Nat King Cole - At The Piano, Penthouse Serenade / Pure Pleasure

Just a year after disbanding his trio and turning more to vocal pop music, Nat 'King' Cole made another U-turn and went into the studio with guitarist John Collins, bassist Charlie Harris and drummer Bunny Shawker

to record the eight tracks for the 10" LP "Penthouse Serenade," a quiet and thoughtful compilation of standards like "Somebody Loves Me" and "Laura," which he performed purely instrumentally on piano. The album

confirmed that, despite his success as a singer, he was still an exceptional pianist. In 1955, with the 12" LP increasingly dominating the market, Cole recorded four more tracks with Collins, Harris and drummer Lee Young

(Lester Young's brother) to release a reissue of "Penthouse Serenade," now with 12 tracks - this was Nat 'King' Cole's first full-length LP. In 1998, Capitol Records expanded the album again by releasing a 19-track CD, adding

an alternate version of "I Surrender Dear" from the 1955 session and six tracks from January 1952 with Collins and Harris (and, on most tracks, percussionist Jack Costanzo), four of them previously unreleased. The rationale for

these additional tracks was that they were the same musicians and interesting alternate versions, hits by Cole like "Too Young," "Walkin' My Baby Back Home," and "Unforgettable," but with a small cast. They are different from the

originals, however, in that Nat 'King' Cole also sings. Still, it's a welcome fact that the album grew from 23 to 51 minutes of playing length over the years.

Nat King Cole (p, voc); John Collins (g); Charlie Harris (b); Bunny Shawker, Lee Young (dr); Jack Costanzo (perc)

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Title

Side 1

1. Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone)

2. Somebody Loves Me

3. Laura

4. Once In A Blue Moon (based on Rubenstein's Melody In F)

5. Don't Blame Me

6. Little Girl

7. Polka Dots & Moonbeams

8. Down By The Old Mill Stream

9. If I Should Lose You

Side 2

1. Rose Room

2. I Surrender Dear (take 2)

3. It Could Happen To You

4. I Surrender Dear (take 1)

5. Too Marvellous For Words

6. Unforgettable

7. Walkin' My Baby Back Home

8. Too Young

9. That's My Girl

10. It's Only A Paper Moon