The 1991 original pressing of Natalie Cole’s Grammy-winning tribute album on Elektra Records, specifically a rare (likely Japanese or German) pressing, in top-tier near-mint condition, prized for its sonic warmth and complete track listing.

Natalie Cole did not initialy build her career on her father’s catalog. Her journey to this definitive 1991 release required a structural shift in her artistic identity.

The Enduring Legacy of Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable… With Love (1991)

The album’s centerpiece is the title track, a "virtual duet" that paired Natalie's contemporary vocals with her father’s classic 1951 recording.

Released on June 11, 1991, is the multi-platinum, seven-time Grammy-winning masterpiece by American singer Natalie Cole , serving as her definitive debut for Elektra Records . The album marked a seismic shift in 1990s music history by completely redirecting Cole’s career away from contemporary R&B/pop toward the Great American Songbook, paying an exquisite tribute to her legendary father, Nat King Cole . Anchored by its monumental, technologically advanced title track duet, this studio album conquered the global charts and permanently reshaped how the modern music industry approaches nostalgia, lineage, and audio engineering. A Surprising Risk: The Shift from R&B to Traditional Pop

: It won seven Grammy Awards in 1992, including Album of the Year , Record of the Year , and Song of the Year . Tracklist Overview

But as the needle lifted, he made a decision. He walked to the display case at the front of the store, the one reserved for the things he couldn't bear to sell. He cleared a space between a signed Miles Davis print and a vintage Wurlitzer part.

Decades later, Unforgettable... with Love stands as a masterclass in how to pay tribute to a musical ancestor. Natalie Cole did not just sing her father's songs; she brought them into a new era with reverence, technical brilliance, and profound love, cementing both her own legacy and her father's for generations to come.

Natalie recorded her vocal lines while engineers worked with Nat's isolated vocal track from his iconic 1951 recording. By removing her father's vocals on certain lines and attenuating his voice on others, they created a seamless back-and-forth call and response, a true duet that felt both modern and nostalgic. It was a deeply emotional homage, a way for the daughter to sing with the father she lost when she was just a teenager. The result was a recording that continues to move listeners decades later.

The 1991 Elektra release of Unforgettable... with Love remains a crowning achievement in Natalie Cole's career and a cornerstone of modern jazz-pop. It was a project born of love, executed with top-tier talent, and received with massive critical and commercial acclaim. It proved that great music, when treated with reverence and artistry, is truly unforgettable.