''Let's Face the Music!'' is a 1964 studio album by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, arranged by Billy May. It was recorded in November 1961, and released three years later. The initial '' Billboard'' review from February 29, 1964 commented that "The fine blend of Cole singing is beautifully melded with the smart, witty and swinging backing supplied by Billy May...The tempos are mostly in that grand, finger-poppin middle tempo that is just May's cup of tea'".

Track listing

# " Day In, Day Out" ( Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer) – 2:25 # " Bidin' My Time" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

, Ira Gershwin) – 2:27 # "

When My Sugar Walks Down the Street "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street (All the Little Birdies Go Tweet-Tweet-Tweet)" is a 1920s jazz standard, written by Gene Austin, Jimmy McHugh and Irving Mills in 1924. The Victor Talking Machine, bought by RCA and renamed RCA Victor at the ...

" (

Gene Austin Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early " crooners". His recording of " My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for ...

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...

, Irving Mills) – 2:10 # "

Warm and Willing ''Warm and Willing'' is the tenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in 1962 by Columbia Records. Allmusic's William Ruhlmann explained that Williams and producer Robert Mersey "followed the Sinatra concept-album f ...

" ( Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, McHugh) – 3:01 ** # "

I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is a 1935 popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Joe Young. It has been recorded many times, and has become a standard of the Great American Songbook. It was popularized by Fa ...

" ( Fred E. Ahlert, Joe Young) – 2:37 # "

Cold, Cold Heart "Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the ''Great American Songbook''. Hank Williams version Williams adapted the melod ...

" ( Hank Williams) – 3:45 ** # "Something Makes Me Want to Dance with You" (Colin Romoff, Danny Meehan) – 2:09 # "Moon Love" (

Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...

, André Kostelanetz) – 2:11 ** # "The Rules of the Road" ( Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 2:45 # "Ebony Rhapsody" (

Sam Coslow Sam Coslow (December 27, 1902 – April 2, 1982) was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager. He contributed songs to Broadway revues, ...

, Arthur Johnston) – 3:04 # "Too Little, Too Late" (Arthur Kent, Jerry Grant) – 2:59 # "

Let's Face the Music and Dance "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is a song written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the film ''Follow the Fleet'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and featured in a celebrated dance duet with Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The jazz song has als ...

" (

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

) – 2:25

Personnel

– vocal, hammond organ * Billy May – arranger, conductor *

Jimmy Rowles James George Hunter (August 19, 1918 – May 28, 1996), known professionally as Jimmy Rowles (sometimes spelled Jimmie Rowles), was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, and composer. As a bandleader and accompanist, he explored multiple styles in ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

* **

Heinie Beau Heinie Beau (March 8, 1911 – April 18, 1987) was an American jazz composer, arranger, saxophonist and clarinetist, most notable for his swing clarinet work and recordings done with Tommy Dorsey, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra and Red Nichols. E ...

– arranger

Orchestra Members

Harps The High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) is a high-precision echelle planet-finding spectrograph installed in 2002 on the ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The first light was achieved in February 2003. ...

: Verlye Mills (1, 3, 5-7, 10-12), Kathryn Julye (2, 4, 8-9) *

Trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

: Frank Beach (1, 3, 10-11), Vito Mangano (2, 4, 8-9),

Uan Rasey Uan Rasey (August 22, 1921 – September 27, 2011)Obituaries
''

John Best,

Conrad Gozzo Conrad Joseph Gozzo (February 6, 1922October 8, 1964) was an American trumpet player. He was a member of the NBC Hollywood staff orchestra at the time of his death. Early life Gozzo was born in New Britain, Connecticut on February 6, 1922, ...

, Reunald Jones *

Trombones The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

Murray McEachern Murray McEachern (August 16, 1915 – April 28, 1982) was a Canadian jazz trombonist and alto saxophonist, perhaps best known for having played trombone for Benny Goodman from 1936 to 1937. McEachern is also remembered for playing both the trombo ...

(1, 3, 10-11), Tommy Shepard (1-4, 8-11),

Milt Bernhart Milt Bernhart (May 25, 1926 – January 22, 2004) was a West Coast jazz trombonist who worked with Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, and others. He supplied the solo in the middle of Sinatra's 1956 recording of '' I've Got You Under My Skin'' conducted ...

(5-7, 12),

Tommy Pederson Pullman Gerald "Tommy" Pederson (August 15, 1920 – January 16, 1998) was an American trombonist and composer known for his work in jazz, big band, and classical genres. Career Pederson performed and recorded with big bands and artists that ...

(2, 4, 8-9), Ed Kusby (2, 4-9, 12), Lloyd Ullate (1, 3, 5-7, 10-12), Bill Schaefer *

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Red Callender George Sylvester "Red" Callender (March 6, 1916 – March 8, 1992) was an American string bass and tuba player. He is perhaps best known as a jazz musician, but worked with an array of pop, rock and vocal acts as a member of The Wrecking Cr ...

* Alto Saxophones: Gene Cipriano (1, 3, 10-11), Harry Klee (2, 4-9, 12), Willie Schwartz (1, 3, 5-7, 10-12) * Tenor Saxophones:

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in L ...

(2, 4-9, 12), Ted Nash (1-4, 8-11),

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sa ...

* Baritone Saxophone:

Chuck Gentry Charles T. Gentry (December 14, 1911, Belgrade, Nebraska – January 1, 1988, California) was an American jazz saxophonist. Gentry learned to play clarinet while growing up in Sterling, Colorado, United States, and attended Colorado State Teache ...

* Violins:

Israel Baker Israel Baker (February 11, 1919 – December 25, 2011) was an American violinist and concertmaster. Through a long and varied career he played with many of the greatest figures in the worlds of classical music, jazz and pop. He appeared on hund ...

(5-7, 12), Victor Arno (2, 4, 8-9), Emil Briano (5-7, 12), Dave Frisina (2, 4, 8-9), Jack Gasselin (2, 4, 8-9), Irv Klase (5-7, 12), Joe Livoti (2, 4, 8-9), Rickey Marino (2, 4-9, 12), Emanuel Moss (2, 4-9, 12), Isadore Roman (2, 4-9, 12), Ambrose Russo (5-7, 12), Marshall Sosson (2, 4, 8-9), Jerry Vinci (2, 4, 8-9), Harry Zagon (5-7, 12) * Violas (on 2, 4, 8-9): Virginia Majewski, Alvin Dinkin, Al Harshman, Gary Nuttycombe *

Cellos The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

(on 2, 4, 8-9): William Van Den Burg, Joseph DiTullio, Hyman Gold, David Pratt

References

{{Authority control 1964 albums Nat King Cole albums Albums arranged by Billy May Capitol Records albums Albums conducted by Billy May