''Wild Is Love'' is a 1960 concept album by the American singer and pianist

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 Nelson Riddle. The album chronicles a narrator's attempts to pick up various women before he finds love at the conclusion of the album. The album formed the basis for an unsuccessful musical, ''I'm With You'', that starred Cole and was intended as a potential Broadway vehicle for him. A television special also called ''Wild Is Love'' resulted from the album, and was shown in Canada in late 1961. The television special was not shown in the United States until 1964 due to the brief presence of physical contact between the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Cole and a performer of Canadian European descent, Larry Kert, that was seen as offensive by commercial sponsors. The album was released at the advent of the sexual revolution, Cole's biographer Daniel Mark Epstein would subsequently write of the album that "The lyrics tell the story of a man's search for romantic love-its excitements and frustrations, joys and sorrows-with a forward, blunt emphasis on carnal lust, and an edge of cynicism that would have been wholly offensive only a few years earlier". ''Wild Is Love'' was one of six albums nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the

3rd Annual Grammy Awards The 3rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on April 13, 1961, at Los Angeles and New York. They recognized musical accomplishments by the performers for the year 1960. Ray Charles won four awards and Bob Newhart and Henry Mancini each won three awards ...

in 1961, where it lost to

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

's ''

The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart ''The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart'' is a 1960 live album by comedian Bob Newhart. Recorded at the Tidelands Club in Houston, Houston, Texas by recording engineer Bill Holford, Newhart's debut album reached #1 on the ''Billboard 200, Billboard ...

''. The string background to Cole's narration on the album was written by

Ralph Carmichael Ralph Carmichael (May 27, 1927 – October 18, 2021) was an American composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. Early Life and Career ...

, and marked the start of Carmichael's association with Cole as his work with Riddle waned. Cole had felt some rivalry with his fellow Capitol Records artist Frank Sinatra whose albums increasingly dominated Riddle's creative output. One of Nat's most successful recordings, it reached #4 on Billboards Top LP chart.

Track listing

# Introduction – 0:44 # "Wild Is Love" – 2:03 # "Hundreds and Thousands of Girls" – 2:38 # "It's a Beautiful Evening" – 3:15 # "Tell Her in the Morning" – 3:01 # "Are You Disenchanted?" – 3:26 # "Pick-Up" – 2:42 # "Beggar for the Blues" – 3:31 # "World of No Return" – 2:50 # "In Love Again" – 2:48 # "Stay with It" – 2:17 # "Wouldn't You Know (Her Name Is Mary)" – 2:28 # "He Who Hesitates" – 3:21 # "Wild Is Love (Finale)" – 0:46 All songs written by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne.

Personnel

– lead vocals * Nelson Riddle – arranger, conductor *

- background string arrangements on Cole's narration ;String Section *

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s: Victor Arno (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), James Getzoff (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Benny Gill (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Carl LaMagna (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Joe Livoti (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Dan Lube (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14), Mischa Russell (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14), Marshall Sosson (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14), Jerry Vinci (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Victor Bay, Alex Beller, Jack Gasselin, Nat Ross *

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s: Cecil Figelski (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Paul Robyn, Barbara Simons *

Cello 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, G ...

Eleanor Slatkin Eleanor Aller (Slatkin) (May 20, 1917 – October 12, 1995) was an American cellist and founding member, with her husband, Felix Slatkin, of the Hollywood String Quartet. Life and career Born in New York City, she was the daughter of cellist Gre ...

(4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Ossip Giskin (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14), Victor Gottlieb (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Ray Kramer (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14), David Pratt (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), Joseph Saxon (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14) ;Other Orchestra Members * Harry Klee - reeds (4, 6, 9–10, 12–13), additional saxophone (2-3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14) * Lou Levy -

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 ...

Lee Young Leonidas Raymond Young (March 7, 1914 – July 31, 2008) was an American jazz drummer and singer. His musical family included his father Willis Young and his older brother, saxophonist Lester Young. In 1944 he played with Norman Granz's fir ...

- drums On 2–3, 5, 7–8, 11, 14 * Alto Saxophones:

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

* Tenor Saxophones:

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 ...

* Additional Saxophones: Joe Koch, Buck Skalak *

Trumpet 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 ...

Pete Candoli Pete Candoli (born Walter Joseph Candoli; June 28, 1923 – January 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton and worked in the studios of the recording and television industries. Ca ...

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, ...

Shorty Sherock Clarence Francis Cherock known professionally as Shorty Sherock (November 17, 1915 – February 19, 1980) was an American swing jazz trumpeter. Career He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Sherock attended the Illinois Military ...

, Irving Bush, Cappy Lewis *

Valve trombone A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

: Juan Tizol * Additional Trombones:

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 ...

, Tommy Shepard, Russ Brown *

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 ...

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Emil Richards Emil Richards (born Emilio Joseph Radocchia; September 2, 1932 – December 13, 2019) was an American vibraphonist and percussionist. Biography Musician Richards began playing the xylophone aged six. In High School, he performed with the Hartf ...

On 4, 6, 9–10, 12-13 * Reeds: Paul Horn,

Ronnie Lang Ronnie Lang (sometimes spelled Ronny; born July 24, 1929) is an American jazz alto saxophonist. His professional début was with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. He also played with Earle Spencer (1946), Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis (1947). L ...

, Champ Webb *

French Horns The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

John Graas John Graas (March 14, 1917 – April 13, 1962) was an American jazz French horn player, composer, and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz ...

, Willard Culley, Arthur Maebe, Jim McGee * Harp: Verlye Brilhart * Percussion: Frank Flynn

References

{{Authority control 1960 albums Nat King Cole albums Albums arranged by Nelson Riddle Albums arranged by Ralph Carmichael Albums conducted by Nelson Riddle Albums recorded at Capitol Studios Capitol Records albums Concept albums