This song was first popularized by Nat "King" Cole in 1948, only to become a frequently covered standard done by many other greats such as: Frank Sinatra, Annie Ross, Sarah Vaughan, and even Grace Slick (from Jefferson Airplane)...but its history is an interesting one...it was written by a guy who renamed himself eden ahbez, and who lived meagerly with his wife and child under the first "L" of the Hollywood sign in Griffith Park...that's right, he camped under the stars in the land of stars as part of a group of proto-hippies that called themselves "Nature Boys"...(hence the name of the song)...he looked very much like Jesus Christ with his long hair and robes and spent his life from the 1940s until his death living as i described... what i think is so great about this story is that someone who is so uninterested in fame and glamor....(or even a house)...found himself appealing to the likes of men in bow ties and cummerbunds and women in diamonds and pearls...it turns out that this guy slipped in and out of the hollywood music industry throughout his life, even creating an album of his poetry put to music entitled: eden's island... "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return..." - the final words of this song....and words i recently saw painted on a stone in a local park...:)... enjoy... Nature Boy - Lyrics There was a boy A very strange enchanted boy They say he wandered very far, very far Over land and sea A little shy And sad of eye But ...
Tags: folk, jazz, lounge, crooners, rat, pack, standard, trio
No comments:
Post a Comment