Capitol Records

Capitol Records WW2

Capitol Records (1942-present)

Founded by Johnny Mercer in 1942 and Buddy DeSylva. Capitol Records would go on to buy the Scranton,PA Record Company (formerly known as the Scranton Button Company Plant) in 1946. Capitol Records would introduce LPs and 45s in the late 1940s. Capitol would be bought by Electrical and Musical Instruments (EMI) a European conglomerate in 1956.

Scranton Plant Today on Cedar Avenue.
Scranton Plant Today on Cedar Avenue.

Music Genres: Pop, Country-boogie

Pre-1941 Label: None. The label did not exist

World War Two Label: Black and with a silver scripted Capitol

Capitol Records WW2
Record Label: Glossy Black with silver lettering. Capitol in Script.

Post World War 2 Label:

The color is purple or maybe red. The word “Americana” maybe listed below scripted the Capitol. Also, purple background with or without rimmed-border. Unrimmed Capitol records have a smaller scripted Capitol.

Capitol Records Post World War 2 Rimmed
Capitol Records: Post World War 2 Rimmed
Capitol Records Post WW2 Unrimmed
Capitol Records Post WW2 Unrimmed. Smaller Capitol script.

Capitol Records had Four Pressing plants.

The Scranton, PA Pressing Plant.
This processing plant produced records between 1946-and 1973. It had a special stamp which is supposed to look like the Capitol Building or a Keystone (as in Pennsylvania’s nickname of the “Keystone State”). The stamp sometimes included the letters IAM inside of it. IAM stood for International Association of Machinists.

Scranton Capitol Records Stamp
Capitol Records: Scranton,PA processing Stamp

The Jacksonville, FL Pressing Plant
This plant pressed records starting in 1965 under Capitol Records and stopped pressing records under the EMI brand in 2004. The plant stamp looks like an O or an 0.

Capitol Records Jacksonville Plant Stamp
Capitol Records Jacksonville Plant Stamp

The Los Angeles, CA Pressing Plant
This plant pressed records between 1947-and 1982. The special stamp looks like an asterisk, a 5 or 6 pointed icon, or a crude star, as in Hollywood.

Capitol Records LA Processing Plant Symbol
Capitol Records LA Processing Plant Symbol

The Winchester, VA Processing Plant:
This plant produced records between 1969 to the late 1980s. The special stamp looks like a crude rifle or a horn:

Winchester VA plant symbol
Capitol Records Winchester, VA plant symbol

Numbers from start to 1945: 100-200. The first 9 records (101-109) were released on July 1st, 1942.

The First 9 Records are (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

  • 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:
    Cow-Cow Boogie:
  • 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

Notes: Below is a  1944 publicity photo for Bob Hope’s “I Never Left Home” album. A&R VP Jim Conkling (center) is flanked by Glenn Wallichs and singer Peggy Lee “unpacking” Hope from the box. The “I Never Left Home” Album was adapted for radio for the Lux Radio Theater (a radio series) and recorded as an album for Capitol Records. The album was based on Hope’s book of the same name: I Never Left Home. The Lux Radio Theater recording can be heard on the Internet Archive.

1944 publicity photo for Bob Hope’s “I Never Left Home” album.
1944 publicity photo for Bob Hope’s “I Never Left Home” album. From Billboard Magazine.
78 Recording by Capitol Record of Bob Hope's "I Never Left Home" Album
78 Recording by Capitol Record of Bob Hope’s “I Never Left Home” Album.

Sources:

–http://www.45-sleeves.com/USA/capitol/capi-us.htm
–Rust, Brian. The American Record Label Book. Arlington House Publishers, NY. 1978.
–Sutton, Nauck. American Record Labels and Companies: An Encyclopedia (1891-1943). Mainspring Press, CO.2000.