Welcome to Week 6 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here.
Song: “Nature Boy”
Composer: Eden Ahbez
Lyricist: Eden Ahbez
Form: A B A B’
Standard Key: E Minor
Eden Ahbez wrote this song for Nat “King” Cole, who premiered it in the spring of 1948. (You really should read a little bit about Ahbez, who lived a wide and fascinating life as a Californian proto-hippie.) It was an immediate hit for Cole (#1 for eight weeks), and has since been recorded by dozens and dozens of artists. Harmonically and formally, it’s a little simpler than the typical jazz standard: it has no real bridge and stays consistently in the home key. Even so, there is richness in its simplicity, and the message of the piece “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return” remains poignant and timely.
Definitive Version: Nat “King” Cole (1948)
Form: Intro | Full chorus vocal | A section piano | B’ vocal
Feel: Ballad
Key: D Minor
Instrumentation: Full orchestra
It’s not often the case that the first recording of a song is the definitive version, but this seventy-year-old recording is sophisticated, stylish, and an effective, straightforward delivery of the lyrics and melody.
Nat “King” Cole seems to most often be defined now as the “The Christmas Song” guy, but his recorded works cover a wide range, always with great, subtle phrasing and interpretative sensitivity. That he isn’t heard as often today as Frank Sinatra (roughly a contemporary) has nothing to do with the quality of his work and more to do with (A) systemic racism in popular music and (B) the tragically short life he lived (he died at the age of 45).
Many recordings take the song further, with more adventurous improvisation, interesting instrumentation, or passionate lyrical interpretation, but in the end, Eden Ahbez was right to pick Nat “King” Cole to do the first interpretation of Nature Boy. It remains the definitive interpretation.
Also Recommended:
- Kurt Elling (1997, from The Messenger) – a virtuosic and thrilling interpretation – he takes it far afield.
- Gregory Porter (2017, from Nat “King” Cole and Me) – a lovely contemporary version, accompanied by the lovely arranging of Vince Mendoza.
- David Bowie (2001, from Moulin Rouge) – featuring Bowie’s typical iconoclasm. This is generally why my students know the song.
- Sarah Vaughan (1948) – featuring Sarah accompanied by, of all things, a large choir.