The Pittsburgh Press du lieu suivant : Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 84

Sunday, August 11, 1991 The Pittsburgh Press I Natalie no longer shuns Nat's music By Gary Graff MUSIC Press news services I 0 rrnTTronre? 5 0 A A (Uaaagyann Center For years decades, actually Natalie Cole ran from the shadow of her father, the singing legend Nat "King" Cole. She didn't perform or record his songs. She resisted interviewers' questions about him. For a time, Cole, who was 16 when her father died, even considered changing her surname. But in her heart, she knew one day there would be reckoning.

"There was really no way I was going to get away without doing some of his stuff," she says. Now, at 41, she is. During her late '80s concerts, Cole began performing a medley of her father's songs. And last month, she released "Unforgettable," a 22-song tribute al-. bum on which she performs such Nat "King" Cole favorites as "Route 66," "Mona Lisa," "Lush Life" and the title track, which is a voice-and-tape duet with her late father.

It's one of the hottest-selling albums of the summer, in the Top 10 just three weeks after its release. Last month, it hit No. 1 on Billboard's pop LP list. That reception is gratifying to Cole, her four siblings and especially her mother, who was concerned her second-oldest child would lose her identity by singing her father's music. "She couldn't be more pleased now, particularly with the exposure the music is getting," says Cole, who toured with her father just once, when she was 11.

"And she sees I am getting the credit." Cole, who will perform Thursday with the Pittsburgh Symphony at Star Lake Amphitheatre, says she Natalie Cole Pittsburgh Symphony Where: Star Lake Amphitheatre, Washington County. When: 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets: $15 and $25; 333-7328. the same.

"As a matter of fact, when I sing these songs even now, I don't feel any desire to change them. I felt very natural singing those songs exactly as they were supposed to be. I didn't feel any need to give them cooler beats or put in electronic instruments. To me, they were just perfect as they were." Cole plans to immerse herself in her father's music for the rest of the year. Her show features none of her pop hits just selections from "Unforgettable and some non-recorded favorites, such as "Dance Ballerina Dance" and "To the Ends of the Earth." She'll start recording her next album by mid-1992, but she's not ruling out the possibility of an "Unforgettable" sequel.

"His music is very special to me that's no surprise," she says. "I appreciated it at a very early age, because I grew up with it. By the time my father passed away, yes, I was into the Motown sound and all that. But I had been well-studied in Dad's music and always had a place in my life for it." (Detroit Free Pressdistributed by Knight-News-Tribune.) s) Natalie Cole To sing with Symphony has been planning "Unforgettable" for several years, since she began having her own commercial success million-selling albums such as "Unpredictable" and "Thankful," three Grammys, a hit remake of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" and began including her father's music in her concert repertoire. The album was delayed, she says, by a record company, EMI, that didn't fully support the project.

Last year's switch to Elektra Records hastened the album. The greatest concern, Cole says, was inevitable comparisons between her versions of the songs and her father's originals. "We knew we were going to be up to some serious scrutiny," she acknowledges. "But one way to minimize that scrutiny was to keep the songs very much Chuck Berry, Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, Fabian and Neil Sedaka. "I had a tremendous background as the backup for all the No.

1 singers of the day," he says. "I had been on the road with them before I made records. I knew their music; I knew why it was selling." He quickly found his own formula, which produced a string of hits like "Blue Velvet," "Roses Are Red," "Mr. Lonely" and "My Melody of Love." From 1962 to 1972, he had more No. 1 records than any other male vocalist.

Nearly three decades later, "Blue Velvet" again topped the charts in England, buoyed by its use in a skin cream commercial and Britain's cult following for David Lynch's "Blue Velvet." "Mr. Lonely' was reissued and got good airplay during the Persian Gulf IBM- mm Jtwe 2-7, 1992 I--1 j7 'tk: Jill war. Throughout his career, Vinton has steered clear of pop trends. That, he feels, is one reason for the success of his songs. "I was kind of an individual.

It wasn't like I did what was happening. I did what I was and what I enjoyed. I never really had everyone like when the Beatles were popular, they had everybody; when Elvis was popular he had everybody. I had a certain group of people who related to me as a person." Working with John Wayne influ-. enced his own stage personality.

"I saw what he had. People just liked him. It wasn't that he was a great actor; it was what he stood For, the style of man he was. I learned from him that I would like to. be that type of person as a performer, where you're more than your last hit record." Vinton from Page El in arenas.

My early years will always mean more to me than the latter." Vinton is grateful for the hometown support he has received. "KDKA-Radio has always been my home base radio. They were the first to play me and they'll probably be the last." Vinton peddled his first single, "Roses Are Red," to the stations himself. Clark Race was the disc jockey who broke the song, he recalls. "I walked in with 'Roses Are He said, 'That's nice.

I'll put it on the "Art Pallan was like my godfather. As long as he was with KDKA, until he retired, he never missed a day without playing one of my songs. That's got to be some kind of record." He partly attributes his versatility and pop savvy to having a band that backed up major acts like 18 IkMiSooo 3mss 'I it plus a Subscriber Priority Seating for Broadway Series Subscribers International musical sensation Les Miserables December 3-D, 1S91 Benedum Center i jrr.