Nat King Cole Hittin The Ramp: The Early Years 1936-1943 (Oversize Item Split, Boxed Set, Deluxe Edition)

Released in partnership with the Nat King Cole estate, Resonance Records’ HITTIN' THE RAMP: THE EARLY YEARS (1936-1943) is the first large-scale collection of the pivotal early recordings (1936-1943) of Nat’s 29-year recording career. Most tracks are receiving their first official release in this meticulously restored set of original live-to-disk recordings.

This definitive limited-edition 10LP collection draws upon a wide range of sources, including many newly-discovered tracks unearthed for the first time from archives located all over the world, such as “Trompin” (jukebox-only release for Cinematone, 1939), “What’cha Know Joe" (undocumented radio performance, 1940 -- now the earliest known recording of Nat "on the air"), “The Romany Room is Jumpin’” (private recording, 1941) and “Beautiful Moons Ago” (longer alternate take, 1943). Sessions include Nat at age 17, playing piano in his brother’s band in Chicago, 1936; the first King Cole Trio recordings from 1938, made for radio broadcast only, for Standard Transcriptions; further radio transcription sessions for Standard, Davis & Schwegler, Keystone, plus his first (uncredited) session for MacGregor, with vocalist Anita Boyer; the Ammor Records Session (Spring 1940 - the first commercial-release sessions for the trio), the Decca Recordings (1940-41), the small-label sessions for Excelsior and Premier labels (1943), many previously-uncirculated Armed Forces Radio performances, and, with producer Norman Granz at the helm, early jazz sessions with Lester Young (Granz historic, first session as a producer) and Dexter Gordon, originally released on Philo and Mercury, respectively.

Boasting an extensive 60+ page booklet with rare photographs; essays by acclaimed author Will Friedwald and guitarist Nick Rossi (with a special focus on Oscar Moore); plus interviews and testimonials from Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, John Pizzarelli, Freddy Cole, Michael Feinstein and many others.

Hittin' the Ramp features new remastering from original source disks transferred for this set from a number of personal collections and from the archives at University of California - Santa Barbara, The Institute for Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, the CU Boulder American Music Research Center, and the Library of Congress.

Celebrate Nat King Cole's centennial in 2019 with this definitive early years multi-disc box set. This is the origin story of a great artist just as he was just “hittin’ the ramp,” launching a distinctive style that would quickly become famous the world over.

Hittin The Ramp: The Early Years 1936-1943 (10 Vinyl LPs)

• - Disc 1 -
• 1 Honey Hush
• 2 Stompin' at the Panama (Skoller's Shuffle)
• 3 Bedtime (Sleepy Moan)
• 4 Thunder
• 5 Mutiny in the Nursery
• 6 F.D.R Jones
• 7 The Sheik of Araby
• 8 The Blue Danube
• 9 Button, Button
• 10 Jingle Bells
• 11 Swannee River
• 12 With Plenty of Money and You
• 13 Don't Blame Me
• 14 Lullaby in Rhythm
• 15 Dark Rapture
• 16 The Wiggly Walk
• 17 Flea Hop
• 18 Chopsticks
• 19 Patty Cake, Patty Cake
• - Disc 2 -
• 1 Blue Skies
• 2 Liza
• 3 Three Blind Mice
• 4 Caravan
• 5 There's No Anesthetic for Love
• 6 Dixie Jamboree
• 7 Ta-De-Ah
• 8 Riffin' at the Bar-B-Q
• 9 Harlem Swing
• 10 I Lost Control of Myself
• 11 The Land of Make Believe
• 12 That Please-Be-Mine-Able Feeling
• 13 Dancing in the Street
• 14 You're So Different
• 15 I Wouldn't Have Known It
• 16 Let's Get Happy
• 17 Undecided
• 18 'Taint What You Do
• 19 Do You Wanna Jump, Children?
• 20 Riffin' in F Minor
• - Disc 3 -
• 1 Ol' Man Mose Ain't Dead
• 2 Blue Lou
• 3 Honey
• 4 Russian Lullaby
• 5 Georgie Porgie
• 6 The Limp
• 7 Snug As a Bug in a Rug
• 8 Liebestraum
• 9 Fidgety Joe
• 10 Two Against One
• 11 Some Like It Hot
• 12 Crazy Rhythm
• 13 Moonglow
• 14 Don't Let That Moon Get Away
• 15 My Blue Heaven
• 16 I Was Doing Alright
• 17 I Can't Get Started
• 18 Old Man Moon
• 19 Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
• - Disc 4 -
• 1 Moon Song
• 2 Baby, Won't You Please Come Home
• 3 Rosetta
• 4 Trompin'
• 5 You're My Life
• 6 Hoy Soy
• 7 Take 'Em
• 8 Scategoria
• 9 Rhythm Serenade
• 10 Rib Town Shuffle
• 11 Music'll Chase Your Blues Away
• 12 I'll Gather Up My Memories
• 13 A Fool's Affair
• 14 Jump, Jack, Jump
• 15 I Knew a Time
• 16 Mine You'll Always Be
• 17 Doin' the Bow Wow
• 18 Lilla Mae
• - Disc 5 -
• 1 I Like to Riff
• 2 On the Sunny Side of the Street
• 3 Black Spider Stomp
• 4 By the River St. Marie
• 5 Slew Foot Joe
• 6 1-2-3-4
• 7 Crazy 'Bout Rhythm
• 8 Off the Beam
• 9 King Cole Blues
• 10 Jivin' with the Notes
• 11 Never Mind, Baby
• 12 I'm a Perfect Fool Over You
• 13 Lovely Little Person
• 14 Love Me Sooner
• 15 Sentimental Blue
• 16 Goin' to Town with Honey
• 17 Syncopated Lullaby
• 18 Falling in and Out of Love
• 19 Let's Do Things
• 20 Jumpy Jitters
• 21 Nothing Ever Happens
• 22 What'cha Doin' to My Heart
• - Disc 6 -
• 1 Bedtime
• 2 Honey Hush
• 3 French Toast
• 4 Vine Street Jump
• 5 B Flat
• 6 You Send Me
• 7 Love Is My Alibi
• 8 Pogo Stick Bounce
• 9 Whatcha' Know, Joe?
• 10 Sweet Lorraine
• 11 Honeysuckle Rose
• 12 Gone with the Draft
• 13 This Side Up
• 14 Jumpin' with the Mop
• 15 Jam Man
• 16 Let's Try Again
• 17 Fudge Wudge
• 18 Smokey Joe
• 19 Windy City Boogie Woogie
• 20 Ode to a Wild Clam
• - Disc 7 -
• 1 Let's Try Again
• 2 Whatcha' Know, Joe?
• 3 Lazy River
• 4 Georgia on My Mind
• 5 Rockin Chair
• 6 A Little Jive Is Good for You
• 7 You've Changed
• 8 Babs
• 9 Scotchin' with the Soda
• 10 Slow Down
• 11 Early Morning Blues
• 12 The Romany Room Is Jumpin'
• 13 This Will Make You Laugh
• 14 Stop! the Red Light's on
• 15 Hit the Ramp
• 16 I Like to Riff
• - Disc 8 -
• 1 Call the Police
• 2 Are You Fer It?
• 3 That Ain't Right
• 4 Hit That Jive, Jack
• 5 Indiana
• 6 I Can't Get Started
• 7 Tea for Two
• 8 Body and Soul
• 9 Vom, Vim, Veedle
• 10 All for You
• 11 Hip, Hip, Hooray
• 12 I Know That You Know
• 13 I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town
• - Disc 9 -
• 1 Pitchin' Up a Boogie
• 2 I'm Lost
• 3 Beautiful Moons Ago
• 4 Let's Spring One
• 5 Slender, Tender, and Tall
• 6 I've Found a New Baby
• 7 Rosetta
• 8 Sweet Lorraine
• 9 I Blowed and Gone
• 10 Solid Potato Salad
• 11 F.S.T. (Fine, Sweet & Tasty)
• 12 Got a Penny
• 13 Let's Pretend
• 14 My Lips Remember Your Kisses
• 15 I'm An Errand Boy for Rhythm
• 16 Straighten Up and Fly Right
• - Disc 10 -
• 1 Honey Hush
• 2 By the River St. Marie
• 3 I Like to Riff
• 4 Black Spider Stomp
• 5 Sweet Lorraine
• 6 Early Morning Blues
• 7 Gone with the Draft
• 8 Trompin'
• 9 Sweet Lorraine
• 10 Gone with the Draft
• 11 Scotchin' with the Soda
• 12 Gone with the Draft
• 13 The Romany Room Is Jumpin'
• 14 Hit That Jive, Jack
• 15 Beautiful Moons Ago
• 16 Honeysuckle Rose
• 17 I Know That You Know
• 18 Solid Potato Salad
• 19 My Lips Remember Your Kisses
• 20 Straighten Up and Fly Right