Nat 'King' Cole Trio - Transcriptions and Early Recordings, Vol. 6 (1941-1943)

With the disbanding of the King Cole Trio late in 1951, the group's mainstay Nat embarked in earnest on the solo career already earmarked by the commercial successes of the million-selling US No.1s "Nature Boy" (1948) and "Mona Lisa" (1950). The velvet-voiced crooner's early billing as a kind of Sinatra 'in sepia', however, was superfluous, as his list of chart hits, including the No.1 "Too Young" and "Unforgettable" (both 1951), "When I Fall In Love" (1957) and "Ramblin' Rose" (1962) was soon to prove. With 78 Billboard hit singles between 1944 and 1964 (an average of three per year), 49 of which entered the US Top 40, in terms of sales (even posthumous sales) Nat Cole qualifies as one of the most popular singers in the history of recording.