long, My Love.' There's a swinging 'Almost Like Being in Love,' a suave yet heartfelt 'It's All in the Game' and some then-slick TV effects: Nat seems to drive down the Vegas strip while singing a cool arrangement of 'Anything Goes.'
An especially nice feature: in some longer sequences we get to see the orchestra at work behind Nat, for example during 'Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart.' And of course there's a rendition of the great Cole hit 'Mona Lisa.' These performances bring back classic moments from the groundbreaking music television that was 'The Nat King Cole Show.' |
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