Sinatra’s album Tone Poems of Color was the first album to be recorded at the new facility, and he would make 18 more over the next decade with1955’s In the Wee Small Hours being his most acclaimed.ĮMI’s major stake in the company gave Capitol the advantage of first refusal rights on all EMI artists meaning that Capitol would have access to a number of artists before EMI. The tower became known as “The House That Nat Built” thanks to Nat King Cole’s turn as the most successful artist at Capitol. The building was completed with a tall spike rising from its top, with a blinking light on its tip, spelling out the word “Hollywood” in Morse code.
CAPITOL RECORDS WINDOWS
Their new world class headquarters resembled a stack of 45s on a turntable with wide curved awnings over windows on each story. The British label had recently built a state-of-the-art studio on Abbey Road in London, and decided to do the same for Capitol on the intersection of Hollywood and Vine in California, the hub building that would become the iconic heart of the blooming company.Ĭapitol’s studio and office locations had been fragmented throughout the 1940s and early 50s, but the opening of the new “Capitol Tower” in 1956 brought this decentralisation to an end.
In 1955 British music company EMI bought a 96% stake in Capitol for $8.5 million, marking the first of several attempts to acquire the successful company. The success continued for the company as they began to accumulate a huge roster of well known stars Judy Garland, Jackie Gleason, Shirley Bassey, Andy Griffith, and Dean Martin were all under contract. Ol’ Blue Eyes eventually signed with the label in 1953 which launched his career for a second time. It was now one of the “Big Six” record labels, and was releasing 30-40 albums half yearly.Īfter his Oscar winning appearance in the film From Here To Eternity, Sinatra’s relevance and popularity returned, and not soon after, Capitol came knocking. It wasn’t until 1953 that Capitol would become a force to be reckoned with after they signed a key industry player.įollowing a career dive in the 1940s due to a combination of changing tastes in music and an affair with Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra no longer had a contract with Columbia Records, the label he called home while he had been the country’s biggest star.By 1946, Capitol had sold 42 million records. RCA and Columbia Records dominated the charts and were neck in neck for having the most hit records, but Capitol was tied for third place with another company called Decca Records, a label run by Bing Crosby. Despite early successes, the blooming business was still considered an up and comer. Later that year Canadian Capitol was established and as they entered the 1950s, Capitol was making strides in the industry. The company maintained a presence in New York with an office on 55th Street and the Golden State, and would occasionally make visits to record in New Orleans and Louisiana using mobile equipment. In 1949, having outgrown their previous home, the company purchased new studios on Melrose Avenue, right next to Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. Of these records, around 25 were by pop artists and five to ten by speciality artists, including classical works by Brazilian composer Heitor Villo-Lobos and Werner Janssen, not to mention jazz records, including Miles Davis’ landmark 1957 album, Birth Of The Cool. It was now one of the “Big Six” record labels, and was releasing 30-40 albums half yearly. Later in 1942, the label had its first gold single with “Cow Cow Boogie” by Ella Mae Morse and by the late 1940s, their artist roster included Martha Tilton, Paul Weston and His Orchestra, Les Paul, Tex Williams, and Nat King Cole.īy 1946, Capitol had sold 42 million records. “After the war shellac had become a rare commodity, and one which Wallichs intended to make use of.” Singing his own compositions as well as songs written by others, he continued releasing new material throughout the remainder of the decade, producing some of Capitol’s first hits. One of the first albums released was in fact Mercer’s own. Mercer and Wallichs co-founded Capitol Records in 1942 with its first office being located on the second floor of Music City. His colleagues, singer and songwriter Johnny Mercer and Buddy DeSylva, chose to invest it in the new project Mercer had brought forward, a record company.Īccording to former Capitol employee Don Hassler, Wallichs was a straight talking manager, and he decided to allow Mercer, a young musician, to lead the new company as long as he found the artists and left Wallichs to take care of the business.
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