Capitol Celebrates 60 Years With Box Set

From the old-time Tin Pan Alley songs of Johnny Mercer to the modern sound of Radiohead, Capitol Records has released enough albums by heavyweight artists to have earned my “Keepin’ it Real” award for outstanding achievement in bringing honest-to-God talent to the forefront of the global music scene. Don’t believe it? Well my friends, my proof manifested on store shelves yesterday in the form of a six-CD box set chronicling Capitol’s history and commemorating the label’s 60th anniversary.
Capitol Records: 1942-2002 collects 96 of the label’s hits in digitally remastered form, including tunes by the fine jazz artists that helped establish the label like Stan Kenton, Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee. The set continues through all the bands that eventually stole jazz’s spotlight (the Beatles, the Beach Boys, et. al) on up to current Capitol torch-bearers like pop tart Kylie Minogue and retro-rockers the Vines. Yessir, there are a heck of a lot of different types of music represented on these six discs. Isn’t it great that Capitol hired a fine crew of music experts to scribe essays for the accompanying booklet, helping us all connect the dots from Jo Stafford to Garth Brooks? Nat Hentoff covers the ’40s, Alan Light the ’50s, Anthony DeCurtis the ’60s, Ashley Kahn the ’70s, Charles M. Young the ’80s and David Fricke the ’90s.

There are in fact two different versions of the set available: Special and Deluxe. The Deluxe version comes in a box, ten inches square, that houses the CDs and a 144-page, clothbound coffee-table book full of photographs of the musicians represented on the discs. I can’t wait to rip that picture of Martha Tilton (pictured) right out of the book and pin it to my bedroom wall! The Special version doesn’t come in as fancy a box, and its photo book is only 72 pages long, but it still comes with extensive discography information like the Deluxe version does, and the CDs are the same. If you’re wondering what’s on those CDs, wonder no more:
CAPITOL RECORDS: 1942-2002

Disc One, the Forties:

1. Freddie Slack & His Orchestra (with Ella Mae Morse) – Cow-Cow Boogie (1942) 2. Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (with Billie Holiday) – Trav’lin’ Light (1942) 3. Jo Stafford – Long Ago (And Far Away) (1944) 4. King Cole Trio – Straighten Up And Fly Right (1944) 5. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra – Artistry In Rhythm (1944) 6. Billy Butterfield & His Orchestra (with Margaret Whiting) – Moonlight In Vermont (1945) 7. Andy Russell – I Dream Of You (More Than You Dream I Do) (1944) 8. Martha Tilton – I’ll Walk Alone (1944) 9. Johnny Mercer – Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive (1945) 10. Betty Hutton – Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief (1946) 11. Pied Pipers – Dream (1945) 12. Nellie Lutcher & Her Rhythm – Fine Brown Frame (1948) 13. Peggy Lee – It’s A Good Day (1947) 14. The Dinning Sisters – Buttons And Bows (1948) 15. Mel Torme – Careless Hands (1949) 16. King Cole Trio – Nature Boy (1948).

Disc Two, the Fifties:

1. Frank Sinatra – Young-At-Heart (1954) 2. Dean Martin – Memories Are Made Of This (1956) 3. Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra – Satin Doll (1953) 4. Nat King Cole – Unforgettable (1952) 5. The Four Preps – 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) (1958) 6. Kay Starr – Wheel Of Fortune (1952) 7. Les Paul & Mary Ford – How High The Moon (1951) 8. Faron Young – Alone With You (1958) 9. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps – Be-Bop-A-Lula (1956) 10. The Kingston Trio – Tom Dooley (1958) 11. Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons (1955) 12. Peggy Lee – Fever (1958) 13. Ray Anthony & His Orchestra – Peter Gunn (1959) 14. Louis Prima & Keely Smith – That Old Black Magic (1958) 15. Miles Davis – Budo (1950) 16. Frank Sinatra – One For My Baby (And One More For the Road) (1955).

Disc Three, the Sixties:

1. The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (1964) 2. The Beach Boys – Wouldn’t It Be Nice (1966) 3. Lou Rawls – Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing (1966) 4. The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations (1966) 5. The Human Beinz – Nobody But Me (1968) 6. The Outsiders – Time Won’t Let Me (1966) 7. Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt – Different Drum (1968) 8. Nancy Wilson – (You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am (1964) 9. Merle Haggard & the Strangers – Okie From Muskogee (1969) 10. Quicksilver Messenger Service – Fresh Air (1970) 11. Bobbie Gentry – Ode To Billie Joe (1967) 12. Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman (1969) 13. James Taylor – Carolina In My Mind (1969) 14. The Band – The Weight (1968) 15. The Beatles – Hey Jude (1968) 16. Jimi Hendrix – Machine Gun (1970).

Disc Four, the Seventies:

1. John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band – Imagine (1971) 2. George Harrison – My Sweet Lord (1970) 3. Ringo Starr – It Don’t Come Easy (1971) 4. Badfinger – Day After Day (1972) 5. Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On the Run (1974) 6. Pink Floyd – Time (1973) 7. Pink Floyd – Money (1973) 8. Grand Funk – We’re An American Band (1973) 9. Steve Miller Band – The Joker (1973) 10. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Night Moves (1977) 11. Linda Ronstadt – You’re No Good (1974) 12. Natalie Cole – This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) (1975) 13. Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel (1976) 14. Helen Reddy – I Am Woman (1972) 15. A Taste Of Honey – Boogie Oogie Oogie (1976) 16. The Knack – My Sharona (1979).

Disc Five, the Eighties:

1. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Against The Wind (1980) 2. Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over (1987) 3. Billy Squier – The Stroke (1981) 4. Joe Cocker – You Can Leave Your Hat On (1986) 5. Katrina And The Waves – Walking On Sunshine (1985) 6. Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra (1982) 7. Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science (1983) 8. The Tubes – She’s A Beauty (1983) 9. The Motels – Only The Lonely (1982) 10. George Clinton – Atomic Dog (1983) 11. Duran Duran – Rio (1983) 12. Heart – These Dreams (1986) 13. Tina Turner – What’s Love Got To Do With It (1984) 14. The Power Station – Some Like It Hot (1985) 15. Poison – Every Rose Has Its Thorn (1988) 16. Beastie Boys – Hey Ladies (1989).

Disc Six, the Nineties:

1. Radiohead – Creep (1993) 2. Beastie Boys – Sabotage (1994) 3. Everclear – Santa Monica (Watch The World Die) (1996) 4. Foo Fighters – Big Me (1996) 5. Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees (1995) 6. M.C. Hammer – U Can’t Touch This (1990) 7. Bonnie Raitt – I Can’t Make You Love Me (1992) 8. Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) – The Speech Song (1999) 9. Mazzy Star – Fade Into You (1994) 10. Robbie Williams – Angels (1999) 11. Blind Melon – No Rain (1993) 12. Garth Brooks – Every Now and Then (1992) 13. Garth Brooks – When You Come Back To Me Again (2001) 14. Coldplay – Yellow (2001) 15. Kylie Minogue – I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (2002) 16. The Vines – Get Free (2002).

Originally Published October 23, 2002