Capitol Records Building Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Capitol Records Building

Alternative names	Capitol Records Tower Capitol Tower
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Architectural style	Googie architecture
Location	1750 Vine Street Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°06′11″N 118°19′34″W / 34.103085°N 118.326189°W / 34.103085; -118.326189
Construction started	1955
Completed	1956
Owner	Argent Ventures
Height
Antenna spire	46 m (151 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	13
Lifts/elevators	3
Design and construction
Architect	Welton Becket and Associates

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Designated:	November 15, 2006
Reference #:	857

The Capitol Records Building, also known as the Capitol Records Tower, is a famous 13-story building in Hollywood, Los Angeles. It was designed by Louis Naidorf from Welton Becket Associates. This building is one of the city's important landmarks.

Building started after a British music company called EMI bought Capitol Records in 1955. The tower was finished in April 1956. You can find it just north of the Hollywood and Vine intersection. The Capitol Records Tower is where Capitol Records does most of its West Coast work. It also has the recording studios and special echo chambers of Capitol Studios.

The building is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. It is also part of the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District. Some people call it the "world's first circular office building." It is also known as "The House That Nat Built." This is because Nat King Cole sold so many records for the company.

Building Design and Look
- Cool Things About the Building
- Capitol Studios Inside
What Happened Recently
Gallery
See also

Building Design and Look

The unique design of the Capitol Records Building came from the ideas of Lou Naidorf. He was only 24 years old when he designed this circular office building. The wide, curved covers over the windows on each floor look like a stack of records. The tall spike on top of the building looks like the spindle of a record player.

The bottom part of the building is a rectangle. It was built separately and then connected to the tower. The 13-story tower fits the height limit that was in place when it was built. This limit was about 150 feet (46 meters). The rules about building height changed in 1956. The top floor of the tower is called the "Executive Level." It is shown by an "E" in the building's two elevators.

Cool Things About the Building

A blinking light on top of the tower spells out the word "Hollywood." It uses Morse code. This idea came from Alan Livingston, who was the president of Capitol Records at the time. He wanted to show that Capitol was the first record company on the West Coast. Leila Morse, who was the granddaughter of Samuel Morse, turned the light on. In 1992, the light blinked "Capitol 50" to celebrate the company's 50th birthday.

Many albums from Capitol artists had a black-and-white picture of the building. It often said, "From the Sound Capitol of the World."

In April 2011, Capitol Records and artist Richard Wyatt Jr. fixed his Hollywood Jazz Mural. This mural is on the south wall of the building. It is made of hand-glazed ceramic tiles and is 26 feet (7.9 meters) tall and 88 feet (27 meters) wide. The mural is called "Hollywood Jazz: 1945-1972." It shows large pictures of many famous jazz musicians.

Capitol Studios Inside

The Capitol Records Building is home to Capitol Studios. This is a famous place where music is recorded. It has eight special echo chambers. These were designed by the famous guitarist Les Paul. There are also three main studios: A, B, and C.

Frank Sinatra worked a lot at these studios. The special Georg Neumann U 47 microphone he used is still there. It is often used for recording sessions. The first album recorded in the tower was Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color. In 2012, Studio A got a new AMS Neve 88R mixing console. This was made for famous producers Al Schmitt and Paul McCartney.

What Happened Recently

In September 2006, EMI sold the tower and nearby buildings. They were sold for $50 million to a company called Argent Ventures. The studio worried that noise from building a condominium nearby would affect them. They were also concerned about an underground parking lot. Heavy equipment would be working close to their famous underground echo chambers. These chambers are more than 20 feet (6.1 meters) underground.

In November 2012, Steve Barnett became the new head of the Capitol Music Group. His office is in the Capitol Records Building. This happened when Capitol Music Group became part of Universal Music Group. This meant Universal Music Group would have two main offices in Los Angeles.