NKC (Nat King Cole) & FS (Frank Sinatra) vs. The FBI
Believe it or not, J. Edgar Hoover actually kept a file on Nat King Cole.
NKC vs. The FBI
Famously, the FBI files on Sinatra are literally enough to fill a book - or even an encyclopedia. It seems hard to believe, but the FBI also kept a running file on Nat King Cole. Which is incredible, because Nat seems to have never thought about anything beyond 1. his music, 2. his family, and 3. the Dodgers (first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles). He was the polar opposite of Sinatra, who was famously drawn to the power figures of all spheres: industry, government, the arts (especially in his own fields, music and film), and even, as we know, organized crime. (Dean Martin, as we know, was extremely skeptical of all so-called “power brokers,” and kept his distance from them - he was the sole Ratpacker who was not enamored of JFK.)
My research partner, the great discographer and scholar Jordan Taylor, and I exhumed the FBI file on Nat King Cole after my biography, Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole, was essentially finished. Because I barely had the chance to cram in a sentence or two regarding the FBI’s surveillance of Cole, this brief Substack post is an attempt to redress that omission.
For starters, the FBI-NKC file is amazingly skimpy; one gets the impression that the FBI had nothing on him - especially compared to Billie Holiday or Sinatra. However, J. Edgar Hoover seems to have assumed that any African-American celebrity was potentially a communist, following in the infamous footsteps of Paul Robeson.
Surprisingly or not, there’s nothing in the FBI-NKC file that amounts to a genuine accustation, there are only ghosts and vague hints of allegations. There is no evidence at all,not even a shadow of proof, that Cole may have at one time or another been a member of any kind of left-leaning organization, or any group that might be connected to the American communist party. Every page is heavily redacted, and there are many that say something like “In 1945, REDACTED says that Cole may or may not have been a member of REDACTED” - it goes on and on like that, with no actual facts of any kind, or even anybody who wants to go on the record saying that he believed Cole had any kind of pinko inclination.
Then we come to a remarkable letter from 1957, sent to Hoover by agent W. Mark Felt. Felt (1913-2008) was a very prominent agent who lived long enough to become the Second Associate Director of the Bureau (or Deputy Director). He played a key role in the Watergate scandal: shortly before his death, he revealed to the world that he was, in fact, the legendary informant that Bob Woodward referred under the code name “Deep Throat.”
The letter is heavily redacted, but there are some key points worth discussing. First, a little background: as we know, Las Vegas, like most of the United States, was officially segregated until the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. The situation was so extreme, especially in Vegas, that African American entertainers were not permitted by law to stay in the hotel-casinos where they were hired as entertainers and even headliners. Even superstars such as Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr., Fats Domino, and Nat King Cole were forced to find lodgings as best they could in the “Colored” neighborhoods of the city.
(The late Quincy Jones talks about that situation here, in this excerpt from a recent and highly recommended, documentary, Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes (2018). For more about Quincy, listen to the latest episode of Sing! Sing! Sing! Linked below.)
As Quincy states, “In one year, Frank Sinatra ended all the racism in Vegas.” To give that statement a little more nuance, we know from the testimony of others who were there at the time, including Sands Hotel executive Ed Walters (aka “The Pit Boss”), that even while segregation was still the law of the land, Sinatra, who was a part owner of the The Sands, arranged for the entertainers and musicians who were working there to be able to stay there. In fact, after awhile, it became known that Black entertainers who were working at other venues were encouraged to stay at The Sands, thanks to Sinatra. Out of necessity, this fact was not publicized at the time, and it’s barely mentioned in any of the writings on Sinatra, including my own.
So by 1957, it was accepted practice for Nat King Cole to stay at The Sands when he worked there; remember, he was at this point the top earner in the history of the venue, pulling in an average of $50,000 per week.
Nat King Cole at the Sands circa 1958 or ‘59; possibly performing “Calypso Blues.” Although the recording famously featured only voice and bongo drums (played the Jack Costanzo) Cole sometimes performed it live with dancing girls togged out in exotic costumes; see the clip below from Toast of the Town (The Ed Sullivan Show) May 16, 1954.
Needless to say, not everyone approved of this practice - and at least a few people complained to the FBI, and the gist of the complaint was that any hotel who lets Colored people stay in the same rooms as white people must be run by a bunch of communists.
I believe there are two individuals referred to in Felt’s letter to Hoover. Individual #1 would seem to be an official of The Sands itself, who was completely opposed the idea of treating the Colored entertainers as equals or even extending the tiniest courtesy to them. And he was further incensed when at least a few of the regular Caucasian clientele bitched and moaned about it. In the first paragraph, Individual #1 tells Felt, “His most pressing problem at the moment is Nat King Cole, who is presently the featured attraction at the Sands Hotel.” (Never mind that this is a grammatically incorrect usage of the term “presently,” which is not a synonym for “currently.” Whoever said that racists were well-educated?)
Nat Cole a problem? When he was bringing in so much business for The Sands? Sometimes entrenched racial biases are even more important than the capitalist instinct.
Felt goes on to explain that “Recently, however, top flight colored entertainers have been allowed to stay at the hotel where they were performing. These performers include Cole, REDACTED, and Pearl Bailey.”
After two completely redacted paragraphs, Felt continues, “The problem for UNNAMED INDIVIDUAL #1 is that complaints have been received concerning Cole’s actions. One citizen insists that the Sands Hotel be closed for permitting such activity.”
That’s the gist of this unnamed individual’s argument: for having the temerity to let Negroes occupy rooms next to decent, God-fearing white people, The Sands deserves nothing less than to be permanently closed. Obviously, anyone who takes a step to promote the cause of racial equality is clearly taking their marching orders from Moscow.
The complainer, whom we now refer to as INDIVIDUAL #2, was such a dedicated white supremacist that he even took the trouble to conduct his own informal survey of the situation in Las Vegas. “The Sands, Flamingo, and Riviera Hotels said they would register any presentable person, regardless of color,” says Felt. Las Vegas may have been a den of iniquity, vice, and abundant criminal activity, but, somehow at least three hotel-casinos - starting with The Sands - were on the right side of history. The mobsters who ran The Sands clearly had a greater sense of moral justice than the ministers who were picketing the Little Rock Nine in Arkansas that same year.
Sadly, the report continues, “All other hotels said that they would refuse to register colored persons.”
Felt doesn’t seem to express any opinion one way or another. He merely advises Hoover and the bureau to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity - meaning the idea of furthering the cause of equality and civil rights - in Las Vegas. “I have insisted to the Agents at both Las Vegas and Reno that materially increased informant coverage is necessary, and you can be sure I will personally follow this important matter.” Yes, it was a very important issue, Felt says, but if there was any follow-up, we don’t know about it. There’s nothing else regarding the matter in the files.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Zimmer, as always, not to mention Jordan Taylor, Michael Kraus, Rob Waldman, and Cousin Ken Hutchins.
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Hoover, and the FBI under his leadership, were famously racist. Beverly Gage, the author of his recent and highly regarded biography, details how Hoover grew up in DC, which was then a much smaller and very racist town. In college, he joined a fraternity that was an affiliate of the KKK; agents were recruited from that fraternity, to the extent that it was almost a requirement for the job. Gage documents many racist actions, including some that put Dr. King's life in danger. Jonathan Eig, King's biographer, relied heavily on Gage's work and the FOIA material that came out around that time.
That import CD is astounding and I love Cole's give and take with producer Dave Cavanaugh between songs. A question I have been wanting to ask you-there have been rumors for years of dozens of unreleased Cole recordings in the Capitol vaults, both studio and live dates. I know there have been a few box sets of his music from that label and occasional bonus tracks (there also was that charity album that Maria released privately years ago through Capitol that had unreleased recordings on it) but how much is still waiting to be unearthed?