Capitol Records
Capitol Records, Inc. is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label in the United States in 1942 by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, Glenn E. Wallichs. Capitol was acquired by British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary in 1955. EMI was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company a year making Capitol and the Capitol Music Group both a part of UMG; the label's circular headquarter building in Hollywood is a recognized landmark of California. Capitol's roster includes Katy Perry, Sir Paul McCartney, Mary J. Blige, the Beach Boys, the Beastie Boys, Neil Diamond, Brian Wilson, Avenged Sevenfold, 5 Seconds of Summer, Don Henley, Sam Smith, Migos, NF, Emeli Sandé, Troye Sivan, Calum Scott, Tori Kelly, Jon Bellion, Niall Horan. Songwriter Johnny Mercer founded Capitol Records in 1942 with financial help from songwriter and film producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, owner of Wallichs Music City.
Mercer raised the idea of starting a record company while golfing with Harold Arlen and Bobby Sherwood and with Wallichs at Wallichs's record store. On February 2, 1942, Mercer and Wallichs met DeSylva at a restaurant in Hollywood to talk about investment by Paramount Pictures. On March 27, 1942, the three men incorporated as Liberty Records. In May 1942, the application was amended to change the company's name to Capitol Records. On April 6, 1942, Mercer supervised Capitol's first recording session where Martha Tilton recorded the song "Moon Dreams". On May 5, Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks in the studio. On May 21, Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks in the studio. On June 4, 1942, Capitol opened its first office in a second-floor room south of Sunset Boulevard. On that same day, Wallichs presented the company's first free record to Los Angeles disc jockey Peter Potter. On June 5, 1942, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four songs at the studio. On June 12, the orchestra recorded five more songs in the studio, including "Trav'lin' Light" with Billie Holiday, On June 11, Tex Ritter recorded " Jingle Jangle Jingle" and "Goodbye My Little Cherokee" for his first Capitol recording session, the songs formed Capitol's 110th produced record.
The earliest recording artists included co-owner Mercer, Johnnie Johnston, Morse, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Tex Ritter, Paul Weston and Margaret Whiting Capitol's first gold single was Morse's "Cow Cow Boogie" in 1942. Capitol's first album was Capitol Presents Songs by Johnny Mercer, a three disc set with recordings by Mercer and the Pied Pipers, all with Weston's Orchestra; the label's other 1940s musicians included Les Baxter, Les Brown, Jimmy Bryant, Billy Butterfield, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr. Dinning Sisters, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Mary Ford, Benny Goodman, Skitch Henderson, Betty Hutton, Stan Kenton, Peggy Lee, Billy May, Les Paul, Alvino Rey, Andy Russell, Smilin' Jack Smith, Kay Starr, Speedy West, Cootie Williams. Musicians on the Capitol Americana label included Lead Belly, Cliffie Stone, Hank Thompson, Merle Travis, Wesley Tuttle, Jimmy Wakely, Tex Williams. Capitol was the first major west coast label to compete with labels on the east coast such as Columbia, RCA Victor.
In addition to its Los Angeles recording studio, Capitol owned a second studio in New York City and sent mobile recording equipment to New Orleans and other cities. In 1946, writer-producer Alan W. Livingston created Bozo the Clown for the company's children's record library. Examples of notable Capitol albums for children during that era are Sparky's Magic Piano and Rusty in Orchestraville. Capitol developed a noted jazz catalog that included the Capitol Jazz Men and issued the Miles Davis's album Birth of the Cool Capitol released a few classical albums in the 1940s, some of which contained a embossed, leather-like cover; these recordings appeared on 78 rpm format released on the 33 format in 1949. Among the recordings: Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos' Choros No. 10, with contributions from a Los Angeles choral group and the Janssen Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Werner Janssen. In 1949, Capitol opened a branch office in Canada and purchased KHJ Studios on Melrose Avenue adjacent to Paramount in Hollywood.
By the mid-1950s, Capitol had become a huge company. The label's roster included the Andrews Sisters, Ray Anthony, Shirley Bassey, June Christy, Tommy Duncan, Tennessee Ernie Ford, the Four Freshmen, the Four Knights, the Four Preps, Jane Froman, Judy Garland, Jackie Gleason, Andy Griffith, Dick Haymes, Harry James, the Kingston Trio, the Louvin Brothers, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Skeets McDonald, Louis Prima, Nelson Riddle, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Keely Smith. Capitol began recording roll acts such as the Jodimars and Gene Vincent. There were comedy records by Stan Freberg, Johnny Standley, Mickey Katz. Children listened to Capitol's Bozo the Clown albums. Although various people played Bozo the Clown on television, Capitol used the voice of Pinto Colvig, the voice of Goofy in Walt Disney cartoons. Don Wilson released children's records. In June 1952, Billboard magazine contained a chronicle of the label's first ten years in business. In 1955, the British record company EMI ended its 55-year mutual distribution
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra was an American actor and singer, one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers", he released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatra's professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, he turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers as part of the Rat Pack, his career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers!, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice'n' Easy.
Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, released a string of successful albums. In 1965, he recorded the retrospective September of My Years and starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music. After releasing Sinatra at the Sands, recorded at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Vegas with frequent collaborator Count Basie in early 1966, the following year he recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, the album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, it was followed by 1968's Francis Edward K. with Duke Ellington. Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years and recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, reached success in 1980 with "New York, New York". Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until shortly before his death in 1998. Sinatra forged a successful career as a film actor.
After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm, received critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate. He appeared in various musicals such as On the Town and Dolls, High Society, Pal Joey, winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he became associated with playing detectives, including the title character in Tony Rome. Sinatra would receive the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Sinatra was heavily involved with politics from the mid-1940s, campaigned for presidents such as Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. In crime, the FBI investigated his alleged relationship with the Mafia. While Sinatra never learned how to read music, he had an impressive understanding of it, he worked hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music.
A perfectionist, renowned for his dress sense and performing presence, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes". Sinatra led a colorful personal life, was involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner, he married Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976. Sinatra had several violent confrontations with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements, he was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, he was collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the twentieth century's 100 most influential people. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century", he continues to be seen as an iconic figure.
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of Italian immigrants Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa and Antonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra. Sinatra weighed 13.5 pounds at birth and had to be delivered with the aid of forceps, which caused severe scarring to his left cheek and ear, perforated his eardrum—damage that remained for life. Due to his injuries at birth, his baptism at St. Francis Church in Hoboken was delayed until April 2, 1916. A childhood operation on his mastoid bone left major scarring on his neck, during adolescence he suffered from cystic acne that further scarred his face and neck. Sinatra was raised Roman Catholic. Sinatra's mother was energetic and driven, biographers believe that she was the dominant factor in the development of her son's personality traits and self-confidence. Sinatra's fourth wife Barbara would claim that Dolly was abusive to him as a child, "knocked him around a lot".
Dolly became influential in local Democratic Party circles. She worked as a midwife, earning $50 for each delivery, according to Sinatra biographer Kitty Kelley ran an illegal abortion service that catered to Italian Catholic girls, for which she was nicknamed "Hatpin Dolly", she had a gift for languages and served as a local interpreter. Sinatra's illiterate father was a bantamweight boxer who fought under the name Mar
Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman are American lyricists and songwriters. The pair have been married since 1958 and have written the music and lyrics for numerous celebrated television shows and stage musicals; the Bergmans have won two Academy Awards for Best Original Song and have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Alan Bergman was born to Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York, in 1925, studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned his master's degree in music at UCLA. Marilyn Bergman was born in 1929, coincidentally at the same Brooklyn hospital where Alan had been born four years earlier, studied music at The High School of Music & Art in New York before studying psychology and English at New York University. Alan worked as songwriter at Philadelphia's WCAU-TV in the early 1950s. Johnny Mercer encouraged Alan to become a professional songwriter. Despite the geographical proximity of their upbringing in New York, the Bergmans did not meet until they had both moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s.
Marilyn had moved to California and was friends with songwriter Bob Russell and his wife and described "drif into songwriting by accident because I had a fall and broke my shoulder and couldn't play piano so I started writing lyrics". Marilyn felt that she lacked the discipline or talent required to become a concert pianist; the Bergmans had both become collaborators with composer Lew Spence, only met when Spence suggested they all work together. The Bergmans married in 1958, have a daughter, Julie Bergman Sender, who works as an independent film producer. With Spence the Bergmans wrote the lyrics for the title tracks for Dean Martin's 1958 album Sleep Warm and Frank Sinatra's 1960 album Nice'n' Easy. In 1961 the Bergmans wrote their first title song for a motion picture, for The Right Approach, composed by Spence. In 1964 the Bergmans wrote lyrics to their first Broadway musical, Something More!, to music by Sammy Fain. The Bergmans wrote lyrics for "In the Heat of the Night" with music by Quincy Jones for the 1967 film of the same name, described as their "breakthrough".
The couple would work with Jones on Michael Jackson's soundtrack album for E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for which they wrote the lyrics for "Someone In the Dark", the 2007 Ennio Morricone tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone for which they wrote lyrics to "I Knew I Loved You", sung by Celine Dion. The Bergmans' long relationship with the French composer Michel Legrand began in the late 1960s; the couple wrote English lyrics for Legrand's song "The Windmills of Your Mind" featured in The Thomas Crown Affair, which won them their first Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 41st Academy Awards in 1969. The Bergmans and Legrand were subsequently nominated for the Best Original Song award in the following two years for "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from The Happy Ending and "Pieces of Dreams" from the 1970 film of the same name. The couple's minor work with Legrand in this period included "Listen to the Sea" from Ice Station Zebra and "Nobody Knows" and "Sweet Gingerbread Man" from The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart.
Legrand would feature eight of the Bergman's lyrics on his 1972 album with Sarah Vaughan. In 1983 at the 55th Academy Awards, the Bergmans' work on "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" Composed by Legrand for the film Best Friends would be nominated for the Best Original Song award. The 55th Academy Awards was significant as the Bergmans became the first songwriters to have written three of the five nominations for the Academy Award for Best Song, being nominated for "It Might Be You" from Tootsie, "If We Were in Love" from Yes, Giorgio, in addition to "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?". At the subsequent Academy Awards, their work with Legrand on the 1983 film Yentl won them the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score, with the songs "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from the film being nominated for the Best Original Song award. The Bergmans were co-writers of "An American Reunion", the opening ceremony of the inaugural festivities at Washington D.
C.'s Lincoln Memorial that marked Bill Clinton's first term as President of the United States in January 1993. In the late 1990s the Bergmans received their most recent nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, for "Moonlight" for the 1995 film Sabrina, "Love Is Where You Are" for the 1999 film At First Sight. 1999 was the same year that the Bergmans received their most recent Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for "A Time to Dream"" for the AFI's AFI's 100 Years 100 Movies Special. The Kennedy Center commissioned the Bergmans to write a song cycle in 2001, they chose to collaborate with the composer Cy Coleman; the resulting work, Portraits in Jazz: A Gallery of Songs was performed on May 17, 2002. The Bergmans wrote the lyrics to Billy Goldenberg's television musical Queen of the Stardust Ballroom which won the couple their third Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Achievement in Special Musical Material, it was the couple's second Broadway show, which opened in 1978.
In 2007 Alan Bergman released his first album as a vocalist, Alan Bergman, featuring lyrics written by him and his wife and arranged by Alan Broadbent and Jeremy Lubbock. Reviewing the album for Allmusic, John Bush praised Bergman's "excellent interpretive skills" and Christopher Loundon in the JazzTimes described Bergman's voice as a "...revelation, s
Jimmy Van Heusen
James "Jimmy" Van Heusen was an American composer. He wrote songs for films and theater, won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Born in Syracuse, New York, Van Heusen began writing music while at high school, he renamed himself at age 16, after the shirt makers Phillips-Van Heusen, to use as his on-air name during local shows. His close friends called him "Chet". Studying at Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, he became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen. With the elder Arlen's help, Van Heusen wrote songs for the Cotton Club revue, including "Harlem Hospitality", he became a staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley publishers, wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" with lyrics by Jimmy Dorsey. Collaborating with lyricist Eddie DeLange, on songs such as "Heaven Can Wait", "So Help Me", "Darn That Dream", his work became more prolific, writing over 60 songs in 1940 alone, it was in 1940. Burke and Van Heusen moved to Hollywood and wrote for stage musicals and films throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Swinging on a Star".
Their songs were featured in many Bing Crosby films including some of the Road films and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. He was a pilot of some accomplishment. Joe Hornsby sponsored Jimmy into an exclusive pilots club called the Quiet Birdmen which held meetings at Proud Bird restaurant at LAX and these men were lifelong friends until the 1970s. Jimmy worked, using his birth name, as a part-time test pilot for Lockheed Corporation in World War II. Van Heusen teamed up with lyricist Sammy Cahn, their three Academy Awards for Best Song were won for "All the Way" from The Joker Is Wild, "High Hopes" from A Hole in the Head, "Call Me Irresponsible" from Papa's Delicate Condition. Their songs were featured in Ocean's Eleven, which included Dean Martin's version of "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," and in Robin and the 7 Hoods, in which Frank Sinatra sang the Oscar-nominated "My Kind of Town." Cahn and Van Heusen wrote "Love and Marriage", "To Love and Be Loved", "Come Fly with Me", "Only the Lonely", "Come Dance with Me" with many of their compositions being the title songs for Frank Sinatra's albums of the late 1950s.
Van Heusen wrote the music for five Broadway musicals: Swingin' the Dream. While Van Heusen did not achieve nearly the success on Broadway that he did in Hollywood, at least two songs from Van Heusen musicals can legitimately be considered standards: "Darn That Dream" from Swingin' the Dream, he became an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. Van Heusen composed over 800 songs. Van Heusen songs are featured in over twenty films. Although not considered handsome by conventional standards, Van Heusen was known to be quite a ladies' man. James Kaplan in his book Frank: The Voice wrote, "He played piano beautifully, wrote gorgeously poignant songs about romance...he had a fat wallet, he flew his own plane. Van Heusen was once described by Angie Dickinson, "You would not pick him over Clark Gable any day, but his magnetism was irresistible." In his 20s he began to shave his head. He once said "I would rather write songs than do anything else -- fly." Kaplan reported that he was a "hypochondriac of the first order" who kept a Merck manual at his bedside, injected himself with vitamins and painkillers, had surgical procedures for ailments real and imagined.
It was Van Heusen who rushed Sinatra to the hospital after Sinatra, in despair over the breakup of his marriage to Ava Gardner, slashed one of his wrists in a suicide attempt in November 1953. However, this event was never mentioned by Van Heusen in any print interviews given by him. Van Heusen married for the first time in 1969, at age 56, to Bobbe Brock one of the Brox Sisters and widow of the late producer Bill Perlberg. Van Heusen retired in the late 1970s and he died in Rancho Mirage, California, in 1990 from complications following a stroke, at the age of 77, his wife, survived him. Van Heusen is buried near the Sinatra family in Cathedral City, California, his grave marker reads Swinging on a Star. Van Heusen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song 14 times in 12 different years, won four times: in 1944, 1957, 1959, 1963. Wins1944 – "Swinging on a Star" for Going My Way 1957 – "All the Way" for The Joker Is Wild 1959 – "High Hopes" for A Hole in the Head 1963 – "Call Me Irresponsible" for Papa's Delicate ConditionNominations1945 – "Sleigh Ride in July" from the film Belle of the Yukon 1945 – "Aren't You Glad You're You?" from the film Bells of St. Mary's 1955 – " The Tender Trap" introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film The Tender Trap 1958 – "To Love and Be Loved" for the film Some Came Running 1960 – "The Second Time Around" for the film High Time 1961 – "Pocketful of Miracles" for the film
Frank Sinatra filmography
Frank Sinatra was an American singer and producer, one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. Over the course of his acting career he created a body of work that one biographer described as being "as varied and rewarding as that of any other Hollywood star". Sinatra began his career as a singer in his native Hoboken, New Jersey, but increasing success led to a contract to perform on stage and radio across the United States. One of his earliest film roles was in the 1935 short film Major Bowes' Amateur Theatre of the Air, a spin off from the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show, he appeared in a full-length film in an uncredited cameo singing performance in Las Vegas Nights, singing "I'll Never Smile Again" with Tommy Dorsey's The Pied Pipers. His work with Dorsey's band led to appearances in the full-length films Las Vegas Nights and Ship Ahoy; as Sinatra's singing career grew, he appeared in larger roles in feature films, several of which were musicals, including three alongside Gene Kelly: Anchors Aweigh, On the Town and Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
As his acting career developed further, Sinatra produced several of the film's in which he appeared, directed one—None but the Brave—which he produced and in which he starred. Sinatra's film and singing careers had declined by 1952, when he was out-of-contract with both his record company and film studio. In 1953 he re-kindled his film career by targeting serious roles: he auditioned for—and won—a role in From Here to Eternity for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Other serious roles followed, including a portrayal of an ex-convict and drug addict in The Man with the Golden Arm, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the British Academy Film Award for the Best Actor in a Leading Role. Sinatra received numerous awards for his film work, he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Pal Joey, was nominated in the same category for Come Blow Your Horn.
Three of the films in which Sinatra appears, The House I Live In, The Manchurian Candidate and From Here to Eternity —have been added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. The House I Live In—a film that opposes anti-Semitism and racism—was awarded a special Golden Globe and Academy Award. In 1970, at the 43rd Academy Awards, Sinatra was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. DeMille Award
The Lady Is a Tramp
"The Lady Is a Tramp" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms, in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green. This song is its strict etiquette and phony social pretensions, it has become a popular music standard. The song appears in the film version of Babes in Arms in an instrumental version only. Early recordings from 1937 include one by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Midge Williams and Her Jazz Jesters, Sophie Tucker, Bernie Cummins on the Vocalion records label. Lena Horne recorded the song with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Orchestra on March 30, 1948, her performance appeared in the film "Words and Music, a fictionalized biography of the partnership of Rodgers and Hart. The song was used in the film version of Pal Joey starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. Joey Evans sings the song to Vera Simpson as he tries to entice the wealthy widow Simpson into financing Evans's dream of owning his own night club, it was recorded by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Greco, Bing Crosby and Pat Suzuki in the 1950s and Shirley Bassey in the 1960s, becoming a signature song for Sinatra.
Sinatra sang the song with new lyrics as "The Gentleman Is a Champ" at tribute events for Spiro Agnew and Orson Welles. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga recorded a version of this song for his 2011 album Duets II. Bennett praised Gaga's performance in the song, saying that she is a real "jazz lady", they performed the song live on ABC's Thanksgiving special dedicated to, directed and hosted by Gaga, entitled A Very Gaga Thanksgiving. They were the opening number. Bennett said, "I see in Lady Gaga a touch of theatrical genius, she is creative and productive, I think as time goes on she might be America's Picasso. I think she's going to become as big as Elvis Presley." The song though not released, got to enter the Japan Hot 100 chart, where it managed to reach the top 40. It entered the top 200 extension to the UK Singles Chart. Following the single, Bennett drew a sketch of Gaga naked for the January 2012 issue of Vanity Fair, auctioned for $30,000; the money Born This Way Foundation. The song as well as its music video received critical acclaim for both Bennett and Gaga's vocals as well as for the simplicity of the video, which departed from Gaga's previous efforts.
The song received praise from both E! and MTV. Other critics expressed hopes that Gaga would release her own jazz music after this successful effort; the duo filmed a music video for the track. The video shows Bennett and Gaga singing "The Lady Is a Tramp" together in a studio in front of music stands; the video received positive critical reception. Lady and the Tramp, a animated, feature film targeted for children Babes in Arms songs
It Happened in Monterey
"It Happened in Monterey" or "It Happened in Monterrey" is a 1930 song composed by Mabel Wayne, with lyrics by Billy Rose and performed by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. It was written for the 1930 musical film, King of Jazz, was subsequently covered several different times in short succession including by the Regent Club Orchestra, George Olsen and Ruth Etting, it fell out of popularity until Frank Sinatra re-recorded it for both his 1956 Capitol release Songs for Swingin' Lovers! and his 1957 live album Sinatra'57 in Concert. "It Happened in Monterey" was written for the 1930 musical film, King of Jazz. The film featured Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, while the song, written in waltz time, was composed by Mabel Wayne, with lyrics by Billy Rose. Though the lyrics refer to the city of Monterrey in "Old Mexico", the song title was misspelled, leading to popular references to the city of Monterey, California; the song was performed by John Boles and Jeanette Loff in the film. The song appears in a sequence of disparate musical performances, each introduced by a caption card, that appear between the two main production numbers.
The Paul Whiteman Orchestra recorded the song for Columbia Records on March 21, 1930, featuring vocals by Jack Fulton. This recording features significant solos for piccolo performed by Bernie Daly; the recording was a hit. Researcher Joel Whitburn estimates that this record would have charted at number 2 in April 1930; the song was covered several times following the appearance in King of Jazz, including by George Olsen and Vincent Lopez. Other popular versions were by the Regent Club Orchestra on Brunswick Records, Ruth Etting. Bing Crosby sang the song with Whiteman's orchestra in a performance at the Seattle Civic Auditorium, broadcast nationwide live via the Columbia Broadcasting System in April 1930. Mel Tormé recorded it with his Mel-Tones and Sonny Burke and his orchestra on the Musicraft Records label in 1946. By the 1950s, the song had declined in popularity and was sung until it was revived and popularized again by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra recorded it for his 1956 Capitol release Songs for Swingin' Lovers!, to an arrangement and orchestration by Nelson Riddle.
Biographer John Frayn Turner writes: "Not forgetting'It Happened in Monterey', which had never sounded like that before or since". Biographer Spencer Leigh notes the "looseness of his phrasing in the second chorus". Sinatra began performing, it features as the second track on his 1957 live album Sinatra'57 in Concert, appeared on the original UK pressing of Come Fly with Me as a replacement track for the banned On the Road to Mandalay. Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney included the song in their 1958 album Fancy Meeting You Here with updated lyrics. Actor Al Pacino lip-synced the Sinatra version of the song in the final scene of the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate. In 2006 Doug Gamble, a corporate and humor writer, penned new lyrics for the song as a way of promoting the city of Monterey, California
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