Released in 1961 Nat King Cole's Let there be Love was one of the first records that Agent Triple P owned; inherited from his aunt's collection in about, we reckon, 1969.
Written by Lionel Rand (music) and Ian Grant (lyrics) in 1939 and first performed that year by Van Alexander and his Orchestra it was also recorded by the Andrews sisters and Tony Bennett in 1957. A later hit for Cole (1919-1965) from his album Nat King Cole sings/George Shearing plays. Cole, backed by the George Shearing (born 1919) Quintet and Ralph Carmichael (born 1927) and the String Choir deliver a silky smooth performance which is as light as a souffle. Shearing's piano solo is a masterpiece in relaxed minimalism and Cole takes it softly and in a lower register than usual until the final verse.
Let there be you,
Let there be me.
Let there be oysters
Under the sea.
Let there be wind,
An occassional rain.
Chile con carne,
Sparkling champagne
Let there be birds
To sing in the trees,
Someone to bless me
Whenever I sneeze.
Let there be cuckoos,
A lark and a dove,
But first of all, please
Let there be love
Everyone should have this in their collection and it appears on Agent Triple P's notorious "cocktail" playlist on his iPod. Or the "slinky music to get girls out of their clothes" playlist, as our particular friend S calls it. Whatever, it seems to work and a large part of that success is down to Mr Cole and Mr Shearing (or rather Sir George as we should call him as he became the first US citizen -naturalised-(he was born in Battersea) to be knighted).
Perfection.
