Salvador “Tutti” Camarata, who began his career playing trumpet for performers such as Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, and then arranging compositions for music legends such as Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, and more, was hired by Walt Disney in 1956 to form Disneyland Records and to be the music director for the label, which would eventually become Walt Disney Records. During his 16 year association with Disney, Camarata produced more than 300 albums for Walt Disney Records including those featuring Disney stars, such as Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, for whom he developed her distinctive “Annette” sound. “Annette felt she couldn’t sing,” he later remembered. “People at Disney said, ‘Why don’t we dub a voice in.’ I said, ‘I’d like to try Annette singing.’ So I developed a way of recording her voice, creating an echo. The first time she heard it, she was surprised and happy. She began to gain more confidence as a vocalist.” In 1962, Walt nudged Camarata to develop Sunset Sound and Sound Factory in Hollywood, where many Disney artists were recorded. More than 40 years later, the successful sound studio he founded continues under the supervision of his son Paul. Tutti Camarata was named a Disney Legend in 2003.
