Love Is the Thing

Infobox Album
Name = Love Is the Thing
Type = Studio
Artist = Nat King Cole


Released = April 1957
Recorded = December 1956
Genre = Jazz
Length =
Label = Capitol
Producer = Lee Gillette
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://wc08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hifyxqlaldae~T1 link]
Last album = "Live 1957 Broadcast"
(1957)
This album = "Love Is the Thing"
(1957)
Next album = "The Lester Young-King Cole Trio"
(1957)

"Love Is the Thing" is a 1957 album released by American jazz vocalist Nat King Cole. It is the first of four collaborations between Cole and influential arranger Gordon Jenkins. [allmusicguide |id=10:gpfpxqe5ldfe|label=Where Did Everyone Go?] allmusicguide|id=10:0ifuxzyhld0e|label=Love Is the Thing/Where Did Everyone Go?] Launching the charting single "Stardust", which peaked at #79,allmusicguide |id=10:0pfexqe5ldfe~T0|label=Love Is the Thing (And More)] the album reached #1 on Billboard's "Pop Albums" chart and tied at #1 on the UK Charts with the soundtrack for the 1956 film "The King and I". [ [http://www.theofficialcharts.com/zoom_album.php?id=20 Nat King Cole: Love Is the Thing] The Official UK Charts Company. Accessed December 5 2007.] According to the records of the RIAA, the album achieved gold status in 1960 and broke platinum in 1992. [ [http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS Love Is the Thing Gold and Platinum Search Results] RIAA. Accessed December 5 2007.]

Overview

In 1956, Cole came together with popular music arranger Jenkins to produce the first of the four collaborations that are described by critics as among the best of either artist. American Jazz commenter Scott Yanow noted that the album "sticks exclusively" to the role Cole had established in 1950s popular opinion as a "superb ballad vocalist".allmusicguide |id=10:hifyxqlaldae|label=Love Is the Thing] While "Love Is the Thing" little reflects the jazz roots whence Cole emerged, the singer's "restrained vocal approach" and the arranger's "unhurried string charts" combined to produce a romantic album of enduring popularity.

Release history

Originally released by Capitol Records, the album has been re-issued by various companies in alternate forms. A 1996 re-release on 24-kt gold foil included three bonus tracks, [Puccio, John. (January 1999). "Nat 'King' Cole: The Greatest Hits" "Sensible Sound".] the same tracks incorporated in the re-titled 1991 CD "Love Is the Thing (And More)". In 2007, The Collectors' Choice label reissued the album in conjunction with the final Cole/Jenkins collaboration on a single disc entitled "Love Is the Thing/Where Did Everyone Go?"

Track listing

#"When I Fall in Love" (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) – 3:10
#"Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) – 3:15
#"Stay as Sweet as You Are" (Mack Gordon, Harry Revel) – 2:59
#"Where Can I Go Without You?" (Peggy Lee, Young) – 2:57
#"Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much" (Irving Berlin) – 2:50
#"Love Letters" (Heyman, Young) – 2:46
#"Ain't Misbehavin'" (Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller) – 3:17
#"I Thought About Marie" (Gordon Jenkins) – 3:06
#"At Last" (Gordon, Harry Warren) – 3:00
#"It's All in the Game" (Charles G. Dawes, Carl Sigman) – 3:07
#"When Sunny Gets Blue" (Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal) – 2:46
#"Love Is the Thing" (Ned Washington, Young) – 3:01

Bonus tracks

#

"Someone to Tell It To" (Sammy Cahn, Dolores Fuller, James Van Heusen) – 3:17
#"The End of a Love Affair" (Edward Redding) – 3:11
#"If Love Ain't There" (Johnny Burke) – 3:01

Personnel

*Nat King Cole – piano, vocals
*Lee Gillette – producer
*Steve Hoffman – mastering, remastering
*Gordon Jenkins – arranger, conductor
*John Kraus – engineer
*Marcia McGovern – pre-production
*Bob Norberg – remastering
*Larry Walsh – remastering

References