Do you have a nickname?
I don’t, but several of my siblings do.
Nicknames or bynames are like Velcro; they stick and become a part of you.
Some nicknames are short forms of given names. Al for Albert. Ben for Benjamin. My sister, Patricia’s nickname, was Pat. Many bynames are endearing, tasteless, or humorous. These are personalized and based on an individual’s size, mannerisms, or habits.
Nicknames are often befitting of the person, place, or thing they represent. And they are easy to remember?
Chicago’s nickname is the Windy City. And my Uncle Ben was called Buddy.
Do you know that Nat King Cole is a nickname? It’s not the renown artist’s real name.
I didn’t know until recently. But in case there are others who don’t know, read on.
Nat King Cole’s given name was Nathaniel Adam Coles. He was a musical icon. A Broadway, film, and television star, Cole was a renown American jazz pianist and vocalist. And Montgomery, Alabama was his birthplace.
These facts are well known. Including this fact, he was the first African American to host his own television variety show. Unfortunately, Cole’s variety show lacked national sponsors. And it was short-lived. Even a premier show like Cole’s couldn’t hold its own without national advertisers. Fear of retribution from the racist South scared away big-time sponsors.
With no chance of survival, no one fired Nat King Cole or canceled the variety show. Nat King Cole wrote his own pink slip and canceled his show.
He was a king of music with or without the show.
What is the little-known fact about the nickname, Nat King Cole?
The nickname was coined from a British nursery rhyme.
Which nursery rhyme? Old King Cole, of course.
The following are the words of the nursery rhyme.
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler he had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he;
Oh, there’s none so rare, as can compare,
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.
Old King Cole was a catchy and fitting rhyme for Cole’s group, the King Cole Trio and Cole as a solo artist.
Nat King Cole’s kingdom was the music industry.
Long live Nat King Cole’s music. An Old King Cole was he.