Mahalia Jackson - Queen of the Gospel Singers (1954)

"In the Upper Room" by Mahalia Jackson


When Aretha's mother died, she and her siblings were share raised by members of the community led by her grandmother Rachel and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.  Active since the age of sixteen in the late twenties, Mahalia Jackson sang gospel purely and powerfully.  She refused to sing secular songs and didn't touch the blues ("When you sing the blues, you still have the blues").  That said, the influence of the blues is a very clear influence on her style and backup instrumentation.  Whether it was just a piano or everything and a back up doo-wop group, Mahalia soared above it all.  Her career took off when she signed with Apollo Records when her 1948 single "Move on Up a Little Higher" sold over 8 million copies with a particular high demand from Europe.  She'd continue to sell out singles and firmly solidified her reputation as the greatest spiritual singer, or the Queen.  Apollo never released any compilation albums, but did release Mahalia's first LP of material Queen of the Gospel Singers in 1954.

Here is the discography surrounding Mahalia Jackson's debut album:

The Ultimate Collection (compilation of pre-1949 material)
The Apollo Sessions 1946-1951 (compilation of pre-1951 material)
How I Got Over: The Apollo Records Sessions 1946-1954 (compilation of pre-1954 material)
Queen of the Gospel Singers

"Dig a Little Deeper" by Mahalia Jackson


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Aretha Franklin - Songs of Faith (1956)

"Precious Lord" by Aretha Franklin


When Natalie Cole took soul circles by storm, the first wave of praise compared her so highly as to the incumbent and eternal Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.  Natalie's image, performances, and song library were modeled after Aretha's own though slightly more "fresh".  Even the songs from Natalie's debut were once offered to Aretha to perform.  She turned them down except "You".

Aretha was the daughter of a Reverend C. L. Franklin and gospel singer and pianist Barbara Franklin.  Through the church, Aretha got the opportunity to perform gospel standards for her father by the age of 10.  When she turned 14, the reverend took her on the road and by 16, she had a record deal with J.V.B. Records.  Her first album Songs of Faith released in 1956 and collected a series of gospel standards.  The record made cheaply with poor recording standards but Aretha's powerful voice soars to some truly chilling moments, accented by the reactions of a moved congregation.

Here is the discography surrounding Aretha Franklin's debut album:

Never Grow Old (1956 single)
Songs of Faith
Precious Lord (1959 single)

"Yield Not to Temptation" by Aretha Franklin


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Natalie Cole - Inseparable (1975)

"Inseparable" by Natalie Cole


Natalie Cole is Nat King Cole's daughter and Freddy's niece.  Although not an instrumentalist like many, many others in her family, she did perform from a young age as a singer (including with her father) though it's not clear if that was her intended career path early in life.  Only after university did she start performing in night clubs.  She usually disappointed her audiences because her name implied the sophisticated jazz of her father when Natalie was more a student of gospel and Janis Joplin rock and roll.

Through these gigs however, she met up with producers Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy who saw promise in her act.  Together, Natalie'd cut demos for potential record labels while Jackson and Yancy lent her their songs to perform.  Her demos were turned down by most labels but one Capitol Records, or "The House that Nat Built".  The trio would polish the demos for Natalie's 1975 debut album Inseparable that featured many gospel and soul inspired ballads tinged with the sound of the times, funk and proto-disco.  Her hit single "This Will Be" shot up the charts to be followed by her album and second single, "Inseparable".  For her instant fame and success, her initial burst of a career was capped with two Grammys: one for "This Will Be" (Best Female R&B Vocal Performance) and one for Best New Artist.

Here is the discography surrounding Natalie Cole's debut album:

This Will Be (1975 single)
Inseperable
Inseperable (1975 single)

"This Will Be" by Natalie Cole


The 1975 Grammy for Best New Artist


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Freddy Cole - Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues (1964)

"Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues" by Freddy Cole


Nat and Ike Cole had another younger brother who also played the piano and sang, though his expression followed more the Blues tradition than the jazz of his older brothers.  Twelve years Nat's junior and four years Ike's, Freddy Cole started playing the piano at a young age and "completed" his education at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory.  He continued his education touring with jazz bands featuring Earl Bostic and Grover Washington, Jr.  Freddy's first single came out (before his brother Ike's who was in Korea) in 1952, "The Joke's on Me", and followed it up with "Whispering Grass" a year later.  He wouldn't record a full album until over a decade later when he headed into 1964 with Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues.

Here is the discography surrounding Freddy Cole's debut album:

The Joke's on Me (1952 single)
Whispering Grass (1953 single)
It's Christmas Time (1962 single)
Black Coffee (1964 single)
Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues
I'd Have It Made (1966 single)

"Whispering Grass" by Freddy Cole


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The Ike Cole Quartet - Get a Load o' Cole (1957)

Nat Cole had a younger brother who was also a jazz pianist and singer.  Ike Cole was born in Chicago eight years Nat's junior.  Ike's career was not as successful nor as easy as his older brother's but after a stint in the Army during the Korean War, he formed his own jazz quartet.  They'd record an album, 1957's Get a Load o' Cole, and a single for Bally Records, the last recordings for the label before it went defunct.  The album didn't make much of a mark anywhere for that reason, but still, he found some public renown by occasionally performing on television and regularly in Las Vegas.

Here is the discography surrounding Ike Cole's debut album:

Get a Load o' Cole
You Melt Me (1957 single)

"You Melt Me" by Ike Cole


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Nat King Cole - The Chronological Classics: Nat King Cole 1936-1940 (1940)

"That 'Please Be Mineable' Feeling" by The King Cole Trio


The picnic scene in Citizen Kane features a New Orleans jazz band whose sultry love songs and "jungle" mood counterpoint the torrid relationship between Kane and Susan.  Orson recounted that the inspiration for that part of the script and the jazz band in particular was the King Cole Trio though he knew that Nat was too much of a class act to appear in the film in such a fashion and didn't bother to ask.

Cole was born in Montgomery and raised in Chicago and learned the piano from his mother, the church organist and wife to a Baptist minister.  Nathaniel Cole took professional lessons and took up different styles from jazz to gospel to western classical.  He formed a jazz band with his elder, bass-playing brother Eddie at sixteen and recorded a couple of songs as Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers.  This jazz band didn't really work out and had Nat playing with the national tour of Eubie Blake's Broadway Revue "Shuffle Along".  When the tour faltered, Cole was stranded in Long Beach where he would form his Trio by the age of 18.  With Oscar Moore on guitar and Wesley Prince on bass, the band featured an atypical tight lineup at the height of the Big Band era.  They played gigs at local bars and recorded over a hundred radio transcriptions.  Their radio debut was in 1938 for NBC's Blue Network followed by a spot on the same network's Swing Soiree that helped the King Cole Trio garner the roots of what would become national fame.

Where Nat's piano playing had been aggressive and energetic in his first band in order to make up for the lack of skills of his band mates, he was able to cool down and stretch and balance his skills thanks to the rapport between he and his two bandmates.  In particular, his connection with Oscar Moore was spellbinding and the two accented eachother's solos perfectly.  The music was usually accompanied by the two or three-part harmonies of the band members.  Occasionally, they'd feature a guest female vocalist or a guest vocal choir (where they were more of a listless backing band) or perhaps Nat would sing himself, such as on "Sweet Lorraine", but the band was at its best with their own harmonies and plenty of room to just riff.

Here is the discography surrounding Nat King Cole's debut recordings:

The Chronological Classics: Nat King Cole 1936-1940
The Complete Early Transcriptions of The King Cole Trio: 1938-1941

"Rib Town Shuffle" by The King Cole Trio


"Let's Get Happy Tonight" by The King Cole Trio


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