39 Nat (King) Cole Quotes

Nat (King) Cole quotes

1. A buzzard took the monkey for a ride in the air The monkey thought that everything was on the square The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back But the monkey grabbed his neck and said - 'Now listen, Jack...' 'Straighten up and fly right Straighten up and fly right Straighten up and fly right Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.'

2. The buzzard told the monkey 'You're chokin' me Release your hold and I'll set you free' The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said 'Your story's touching but it sounds like a lie.'

3. I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and began to feel giddy. Then it came to me- I was a father.'

4. Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.

5. I'm a businessman. I work for business people. The kind of thing they say is: Now we've sold a lot of records, let's sell some more.

6. I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it.

7. Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free.

8. I guess I just get to the heart of people's feelings, that's all.

9. I took a chance on 'Nature Boy', though I think 'Lost April' is a much better song. The public liked 'Nature Boy' because it was something different.

10. You can't cling to the past. Too many different things are coming into the world.

11. He was cool before it was cool to be cool.

12. I think what makes him so compelling as an artist, is that there is a tragic beauty in him. The sadness comes through in his singing.

13. For as long as there is some way for people to be able to hear that voice, there will be those who will be influenced by his voice.

1. The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.

2. When I first organized the King Cole Trio back in 1937, we were strictly what you would call an instrumental group. To break the monotony, I would sing a few songs here and there between the playing. I sang things I had known over the years. I wasn't trying to give it any special treatment, just singing. I noticed thereafter people started requesting more singing, and it was just one of those things.

3. I'm in the music business for one purpose - to make money.

4. Get me well so I can get on television and tell people to stop smoking.

5. I make no claim to being a business genius. You can make so much money in this business that it loses its value.

6. If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through for you.

7. Although it's been said many times, many ways...Merry Christmas to you!

8. Primarily I'm a meat man, although once in a while I toy with a few vegetables.

9. The Supreme Court is having a hard time integrating schools. What chance do I have to integrate audiences?

10. If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway that is best. Get your kicks, on Route Sixty-six.

11. I'm not playing for other musicians. We're trying to reach the guy who works all day and wants to spend a buck at night. We'll keep him happy.

12. I was a guinea pig for some hoodlums who thought they could hurt me and frighten me and keep other Negro entertainers from the South.

13. You've got to change with the public's taste.

14. People don't slip. Time catches up with them.

15. There's just one thing I can't figure out. My income tax!

16. I'm proud of our court. It knocks back a lot of the propaganda the Communists put out about the way America treats her Negroes.

17. It's not the people in the South who create racial problems - it's the people who are governing.

18. I can't bear to see myself even in movies. The feeling is complex. I can't stand the sight of myself.

19. The sheriff is at the cash register, and if I don't get a hit soon, I don't know what I'll do.

20. Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.

21. The only sport I'm not interested in is horse racing. That's because I don't know the horses personally.

22. If I could read it, I could play it.

23. I ... started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out.

24. The only prejudice I've found anywhere in TV is in some advertising agencies, and there isn't so much prejudice as just fear.

25. I got the message. All of us get the message, sooner or later. If you get it before it's too late or before you're too old, you'll pull through all right.

26. I often wonder whether Negroes like myself who are pretty well known help out at all in breaking down barriers.