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Capitol Studios

Capitol Studios is a recording studio located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California, United States. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While they are still regularly used by Capitol recording artists, the facilities began to be made available to artists outside the label during the late 1960s to the early 1970s. The studios are owned by Universal Music Group, the parent company of Capitol Music Group.

Company type

1956 (1956)

Since Capitol Studios' founding, the studio has hosted many well-known artists such as: Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Michael Jackson, Dean Martin, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, and The Beach Boys. Along with traditional recording sessions, the studio has been the location of numerous events that include iTunes, Sirius/XM sessions, CMG Productions, such as the Top of the Tower concerts and the 1 Mic 1 Take Series. They've also hosted music video shoots including Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie," TV/documentaries Behind the Music, Classic Albums, Showtime Original Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, the HBO feature If You're Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast, PBS specials, and many other projects. The Studio has hosted the Oscars for the past two decades and hosts dozens of branded experiential and playback events each year.[1]

History[edit]

1956 through 1969[edit]

Capitol Studios opened in 1956. The first recording session in the new studio was the Frank Sinatra and Gordon Jenkins collaboration Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color. Frank Sinatra recorded regularly at Capitol Studios through the end of the 1950s. Nat King Cole, whose commercial success with Capitol earned the Capitol Tower the nickname "the house that Nat built," recorded at Capitol Studios up until his death in 1965. Other notable artists who recorded at the Studios in the 1950s included Dean Martin, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and The Kingston Trio.[2]


The Kingston Trio continued recording at Capitol Studios in the 1960s, and the Beach Boys recorded portions of their 1963 album Surfin' U.S.A. at Capitol.[7] The studios also produced commercially successful albums from country music artists like Glen Campbell, and the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart.[8] Other notable artists who recorded at Capitol Studios in the 1960s included Nancy Wilson,[9] Stan Kenton,[10] George Shearing, Plas Johnson, Cannonball Adderley, Bobby Darin, Peggy Lee, Wayne Newton, Lou Rawls, The Seekers, Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, and Billy Preston. In 1968, Capitol Studios' services, previously reserved for Capitol Records artists exclusively, were made available to the general public.

1970 through 1989[edit]

In the 1970s, Capitol Studios recorded the Steve Miller Band album The Joker[10] and George Benson's Grammy Award-winning Breezin'. Tom Scholz recorded the vocals for Boston's eponymous debut album in Capitol Studio C.[11] Other notable artists who recorded at Capitol Studios in the 1970s included Merle Haggard, Bobbie Gentry, Helen Reddy, Heart, Barbra Streisand, and Bob Marley and the Wailers.[12]


In the 1980s, Capitol Studios is where Miles Davis recorded parts of his Grammy-award winning album, Tutu, and where Bob Seger recorded his commercially successful album, Like a Rock. Dwight Yoakam recorded his first three albums at Capitol Studios;[13] all three topped the U.S. Country album chart. Other notable artists who recorded at Capitol Studios in the 1980s included The Carpenters, David Lee Roth, America, Michelle Shocked, Barry Manilow, Circle Jerks, and The Smithereens.

1990 through 2009[edit]

In 1990, a retractable soundproof wall was installed between Studio A and Studio B, enabling them to be joined together to create an over-2700 square foot space large enough to accommodate up to 75 musicians for the recording of orchestral and soundtrack music. The same year, Alice In Chains' recorded Facelift at the studios. Other albums recorded at Capitol Studios in the 1990s included Steve Lukather's Candyman, Willie Nelson's Healing Hands of Time, Toto's Tambu, and Dee Dee Bridgewater's Dear Ella. Other artists recording at the studios in the 1990s included Bonnie Raitt, Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr., Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, Tanya Tucker, Richard Marx, and Dave Koz.


In 2000, Al Jarreau recorded his album Accentuate the Positive at Capitol. The subsequent decade would mark repeated success for Diana Krall projects recorded at the studio, including the Grammy Award winning album The Look of Love. Garry Schyman also recorded the BioShock 2 soundtrack at the studio. Other artists recording at Capitol in the 2000s included Sting, Ringo Starr, Green Day, Coldplay, Train, Britney Spears, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, The Wallflowers, Weezer, Oasis (band), Robbie Williams, and Toni Braxton.

2010 to present[edit]

In 2010, Paul McCartney recorded most of his 2012 album, Kisses on the Bottom, at Capitol Studios. In 2012, Studio A's control room was updated with a Neve 88RS recording console, and the first project to utilize the new console was McCartney's iTunes Live from Capitol Studios. The same year, Capitol launched the 1 Mic 1 Take series of stripped-down live performances produced exclusively at Capitol Studios. Other albums recorded at the studios in the 2010s included Bob Dylan's Shadows in the Night and Fallen Angels, John Mayer's The Search for Everything, and Jenny Lewis' On the Line. Other artists recording at Capitol in the 2010s included Tony Bennett, Imagine Dragons, Tori Kelly, Sam Smith, Muse, Mary J. Blige, Beck, Ryan Adams, Michael Buble, Seth MacFarlane, Queen Latifah, Emeli Sande, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, Daft Punk, Sum 41, Toto, Ozzy Osbourne, and Shinedown.


In 2016, Capitol Studios celebrated its 60th anniversary.


On April 30, 2022, Paul McCartney and Giles Martin oversaw the recording of string overdubs for "Now and Then," the final Beatles song ever to be released, at Capitol Studios.[14][15]

Other Capitol Studios locations[edit]

5515 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood[edit]

Prior to establishing its own West Coast recording studio in 1948, Capitol Records booked recording sessions for their artists at Radio Recorders or C.P. MacGregor Studios. In Fall 1948, Capitol purchased the former home of radio station KHJ at 5515 Melrose Avenue to establish Capitol Studios. Capitol Studios operated in the Melrose Avenue location from 1948 until 1956, and was one of the first recording studios to offer multitrack recording to tape via Ampex Model 200 tape decks.[16] Notable Capitol Records classics, including Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa" and "Unforgettable," Frank Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String" and "I've Got You Under My Skin" were recorded at Capitol Studios on Melrose Avenue.[2]

151 West 46th Street, New York[edit]

From 1949-1961, Capitol owned and operated studios in New York City. These studios were located on the first floor of the Eaves Building at 151 West 46th Street (above the Eaves Costume Company). Some famous artists that recorded there include Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Ray Charles.

Capitol Records

Schoenherr, Steven E. Department of History at the University of San Diego, [July 6, 2005]. Includes Pictures of Studio A

Recording Technology History.

Capitol Studios official website

The Capitol Film Collection - The Capitol Tower (1958)

Want to buy a record? - Capitol Studios Melrose Avenue video tour

Capitol Studios: Past, Present & Future video feature at Sound On Sound