Feb 28 2008
Nat King Cole: Stardust
In 1927, law student and part time band leader, Hoagland Howard Carmicael sat down at an old upright piano in the Book Nook in Bloomington, Indiana, across the street from the Indiana University School of Law, where he was a student, and wrote down the melody that was running through his head. Originally an up tempo dance tune, Star Dust was inspired by the improvisational work of cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. In 1929 Carmichael slowed the tune down to and lyrics were added by Mitchell Parish, still it was a pretty danceable tune when recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1931.
Jazz pianist and pop singer, Nat King Cole hosted a short lived television show on NBC, The Nat King Cole Show, from November 1956 to December of 1957. NBC carried the show at a loss because the network was unable to find commercial sponsorship for a variety entertainment program hosted by a sophisticated, urbane “negro.” In this clip from his show Cole sings his legato version of “Stardust.”
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