A Hollywood Journey

24. Capitol Records Tower

Hollywood, CA

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Not many production facilities remain near Hollywood and Vine, but this landmark stands tall. Also known as the Capitol Records Building, the Tower was the world's first circular office of the most famous recorded musical acts. Welton Becket designed the 13-story tower, the same architect behind many buildings in LA, including the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Federal Building, and the Cinerama Dome. He also co-designed Disney's Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The building was completed in April 1956 and consolidated the west coast operations of Capitol Records. The building is officially on the List of Registered Historic Places in LA. Its recording stars ranged from the Beatles, Bing Crosby, and Judy Garland to Andy Griffith, Jackie Gleason and Dinah Shore. The tower conforms to the 150 foot zoning height limit with a striking resemblance of a stack of records on a turntable with wide curved awnings over each window story and a tall spike emerging from the top. The rectangular floor is a separate structure, joined after the tower completion. The Tower placed the 'Executive Level' on the superstitious 13th floor, represented by an "E" in the building's two elevators. Since its opening, the blinking light atop the Tower spelled out the word 'Hollywood' in Morse code which was subtly used to advertise Capitol's status as the first record label with a west coast base. The code was changed to read 'Capitol 50' during 1992, honoring the label's 50th anniversary, but has since returned to its original message. The slogan, "From the Sound Capitol of the World" appeared on many Capitol albums written on one side with a black and white graphic image of the Capitol Records Tower on the other. The building, which was mainly used as a recording facility, included an echo chamber engineered by guitarist Les Paul and housed Capitol Studios. The Tower is also nicknamed "The House That Nat Built" due to the vast amounts of records and merchandise that leading jazz pianist and first black American man to host a variety show, Nat "King" Cole, sold for the company. Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color was the very first album recorded in the tower. In September 2006, the tower and adjacent properties were sold for $50 million to New York-based developer Argent Ventures, a privately held real estate company.