Nat Cole - A fine example of a BBC 1960's restoration

[Jeff Leach]

Just came across this show uploaded on You Tube

It's a BBC concert special of Nat King Cole from 1963

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMbtvlqcwI&feature=youtu.be


This must be the finest example of a restoration from that period I have ever seen

and correct me if I'm wrong but at the time weren't the Beeb on 425 line at that time

so the picture quality is remarkable for a Uk produced show (as is the sound )

I would say i'm not normally in favour of colourising original black and white footage but the colourisation

has also been created tastefully in my opinion - has got to be the benchmark for audio and video presentation

in the archive music field

[williammcgregor]

Thank you for posting this great footage Jeff

Nat King Cole was a class above; what a voice!

[Peter Stirling]

A fine homage to a fantastic singer.

Considering this restoration and colourization appears to have been done in the 1990s its quite wonderful.
However the very large cameras seen in the background occasionally, do look like the old Marconi colour 'coffin' cameras.

This is the Marconi coffin cameras in operation with 'natural' colour.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmCKxDyDJs

[Deleted]

Is this a UK show then? Presumably it's an unofficial restoration. I've never seen it before but pretty good. I wish more programmes (other than Dr.Who) were lavished with a bit of time and money to make them look like they hadn't been shot in about 1920 (Steptoe & Son is one which screams at me here).

[Jeff Leach]

The credits list Ted Heath's orchestra supplying the music and Stanley Dorfman producing so it's got to be a UK show Laurence and it's available on Amazon so it appears to be an official release

Just watched it on my main Tv and it sounds superb - going to have to buy this one

[williammcgregor]

This is how the NME dated 6th September 1963 mentioned the show

[Jeff Leach]

That was quick William !
Thanks for the background info

Probably saved from wiping by an American broadcaster

[Deleted]

May 16, 2014 9:56:46 GMT Jeff Leach said:

The credits list Ted Heath's orchestra supplying the music and Stanley Dorfman producing so it's got to be a UK show Laurence and it's available on Amazon so it appears to be an official release

That's interesting!

Yes, I hadn't had time to checked the credits earlier - that makes it clear. Very much an oddity as it's been properly released as well. I would like to know what company were responsible for colourising / releasing it though (presumably nothing to do with the BBC, even though it's one of their shows). Presumably the original was a b/w print so (assuming no VidFire has been applied) the end result must look like a colour telerecording.

[johnpoole]

The IMDb entry suggests that there was a BBC repeat in 1965.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0934698/

[John Green]

Worth reading these reviews,if the link works: www.amazon.com/An-Evening-Nat-King-Cole/product-reviews/B0000633SR/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending Ignore the one which says it was shot in colour.
Seems the show is often mis-attributed to 1961.

[Simon B Kelly]

Originally broadcast 8.05 - 8.50pm on BBC TV, Saturday 21st September 1963

Repeated on BBC 2, Saturday 1st May 1965, 7.50 - 8.40pm. The reason for the longer transmission second time around was because it was preceded by this:

TRIBUTE TO NAT KING COLE: TX as intro to prog when re-tx'd 1/5/65,after Nat King Cole's death 15/02/65. Tribute by Sammy Davis Junior (75')

Not sure whether 75' means 75 seconds or 75 feet of film? Either way that would have added a minute or so to the original transmission time.

Presumably this would have been a black and white recording, shot on 35mm to make editing easier in those pre-edit suite days?

[Jeff Leach]

The restoration / colourisation credited at the end of the broadcast was a company called CST Entertainment

Here are some examples of other work from a You Tube page

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6EC12304F5E6A937

some of the other efforts are quite poor to say the least

It appears that the company went bust in the late nineties

Here's a little more info on the visit when the concert was filmed

natcole.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/united-kingdom-july-1963.html

[Sal Mohammed]

Interesting article Jeff, if the company had colourised the Beatles concert in Washington, they may have not gone bust. Mind you, they probably would have been sued by Apple.

[Alan Turrell]

Watched this last night and have to say a fantastic show with Nat singing alot of his big hits in superb quality , thanks for uploading this Jeff what a choice on a saturday night britain hasn't got talent or an evening with Nat King Cole there's only one winner.

[johnpoole]

I see that a 90 minute Nat King Cole documentary 'Afraid of the Dark' is due to be shown on BBC Four next Friday.
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2014/20/nat-king-cole