Customer Reviews

An Evening with Nat King Cole [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was fortunate enough to see "An Evening With Nat King Cole" on video in black and white quite some time ago, and I was not disappointed. I cannot wait to see it in color. Even after 39 years, Nat's sincerity, graciousness and class STILL shine through brightly on video. Originally taped from a 1963 (NOT 1961, as this has been continuously misdated) hour long TV special that aired in the United Kingdom but cut down to about 45 minutes to allow for commercials, he sings his popular songs like "When I Fall In Love", "Unforgettable", "Mona Lisa", "Let There Be Love", "That Sunday, That Summer" and "Ramblin' Rose" and for fans of his Trio days, Nat sits down at the piano and gives us "Sweet Lorraine" and a fantastic version of "Paper Moon". And that's only a taste of what you'll see and hear in this DVD. You'll find yourself singing along with Nat and feeling the warmth that he exudes in his performance. For NKC fans this is something you cannot afford to miss! An absolute must for your DVD collection.

To those who only heard Nat Cole from the audio spectrum, or only knew him as "Natalies dad" I urge you to get this DVD. Before I obtained my copy of this DVD, I was skepticle if it would be in "true color". Well, sure enough it is. Nat's performances were true and sincere and he had a tremendous gift of communicating with the audience. He also performs a few classics from his trio days with himself on the piano (he was one of the most talented yet underrated jazz pianists) and a little help from some fellow musicians. Just wait until you see them jammin' on "It's Only a Paper Moon". I know for a fact that your appreciation in music will become more mature when you listen and watch this time treasured performance!

There can never be too much Nat King Cole for me. As good as this teasing sample is, I cannot understand why some company does not see fit to release, uncut and uncolorized, all those wonderful black & white Nat King Cole TV shows that ran in 1956-57. I was grateful to PBS channel 21 (WLIW) on Long Island in New York for their rerunning these shows in the early 1990s. Now how about a DVD set of all in chronological order for at least all the 30-minute shows that began with guest Frankie Laine, and followed that up with June Christy, Mel Torme, Pearl Bailey and Louis Bellson, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Harry Belafonte, then later Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt.

Like the old Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Jimmy Durante shows these Nat King Cole programs are so much better than most TV fare today.

I can't add to much to the other reviews, NKC is excellent as always. I saw the DVD, and was impressed with the quality, and have to admit that the back of my mind spent most of the show trying to figure out how it was done in color, and such good color, as the BBC did not have color at the time.

As it turns out there is a colourisation credit at the end. But the work is excellent, and it actually looks better than most tapes we have from that time of American color shows. (Or most monochrome shows for that matter!) Very high quality conversion, and the audio is excellent. I viewed it on a wall projection system with a top notch sound system. I'm glad this special was resurrected.

Classic Presentation here.the Quality is something special here.Nat King Cole not only with One of THe Greatest Voices Ever but also a Great Piano Player&Band Leader."Paper Moon"Other Great Songs are Featured here.Nat King Cole's Music is Timeless&Still Classy.

It should be pointed out that many TV shows were filmed in colour, but broadcast in black and white. Such is the case with "An Evening With Nat King Cole."

This program was NOT colourized after the fact, such as Ted Turner did to many black and white films.

Yes, at the end of the program, there is a credit listed for colourization, but that has to do with the technical aspect of filming in colour. All colour films, especially those done in Technicolor, had colour specialists whose jobs included lighting,juxtapositioning of coloured clothing, furniture, sets, etc. Also, make-up had to be carefully adjusted so as to register on the screen as natural.

"An Evening With Nat King Cole" was filmed using a colour process that yielded extremely vivid and sharp colours, e.g. the old TV show Bonanza. So don't be dissuaded from purchasing this exemplary TV show if you think it was "colourized."

Every Nat King Cole fan is an impatient customer-in-waiting for the greatest Nat treasure trove of them all: ALL his TV Show episodes, complete from start to finish. Most if not all Nat fans would buy the complete season, sight unseen, as a signature boxed set. Do you hear that, record/DVD label rights owners/licensees/licensors? The time to act is now. We're presuming, of course, but we think you can put our cash to good use, can you not? Do it now and be ecstatic that you did!

This is a real personable view of Nat. I feel as though I've met him after viewing this. The sound quality is not what one would expect. A pity. It would seem that the band/ orch. got the good mikes. It seems like they used a directional one in hopes of better capturing his velvet voice, but failed. So much was lost. The mixing is another possible problem. But please don't let this stop you from getting this. I play it a lot. There will never be another Nat.

The seller's description "DVD has 2 or 3 tiny, faint and hard-to-see scratches or scuffs that do not affect play quality. Plays excellent." was definitely misleading!!! When played it skipped at least 4 - 6 times. I was so nervous it would quit playing altogether and wonder if it will last much longer. It DOES NOT PLAY EXCELLENT! Far from it.

Also I paid extra for express shipping and it took about 1-1/2 weeks to get here. Another DVD I had ordered from someone else got here in about 5 days (and 3 of those days included a holiday weekend) and I DIDN"T pay extra for shipping that item.

The concert itself with Nat King Cole was wonderful! In color and performed in England.

This show is an excellent representation of a Cole concert lineup from the early 1960's.

This was shot on black and white videotape at BBC in 1963, possibly even early 1964 (not 1961 as the box states). The evidence for this is clear. A good portion of these songs represent Nat's career in the last 3 years of his life. "Ramblin Rose" was a US hit in August of 1962. "Let There Be Love" was a top 10 smash in the UK that year. "Those Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" and "That Sunday, That Summer" were both hits in the summer of 1963.

What makes me believe that this may have been taped in '64 is the fact that Nat sings "Day In, Day Out", which was recorded in 1961, but shelved by Capitol Records until the release of Nat's album "Let's Face the Music" in early 1964. Nat was heavily promoting this track and the album throughout that year, performing "Day In" on the Jack Benny Show and The Hollywood Palace. Also that All Star Refugee Fund gold record album that Nat receives midway through the program was released in early 1963.

What we see here pretty much represents Cole's concert line-up between 1963 and the end of his career/life. It mirrors a taped performance he gave in 1963 in Fresno, California and the performances he gave while hosting "Hollywood Palace" in June of '64. The only difference is that a few of the song selections in "An Evening With..." were custom tailored for a British audience: "Aren't You Glad You're You", "Here's That Rainy Day" and "Let There Be Love" were all big hits on the British charts.

The colorization of this program makes it seem a bit garish and mechanical. It's almost like watching a "SIMS" version of Nat King Cole. Much like the "Twilight Zone", I think the black & white actually adds to the original performance. "An Evening With..." was NOT originally taped in color as another reviewer claimed. The BBC wasn't equipped for color in 1963. The original black & white version appeared on VHS in the mid 1990's and has since been deleted. It's that original B&W version that numerous documentarians have drawn from when profiling Cole's career. I'd like to see THAT version resurrected at some future date. Or perhaps put both versions on the DVD and let the viewer choose.

Also, whoever restored this colorized version added computer generated titles to the beginning, causing Nat to pop into frame from out of nowhere. In the original there were no titles, and Nat simply emerged from behind one of the wall props at the right of the screen.