Divorce From His First Wife example essay topic

Famous Because... Hello, my name is Nathaniel Adams Cole (Nat King Cole). I was born on Saint Patrick's Day. I would like to tell you a little bit about how I became famous. I actually started by writing some music and singing what I wrote in Chicago clubs. I loved playing the piano and organ, and I was fortunate enough that it came to me naturally.

I played in jazz clubs with two other people. We were called the King Cole Trio. Eventually we made a record and it was very difficult. I was the lead singer. I then was offered a gig in Hollywood at a little club where a bunch of drunks requested that I sing, and even though I hadn't intended to, I did. Synopsis of life During my singing career I had two overlapping careers.

I was one of the truly great swing pianists. I was inspired by Earl Hines having a big influence on Oscar Peterson. And I was a superb pop ballad singer. When I was 12, I played the organ and sang in church. After making my recording debut with "Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers" in 1936, I left Chicago for the revival of the revue to lead the band in "Shuffle Along", and settled in Los Angeles when the show ended. I struggled a bit, put together a trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince, and eventually moved to for a long residency in Hollywood.

By the time the trio had its first opportunity to record for Decca in December 1940, I had gained more confidence in my own singing. "Sweet Lorraine" resulted from that recording session and the trio soon became quite popular. I recorded a great deal of exciting jazz during the 1940's, including dates featuring Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet, the first Jazz at the Philharmonic: first concert (1944), and a countless number of selections for Capitol Records with my trio; all of the latter are included on a gigantic Mosaic limited-edition box set. Although my singing began to become quite popular by the mid-'40's (and particularly after "The Christmas Song" and "Nature Boy"), I mostly performed with my trio, but there were some changes: Johnny Miller took over on bass and, in 1947, Irving Ashby became the guitarist. I was open to the influence of bop, and in 1949 I started utilizing Jack Costanzo on bongo and conga for some songs. However, my career changed permanently in early 1950 with the recording of "Mona Lisa", which became a number one hit.

Suddenly, I became famous to the non-jazz public as a singer. During the '50's and '60's, I mostly recorded pop ballads, although there were a few exceptions (including 1956's "After Midnight" album) and I never lost my ability to play stimulating jazz. I also had a regular television show during 1956-1957, but due to the racism of the period I found sponsorship difficult. However, the popularity of my records and public appearances remained at a remarkable level.

Obstacles My first obstacle in my career was that I was black. I did a lot of work to make things better for black people, like refusing to play at places that wouldn't let black people in, or making them change their rules before I would play for them. In my early days of touring, I and my band were often not allowed to stay at the places where we played. When I started to earn more money, I bought a house in a very expensive area of Los Angeles. Some of the people who already lived there protested and said they didn't want any undesirables moving in.

I said that I didn't either and would be the first to complain if any did move in. One time when I was playing at a concert in my home state of Alabama, some men tried to kidnap me from the stage because they were angry that a black man was allowed to put on a concert. I became so famous however, that I was invited to places by President Kennedy. In fact President Kennedy even went to my daughter's debutante ball! My second obstacle was getting my first television show. I was the first black man to have my own radio show and later my own T. V show.

In 1946, I started doing a radio show every week. I would play for half an hour on Saturday afternoon, from whatever town I was doing concerts in. The radio show lasted for 4 years. In October 1956, I started my own TV show. It was probably the first serious attempt by a TV station to have a Negro as a show's host. It was very popular but businesses were afraid that white southern audiences would stop buying their products if they advertised during the show.

I also appeared in quite a few movies. The best known of these is St Louis Blues in which I played the role of the jazz composer W.C. Handy. I also appeared in a film about myself called The Nat King Cole Story. I appeared in lots of other movies just to sing a song. Influential Relationships When I was four years old, my father, Edward Coles, a Baptist minister, accepted a pastor-ship of a church in Chicago. My family, which included my mother, Perlina, my older brother, Edward, and two sisters, Eddie Mae and Evelyn, moved north.

Two younger brothers, Issac and Lionel (called Freddie), were born later in Chicago. Perlina, choir director at the church, introduced her children to music early on and all four of her sons became professional musicians. As a small child, I could pump out "Yes, We Have No Bananas" on the piano and liked to stand in front of the radio with a ruler in my hand, pretending to conduct an orchestra. At age 12, I began taking formal lessons in piano and also began playing the organ in my father's church.

If my keyboard skills weren't needed at church, I was put into the choir. While attending Wendell Phillips High School, I became enamored of jazz music. The African American community on Chicago's south side was a center of jazz action in the 1930's. My older brother Eddie and I went as often as possible to hear jazz and be with jazz musicians. When admission to a performance could not be afforded, I would stand in alleys listening at the stage door. I was most influenced by the style of pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines.

"It was his driving force that appealed to me... I was just a kid and coming up, but I latched onto that new Hines style. Guess I still show the influence today", I told John Tynan of Down Beat in 1957. Greatly influenced by both Earl "Fatha" Hines and Count Basie, I honed my playing skills by performing at amateur nights in local clubs, including the Savoy Ballroom and the Regal Theater. My father, a minister at True Light Baptist Church, would only allow me to play jazz if I continued to play organ in church.

In fact, my first commercial hit, "Straighten Up and Fly Right", (1942) was based on the title of one of my father's sermons. I left Chicago in 1937 to tour with the musical revue "Shuffle Along of 1933". After settling in southern California, I shortened my name and began playing in small clubs. I achieved great commercial success when I began to sing as well as play. My many hits included "Nature Boy,"Too Young", and "Unforgettable". Memento I had a small model piano.

The piano was given to me when I was eight-teen years old. I was given the piano because my parents knew that I loved to play the piano and make music. I loved to sing and the piano had come with a miniature microphone. The piano and microphone worked so I decided to play it and sing into the microphone. My parents were amiable towards me because of the support that they gave me through my decision.

My parents were formidable by the way that they would help me comprehend the fact that it was difficult for me to become a singer. The succinctly told me the reasons why they had given the pain and microphone to me. This was an aberration because they had never done this type of thing before. Once they got through explaining to me all the reasons why, I was speechless.

Reflection Nat King Cole should not have divorced his first wife. He should not have divorced her because she did not want to be on the road with him all the time, instead she wanted to stay at home. She had wanted him to stay home some times, he refused. He wanted to be on the road all of the time and he didn't have his wife with him, so eventually he divorced her. He then went and found himself a new wife before he had gotten divorced.

He met this woman while on a tour. She also was a performer and they had met and they fell in love with each other. He eventually asked her to marry him and she accepted. He then had to get a divorce from his first wife and she was devastated. He never had children with his first wife, but he did with his second. His second wife helped him with his music and was always on the road with him.