Q & A with Natalie Cole

“Daddy’s little girl,” Natalie Cole said wistfully. “That was me--his pride and joy.”

“Daddy” is pop singer Nat King Cole, who died in 1965. He would indeed have been proud of his “little girl,” who’s now 41. Not only has Natalie Cole introduced his best-known ‘40s and ‘50s songs--”Mona Lisa,” “Too Young,” “Route 66” et al.--to a new generation, but she has also revived her roller-coaster career, all through the album “Unforgettable,” on which Cole sings some of her father’s songs. Cole even sings with him, thanks to ingenious mixing: a duet on the title song. The album has been the surprise hit of the year, topping the Billboard pop chart for the last month . Albums like this--full of dreamy, orchestrated ballads and big-band, up-tempo songs--are rarely big sellers.

“Unforgettable” is her first No. 1 album and her biggest since her initial success in the ‘70s on Capitol Records (also her father’s label), when she was focusing on pop-R&B.; For now, though, Cole is performing only her father’s songs in her concerts. (She appears Friday at the Universal Amphitheatre.)

Looking back at the ‘80s isn’t that much fun for Cole, who in 1983 conquered a drug problem that nearly wrecked her career. She spent part of the decade bouncing from label to label singing pop-R&B; songs that she wasn’t wild about. Though she was comfortably on the comeback trail by the end of the ‘80s, she never quite regained her late-’70s stature. Recently, the effervescent singer talked about what went into making the new album, what went wrong with her career and, of course, her father.

Question: It seems so natural for you to do an album of your father’s music. Why did you wait so long?

Answer: I wasn’t ready years ago. When I was in my 20s and I was singing R&B;, I would never have touched an album like this. When I did my first album I was trying to stay as far away from my father’s kind of music as possible. It was a kind of rebellion, I guess. I knew my father would hate the kind of music I was singing then, so I wasn’t going to get into his music. Early in my career I considered an album of standards something for old folks. That’s how I was thinking in those days--real simple-minded.

Q: When did you finally decide you really wanted to do an album of your father’s music?

A: I was finally ready in the mid-’80s. I had come to my senses by then. When I signed to EMI in 1986 I wanted to do it, but they didn’t think an album like that would be commercial. For that time, they were probably right. The four years I was at EMI, I just put the idea on the back burner.

Q: That period of transition last year between the EMI and Elektra labels was undoubtedly important. What happened during that time to make it possible to finally record the album?

A: I was sick of EMI. After “Pink Cadillac’ and “Jump Start” they were trying so hard to get me to be a star on black radio--to get R&B; hits. But that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to be more of a pop artist, singing songs for a mass audience--not just for the R&B; fans. And I was so sick of people sending me rotten songs to sing. The material I was hearing was garbage. I was so disillusioned by the contemporary pop and R&B; material that I couldn’t think of anything better to sing than my father’s music. But I knew I couldn’t do it at EMI.

Q: When you were working out your deal at Elektra, did you have a hard time persuading the executives to let you do this album?

A: Surprisingly, no. When I talked to Bob Krasnow (chairman of Elektra Entertainment) he was very interested in me doing this album. I signed to do two albums--one of my father’s music. I was going to do a contemporary pop-R&B-type; album first, but he called me and said do the album of my father’s music first. It was just instinct on his part. Harry Connick was having success doing ‘40s and ‘50s music--maybe that was a factor. But it was a risk, and Bob was willing to take it. Fortunately he just read the market right.

Q: What there other factors in the decision to record the album?

A: One big reason I was so eager to do it right away was that other artists were thinking about doing an album of Dad’s music--people like George Benson, Al Jarreau and Johnny Mathis had talked about it. I heard a rumor that Streisand was interested. I couldn’t let anybody beat me to this album. I would have regretted it forever.

Q: Who’s buying this album?

A: One main group of buyers is older people who don’t usually buy albums. This album has brought a whole new group of record buyers out to the stores. There really are people who’ll buy an album of good old songs. But I can tell you who’s not buying it--rap and dance and heavy-metal fans. To them, this is dull, old-folks’ music.

Q: While you were making this album, what were you determined not to do?

A: We didn’t want to make it too contemporary, and we wanted to stay true to the spirit and style of the material. So that meant no contemporary instrumentation and no hot young session players, because they wouldn’t have a clue about this music. I wanted all veteran musicians, people who were experienced in this kind of music. Also we didn’t want to use background singers, because on Dad’s most famous songs, there are no background singers.

Q: Did the arrangers make many changes in your father’s original arrangements?

A: Not really. We weren’t trying to play it safe. It’s just that the original instrumentation of these songs is the best. But we did make a few changes, and I was terrified that we’d get criticized for it. Like we added some horn solos--like a Miles Davis-style trumpet on “Nature Boy.” On “Unforgettable,” we added a sax solo, because the original string line sounded hokey and dated. But a sax solo? When we added that I was thinking, “I hope Daddy isn’t turning over in his grave.”

Q: While recording the album did you feel your father sort of looking over your shoulder?

A: To some extent. I did find myself saying, “I think I’ll sing it this way, because I think Dad would have liked to hear me sing it this way.” I had some emotional moments making the album and thinking about him--because making the album forced me to think a lot about him and in some sense relive the loss all over again.

Q: Is it a misconception that your father was best at ballads?

A: I think so. My fondest memories of watching my father perform live aren’t of his orchestrated ballads. I have these great memories of him singing in front of a swinging big band. Dad was so cool when he did that, strutting around. And in his live show, he used to do this calypso number, wearing this hat and carrying this cane. He was toooo cool. When I saw him doing that, I’d think: “Now that’s my Dad.”

Q: What was your mother’s reaction to your making this album?

A: She was very supportive. I know people think she may have had some weird feelings about it, but she didn’t--with one exception. She didn’t want me to sing “Mona Lisa.” She said, “That’s your Dad’s signature song. Why are you recording that?” But I had to record it--the album wouldn’t be complete without it. Sorry, Mom.

Q: Everyone is saying this is your best album. What was your worst?

A: That’s easy. It was called “I’m Ready” (on Epic Records in 1982). It didn’t even sell 50,000 copies. It should never have been released. (Executive producer) Larkin Arnold meant well, but instead of trying to get me to sing, he should have been slapping some sense into me about my drug abuse. When that album came out, they must have thought he was crazy for putting the project together. I was a bona fide, unadulterated mess. I was so skinny. I was a physical mess and an emotional mess. My husband and I had just divorced. I didn’t want to sing. I just wanted to get high. They should have pulled the plug on that album--they should have pulled the plug on me. The album was called “I’m Ready,” but the only thing I was ready for then was drug rehab.

Q: Looking back, what are factors that pushed you to drug abuse?

A: I was confused, scared, without self-confidence, unhappy with being well-known, not adjusted to being the daughter of a star--and I was selfish. . . . I could go on and on.

Q: What finally made you stop?

A: I was ready to stop and tired of wasting my life. Plus, I was in a good rehab program. I tried to stop twice. The first time in rehab in early ’82 didn’t work. The program wasn’t based on the right things, and its basic plan was all wrong. The second program was a lot stronger. It knocked the hell out of me, knocked me to my senses. I’ve been OK since 1983. That’s a dark, distant part of my life--like another lifetime. I look back on that and hear the horror stories about how I was then, and I think: “Did I do all that? Was I acting that crazy?” I finally got a grip on my senses, and that grip ain’t about to slip.

Q: How do you feel about the young singers recording now?

A: Most of them can’t sing. It’s tragic. Record companies are signing people who can’t even sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on key. Most of these young singers don’t take singing seriously. They get signed because they’re cute and easy to market. I overheard a scary thing a while back. In the studio one day, I heard this guy say he had seen an executive memo by accident at this major record company. It was regarding not signing any artists for that year over the age of 19. How do you think that made me feel--at my age? Hearing that made me gag.

Q: Do you prefer singing the older music to contemporary pop-R&B;?

A: I think I prefer the older music because it’s closer to what comes natural to me. When I first opened my mouth to sing I was singing jazz. This music is closer to jazz than contemporary R&B; is. People don’t realize that I had to learn how to sing R&B.; It never came natural to me. I sounded like Aretha (Franklin) on my early albums, because I was copying her style. Now I’m finally having fun with the older music--maybe because I’m older now too.

Q: After the “Unforgettable” album, can you go back to singing pop-R&B;?

A: I don’t know if I can. I’ll try to, but I know I’m not ready to go back to the other stuff right now. I’ll probably have to do it sometime--I hate to think about that.