An offspring of a legend has great shoes to fill…. But Natalie Cole, daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole, managed to transcend all of that and created made a niche for herself in smooth pop – shoes that nobody else will ever be able to fill but her. The daughter of a legend, a multiple time Grammy winner and a golden voice…. Natalie Cole has filled in on more than one role.
It Is true in the 40 years of her music career we have, unfortunately, never heard of her enough or as much as we deserved… but her groundbreaking work and technology, not to mention the defining moments of smooth pop she made with her music, will remain significant. Remembering her fondly on her first birth anniversary after she passed away December of last year, it seemed to me appropriate to go back and revisit some of her old classics – the ones that make Natalie Cole, Unforgettable…. With Love!
A 70s -80s music fans could hardly miss the first time she broke through the music horizon with her record Inseparable that was a clear ringer of her Aretha Franklin influence. It might not be the greatest R&B album if the time, but songs like “This Will Be, An Everlasting Love” sure did go down in history and we could see a great artist’s advent.
Next came her follow-up album Natalie peppered with track drawing influence from funk and disco elements. And, the most exemplary of the sound of the record was definitely “Sophisticated Lady”. Anybody who loved the disco era, has at least grooved to the song once in their lifetime.
Another classic hit I cannot help but include in the list is “Our Love”. An extravaganza of harmony and fine example of songwriting that has so many elements to learn from for aspiring songwriters!
Post 90s, we saw her going back to her roots and exploring the past whether it was flawless cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Daydreaming” or her duet with her father on “Unforgettable” with previously recorded cuts of his singing, Natalie was at least trying to push the boundaries.
We can’t say Natalie’s career graph was exactly stellar. It’s sad it never got to reach its full potential. But, Natalie Cole is a name that will always be mentioned somewhere in the conversations about jazzpop/smooth jazz for buoying the genre with her mainstream classics.
