Remembering Dave Dexter Jr. On The 30th Anniversary Of His Passing

She had a piano named after her. I don't think the Beatles even managed that feat....

 

I wonder if Capitol had offered to double their eventual 1967 royalty rate, in exchange for letting Dave Dexter compile their USA albums as he saw fit, if they would have signed that contract.....

 

Let's review Capitol's 1950s/early 1960s roster:

Just for starters:

Frank Sinatra
Nat King Cole
Peggy Lee
June Christy
Louis Prima and Keely Smith
Stan Kenton
Duke Ellington
Thee Great Les Baxter
Nelson Riddle
Billy May
Howard Roberts
Nancy Wilson
Wanda Jackson
Gene Vincent
The Louvin Brothers
The Beach Boys

Oh, and my beloved Mr. Gasser and the Weirdos.

You are entitled to like what you like, but I will choose that catalog over Freddie and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Billy J Kramer. The latter clash with my decor and choice of cocktails.

 

You omitted their biggest act of the late 50s/early 60s---The Kingston Trio. Have a Scotch & Soda now....

 

I don't drink Monday through Thursday, but I will do so this weekend.

 

Dexter didn't need a whole stable of British Invasion acts to pander to; they all found other labels - the same labels that took a pass on The Beatles. They all had a chance. And none of those bands were anything near the success that The Beatles were. Dave had his hands full with that lot... And that Lennon guy.

 

Easy to criticize with 55+ years' worth of hindsight, isn't it? It is like playing the stock market.

 

Actually he was criticized and that's why he was "moved to a lateral position"

 

Thank the lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Good for him. Going from Sinatra singing Rodgers & Hart to skinny Brits singing "Do the Freddie" would have been a demotion in and of itself.

 

he actually signed Freddie and the Dreamers and Sinatra left...

 

Reading your list, I have to say, so what? Frank Sinatra had left in 61 & how many of the others, except the Beach Boys were making serious money for Capitol? Dexter cost the company millions by rejecting all the British Invasion acts. All down to his hatred of pop music.

 

Well, he did produce nine (#9) Beatles Capitol albums within two hothouse years... His work was done.

 

Didn't matter. Capitol had The Beatles.

 

No, it's all down to his not being a psychic. He wasn't about to bet his reputation on what may have been a passing fad. If you were in his shoes, you probably would have done the same.

Easy for all of us to point and laugh with 55+ years' worth of hindsight, isn't it?

Oh, and aside from the Beatles, those first-wave British acts have not aged as well as the majority of Capitol's core 1950s roster.

 

I know. Things had gotten that bad. Imagine living in mid-century splendor, with a liquor cabinet stocked with top-shelf scotch, and your life's work was going to hell with Freddie and the Dreamers.

 

Yardbirds, Hollies, Manfred Mann, Dave Clark Five, Animals, Herman's Hermits...
Didn't they sell a couple of records in the 60s?

 

Great link thanks! Just read the ‘EMI - Capitol Resume’ report. Pretty interesting, shows how short people’s memories always are: clearly Dave Dexter was doing diligent job by the standards of the day

 

Laughable, of course he needed that British Stable. He could have had them all for nothing, they were EMI artists. It took Capitol two years to realise just how much he had lost them, they then moved him to another job instead of sacking him.

 

Now you're advocating for Dexter to wreak production havoc on a whole generation of British bands' sacrosanct albums and singles. Do we really want him rearranging those bands' classic albums? The outrage from fans 55 years later wouldn't be worth it.

 

None of those bands mentioned even have one Platinum album in the US. Capitol should have definitely jumped on Herman's Hermits, though, for cultural value alone. Too late.

 

I finally realized that for my mileage, Dave Dexter’s duophonic stereo “Yes It Is” is the only way to hear that song. For me, the added reverb helps the vocal harmonies congeal, and elevates it from a skippable track to a treasured listening experience.

 

Our host describes a Capitol execs meeting that called the Beatles tapes terrible. Within 12 months those self same execs were all wearing Beatle wigs. They were all middle aged men with no understanding of what was about to hit them, music wise.

 

Nothing that Dave couldn’t fix in post production and make palatable to the American masses.