Love Is the Thing
Studio album by Nat King Cole

Released 	April 1957
Recorded 	December 19, 28, 1956 at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Genre 	Jazz
Label 	Capitol
Producer 	Lee Gillette

Professional ratings
Allmusic 	3.5/5 stars

Love Is the Thing is a 1957 album released by American jazz vocalist Nat King Cole. It is the first of four collaborations between Cole and influential arranger Gordon Jenkins. Launching the charting single "Stardust", which peaked at #79, the album reached #1 on Billboard's "Pop Albums" chart and tied at #1 on the UK Charts with the soundtrack for the 1956 film The King and I. According to the records of the RIAA, the album achieved gold status in 1960 and broke platinum in 1992.

Overview

In 1956, Cole came together with popular music arranger Jenkins to produce the first of the four collaborations that are described by critics as among the best of either artist. American Jazz commenter Scott Yanow noted that the album "sticks exclusively" to the role Cole had established in 1950s popular opinion as a "superb ballad vocalist". While Love Is the Thing little reflects the jazz roots whence Cole emerged, the singer's "restrained vocal approach" and the arranger's "unhurried string charts" combined to produce a romantic album of enduring popularity.

Cole's three further albums with Jenkins were The Very Thought of You (1958), Everytime I Feel the Spirit (1959), and Where Did Everyone Go? (1963).

Release history

Originally released by Capitol Records, the album has been re-issued by various companies in alternate forms. A 1996 LP re-release on audiophile vinyl by the Digital Compact Classics (DCC) label included two bonus tracks.. In 2007, The Collectors' Choice label reissued the album in conjunction with the final Cole/Jenkins collaboration on a single disc entitled Love Is the Thing/Where Did Everyone Go? In 2010 the audiophile Analogue Productions label issued a hybrid SACD of the album, containing its original 12 tracks in mono, stereo, and three-track multichannel sound.

Released as Capitol W-824 (mono mix) in January 1957 with the the original 12 songs. The stereo LP version with only 10 songs was released as SW-824 in April 1959. The 180g DCC LP is the first LP since 1968 to restore "Love Is The Thing" to it's original length and running order.  The 3-track original tapes of "Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much" and "Love Letters" were lost after being left off the stereo LP of Love Is The Thing. These two songs were never mixed to stereo and are presented here in the original pristine monaural form.

Bonus tracks recorded March 1963 for Capitol SW-1859 "Where Did Everyone Go?" also conducted by Gordon Jenkins.

Track listing

   1. "When I Fall in Love" (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) – 3:10
   2. "Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) – 3:15
   3. "Stay as Sweet as You Are" (Mack Gordon, Harry Revel) – 2:59
   4. "Where Can I Go Without You?" (Peggy Lee, Victor Young) – 2:57
   5. "Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much" (Irving Berlin) – 2:50
   6. "Love Letters" (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) – 2:46
   7. "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller) – 3:17
   8. "I Thought About Marie" (Gordon Jenkins) – 3:06
   9. "At Last" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) – 3:00
  10. "It's All in the Game" (Charles G. Dawes, Carl Sigman) – 3:07
  11. "When Sunny Gets Blue" (Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal) – 2:46
  12. "Love Is the Thing" (Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 3:01

Bonus tracks
  13. "Someone to Tell It To" (Sammy Cahn, Dolores Fuller, James Van Heusen) – 3:17
  14. "If Love Ain't There" (Johnny Burke) – 3:01

Personnel

    * Nat King Cole – piano, vocals
    * Lee Gillette – producer
    * Gordon Jenkins – arranger, conductor
    * Marcia McGovern – pre-production
    * Recorded December 1956 at Capitol Tower Studios, Hollywood, CA. 
    * Recording engineer: John Kraus. 
    * Microphones: Neumann O-47 Condensers. 
    * Tape Machines: Monaural Ampex 350, Binaural 3-track Ampex 300-C
    * Steve Hoffman – mastering, remastering (DCC Reissue)


Chart positions
Chart            Year    Peak position
UK Albums Chart  1957        1