Continuing our week-long focus on female artists, today’s classic song of the day is “This Will Be” by Natalie Cole. This hot little number, released as a single in August of 1975, peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #9 on the Cash Box Top 100, #5 on Billboard’s Dance/Disco chart, and #1 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart.
“This Will Be” was written by the team of Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy. Chuck and Marvin were formerly members of the vocal group the Independents. They also wrote other tunes for Ms. Cole (“Inseparable,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “I’ve Got Love On My Mind,” and “Our Love”), Phyllis Hyman, and Ronnie Dyson, among others.
I think “This Will Be” is one of the highlights of the mid-70s music scene. It’s a jazzy, brassy track that cooks with a cheerily uptempo shuffle beat. It sounded different from anything else on the radio at that time and garnered Ms. Cole a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, as well as the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Natalie Cole was the daughter of famed singer/pianist Nat King Cole and Maria Hawkins Cole, a former singer for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She was born in 1950 and, not surprisingly, started singing at an early age. She released her first album, 1975’s Inseparable, when she was just 25 years old, after she came under the tutelage of misters Jackson and Yancy. She had an even dozen mainstream top 40 hits between 1975 and 1991, including a “duet” with her late father on “Unforgettable.”
Unfortunately, Ms. Cole battled drug addiction throughout most of her life, a habit that started when she was in college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Intravenous drug use led to her contracting hepatitis C and experiencing kidney failure; she had a kidney transplant in 2009. The illness stayed with her, however, and she passed away on New Years Eve, 2015. Natalie Cole was 65 years old.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Ms. Natalie Cole performing “This Will Be” live on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert on November 11, 1975. Damn, she brings it.
