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08-26-2007, 02:55 PM
Music Video of the Week #14
Unforgettable - Nat & Natalie Cole
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"Unforgettable" performed by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole won the 1992 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
It was written by Irving Gordon. The song was published in 1951.
The most popular version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951, with the famous arrangement written by Nelson Riddle. Forty years later, after his death, the recording was edited to create a duet with his daughter, Natalie.
In 1990, she had an idea to pay tribute to her father, after years of trying to distance herself from the legacy he left her, but wasn't sure if her record label would allow it. She had rebuilt her career by singing dance tunes and pop/R&B ballads, and now she would be doing something completely different. She would be taking a huge risk by abandoning the music that made her famous, but it was one she was willing to take. By 1991, she was at a new label, Elektra Records, and they allowed Natalie to take on this project as her first release. Natalie recorded her father's signature song, "Unforgettable", that year using her father's voice in her version to accompany her in a duet. She was fulfilling a dream of hers...to be able to sing with her father like she used to when she was a kid and to say "Thank you, Dad, for everything." She struck gold when she did, bringing back memories not only for her, but for Nat's loyal fans, too. For years they had hoped that Natalie would do something like this, but for a long time she purposely avoided doing his material so she could establish herself as an artist in her own right. And by the early 1990s, she certainly had!
A heart-touching video which featured vintage footage and intimate home movies of Nat Cole accompanied the "Unforgettable" remake, and the careers of both he and Natalie's were reborn. Natalie even recorded the album/CD with several of the same musicians and background vocalists that had worked with her father, and in the very same Capitol Records studio where Nat cut most of his songs, Studio A. It also turned out to be a family affair: Natalie asked Nat's brothers, her uncles Ike and Freddy, to participate in this project, lending their skills on the piano to several songs on the CD. Natalie has said that she felt as if her father's spirit were right there with her, even though when she was born, Nat was hoping that she wouldn't make the decision to do what he did for a living! By its success, Nat King Cole was introduced to a whole new generation of fans who love him just as much as any of his fans who were there when he first experienced his success over fifty years ago! Natalie said: "One thing I knew was that if I did win a Grammy for UNFORGETTABLE, I would be winning it not only for myself and all those who had worked on it, but ultimately I would be winning it for Dad."
More influential, artistic, and award winning music videos to come in the following weeks, from the early years (when MTV played only music videos) until today.
Unforgettable - Nat & Natalie Cole
53ith7bNN8w
"Unforgettable" performed by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole won the 1992 Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
It was written by Irving Gordon. The song was published in 1951.
The most popular version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951, with the famous arrangement written by Nelson Riddle. Forty years later, after his death, the recording was edited to create a duet with his daughter, Natalie.
In 1990, she had an idea to pay tribute to her father, after years of trying to distance herself from the legacy he left her, but wasn't sure if her record label would allow it. She had rebuilt her career by singing dance tunes and pop/R&B ballads, and now she would be doing something completely different. She would be taking a huge risk by abandoning the music that made her famous, but it was one she was willing to take. By 1991, she was at a new label, Elektra Records, and they allowed Natalie to take on this project as her first release. Natalie recorded her father's signature song, "Unforgettable", that year using her father's voice in her version to accompany her in a duet. She was fulfilling a dream of hers...to be able to sing with her father like she used to when she was a kid and to say "Thank you, Dad, for everything." She struck gold when she did, bringing back memories not only for her, but for Nat's loyal fans, too. For years they had hoped that Natalie would do something like this, but for a long time she purposely avoided doing his material so she could establish herself as an artist in her own right. And by the early 1990s, she certainly had!
A heart-touching video which featured vintage footage and intimate home movies of Nat Cole accompanied the "Unforgettable" remake, and the careers of both he and Natalie's were reborn. Natalie even recorded the album/CD with several of the same musicians and background vocalists that had worked with her father, and in the very same Capitol Records studio where Nat cut most of his songs, Studio A. It also turned out to be a family affair: Natalie asked Nat's brothers, her uncles Ike and Freddy, to participate in this project, lending their skills on the piano to several songs on the CD. Natalie has said that she felt as if her father's spirit were right there with her, even though when she was born, Nat was hoping that she wouldn't make the decision to do what he did for a living! By its success, Nat King Cole was introduced to a whole new generation of fans who love him just as much as any of his fans who were there when he first experienced his success over fifty years ago! Natalie said: "One thing I knew was that if I did win a Grammy for UNFORGETTABLE, I would be winning it not only for myself and all those who had worked on it, but ultimately I would be winning it for Dad."
More influential, artistic, and award winning music videos to come in the following weeks, from the early years (when MTV played only music videos) until today.