Editing Nat King Cole (section)

===1940s===
Cole recorded "[[Sweet Lorraine]]" in 1940, and it became his first hit.<ref name="Yanow Swing">{{cite book|last1=Yanow|first1=Scott|title=Swing|date=2000|publisher=Miller Freeman|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-0879306007|page=[https://archive.org/details/swing00yano/page/203 203]|url=https://archive.org/details/swing00yano/page/203}}</ref> According to legend, his career as a vocalist started when a drunken bar patron demanded that Cole sing the song. He said that this fabricated story sounded good, so Cole did not argue with it. There was a customer one night who demanded that he sing, but because it was a song Cole did not know, he sang "Sweet Lorraine" instead. As people heard Cole's vocal talent, they requested more vocal songs, and he obliged.<ref name="Intimate">{{cite book|last1=Cole| first1=Maria| title=Nat King Cole: An Intimate Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/natkingcoleintim00cole|url-access=registration|year=1971|publisher= William Morrow|isbn=978-0688021535}}</ref>

In 1941, the trio recorded "That Ain't Right" for Decca, followed the next year by "All for You" for [[Excelsior Records|Excelsior]].<ref name="Ruhlmann" /> They recorded "[[I'm Lost]]", a song written by [[Otis René]], the owner of Excelsior.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170315223539/https://books.google.com/books?id=jRgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT85&lpg=PT85&dq=%22Excelsior+Records%22+Rene&source=bl&ots=WGb7s0l1Un&sig=4d9p5VXP5s9T0nsJFji0eYTXagY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FyZHT9rsHIHh0QHww_WCDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA "Buck-Five Disk of Indies Seen Different Ways"]. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. September 1, 1945. Retrieved February 24, 2012.</ref>

{{blockquote |quote=I started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out.|source=Nat King Cole, Voice of America interview, {{Circa|1956}}.<ref name=pc22>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19775/m1/ |title=Show 22 – Smack Dab in the Middle on Route 66: A Skinny Dip in the Easy Listening Mainstream. [Part 1] |show=22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1692127/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402023122/http://www.library.unt.edu/music/special-collections/john-gilliland/index-to-interviews | archive-date=April 2, 2009 |title=Pop Chronicles Interviews #131 - Nat "King" Cole |work=[[Pop Chronicles]] |publisher=University of North Texas Libraries}}</ref>}}

Cole was the original house pianist for [[Jazz at the Philharmonic]] and performed at the first recorded concert in 1944. He was credited on [[Mercury Records|Mercury]] as "Shorty Nadine", a derivative of his wife's name, because Cole had an exclusive contract with [[Capitol Records|Capitol]]<ref>{{cite web|author1=Holmes, Roy|author2=Windisch, Simon|url=http://highstreets.co.uk/kcc/html/biograph.htm|title=Nat King Cole Biography|website=Highstreets.co.uk|access-date=January 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116040836/http://highstreets.co.uk/kcc/html/biograph.htm|archive-date=January 16, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> since signing with the label the year before. He used a variety of other [[pseudonym]]s for the same reason, including Eddie Laguna, Sam Schmaltz, Nature Boy and A Guy, "or whatever name for himself he could think of, but only as an instrumentalist, never as a vocalist."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ruuth |first1=Marianne |title=Nat King Cole |year=1992 |url=https://archive.org/details/natkingcole0000ruut/page/66/mode/1up |url-access=registration|publisher=Melrose Square Pub. Co |isbn=
9780870675935 |series=Melrose Square Black American series |location=[[Los Angeles]] |page=66  |oclc=26884864 |access-date=16 January 2024}}</ref> Cole recorded with [[Illinois Jacquet]] and [[Lester Young]].<ref name="Yanow Swing" />

[[File:Nat King Cole Oscar Moore Johnny Miller King Cole Trio 1947.JPG|thumb|180px|''King Cole Trio Time'' on NBC with Cole on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Johnny Miller on double bass, 1947]]

In 1946, the trio broadcast ''King Cole Trio Time'', a 15-minute radio program. This was the first radio program to be hosted by a black musician. From 1946 to 1948, the trio recorded [[transcription disc|radio transcription]]s for Capitol Records Transcription Service.<ref>{{cite news|title=Capitol Transcriptions ad| url= http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1948/1948-06-28-BC.pdf|access-date=December 22, 2014| agency= Broadcasting|date=June 28, 1948}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs|url=http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logk1025.htm/|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224222107/http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logk1025.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> They performed on the radio programs ''Swing Soiree'', ''[[Lorillard Tobacco Company|Old Gold]]'', ''[[The Chesterfield Supper Club]]'', ''[[Kraft Music Hall]]'', and ''[[The Orson Welles Almanac]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Radio%20Almanac | title=Radio Almanac | publisher=RadioGOLDINdex | access-date=February 13, 2014 | archive-date=September 15, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915215501/http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Radio%20Almanac | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Almanac Part 1">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1944OrsonWellesRadioAlmanacpart1 |title=Orson Welles Almanac — Part 1 |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=February 13, 2014}}</ref>

Cole began recording and performing pop-oriented material in which he was often accompanied by a [[string orchestra]]. Cole's stature as a popular star was cemented by hits such as "All for You" (1943), "[[The Christmas Song]]" (1947),<ref>Cole recorded "The Christmas Song" four times&nbsp;— on June 14, 1946, with the Nat King Cole Trio; on August 19, 1946, with an added string section; on August 24, 1953; and in 1961 for the double album ''The Nat King Cole Story''. The final version, recorded in stereo, is the one most often heard today.</ref> "[[Route 66 (song)|(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66]]", "[[(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons]]" (1946), "[[There! I've Said It Again]]" (1947), "[[Nature Boy]]" (1948), "[[Frosty the Snowman]]", "[[Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole song)|Mona Lisa]]" (No. 1 song of 1950), "[[Orange Colored Sky]]" (1950), "[[Too Young (Sidney Lippman and Sylvia Dee song)|Too Young]]" (the No. 1 song of 1951).<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1951 |title=''Billboard'' website |magazine=Billboard |access-date=March 4, 2010 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107001535/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1951 |url-status=dead }}</ref>