![]() ![]() Paul Whiteman and his band recorded the songs for Capitol's first release #101 on June 5, 1942, the instrumentals "I Found a New Baby" and "The General Jumped At Dawn." Whiteman recorded those first sessions at the C.P. DeSylva was also excited about Mercer's new project and quickly wrote him out a check for $25,000. ![]() He had hired Mercer to do the score with Victor Schertzinger for The Fleet's In, a musical with William Holden, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton. Mercer looked to Buddy DeSylva, who, besides being a great songwriter in his own right, had become head of production at Paramount Studios. All that was needed to set Capitol Records into motion was financial backing. It was agreed upon that Wallichs would run the business while Mercer would find the artists and supervise their artistic output. Wallichs loved the thought of being a part of such a venturesome endeavor. ![]() This idea of a record company seemed ideal." Mercer took his idea to one of his best friends, Glenn Wallichs, the owner of Music City, the biggest record store in Los Angeles situated across from NBC. In her autobiography, It Might As Well Be Spring, singer Margaret Whiting, a close personal friend of Mercer's and one of the first singers to record on the new label, wrote that he "was a man bursting with talent and always looking for a place to channel his energies. With his new record company, Mercer helped to change the sound of American pop music and the way it was made. Capitol Records provided a competitive alternative to the three major record companies of the day - Victor, Columbia and Decca - all established in New York. He wanted to give new artists and veteran artists alike the freedom to grow and to expand their artistic palette. He wanted to form a record company where music that was recorded and the artists who recorded it were treated differently. According to Stephen Fratallone's 60th anniversary tribute article, "Like Mercer's musical genius, Capitol Records was new, fresh and revolutionary. Capitol Records Songwriter Johnny Mercer created Capitol Records in 1942 with Hollywood music store owner Glenn Wallichs and movie producer Buddy DeSylva. ![]()
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