Nat King Cole’s ‘L-O-V-E’ Celebrates 60th Anniversary With ‘International L-O-V-E’ EP
Cole’s recordings of “L-O-V-E-” in French, German, Japanese, and more are now accessible digitally.
60 years after his final album L-O-V-E delighted fans all over the world, some rare recordings of Nat King Cole singing one of his best known hits in five different languages are becoming accessible. The International L-O-V-E EP is now available, featuring the jazz great performing “L-O-V-E” in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. The EP will also feature an all-new mashup, featuring all six recordings assembled into a megamix.
Released just before Cole’s death from lung cancer in 1965, L-O-V-E represents the last recordings the artist made in his lifetime. The title track became forever associated with Cole and lives on in popular consciousness to this day, appearing in movies like The Parent Trap and I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry. Perhaps part of the reason the song remains so popular around the globe is because before his death, Cole also recorded the song in several different languages.
This was not unusual for the musician, who had by then a years-long history of recording in Spanish, despite not speaking the language. In 1958, Cole released Cole Español, a collection of 11 arrangements recorded in Cuba which Cole then sang over in Los Angeles. This was followed by A Mis Amigos in 1959 and More Cole Español in 1962. Cole also had dabbled in performing in Japanese before “L.O.V.E.”, bringing a translated rendition of his song “Autumn Leaves” to Japanese television in 1961.
Cole’s death in 1965 at just 45 years old was tragic, but it did not dim the impact of his music. In 1991, a posthumous duet with his daughter Natalie Cole was released, charting at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. To this day, Cole’s music regularly reenters the chart every holiday season as his recordings of “Deck The Halls” and “The Christmas Song” receive renewed attention. After more than 60 years, Cole’s music is still timeless.
