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Her Unforgettable Past
11/30/2000 9:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
David Nathan
In recent years, it's become somewhat trendy for pioneering black music artists to tell their life stories in print. Over the past half-decade, autobiographies by Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Etta James, B.B. King, Barry White, Smokey Robinson, Teddy Pendergrass, Aretha Franklin, and, most recently, Al Green have all hit bookstore shelves. While the writers of some of these tomes seem to suffer from bouts of selective amnesia, Natalie Cole's newly published Angel On My Shoulder is a truly authentic tell-all. In fact, Cole's brutal honesty makes most other self-penned memoirs seem positively G-rated: Rather than gloss over her drug addiction and problems with ex-husband André Fischer, she offers shocking revelations that prove she is nothing if not a survivor.
In conjunction with the publication of the Warner Books title and the NBC television biopic The Natalie Cole Story (which airs December 10), the famed daughter of the late, legendary Nat "King" Cole is celebrating her 25th year as a recording artist with the release of Greatest Hits, Volume 1. Focusing on her many '70s hits, her '80s revival, and her '90s triumph (via the multiplatinum Unforgettable, With Love, and two subsequent albums in the same vein, Take A Look and Stardust), the 19-track CD also includes two tunes from 1999's Snowfall On The Sahara: "A Song For You" (previously popularized by Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, and the song's author, Leon Russell) and DJ Rogers's immortal "Say You Love Me." Also included are two brand-new cuts: the ballad "Angel On My Shoulder" and the uptempo dance number "Livin' For Love," both co-written by Natalie.
With so much activity going on at the same time, Natalie's schedule is more hectic than ever. When not busy promoting her best-of, she's promoting her autobiography with book signings across the country, or promoting her TV movie with yet another nonstop round of interviews. It's a frenzied period in her career, but still, it was the right time to tell the world her incredible story. "Honey, I did it now, while I can still remember everything!" she laughs. "If I waited another 10 years, I don't know if I'd recall all that happened. I thought about doing it 10 years ago, but I think it would have been a lot of pressure on me and on my son, who was only 12 back then. I also just felt much more like I was on solid ground, writing it now."
Her candid, uncensored account of a life that has truly had more than its share of ups and downs has already caused quite a stir. In her book, Cole shares not only her early memories of growing up as the daughter of a musical legend, but also painstakingly reveals a time when she was immersed in street life, hanging out with prostitutes, pimps, thieves, and drug dealers. Her depictions of her various close calls with death are indeed harrowing, making it seem like nothing less than a miracle that she was able to maintain a successful recording career in the mid-'70s. "I think what people are finding most shocking in the book is what I did when I was under the influence of drugs," she says. "Writing the book was not as traumatic as I thought it might be, and one of the reasons is that I've resolved 99.9 percent of the issues I was dealing with back then. After reading the book, some people have said they are amazed that I look good, given all that I've been through. Well, if I looked like all that I've experienced, I wouldn't be so good on the eyes!"
The release of her Greatest Hits collection has given Natalie a chance to reflect on her own musical legacy: "When I listen to those early records, like 'This Will Be,' I realize how little I knew back then. Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing! I was under the tutelage of my producers, Marvin Yancy and Chuck Jackson, and I didn't know what made a song a hit. I just sang the stuff they gave me. I certainly wasn't aware of my gift as a singer at first. It wasn't until we did the second album that I became more creative and more confident. By the time we got to the third record, there were some things I wanted to do creatively. But to begin with, I was propped up by the producers. I was faking it, but I was having fun!
"Now, as an artist, I take a whole lot into account when I'm making a record," she continues. "Back then, I didn't know what to ask for musically--I was just concerned with 'Can I make this note?' or 'Can I make this work?' when we were recording."
Listening to early hits like "Our Love," "I've Got Love On My Mind," and "Mr. Melody," as well as key cuts from her early Capitol albums like "I Can't Say No" and the classic "I'm Catching Hell," Natalie admits she's "surprised at how good it all sounds. There was always a great difference between recording in Chicago, where I did those first few albums, and the West Coast sound [on later work]. Back then, what we did was so unpretentious. It was, 'Let's just make some good music.' Chuck and Marvin had a vision for what my voice brought to their music. The tracks were always so soulful, but the combination with my vocals was what helped send the records onto the pop charts. My vocals were Aretha-like, but not hardcore gospel, and that's why I think the records had such impact. Marvin would write classic tunes like 'Inseparable' which were so sophisticated, yet you could feel the heart in those songs."
With hopes that Greatest Hits will make a lasting impact, Cole hasn't given much thought to what she wants to do next, recording-wise. "I'm going to have to take a moment and think about it. I'm sure whatever I do will be somewhat thematic, because it's not just about putting together a bunch of songs," she concludes. "As soon as I get some down time, I'll start looking at what's next, but I'm in no hurry to jump back into the studio. I don't feel any pressure to have a hit record. Hits come and go, but careers are everlasting. Of course, if I had my druthers, I'd have one hit a year, but that's not very realistic. Right now, I'm very content with putting out good product, and as far as my career goes, I ain't complaining!" And neither are we.
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