Capitol Records

Capitol Records


Capitol Records est une maison d'édition de disques aux États-Unis.
La société est filiale d’EMI Group, l'une des trois majors du disque dans le monde.


Histoire

Le label Capitol Records est créé en 1942, par le compositeur Johnny Mercer grâce au financement de Buddy DeSylva.

Capitol fut le premier label basé sur la côte ouest des États-Unis, possédant un studio d’enregistrement à Los Angeles et un autre à New
York. Ses principaux concurrents de l’époque sont RCA-Victor, Columbia et Decca, et avaient leur siège à New York. Dès son
établissement jusqu’en 1946, Capitol figurait parmi les 6 plus gros éditeurs aux États-Unis, avec 42 million disques vendus.

Sa branche canadienne fut établie en 1949, et Capitol rachète la même année les KHJ Studios située sur Melrose Avenue juste à côté des
studios de Paramount Pictures dans le quartier d'Hollywood à Los Angeles.

Pendant les années 1950; Columbia enregistre et produit un certain nombre d'artistes Rockabilly et Rock'n'Roll comme Ronnie Self (Ain't i'm
a dog, Bop a Lena, You're so Right for me), the Collins Kid (Party, Hop Skip and Jump, …), Joe Maphis, Link Wray, Carl Perkins (Where the
Rio de Rosa Flows, Pionted Toe Shoes, …), Johnny Horton (honky tonk hardwoor floor, I'm Coming Home, ….), Johnny Cash, … Tout ces
artistes sont présents sur les compiles Columbia Rockabilly Vol. 1 et 2.

Mi-1950, Capitol est déjà une grosse société axée sur la musique populaire, qui attire l’attention de la maison de disques britannique EMI.
EMI prend le contrôle de Capitol Records en 1957 en rachetant 96 % du capital. Cette acquisition fut valorisée à US$8,5 millions. Dans la
même année, EMI décide de monter un deuxième studio dernier cri, au même niveau technologique que son premier à Abbey Road à
Londres. La société choisit de construire le studio, ainsi que son siège social, à Los Angeles sur Hollywood Boulevard (croisement Vine).

Les disques CAPITOL ont été lancés en France par Jacques Plait alors directeur du département disques CAPITOL chez Pathé Marconi.

Suite au rachat en 1957, EMI fusionne son label de musique classique Angel Records avec Capitol. En 1979 Capitol fut intégré dans sa
division mondiale, EMI Music Worldwide. En 2001, EMI fusionne Capitol Records avec Priority Records.


Artistes


années 1940 - Les premiers artistes signés sont Paul Whiteman, Martha Tilton, et Ella Mae Morse. Ses autres artistes dans les années
1940 : Les Baxter, Bing Crosby, Les Paul, Peggy Lee, Les Brown, et Nat King Cole.

années 1950 Frank Sinatra,Yma Sumac, Judy Garland, The Andrews Sisters, Jackie Gleason, Ray Anthony, Andy Griffith, Shirley Bassey,
The Kingston Trio, Dean Martin,Gene Vincent, The Four Freshmen, Al Martino, Wanda Jackson et Nancy Wilson.



Liste des albums publiés par Capitol Records

En construction en 1955

Merci miss

Mince alors, y'a que moi qu'est pas passé là-bas !!! Merci Birdie.

donald a écrit:

Merci miss

tom a écrit:

Mince alors, y'a que moi qu'est pas passé là-bas !!! Merci Birdie.

Mais de rien messieurs

Nous, on l'a juste vu en passant à Los Angeles en voiture, mais on ne s'est pas arrêtés.

The Capitol Records Company was founded by songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, with the financial help of fellow songwriter and film
producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs (1910–1971), owner of Music City, at the time the biggest record
store in Los Angeles.

Johnny Mercer first suggested the idea of starting a record company while he was golfing with Harold Arlen and Bobby Sherwood. He told
them, "I’ve got this idea of starting a record company. I get so tired of listening to the way everyone treats music. I keep feeling they’re
selling out. And I don’t like the way artists are treated either. Bing Crosby isn’t the only one who can make records. I don’t know, I think
it would be fun." By 1941, Mercer was not only an experienced songwriter, but a singer with a number of records to his name. Mercer next
suggested starting a record company to his friend Glenn Wallichs while Mercer was visiting Wallichs' record store. Wallichs responded,
"Fine, you run the record company and find the artists,' and Mercer added, "and you run the business."

On February 2, 1942, they met with Buddy DeSylva at a Hollywood restaurant to ask if Paramount Pictures would invest in the new record
company. On the Paramount deal DeSylva said no, but that he himself would, and he gave them a check for $15,000. On March 27 the
three men got a statement notarized that they have applied to incorporate "Liberty Records" (later the name of a label which Capitol
eventually acquired). In May they amended the application to change the name to Capitol Records. (citations for Feb. 2 to July 25, 1942,
see individual day.

On April 6, 1942, Johnny Mercer supervised Capitol's first recording session, recording Martha Tilton singing 'Moon Dreams". On May 5
Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks. On May 21, Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks, one with just
the orchestra, one with Ella Mae Morse—"Cow-Cow Boogie', and one with Mercer—"Air–Minded Executive".

On June 4, Capitol Records opened its first office in a second-floor room south of Sunset Boulevard. On the same day, Wallichs presented
the first free record to a Los Angeles disc jockey named Peter Potter. Potter was so pleased Wallichs decided to give free records to
other DJs, becoming the first in the business to do so.

On June 5, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four sides for Capitol. On June 12, the orchestra recorded five more songs, including
one side with Billie Holiday. On June 11, Tex Ritter recorded "(I Got Spurs That) Jingle Jangle Jingle" and "Goodbye My Little Cherokee" at
his first Capitol recording session. They would become record #110.

On July 1, Capitol Records released its first nine records:

101—"I Found a New Baby"/"The General Jumped at Dawn"—Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
102—"Cow-Cow Boogie" with Ella Mae Morse and Freddy Slack and His Orchestra/ "Here You Are"– Freddy Slack and His Orchestra
103—"Strip Polka"/"Air–Minded Executive"—both with vocals by Johnny Mercer
104—"Johnny Doughboy Found A Rose In Ireland"/ "Phil, The Fluters Ball" – both with vocals by Dennis Day
105—"The Angels Cried" – vocal Martha Tilton and The Mellowaires/I'll Remember April" – vocal Martha Tilton with Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
106—"He Wears A Pair Of Silver Wings" – vocal Connie Haines/"I’m Always Chasing Rainbows" – Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra
107—"Elk's Parade"/"I Don't Know Why" – Bobby Sherwood and his Orchestra
108—"Serenade In Blue" – Martha Tilton with Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra/"(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo" – The Mellowaires with Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
109—"Windmill Under The Stars"/"Conchita Lopez" – Johnnie Johnston

By July 25, "Cow Cow Boogie" had gone to #1 on the hit parade. (see dates at #[2]

The earliest recording artists included co–owner Johnny Mercer, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, Paul Whiteman, Martha Tilton, Ella Mae
Morse, the Pied Pipers, and Paul Weston and His Orchestra. Capitol's first gold single was Morse's "Cow Cow Boogie" in 1942. Capitol's first
record album was Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer, a three 78-rpm record set with recordings by Mercer, Stafford, and the Pied
Pipers, all with Paul Weston's Orchestra.

The label's other 1940s artists included Les Baxter, Les Paul, Peggy Lee, Stan Kenton, Les Brown, western swing artists Tex Williams,
Merle Travis and Wesley Tuttle, Benny Goodman and Nat King Cole.

Capitol was the first major West Coast label, competing with RCA-Victor, Columbia and Decca, all based in New York. In addition to its Los
Angeles recording studio Capitol had a second studio in New York City, and on occasion sent mobile recording equipment to New Orleans,
Louisiana and other cities (Nordskog, Sunset and Aamor preceded Capitol on the West Coast).

By 1946, Capitol had sold 42 million records and was established as one of the Big Six record labels. It was also that year that writer–
producer Alan W. Livingston created Bozo the Clown for their new children's record library. Some notable music appreciation albums for
children by Capitol during that era included Sparky's Magic Piano and Rusty in Orchestraville.

Capitol also developed a noted jazz line, including the Capitol Jazz Men, and issued the Miles Davis–led sessions called "Birth of the Cool".

Capitol released a few classical albums in the 1940s, some featuring a heavily embossed, leather-like cover. These appeared initially in the
78-rpm format, then on some of Capitol's early LPs (33-1/3 rpm) which first appeared in 1949. Among the recordings was a unique
performance of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos' Choros No. 10 with a Los Angeles choral group and the Janssen Symphony
Orchestra (1940–1952) conducted by Werner Janssen, Symphony No. 3 by Russian composer Reinhold Moritzovich Glière, and César
Franck's Symphony in D minor with Willem Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

In 1949, the Canadian branch was established and Capitol purchased the KHJ Studios on Melrose Avenue next to the Paramount Pictures
lot in Hollywood. By the mid-1950s, Capitol had become a huge company, concentrating on popular music.
1950s

The 1950s roster now included Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Stan Kenton, Judy Garland, The Andrews Sisters, Jackie Gleason, Jane
Froman, Wesley Tuttle, Ray Anthony, Andy Griffith, Shirley Bassey, Merle Travis, The Kingston Trio (who in 1960 would account for 20%
of all record sales for Capitol), Dean Martin, The Four Freshmen, Al Martino, Dinah Shore and Nancy Wilson (actually signed in 1960 to
Capitol). There were also some notable comedy recordings, including several by Stan Freberg and the Yiddish-dialect parodies of Mickey
Katz. The label also began recording rock and roll acts such as The Jodimars and Gene Vincent.

Many children became familiar with Capitol Records through the release of a number of Bozo the Clown albums, which featured 78-rpm
discs and full color booklets which the children could follow as they listened to the recorded stories. Although there were a series of Bozo
the Clowns on various television stations, Capitol used the voice of Pinto Colvig, who was also the voice for Walt Disney's cartoon
character Goofy.

In 1955, the British record company EMI acquired 96% of Capitol Records stock for $8.5 million. Soon afterward, EMI built a new studio at
Hollywood and Vine to match its state-of-the-art Abbey Road Studios in London — see the Capitol Tower below. EMI's classical Angel
Records label was merged into Capitol in 1957. Some classical recordings were issued in high fidelity and even stereophonic sound on the
Capitol label by William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski with various orchestras (including the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra), and Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as light classical albums by
Carmen Dragon and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and a series of albums of film music conducted by leading Hollywood composers such as
Alfred Newman. Eventually, most of the classical recordings were re-released exclusively on the Angel and Seraphim labels in the U.S. EMI
reissued many of the historic Capitol classical recordings on CD.

In 1959, with the advent of stereo, Capitol changed its LP label design from a large "dome logo" with a gray background, to a smaller
"dome logo" in a silver oval with a black background and a colorband around the edge. At first, the oval was on the left side of the label,
with a tapering vertical line extending from the top and bottom. Classical labels replaced the vertical line with the words "INCOMPARABLE
HIGH-FIDELITY" and added the round "FDS-Full Dimensional Sound" shield. In the early 1960s, the oval was moved to the top of the label,
and the colorband was slightly narrower. This design is familiar to Beatles fans.

During the 1950s Capitol Records also introduced its series of "Hi-Q" production music LP's and tapes. Some television and film productions
that made use of this extensive library included Gumby, Davey and Goliath, The Donna Reed Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,
and the earliest Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

Capitol released a number of soundtrack recordings in the 1950s, including the film versions of three Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals
Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The King and I, as well as excerpts from Dimitri Tiomkin's music from Warner Bros.' Giant. All of these were later
reissued on CD.



Broadway and Films

Capitol Records also released some of the most notable original cast albums and motion picture soundtrack albums ever made. Between
1955 and 1956, they released the soundtrack albums of three now-classic Rodgers and Hammerstein films, Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The
King and I. All three films were respectively based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein smash hit stage musicals of the same name. The mono
versions of the albums were all released the same year that the films were released. But the films had been made in then state-of-the-art
stereophonic sound, and so, Capitol was able to release stereo albums of the three respective soundtracks after stereo LP's became a
reality. However, the mono and stereo versions did not contain always identical material. Because stereo grooves took up more space at
the time than mono grooves, the stereo versions of the soundtracks were always somewhat shorter than the mono ones. This was not
much of a problem with Oklahoma!, because the album itself as then printed was relatively short, so all that was missing from the stereo
version was a few seconds of the overture. With Carousel, however, half of the Carousel Waltz had to be lopped off for the stereo LP,
and with The King and I, the instrumental bridge from the song Getting to Know You was completely removed from the stereo version of
the album. These soundtrack albums (especially Oklahoma!) were bestsellers for Capitol for many years, until, in the 1990s, the rights to
them were bought by Angel Records. Angel Records not only restored the portions which had been omitted from the stereo LPs and
original CD issues, but, in 2001, issued new expanded editions which included all music which had been omitted from every previous edition
of these soundtracks, bringing the playing time of each to well over an hour. All three albums continue to be best sellers to this day.

In 1957, Capitol Records issued the original cast album of The Music Man, starring Robert Preston, an album which became one of the
biggest cast album sellers of all time, even after the highly successful film version of the show was released in 1962. Capitol was also
responsible for the original cast and film soundtrack albums of Cole Porter's Can-Can and the original cast album of Stephen Sondheim's A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In 1962, Capitol issued a studio cast recording of the songs from Lionel Bart's Oliver!, in
anticipation of its U.S. tour prior to its opening on Broadway.

In 1966, Capitol released the soundtrack album of the documentary tribute, John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums, a film
made by the United States Information Agency, and originally not intended for general viewing. However, the quality of the film was
considered so high that the public was eventually allowed to see it. The film featured the voice of Gregory Peck as narrator, with
narration written and music composed by Bruce Herschensohn. The album was virtually a condensed version of the film — it included the
narration as well as the music.

One spoken word album which was immensely successful for Capitol was that of the soundtrack of Franco Zeffirelli's smash film Romeo and
Juliet, based on Shakespeare's play. The film became the highest grossing Shakespeare film for years, and the album was also a
tremendous hit. It featured not only Nino Rota's score, but large chunks of Shakespeare's dialog. The success of this album in that
pre-VHS era spurred Capitol to issue two other Romeo and Juliet albums — one a three-disk album containing the entire soundtrack of the
film (dialog and music), and another album containing only Nino Rota's score.

However, as Capitol was to be later accused of doing with Beatles albums, there was some tampering with the Years of Lightning and
Romeo and Juliet albums. Extra music was added to some scenes which, in the actual film, contained little or no music, such as the duel
between Romeo and Tybalt. Presumably this was done to show off the score — and at the end of both the abridged and complete
versions of the Romeo albums, the end credits music was omitted, especially unfortunate since virtually all of the film's credits were saved
for the end of the picture.

Capitol tried to strike gold again with another spoken word album, one made from the 1970 film Cromwell, starring Richard Harris and Alec
Guinness, but in this case, both film and album were not successful.

The influence of the Romeo and Juliet album spread to other record companies for a brief while. Columbia Records issued an album of
dialog and music excerpts from the successful 1970 Dustin Hoffman film, Little Big Man, and 20th Century Fox Records included George C.
Scott's opening and closing speeches, as well as Jerry Goldsmith's score, in their soundtrack album made from the film Patton.

The Capitol Records Building

The Capitol Records Tower is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Hollywood. The 13-story earthquake-resistant tower, designed by
Welton Becket, was the world's first circular office building, and is home to several recording studios. Although not originally specifically
designed as such, the wide curved awnings over windows on each story and the tall spike emerging from the top of the building
combine to give it the appearance of a stack of vinyl 45s on a turntable.

The construction of the building was ordered by British company EMI soon after its 1955 acquisition of Capitol Records, and was
completed in April 1956. The building is located just north of the intersection of Hollywood and Vine and is the center of the consolidated
West Coast operations of Capitol Records—and was nicknamed "The House That Nat Built" to recognize the enormous financial
contributions of Capitol star Nat "King" Cole. The rectangular ground floor is a separate structure, joined to the tower after it was completed.

In mid-2008, a controversy erupted over a plan to build a condominium complex next door, igniting fears that the building's legendary
acoustic properties (specifically its renowned underground echo chambers) would be compromised.

The blinking light atop the tower spells out the phrase "Hollywood" in Morse code, and has done so since the building's opening in 1956.
This was an idea of Capitol's then president, Alan Livingston, who wanted to subtly advertise Capitol's status as the first record label with
a base on the west coast. The switch activating the light was thrown by Leila Morse, Samuel Morse's granddaughter. In 1992 it was
changed to read "Capitol 50" in honor of the label's fiftieth anniversary. It has since returned to spelling "Hollywood".

In the 1974 disaster blockbuster film Earthquake, the tower was shown collapsing during a massive tremor. Thirty years later, in an
homage to Earthquake[citation needed], the tower was again depicted as being destroyed, this time by a massive tornado, in The Day
After Tomorrow.

In September 2006, owner EMI announced that it had sold the tower and adjacent properties for $50 million to New York-based developer
Argent Ventures.

It was announced in November 2012 that Steve Barnett would become Chairman & CEO of Capitol Music Group and would be based at the Capitol Records Building.



Capitol Studios

Capitol's recording studios were designed by guitarist and sound expert Les Paul[citation needed] to minimize noise and vibration, a newly
important goal in the high-fidelity sound era.

The studios feature 10-inch-thick (250 mm) concrete exterior walls, surrounding a one-inch air gap, surrounding an inner wall that floats
on layers of rubber and cork — all in an effort to provide complete sound isolation.

The facility also features echo chambers: subterranean concrete bunkers allowing engineers to add real physical reverberation during the
recording process. The eight chambers are located 30 feet underground, and are trapezoidal-shaped with 10-inch concrete walls and
12-inch-thick (300 mm) concrete ceilings. The chambers feature speakers on one side and microphones on the other, permitting an echo
effect lasting up to five seconds.

Studios A and B can be combined for the recording of orchestral music and symphonic film soundtracks. The first album recorded in the
tower was Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color

Canada

Capitol Records of Canada was established in 1949 by independent businessman W. Lockwood Miller. Capitol Records broke with Miller's
company and formed Capitol Record Distributors of Canada Limited in 1954. EMI acquired this company when it acquired Capitol Records.
The company was renamed back to Capitol Records of Canada Ltd in 1958 after Miller's rights to the name expired. In 1959, Capitol of
Canada picked up distribution rights for sister EMI labels Angel Records, Pathe Records, Odeon Records and Parlophone Records. In 1957,
Paul White joined Capitol of Canada and in 1960 established an A&R department independent of the American company to promote talent
for the Canadian market. They include home grown Canadian talent (of which Anne Murray is one of the more famous examples) as well as
EMI artists from other countries. Canada-only issues bore 6000 series catalog numbers for LPs and 72000 series catalog numbers for
singles. Capitol Canada issues of American Capitol recordings bore the same catalog numbers as their American counterparts. Beginning in
1962, Capitol of Canada issued albums by British artists such as Cliff Richard, Helen Shapiro and Frank Ifield. They said yes to The Beatles
from day one, even though the American company turned them down during most of 1963. By 1967, they were also distributing non-EMI
labels such as Disneyland Records, Buena Vista Records, 20th Century Fox Records and Pickwick Records. The company was renamed
Capitol Records-EMI of Canada in 1974 then adopted its present name, EMI Music Canada, in 1993.

In 1982, Capitol Records-EMI of Canada developed the "SDR", or Super Dynamic Range, process of duplicating their cassette releases,
which resulted in higher-quality audio. SDR was later adopted by Capitol's American operations that same year and renamed "XDR"
(eXtended Dynamic Range). SDR/XDR cassette releases are most noted for the short burst of tones ascending in frequency at the
beginning and end of the cassette before and after the program material, the tones being a part of the process.

The current headquarters for EMI Music Canada, which operates the Capitol label, are located in Toronto, Ontario.

The Canadian branch of Capitol won two Juno Awards in 1971, the leading music awards in that country. One Juno was for "Top Record
Company" and the other was for "Top Promotional Company".