OCTOBER 31, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1902 - Julia Lee, pianist, singer and Capitol Records artist (1946-1952) signed to the label by Dave Dexter, Jr. who would produce her sessions for Capitol, is born in in Boonville, Missouri
1912 - Dale Evans, actress, singer, and Capitol Records artist (1962-1967, both as a duo with her husband, Roy Rogers, and as a solo artist), is born Frances Octavia Smith in Uvalde, Texas
1966 - Adam Horovitz, singer, rapper, musician, record producer, and songwriter with the Grand Royal/Capitol Records band The Beastie Boys, is born Adam Keefe Horovitz in South Orange, New Jersey
1970 - Roger Stevens, guitarist and pianist with the Capitol Records band Blind Melon is born in West Point, Mississippi

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1960 - The Louvin Brothers (Ira on vocals, mandolin and accoustic guitar, Charlie on vocals and guitar, Jimmy Capps on lead guitar, Ray Edenton on guitar, Junior Huskey on bass, Paul Ackerman on drums, Grandpa Jones on banjo, Hank Sugarfoot Garland, bass and guitar, Floyd Cramer on piano (probably), and Owen Bradley on vibrophone) with record the tracks "I Love You Best Of All", "Scared Of The Blues" and others for Capitol Records. If anyone knows what additional tracks were recorded, please leave a comment.
1960 - Capitol Records releases Judy Garland's album "Judy That's Entertainment!"
1969 - Apple Records releases The Beatles' single "Something" with "Come Together" on the flip side. The single is distributed by Capitol Records in the United States
1973 - Apple Records releases John Lennon's album "Mind Games" and his single "Mind Games" with "Meat City" on the flip side. Both were distributed by Capitol Records in the United States.
1993 - Bob Atcher (born James Robert Owen Atcher), motion picture actor, violinist, guitarist, member of WLS' "National Barn Dance Show", mayor of Schaumberg, Illinois (1959-1979) and Capitol Records artist (1950-1951), dies at age 79 in Prospect, Kentucky, a suburb of Louisville
1994 - Capitol Records releases Megadeth's album "Youthanasia"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1959 - Alto Saxophonist Lou Donaldson (with Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Horace Parlan on piano, Laymon Jackson on bass, Dave Bailey on drums, and Ray Barretto on congas) records the tracks "Mack The Knife", "Be My Love" (without Mitchell on trumpet), "Crosstown Shuffle", "Tangerine", "Lou's Blues", "Time On My Hands", "The Nearness Of You" (without Barretto on congas), and "It's Only A Paper Moon" with producer Alfred Lion and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder for Blue Note Records. All the tracks, except "Time On My Hands" and "It's Only A Paper Moon", appear on the Blue Note album "The Time Is Right". The other two tracks would eventually be released on Mosaic Records' box set "The Complete Blue Note Lou Donaldson Sessions". Blue Note's catalog was sold to Liberty Records in 1967. Liberty Records was sold to Transamerica Corporation in 1968 who combined it with the other label they owned, United Artists Records. In 1978 the United Artists labels were sold to Artie Mogull and Jerry Rubenstein who used money borrowed from EMI for the purchase. In February 1979 EMI foreclosed on them and EMI Music has owned the labels since that time (whew!).

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1926 - Harry Houdini, stage and motion picture magician, dies of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at 1:26 p.m at Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan at age 52. There is still no sign of communication from him.
1943 - The Hollywood Canteen celebrates its first birthday at a party hosted by Bettie Davis and John Garfield with actors and servicemen and women celebrating at the venue at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard, off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California

OCTOBER 30, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
1912 - Lee Gillette, musician with the group The Campus Kids (which was formed by future Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson, whom Gillette would bring to Capitol in 1945), publisher, and Capitol Records A&R man and producer (for artists such as Tennessee Ernie Ford, Dean Martin, Kay Starr, Frank Sintatra and many more), is born in Indianapolis, Indiana. If anyone knows his middle name, please leave a comment
1954 - T. Graham Brown, singer and Capitol Records artist (1985-1992) is born Anthony Graham Brown in Arabi, Georgia

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1963 - Peggy Lee records the tracks "The Moment Of Truth", "That's My Style", and "A Lot Of Livin' To Do" for her Capitol Records album "In Love Again!", with Max Bennett conducting the orchestra and Dave Cavanaugh producing, at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California
1971 - Harvest Records, with distribution in the United States by Capitol Records, releases Pink Floyd's album "Meddle"
1973 - Buck Owens and His Buckaroos record the title track for their novelty Capitol Records album "It's A Monster's Holiday" at Buck Owens Studios in Bakersfield, California. The track will be released as part of a Capitol Records single, with "Great Expectations" as the flip side on June 24, 1974 and will peak at #6 on Billboard's Country Singles chart. The album will be released in September 1974
1986 - Capitol Records releases John Lennon's compilation album of unreleased tracks and alternate takes, "Menlove Ave."
2006 - It is announced that EMI Music, which markets Dean Martin's recording catalogs, has struck a deal with the Dean Martin Trust to license his name, image and likeness and will continue to market Martin's Capitol Records and Reprise Records recording catalogs on a worldwide basis

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1965 - The dance craze "The Lurch" is introduced on today's episode of ABC-TV's dance show "Shindig" by actor Ted Cassidy, who plays lurch on ABC-TV's comedy series "The Addams Family" and the single of the song is released by Capitol Records with music by Gary Paxton and with "Wesley" on the flip side

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1938 - Orson Welles directs and stars in an adaptation of H.G. Wells' "War Of The Worlds" on CBS Radio's "The Mercury Theatre on the Air" that causes a nationwide panic.
1963 - The Joe Pass Quartet (Joe Pass on guitar, Les McCann on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Paul Humphrey on drums) records the tracks "Sermonette", "Bags' Groove", "Sister Sadie", "Li'l Darlin'", "Work Song", and "Blue 'n' Boogie" at The Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, California
2002 - DJ Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) of the group Run DMC is shot dead by two suspects in a waiting room in his recording studio in the Jamaica section of Queens, N.Y.

OCTOBER 29, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1945 - Melba Moore, motion picture and television actress, singer and EMI America Records (1982) and Capitol Records (1982-1986) artist, is born Beatrice Melba Hill in New York City, New York. Thanks to Ron Richardson, her manager, for the hint about her first name.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1951 - Time magazine runs an article in its issue with today's date about the success of Les Paul and Mary Ford's new sound on Capitol Records
1962 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' debut album "Surfin' Safari"
1963 - Bing Crosby begins three straight days of sessions with Bill Justis and his Orchestra to record 12 tracks for his Capitol Records album "The Great Country Hits"
1965 - The Beatles finish recording the track "We Can Work It Out" for their soundtrack album "Help!" at EMI's studios on Abbey Road in London, England
1973 - Apple Records releases John Lennon's single "Mind Games" with "Meat City" on the flip side. The single is distibuted in the United States by Capitol Records.
1987 - Woody Herman (born Woodrow Charles Herman), band leader, clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and Capitol Records artist, dies of cardiac arrest at age 74
1996 - Apple Records releases The Beatles compilation "Anthology 3" which is distributed by Capitol Records in the United States
1996 - Capitol Records releases George Clinton's compilation album "Greatest Funkin' Hits"
1996 - Capitol Records releases Martin Denny's 2 cd compilation album "The Exotic Moods Of Martin Denny" as part of it's Ultra-Lounge series
2003 - Steve O'Rourke, manager of Capitol Records group Pink Floyd since 1968, dies in England of a stroke at age 63

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1951 - Future Capitol Records artist Frank Sinatra divorces his first wife, the former Nancy Barbato
1963 - The Joe Pass Quartet (Joe Pass on guitar, Les McCann on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Paul Humphrey on drums) records the tracks "Back At The Chicken Shack", "Sack O' Woe", "Groove Yard", "Groove Yard (alternate take)", and "Sonnymoon For Two", and "Shiny Stockings" at The Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, California
1992 - Fred R. Maddox, vocalist, bass player, founder of the group The Maddox Brothers & Rose, and brother of Capitol Records artist Rose Maddox, dies at age 73

OCTOBER 28, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
1936 - Charlie Daniels, singer and Capitol Records artist (1970), is born Charles E. Daniels in Wilmington, North Carolina at the James Walker Memorial Hospital
1953 - Desmond Child, songwriter, performer, record producer, Capitol Records artist with the band Desmond Child & Rouge and as a solo artist (1979), is born in Miami, Florida

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1964 - Capitol Records band The Beach Boys appear on The T.A.M.I. (Teen Age Music International) Awards Show which is recorded at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California over two days for a feature film, which also features James Brown, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Jan & Dean, Gerry & Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer & the Dakotas, Bo Diddley, and Lesley Gore
1986 - Capitol Records artist Marie Osmond marries Brian Blosil, with whom she will have 8 children before they divorce
2002 - Terry Gibbs, with his band (Dave Carpenter, Barbara Morrison, Stix Hooper, Bill Henderson, Pete Christlieb, Terry Gibbs, Mike Melvoin, Jeff Hamilton, Antony Wilson, and Joey DeFrancesco) records the album "From Me To You", a tribute to Lionel Hampton, in Studio A of The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California with recording engineer and mixer Franz Pusch and its SACD 5.1 mix is the first ever to utilize binaural audio during recording
2003 - Beatrice Milly McCartney, daughter of Capitol Records artist Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills, is born

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1925 - The Gramophone Company (which later becomes EMI, owner of Capitol Records) makes its first electrical recording of a church organ, using a telephone land line linked to the recording equipment
1968 - The divorce trial of Cynthia and John Lennon is decided in favor of Cynthia
1991 - EMI America Records releases Queensrÿche's live album "Operation: LIVEcrime". Capitol Records currently owns EMI America's catalog.
2004 - Gil Melle (born Gilbert John Melle), saxophonist, synthesizer and drum machine player, graphic designer and first white artist signed by Blue Note Records (1950 at age 19) dies of a heart attack at age 72 in Malibu, California

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
2006 - My step-daughter, Maureen Majeswki, marries Nathaniel Johnson in Mendocino, California

OCTOBER 27, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1927 - Lee Greenwood, vocalist, keyboardist, banjo player, bass player, guitarist, saxophonist, and Capitol Records artist (1990-1993), is born in Southgate, California
1958 - Simon LeBon, lyricist and singer with the Capitol Records band Duran Duran, is born Simon John Charles Le Bon in in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1947 - Nappy Lamare's Levee Loungers (John Best on trumpet, Lou McGarity on trombone, Matty Matlock on clarinet, Doc Rando on alto saxophone, Eddie Miller on tenor saxophone, Marvin Ash on piano, Nappy Lamare on guitar, Artie Shapiro on bass, and Ray Bauduc on drums), record the tracks "South Rampart Street Parade", "Come Back Sweet Papa" (arranged by Matty Matlock), "Here Comes Your Pappy" (with vocal by Nappy Lamare), and "Mama Inez (Ay Mama Ines)" (with vocal Nappy Lamare), in Los Angeles, California which will be released as two singles by Capitol Records
1953 - Capitol Records artist Frank Sinatra separates from his second wife, actress Ava Gardner, whom he'll divorce in 1957
1962 - Capitol Records artist Sonny James joins The Grand Old Opry
1979 - Jimmie Skinner, singer, songwriter, guitarist, radio show host, music store owner, and Capitol Records artist (1950-1953), dies from a heart attack in Hendersonville, Kentucky at age 70
1998 - Capitol Records releases Linda McCartney's posthumous compilation album "Wide Prarie" that was compiled by Paul McCartney
1999 - Frank Denny De Vol, composer of television and movie themes ("My Three Sons", "Brady Bunch"), arranger (Nat "King" Cole's "Nature Boy"), conductor, band leader, and Capitol Records artist, dies at age 88 of congestive heart failure in a nursing home in Lafayette, California. A memorial service was held later at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California.
2006 - Eddy Medora (born Edward Stephen Medora), saxophone player, singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist with the Tower Records group The Sunrays, dies of a heart attack or following a brief respiratory illness, at the age of 60 in Los Angeles, California. Murray Wilson, father of Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, produced and managed the Sunrays after his sons fired him. Capitol Records created the Tower label to release Sunrays recordings. If anyone knows Eddy's birthday (sometime in November 1945) please leave a comment.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1984 - Former Capitol Records artist Rick Springfield marries recording studio receptionist Barbara Porter

OCTOBER 26, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1936 - Bruce Belland, songwriter, father of Tracy Bryn (member of the band Voice Of The Beehive), and singer with the Capitol Records group The Four Preps is born in Chicago, Illinois
1946 - David Rea, guitarist, songwriter, singer and Capitol Records solo artist (1969-71) is born in Akron, Ohio
1951 - Bootsy Collins, bass guitarist, singer, solo artist and member of the bands The JBs, Parliament, Funkadelic, and Capitol Records band The P-Funk All-Stars (1983), is born William Collins in Cincinnati, Ohio
1967 - Keith Urban, singer, guitarist, husband of actress Nicole Kidman, and Capitol Records Nashville artist, is born Keith Lionel Urban in Whangarei, New Zealand

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1949 - Pianist Armand Hug, with Frank Frederico on guitar, Joe Loyacana on bass, and Fred King on drums, records the tracks "Huggin' The Keys", "Dixie Rag", "Girl Of My Dreams", and "Wild Flower Rag" for Capitol Records singles, with producer Dave Dexter at WDSU's studio in New Orleans, Louisiana
1964 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' single "Dance, Dance, Dance" with "The Warmth Of The Sun" on the flip side
1971 - A new stereo mix of The Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever" is created for the German version of their soundtrack album "Magical Mystery Tour" and is the version currently heard on the CD of the album. Joe Brennan has an in-depth article on the differences between the mixes on his website.
1978- Anne Murray's Capitol Records single "You Needed Me" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
2000 - Capitol Records Nashville throws a party to celebrate Garth Brooks being the only artist to sell more than 100 million albums in a decade and the only artist to sell 10 million copies of four different albums

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1965 - The Beatles are each given a Members of the Order of the British Empire award by Queen Elizabeth of England
1966- Alma Cogan, singer and HMV (1952-1960) and Columbia Records UK (1960-1966) artist dies of cancer in a London Hospital at age 34. She covered The Beatles' songs "Yesterday", "Eight Days A Week" and "Help!", and was a friend of the band, often having them as guests to the home she shared with her sister and mother. Paul McCartney wrote a brief sleeve note for EMI's 1986 double album gatefold release "Alma Cogan: A Celebration". Both HMV and Columbia Records UK are distributed by Capitol Records parent company EMI.

OCTOBER 25, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1927 - Barbara Cook, Broadway musical performer and cabaret singer, who made her recording debut on the Capitol Records soundtrack to the Broadway musical "Flahooley", is born Barbara Nell in Atlanta, Georgia. If anyone knows her middle name, please leave a comment.
1941 - Helen Reddy, singer, television and motion picture actress, and Capitol Records artist (1970-1980), is born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. If anyone knows the exact year of her birth and her middle name, please leave a comment

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
65 Years Ago Today In 1943 - Benny Carter (on alto saxophone) and His Orchestra (Claude Dunson, Vernon "Jake" Porter, Teddy Buckner and Freddie Webster on trumpet; Shorty Haughton, J.J. Johnson, and Alton Moore on trombone; Porter Kilbert also on alto saxophone; Willard Brown on alto and baritone saxophone; Eugene "Gene" Porter and Hubert "Bumps" Myers on tenor saxophone; Humphrey "Teddy" Brannon on piano; Ulysses Livingston on guitar; Dillon "Curley" Russell on bass; and Oscar Bradley on drums) record the tracks "Poinciana" (arranged by Frank Comstock), "Just A Baby's Prayer At Twilight" (arranged by Frank Comstock with vocals by Sarah Churchill), two takes of "Hurry, Hurry" (also arranged by Frank Comstock with vocals by Sarah Churchill, the first take is the main take and the second take the alternate take), and the instrumental track "Love For Sale" (arranged by Benny Carter) in San Francisco, California. Capitol Records issues the first and third tracks together as a single (Capitol 144), the second track as a single (Capitol 165) with "I'm Lost" on the flip side, "Love For Sale" on the compilation album "The History Of Jazz, Volume 4 - This Modern Age" (CE-19), and the alternate version of "Hurry, Hurry" is added to an updated version of the album (W 2140).
1944 - Jack Guthrie (on vocals with Billy Hughes on fiddle; "Porky" Freeman on lead guitar; Red Murrell on rhytm guitar; and Cliffie Stone on bass), at his second Capitol Records session, records "I'm Building A Stairway To Heaven", "Welcome Home Stranger", four more songs, Jimmie Rodgers' "When the Cactus Is in Bloom" which highlights Guthrie's yodeling ability, "Answer To 'Moonlight And Skies'", and "Dallas Darlin'" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records issues the first track as a single (Capitol Americana 40012) with "This Troubled Mind O’ Mine" on the flip side, the second track as a single (Capitol Americana 57-40222) with "Colorado Blues" on the flip side.
1944 - At a split session held this day in Los Angeles, California Matt Dennis (on vocals) with Paul Weston and His Orchestra (linuep unlisted) records the (as of 2005) unissued tracks "Things Aren't Just The Same" and "(You'd Never Now) The Old Place Now" and Jerry Colonna (on vocals) with Paul Weston and His Orchestra (lineup still unlisted) records the (as of 2005) unissued track "Your Father's Mustache".
1946 - Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra (lineup unlisted) record the tracks "And So To Bed" (vocals by Eileen Wilson), "It's The Same Old Dream" (vocals by Eileen Wilson), "A Garden In The Rain" (vocals by Eileen Wilson), and "Stringin' Along" (vocals Ray Kellog) in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records issues the first and third tracks together as a single (Capitol 331) and, as of 2005, has yet to issue the second and last tracks.
1946 - Matt Dennis (on vocals), with Paul Weston and His Orchestra (lineup unlisted), records the tracks "So Would I", "I Believe", and "At Sundown" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records issues the first and last track together as a single (Capitol 329) but (as of 2005) has yet to issue "I Believe".
1947 - At two sessions held this day at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, Jack Guthrie (on vocals) and His Okalahomans (Billy Hughes on fiddle; "Porky" Freeman on lead guitar; Lewis Jack Rivers on rhythm guitar; and Cliffie Stone on bass. This lineup is also listed as "with Cliffie Stone and His Orchestra" in later reissues) finish recording the tracks "No Need To Knock Upon My Door", "Shut That Gate", "Colorado Blues", and "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" at the first session and records the tracks "San Antonio Rose", "I Still Love You As I Did Yesterday", "Ida Red", "For Oklahoma I'm Yearning", and "I Told You Once" at the second session. Capitol Records issues "No Need To Knock Upon My Door" as a single (Capitol Americana 57-40131) with "Look Out For The Crossing" on the flip side, "Colorado Blues" (Capitol Americana 57-40222) with "Welcome Home, Stranger" on the flip side, and Ida Red will be issued as a single Capitol Americana 57-40075) with "Next To The Soil" on the flip side. Capitol Records, after drum overdubs are added to both tracks, will issue "Colorado Blues" and "Ida Red" on Guthrie's eponymous album "Jack Guthrie" (T 2456). Bear Family Records will issue all the tracks recorded at both sessions on Guthrie's CD "When The World Has Turned You Down" (BCD 15580).
1974 - John Lennon ends sessions at the Record Plant East in New York City for tracks for his Apple Records album "Rock And Roll" that will be distributed by Capitol Records in the United States
1980 - Virgil Keel Fox, classical organist and Capitol Records artist (contracted to record six albums in 1960) dies of cancer at age 68 in Palm Beach, Florida, where there will later be a funeral at his home, Casa Lagomar. Another funeral will be held on November 9, 1980 at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Fox will be buried at Pioneer Cemetery in Dover, Bureau County, Illinois
1994 - Capitol Records releases Bob Seger's compilation album "Greatest Hits"
2000 - Garth Brooks announces that he'll retire after releasing his next album
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Merle Haggard's album "Chicago Wind"

OCTOBER 24, 2007

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1965 - The Beatles record an early version "I'm Looking Through You" in Studio Two at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England. The band will re-record the song on November 6, 1965 and that version will be released on their album "Rubber Soul". The version recorded today will eventually be released on "The Beatles Anthology 2" compilation album.
1973 - Bob Marley and The Wailers rehearse for their Burinin' tour in The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California. The rehersal s filmed and later released as a video
1975 - Apple Records releases John Lennon's compilation album "Shaved Fish" which is distributed by Capitol Records in the United States
1983 - Guitarist and vocalist Beeb Birtles quits Capitol Records group The Little River Band after their final concert at The Universal Ampitheatre in Los Angeles, California
1988 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' compilation album "Past Masters" as a two disc vinyl set after releasing the tracks as two seperate CDs on March 7, 1988
1995 - Capitol Records releases John Hiatt's label debut album "Walk On"
2000 - Capitol Records releases Megadeth's compilation CD "Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1979 - Paul McCartney is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful composer and recording artist of all time
2000 - Former Capitol Records artists Roy Clark and Wanda Jackson are inducted into The Oklahoma Music Hall Of Fame, as is Jim Halsley

OCTOBER 23, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1959 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, accordionist, song parodist, radio, television and motion picture actor, and Capitol Records artist (his debut, the 1979 parody single "My Bologna" with "School Cafeteria" on the flip side), is born Alfred Matthew Yankovic in Lynnwood, California

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1962 - Jimmy Rowles (and Friends) start recording tracks for their Capitol Records album "Kinda Groovy" in Studio A of The Capitol Tower Studios with producer Dave Cavanaugh
1974 - John Lennon records the track "Move Over Ms. L" at the Record Plant in New York City which will be the flip side of his Apple Records single "Stand By Me" and is distributed by Capitol Records in the United States
1985 - Paul McCartney signs as a solo artist with Capitol Records
1986 - Esquerita (born Eskew Reeder, Jr.), pianist, singer, mentor to Little Richard, and Capitol Records artist (1958-1959), dies at age 51 of A.I.D.S. in Harlem, New York
1994 - Foo Fighters finish recording tracks for their self-titled debut Capitol Records album at Laundry Room Studios, Seattle, Washington
1997 - Capitol Records releases Grand Funk Railroad's live album "Bosnia"
2001 - Capitol Records re-releases on CD John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album "Milk And Honey", originally released on Polydor Records, with an extra interview track at the end. I did the production design on the re-release with the only real change on the cover being that I recentered their names to just the trim width because they had be centered on the original to width of the cover plus the bleed so that when the booklet was trimmed, the names were off-centered slightly, and I raised the image to make sure that Yoko's heart necklace would not be trimmed off.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1950 - Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson), singer, Vaudeville, Broadway, motion picture and radio actor, and the 20th century's first pop recording star, dies at age 64 of a heart attack. An estimated 20,000 people had attended Jolson's funeral service at Temple Israel of Hollywood and he was later interred Beth Olam Cemetery. When the cemetary would not allow his family to place a memorial to Jolson, in 1951 he was re-interred in a memorial structure in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. You can see his monument very clearly when driving on the 405 though few know at what they're looking. Hillside's website has a good overview of all the behind-the-scenes negotiations that went on to bring Jolson's remains to them.

OCTOBER 22, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1968 - Shelby Lynne, singer, songwriter, and Capitol Records Nashville artist (2003-2006), is born in Quantico, Virginia

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1966 - The Beach Boys perform two shows on the same day at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan that are recorded. From the first show, a medley of "Surfin' Safari/Fun Fun Fun/Shut Down/Little Deuce Coupe/Surfin' U.S.A." which will later be released by Capitol Records on the compilation album "Endless Harmony". From the second show, the track "Good Vibrations" is recorded and will later be released by Capitol in the 5 CD box set "Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys".
1978 - Dorothy Shay, singer, comedienne ("The Park Avenue Hillbillie"), Hollywood actor, and Capitol Records artist, dies of a heart attack in Santa Monica, California at age 57. I know her Capitol albums were released in the late 1950s. If anyone has more exact release dates, please leave a comment.
1981 - April Wine's Capitol Records album "Harder…Faster" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1929 - Dory Previn, songwriter, singer, former wife of composer and conductor Andre Previn, first released artist on the MediaArts label (founded by former Capitol Records Chairman Alan Livingston and record producer Nik Venet), and United Artists Records artist, is born Dorothy Veronica Langan in Rahway, New Jersey. The MediaArts library was sold to United Artists, whose catalog was later sold to EMI Music, and is currently controlled by Capitol Records in the United States.
1979 - Washington, D.C. declares today Charles Mingus Day. Mingus may have recorded for Capitol Records before 1964 as his papers in the Library of Congress have a royalty statement from July 1964.
1966 - On the day before his seventh birthday, Alfred Yankovic (aka "Weird Al" Yankovic, future Capitol Records artist [the 1979 parody single "My Bologna" with "School Cafeteria" on the flip side]) is taken to his first accordian lesson by his parents Mary and Nick Yankovic (no relation to Frankie Yankovic)

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1905 - Joseph Kosma, classical, ballet, operetta and French film score composer, is born in Budapest, Hungary. His theme, "Autumn Leaves", would later be given lyrics by Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer
1942 - Annette Funicello, television and motion picture actress, singer, and one of the first Mouseketeers, is born Annette Joanne Funicello in Utica, New York

OCTOBER 21, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1931 - Roy Nichols, guitarist, songwriter, Capitol Records session guitarist, 1988 inductee in the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame, and first member hired by Capitol Records artist Merle Haggard for his backing band The Strangers (and a member for 22 years from 1967-1987), is born in Chandler, Arizona. If anyone knows his middle name, please leave a comment.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - The King Cole Trio's Capitol Records single "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You", with "I Realize Now" on the flip side, tops the "Race Music" charts in the United States. The single will also cross over to the Pop charts where it will peak at #20.
1949 - Gordon MacRae records the track "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" for Capitol Records which will be released as a single (Capitol 777) with "Mule Train" (which MacRae recorded on October 1, 1949) on the flip side
1957 - Capitol Records released Buck Owens' single "Come Back" with "I know What It Means" on the flip side
1963 - Bing Crosby records the track "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Christmas Dinner Country Style" with The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra for Capitol Records.
1965 - The Beatles record the track "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" (with George Harrison playing the sitar for the first time on one of the band's songs) and started recording the track "Nowhere Man" (which they would finish the next day, October 22, 1965) in Studio Two at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, London, England
1974 - John Lennon enters the Record Plant studios in New York City for 5 straight days of sessions to re-record tracks for his Capitol Records "Rock 'N' Roll" album which he will produce himself
1977 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' compilation album "Love Songs"
1991 - Poison's Capitol Records album "Open Up And Say Ahh!" is certified as 5 times Multi-Platinum by the R.I.A.A.
1995 - Shannon Hoon (born Richard Shannon Hoon), songwriter and lead singer of Capitol Records group Blind Melon, is found dead at age 28 of an intense cocaine overdose in the band's tour bus before a sound check for a show at Tipitina's in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is later buried in Dayton, Indiana.
1994 - Ginger Mercer (born Elizabeth Meltzer), Broadway dancer and actress, wife of Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer, and founder of the Johnny Mercer Foundation, dies at age 85. If any one knows the cause and location of her death, please leave a comment.
1995 - Maxene Andrews, singer, actress, and member of the Capitol Records trio The Andrew Sisters, dies of a heart attack at age 79 in Hyannis, Massachusettes while on vacation from her role in the off-Broadway musical "Swingtime Canteen". She is later interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1915 - Owen Bradley, record producer, studio owner, and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 1974, is born in Westmoreland, Tennessee. Capitol Record producer Ken Nelson would use Bradley's Nashville studio to record many Capitol artists including the single version of Gene Vincent's "Be Bop A Lula"
1999 - Former Capitol Records artist Marilyn King (The King Sisters) and Herb Jefferies, with the Paul Smith Trio, perform "Salute to Duke Ellington" at The Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts at Whittier College, Whittier, California at 8 p.m.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1958 - Buddy Holly's last recording session is held at Pythian Temple in New York City
1970 - John Thomas Scopes, the high school teacher who was convicted of teaching evolution in a Tennessee school after the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, dies at age 70. He is later buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah, Kentucky

OCTOBER 20, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1937 - Wanda Jackson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and Capitol Records artist (1956-1973), is born Wanda Jean Jackson in Maud, Oklahoma, and is still performing and touring the world.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL HISTORY
1947 - An article in the magazine Time gives sales of just one of Capitol Records Bozo Record Reader albums as reaching 1,000,000 units at $3.50 (that's approx. $20 to $30 a unit in 2006 dollars depending on which inflation calculator you use)
1950 - Ray Anthony and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "Harbor Lights", with "Nevertheless" on the flip side, debuts on Billboard's singles chart where it will spend 15 weeks, peaking at #15
1963 - The Beach Boys record the track "Little Saint Nick" at Western Studios in Los Angeles, California which will be released in two versions by Capitol Records. The album version (originally on the band's Capitol Records album "The Beach Boys' Christmas Album") has overdubs that add glockenspiel, celeste and sleigh bells to the recording that do not appear on the single version (which had the track "The Lord's Prayer" on the flip side and later became the flip side of "Frosty The Snowman" on a Capitol Records Starline single). There have also been two different stero mixes created by Capitol since 1992.
1965 - The Beatles begin recording the track "We Can Work It Out" for their soundtrack album "Help!" in Studio 2 at EMI's studios on Abbey Road in London, England with producer George Martin, recording engineer Norman Smith and second engineer . Sessions for the track will finish on October 29, 1965.
1965 - The Beatles' Capitol Records single "Yesterday", with "Act Naturally" on the flip side, is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
1969 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens' single "Big In Vegas" with "White Satin Sheets" on the flip side
1969 - Apple Records release John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album "The Wedding Album" and The Plastic Ono Band's single "Cold Turkey" that has a picture sleeve whose front is an X-Ray of a skull wearing Lennon's round wire-rimmed glasses, with "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For A Hand In The Snow)" on the flip side. Both releases are distributed by Capitol Records in the United States.1983 - Merle Travis (born Merle Robert Travis), singer, songwriter ("Sixteen Tons", "Dark as a Dungeon", etc.), guitarist ("Travis picking"), Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, actor, and Capitol Records artist (1946-1968), dies at age 65 at a hospital after suffering a massive heart attack at his Tahlequah, Oklahoma home the day before. His body is later cremated and his ashes scattered around a memorial erected to him near Drakesboro, Kentucky
1987 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' album "Abbey Road" on CD for the first time
1988 - Duran Duran, as part of a nine city Caravan Club tour, perform in the Capitol Records parking lot in Hollywood, California
1998 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Deana Carter's album "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" which she co-produced with Chris Farren

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1957 - Tenor Saxophonist Hank Mobley (with Art Farmer on trumpet, Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, Sonny Clark on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums) records the tracks "Gettin' Into Something", "Tune Up", "Poppin'", "East Of Brooklyn", and "Darn That Dream" with producer Alfred Lion and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, at The Van Gelder Studio, in Hackensack, New Jersey for Blue Note Records. Blue Note's catalog was sold to Liberty Records which was sold to EMI Music, the parent company of Capitol Records.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - General Douglas MacArthur, who later would have some of his speeches released on a Capitol Records album, returns to the Phillippines fulfilling a promise to its residents
1962 - Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Parrot Records (a subsidiary of London Records) single "Monster Mash" hits #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The tracks on the single were arranged and produced by Gary Paxton and originally released on his GARPAX label which Pickett took around to radio stations to build interest before he was signed to Parrot.
1964 - Before his clients, The Beatles, give two performances at the Caird Hall, Dundee, England, their manager, Brian Epstein, produces his first recording session. The session, held at IBC Studios, London, England, is for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, whose drummer had been Ringo Starr before he joined The Beatles (Ringo is at this session but doesn't play on it). Rory (aka Alan Caldwell)'s sister Iris had been George Harrison's first girlfriend when they were 14. The group recorded the tracks "America" from the U.S. musical "West Side Story" (which would be the A-Side of the group's only released single), a cover of The Everly Brothers' "Since You Broke My Heart" (which would be the single's flip side), as well as "Ubangi Stomp" and "I'll Be There". There's an online reference to other tracks being recorded at the session. If anyone knows for sure if any additional tracks were recorded, and what they were, please leave a comment.
1977 - The band Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashes, killing six band members and back-up singers

OCTOBER 19, 2007

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Capitol Records band The King Cole Trio premiere in their own network radio show "King Cole Trio Time", a fifteen minute Saturday afternoon program that will run until April 1948
1951 - Capitol Records band Stan Kenton and His Orchestra's concert at Carnegie Hall is broadcasted on radio. Copies of the broadcast have been released on unauthorized CDs
1958 - Peggy Lee is back with producer Dave Cavanaugh in The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California to record the tracks "I Love To Love", "It's So Nice To Have A Man Around", "So In Love" and "I Like Men" for her Capitol Records album "I Like Men" with arrangements by Jack Marshall who is also conducting his Orchestra at the sessions.
1959 - Capitol Records releases Kay Starr's album "Movin'!" which was produced by Dave Cavanaugh with arrangements by Cavanaugh and Van Alexander and with Alexander conducting the orchestra
1964 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' live album "Concert"
1965 - The Beatles record "The Beatles Third Christmas Record" which will be released by their fan club
1984 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' self-titled album
2004 - Capitol Records Nashville releases the album "Kids' Country Hits 2" which features a collection of country songs sung by kids, for kids, and was produced by Darrell Brown, who had also produced the earlier album

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1983 - RCA VideoDiscs announces that Scott R. Holtzman, former attorney in Capitol Records Entertainment Law Department, joins their company as Director of Business Affairs, West Coast out of their headquarters in Burbank, California

OCTOBER 18, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1918 - Bobby Troup, actor, singer, songwriter ("(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66"), pianist, record producer, second husband of Liberty Records artist Julie London, and Liberty and Capitol Records artist, is born Robert William Troup in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Peggy Lee records the tracks "(It's) The Bluest Kind Of Blues" (a vocal version of the Django Reinhardt's instrumental "Nuages", "You Can Depend On Me", "Trouble Is A Man", and "Music, Maestro, Please", with accompaniment by Dave Barbour and His Orchestra (Hank D'Amico on clarinet, Jake Koven on trumpet, Barbour on guitar, Bob Haggart on bass, Sanford Gold on piano, and Johnny Blowers on drums) at Capitol Records's New York City studios on 46th Street, with producer Lee Gillette
1954 - Nat "King" Cole, with arranger Nelson Riddle conducting the orchestra, records the track "Teach Me Tonight"
1964 - The Beatles record the track "I Feel Fine" at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England
1965 - The Beatles start recording the track "In My Life" at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England. They'll finish on October 22, 1965
1988- Bebe and Cece Winan's Capitol Records album "Heaven" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
1968 - Sonny James' Capitol Records single "Since I Met You Baby", with "Clinging To A Hope" on the flip side, tops the U.S. Country charts
1988 - Capitol Records releases Duran Duran's album "Big Thing"
1989 - Capitol Records releases The Smithereens' album "11"
1991 - Funeral services for Capitol Records artist Lloyd Leslie George are held at 1 p.m. in the chapel of Whitson Funeral Home in Cookville Tennessee. He will later be buried at Netherlands Cemetery in Overton County, Tennessee.
1993 - Capitol Records releases Iron Maiden's live album "A Real Dead One", recorded in 1992/93 at concerts across Europe
1994 - Bob Seger places his handprints and signature in cement at Rockwalk, in front of the Guitar Center, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1957 - Paul McCartney makes his on stage debut with The Quarry Men
1962 - The Stanley Turrentine Sextet (Tommy Turrentine on trumpet, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Sonny Clark on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Butch Warren on bass, and Al Harewood on drums) record the tracks "You Said It", "Cotton Walk", "Little Girl Blue", "Brother Tom", an alternate take of "Brother Tom", an alternate take of "My Ship", "My Ship", and "Jubilee Shout" at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with producer Alfred Lion and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder for Blue Note Records. All the tracks were eventually released in 1986 on the Blue Note CD "Jubilee Shout"
1998 - The Carl Wilson Benefit Concert is held at The Roxy on Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California. Each guest who attended received a limited edition CD compilation called "Long Promised Road" which contains highlights of Carl Wilson's musical career, both with the Beach Boys and as a solo performer. This collection was produced by EMI/Capitol Records and Billy Hinsche, with track selection and liner notes by Brad Elliott. A limited quantity of the CDs have been offered for sale to benefit the Central Los Angeles Unit of the American Cancer Society.
2000 - EMI Japan releases Megadeth's Capitol Records compilation CD "Capitol Punishment" with the bonus track "Wake Up Dead"

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1926 - Chuck Berry, guitarist, singer, song writer, Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and band leader is born Charles Edward Anderson Berry in Saint Louis, Missouri

OCTOBER 17, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1923 - Barney Kessel, guitarist, band leader and Capitol Records session musician for session lead by Billy May, Mel Torme and others, arranger and guitarist for Julie London on her "Julie Is Her Name" Liberty Records album, member of the Jazz Hall of Fame, owner of Kessel's Music World in Hollywood, California, columnist and writer of guitar instruction manuals, is born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Swingmusic.net has a great biography of Kessel.
1942 - Lee Greenwood, singer, songwriter and Capitol Records (1990) and Liberty Records artist (1992-1993), is born in South Gate, California. Liberty Records would later become Capitol Records Nashville.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Guitarist Carl Kress (with Chris Griffin on trumpet, Hank D'Amico on clarinet, Artie Drelinger on tenor saxophone, Stan Freeman on piano, Bob Haggart on bass and Dave Tough drums) records the tracks "There's A Small Hotel", "Just You, Just Me", "Coquette", and "I May Be Wrong" at WMCA's studios in New York City. "Just You, Just Me" and "Coquette" will be released as a single by Capitol Records. "There's A Small Hotel", and "I May Be Wrong" will remain unreleased until they are included in Mosaic Records' box set "Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions" in 1997.
1955 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's single "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry", with a cover version of Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons" on the flip side, both produced by Lee Gillette. D.J.s turn the flip side into Ford's biggest hit and Capitol's fastest million selling single (twenty four days) to that date. The story of "Sixteen Tons" is wonderfully written at ErnieFord.com.
1955 - Frank Sinatra records the tracks "You Forgot All The Words (While I Still Remember The Tune)" (released by Capitol as a the flip side of the single "Hey, Jealous Lover", and will be included as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Sinatra's album "No One Cares"), "Love Is Here To Stay" (included on Sinatra's Capitol Records album "Songs For Swingin' Lovers"), and "Weep They Will" (released as the flip side of the Capitol Records single "The Tender Trap") at Capitol Records Studios on Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California with arranger Nelson Riddle conducting the orchestra (Mahlon Clark and Wilbur Schwartz on alto saxophone; Justin Gordon and Warren Webb on tenor saxophone; Robert Lawson on baritone saxophone, John Best, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clarence "Shorty" Sherock, and Rubin "Zeke" Zarchy on trumpet; Dick Noel, Jim Priddy, and Paul Tanner on trombone; George Roberts on bass trombone; George Van Eps on guitar; Joe Comfort on bass; Bill Miller on piano; Frank Flynn on vibraphone; Kathryn Julye on harp; Irv Cottler on drums; Victor Bay, Alex Beller, Sam Cytron, Robert Gross, Henry Hill, Dan Lube, Alex Murray, Paul Nero, Erno Neufeld, and Mischa Russell on violin; Maxine Johnson, Paul Robyn, and Dave Sterkin on viola; Ennio Bologinni, Ray Kramer, and Eleanor Slatkin on cello)
1955 - Eighteen year old singer and guitarist Jerry Reed has his first Capitol Records recording session at Castle Studios in Nashville, Tennessee where, with producer Ken Nelson and Nelson's front-line Nashville session musicians to back him, he'll record "If The Good Lord's Willing And The Creeks Don't Rise" and "Here I Am" (which will be Reed's first Capitol single), as well as "Just A Romeo" (which ends up as the flip side to Reed's fourth single) and "I'm Tired Of Playing Cupid" (which went unreleased until Bear Family Records released it on Reed's box set "Here I Am" in 1999).
1958 - Peggy Lee records the tracks "Charley, My Boy", "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny Oh!", "My Man", "I'm Just Wild About Harry" with arranger Jack Marshall conducting his Orchestra (no confirmed list of players), and Dave Cavanaugh producing. The tracks will appear on Lee's 1959 Capitol Records album "I Like Men" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California
1960 - Nat "King" Cole has the first try out of his musical revue "I'm With You", which uses songs from his Capitol Records album "Wild Is Love", at the beginning of his fall tour in Denver, Colorado. The tour would end November 26 in Detroit, Michigan and would evolve into his 1961-1964 stage show "Sights And Sounds: The Merry World Of Nat 'King' Cole".
1963 - The Beatles record the track "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London, England
1991 - Exactly thirty-six years after "Sixteen Tons" was released, Tennessee Ernie Ford (born Ernest Jennings Ford), singer, actor, and Capitol Records artist, dies in a hospital in Reston, Virginia of advanced liver disease at age 72. Ford will later be buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California.
1994 - Foo Fighters begin to record tracks for their self-titled Capitol Records debut album at Robert Lang Studio in Seattle, Washington which they will co-produce with Barrett Jones, with recording engineer Steve Culp and mixers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf
2006 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Dierks Bentley's third album "Long Trip Alone”

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1960 - The musical "Tenderloin" opens at 46th Street Theatre in New York City. Capitol Records will later release the original cast album which will later be re-released by Broadway Angel Records. The show features the song "Artificial Flowers" which would later become a hit Capitol Records single for Bobby Darin.
1962 - The Beatles make their television debut with a live appearance on an episode of "People and Places" on Granada TV where they sing "Some Other Guy" and "Love Me Do"
1967 - All four of The Beatles attend the Memorial Service for Brian Epstein held at the New London Synagogue
2001 - Jay Livingston, three-time Oscar-winning songwriter with partner Ray Evans, actor, and brother of former Capitol Records, VP, President and Chairman Alan Livingston, dies of pneumonia in Los Angeles, CA at age 86. There's a great biography at Lucyfan.com.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1951 - An article with today's date in Variety is the first found mention of a pirate version of a studio outtake being released, when it states that a Fats Waller pirate included one unreleased track taken from studio vaults

OCTOBER 16, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1969 - Wendy Wilson, singer, daughter of the founder of the Capitol Records group The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and Marilyn Wilson who was a member of the Capitol Records group The Honeys, younger sister of Carnie Wilson, member of SBK Records (a subsidiary of Capitol Records) trio Wilson Phillips (with sister Carnie and Chynna Phillips), as well as the group The Wilsons (with Carnie and her father Brian), is born in Los Angeles, California. SBK's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records. If anyone knows her middle name, please leave a comment.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Vocalist Jack Guthrie (cousin of Woody Guthrie) and his backing band, The Oklahomans (Porky Freedman on lead guitar, Red Murrell on rhythm guitar, Cliffie Stone on bass), and Billy Hughes on fiddle), have their first Capitol Records session recording the A-Side of their first single "Oklahoma Hills," the B-side "I'm Brandin My Darlin' With My Heart", and a cover of an Ernest Tubb number, "Careless Darlin'". The single will be released early in 1945 and will be #1 for six weeks on the country charts.
1979 - THORN Electrical Industries Limited makes an offer of £148m for EMI Ltd., Capitol Records' parent company.
1991 - Lloyd George (born Lloyd Leslie George), singer, guitarist, bass player, part of the Capitol Records duo Lonzo and Oscar, and Capitol Records solo artist (using the name Ken Marvin), dies at Livingston Regional Hospital in Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee at age 67.
1999 - Ella Mae Morse, singer, vocalist for Capitol Records band Freddie Slack and His Orchestra and Capitol Records solo artist, dies of respiratory failure in Bullhead City, Arizona at age 75. Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is in front of the south parking lot of Capitol Records, between the Tower and the empty hamburger stand. I was working at Capitol when Ms. Morse died and noticed that flowers hadn't been placed over her star as is the custom. At the time there was a small flower shack in the parking lot (the shack is still there but its been abandoned for about 5 years) and I bought a few white roses and put them on her star. I then called the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, informed them of her death, and Honrary Mayor Johnny Grant ok'd the wreath of flowers which were placed over her star within a few hours. They were beautiful and were gone by the next morning.
1995 - Capitol Records/EMI Music releases Johnny Rivers' compilation "Greatest Hits" that contains ten tracks he recorded for Liberty Records and his own Soul City label

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1951 - Future Capitol Records artist Judy Garland begins what was to be a 4 week engagement that re-opens The Palace Theatre in New York as a live performance venue that will stretch out to 19 weeks, finally ending on February 24, 1952
1963 - The Beatles record a live-in-studio performance of "I Saw Her Standing There" at the BBC studios in London, England for later broadcast
1998 - EMI Gold releases Bobby Darin's compilation album "The Capitol Years" in the U.K.

OCTOBER 15, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1915 - Nellie Lutcher, pianist, singer, daughter of bandleader and bass player Issac Lutcher, sister of saxophonist Joe Woodman Lutcher, aunt of Latin jazz percussionist Daryl "Munyungo" Jackson, an officer of LA Musicians' Union Local 47 for many years, and a Capitol Records (1947-1952), Liberty Records (1956) and Imperial Records (1957) artist, is born Nellie Rose Lutcher in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Lutcher was signed to Capitol by Dave Dexter, Jr. who heard her perform "The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else" when she closed a March of Dimes benefit broadcast at Hollywood High School.
1917 - Alan Livingston is born Alan Wendell Livingston, in McDonald, Pennsylvania. Livingston is brother of songwriter Jay Livingston (who with his partner Ray Evans wrote many hit songs that were covered by Capitol Records artists including "Mona Lisa". Ray and Jay had a cameo as themselves in the motion picture "Sunset Boulevard" which also featured Nancy Olsen, who is currently married to Alan). Livingston is also a saxophone player, was a bandleader while a student at the University of Pennsylvania, and during his first stint with Capitol Records, served as vice president of Childrens Records creating Bozo The Capitol Clown as well as writing and producing many of Capitol's childrens releases including the hit single "I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat". Later as a VP of A&R, Livingston was responsible for Capitol signing Frank Sinatra. Livingston would leave Capitol to become a a programming executive at NBC and would greenlight the pilot for "Bonanza" (for which his brother Jay, again with partner Ray Evans, wrote the theme song). Livingston returned to Capitol as president during the 1960s, bringing Capitol into the "modern" rock era with the signing of The Beach Boys, The Steve Miller Band, The Band, and others including The Beatles. Livingston would later recall the "butcher" cover of their Capitol Records album "Yesterday and Today" and protest against the R.I.A.A. when their song "Yesterday" was not nominated for Song Of The Year. Livingston would become chairman of Capitol Records heading the merger with Audio Devices, Inc. that created Capitol Industries, Inc.
1970 - Eric Benét, singer, member (with his sister and cousin) of the Capitol Records group Benét (1992), solo recording artist for Warner Bros. Records, actor, and former husband of Halle Berry, is born Eric Benét Jordan in Milwaulkee, Wisconsin

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1952 - Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone, Chet Baker on trumpet, Chico Hamilton on drums, and Bob Whitlock on bass record the tracks "Walkin' Shoes", "Freeway", "Frenesi", "Nights at the Turntable", and "Aren't You Glad You're You" for Pacific Jazz. Pacific Jazz' catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records.
1958 - Frank Sinatra records the tracks "To Love And Be Loved", which will be released on a Capitol Records single, and "I Couldn't Care Less" with arrangements by Nelson Riddle who conducts the orchestra (Gus Bivona, Dale Issenhuth, Jules Jacob, Abe Most, and Wilbur Schwartz on reeds; Frank Beach, and Conrad Gozzo on trumpet; Francis Howard, Murray McEachern, and Dale McNickle on trombone; John Cave, Vincent De Rosa, and Richard Perissi on french horn; George Roberts on baritone trombone; Al Viola on guitar; Joe Comfort on bass; William 'Bill' Miller on piano; Kathryn Julye on harp; Bill Richmond on drums; Larry Bunker on percussion; Victor Arno, Victor Bay, Alex Beller, Jacques Gasselin, Carl Lamagna, Dan Lube, Ricky Marino, Lou Raderman, Paul Shure, Felix Slatkin, Marshall Sosson, and Gerald Vinci on violin; Joseph Di Fiore, Alvin Dinkin, Stan Harris, and Paul Robyn on viola; James Arkatov, Elizabeth Greenschpoon, Edgar Lustgarten, and Eleanor Slatkin on cello) at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California.
1958 - On the same day, Dean Martin records the tracks "Hit the Road to Dreamland", "Sleepy Time Gal", "All I Do Is Dream of You", and "Wrap Your Trouble in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)" with Frank Sinatra conducting the orchestra (Benjamin Barrett: Contractor; Alfred Viola on guitar; Joseph G. 'Joe' Comfort on bass; William Richmond on drums; Ken Lane and William 'Bill" Miller on piano; Elizabeth Greensporn and Eleanor Aller Slatkin on cello; Kathryn Julye on harp; Alvin Dinkin and Paul Robyn on viola; Victor Arno, Daniel 'Dan' Lube, Amerigo Marino, Louis Raderman, Paul C. Shure, Felix Slatkin, Marshall Sosson, Gerald Vinci on violin; Gus Binova, Dale Issenhuth, Jules Jacob, Abraham E. Most, and Wilbur Schwartz on saxophone; Frances L. 'Joe' Howard, Murray McEachern, and George M. Roberts on trombone; Frank F. Beach, Conrad Gozzo, and Dale McMickle on trumpet) at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California with producer Lee Gillette for Martin's Capitol Records album "Sleep Warm"
1964 - Capitol Records legally takes control of the 14 Beatles songs that Vee-Jay Records had stretched into five albums, six singles, four reissue singles, and an EP
1964 - The Beatles end an 105 week consecutive run on the U.K. singles chart which started October 11, 1962 making them the group with the most consecutive weeks on the British singles chart
1973 - Capitol Records releases The Band's album "Moondog Matinee"
1977 - Capitol Records releases Bob Welch's single "Sentimental Lady" with "Hot Love, Cold War" on the flip side
1982 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles compilation album "The Beatles - 20 Greatest Hits"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1971 - Rick Nelson, former Imperial Rercords, future Capitol Records artist, and one of the acts performing at a '50s nostalgia concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, is booed by the audience for playing new music. The incident would be the basis for Nelson's next hit single "Garden Party".
2005 - Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson speaks at "Bop Street", a tribute to Gene Vincent, in Van Nuys, California

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1955 - Local act Buddy (aka Buddy Holly) and Bob open for Elvis Presley at his concert in Lubbock, Texas

OCTOBER 14, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1958- Thomas Dolby, composer, record producer, keyboardist, singer, and Parlophone and Capitol Records artist (1981-1988), is born Thomas Morgan Robertson in Cairo, Egypt

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1947 - Red Norvo's Nine (Bobby Sherwood on coronet; Benny Carter on alto saxophone; Dave Cavanaugh and Eddie Miller on tenor saxophone; Arnold Ross on piano; Dave Barbour on guitar; Billy Hadnott on bass; Jesse Price on drums; and Red Norvo on vibraphone) record two takes of the track "Hollyridge Drive", as well as the track "Under A Blanket Of Blue" in Los Angeles, California for a Capitol Records single
1958 - Dean Martin is back in The Capitol Tower Studios to record the tracks "Sleep Warm", "Let's Put Out the Lights (And Go To Sleep)", "Goodnight, My Love", and "Brahms' Lullaby" for his Capitol Records album "Sleep Warm", with Frank Sinatra still conducting the orchestra (Benjamin Barrett: Contractor; Alfred Viola on guitar; Joseph G. 'Joe' Comfort on bass; Alvin A. Stoller on drums; Ken Lane and William 'Bill' Miller on piano; Elizabeth Greensporn and Kurt Reher on cello; Stella Castellucci on harp; Alexander Neiman and Paul Robyn on viola; Victor Arno, James Getzoff, Daniel 'Dan' Lube, Amerigo Marino, Alexander 'Alex' Murray, Erno Neufeld, Paul C. Shure, and Gerald Vinci on violin; Jack Cave on french horn; Herman C. Gunkler, Dale Issenhuth, Jules Jacob, Abraham E. Most, and Theodore M. 'Ted' Nash on saxophone) with producer Lee Gillette
1960 - Stan Kenton and His Orchestra record tracks for their Capitol Records album "A Merry Christmas"
1963 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' single "Be True To Your School" with "In My Room" on the flip side
1977 - Bing Crosby (born Harry Lilas Crosby), singer, actor, and Capitol Records artist, dies of a heart attack after finishing 18 holes of golf.
1985 - Capitol Records releases Iron Maiden's first "live" album "Live After Death"
1997 - Capitol Records releases Duran Duran's album "Medazzaland"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1913 - Larry Russell, composer ("Vaya Con Dios" with Inez James, and Buddy Pepper) and film arranger ("Limelight" with Ray Rasch, Russell Garcia and Charlie Chaplin), is born in Indiana. Les Paul and Mary Ford's version of "Vaya Con Dios", released by Capitol Records, will hit #1 on both Billboard and Cash Box Magazine's singles charts.
2003 - DTS releases Megadeth's Capitol Records album "Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?" in DVD Audio format.

OCTOBER 13, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1909 - Art Tatum, pianist and Capitol Records artist (1949-1952) is born Arthur Tatum, Jr. in Toledo, Ohio
1947 - Sammy Hagar, singer, guitarist, with the band Van Halen, and Capitol Records solo artist (1976-1980), is born Samuel Roy Hagar (in Monterey, California
1959 - Marie Osmond, television actress and host, singer, sister of Capitol Records artist Donny Osmond, and Capitol Records artist (1986-1990) is born Olive Marie Osmond in Ogden, Utah

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS
1945 - Tex Ritter's Capitol Records single (with much help by future Capitol Records artist Wesley Tuttle during the recording session)"You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often", with "Green Grow The Lilacs" on the flip side, tops the U.S. country charts. Both tracks were produced by Lee Gillette at C. P. MacGregors Studios at 729 S. Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California
1947 - Ten Cats And A Mouse (Dave Barbour on trumpet; Billy May and Bobby Sherwood on trombone; Paul Weston on clarinet; Eddie Miller alto saxophone; Benny Carter on tenor saxophone; Dave Cavanaugh on baritone saxophone; Red Norvo on piano; Hal Derwin on guitar; Frank DeVol on bass; and Peggy Lee on drums) record the tracks "Ja-Da" and "Three O'Clock Jump" in Los Angeles for Capitol Records
1950 - The Four Freshman record the track “Mr. B’s Blues” for their first Capitol Records single which will be released in November 1950 with "Then I'll Be Happy" on the flip side.
1958 - Dean Martin records the tracks "Dream", "Cuddle Up A Little Closer", "Good Night Sweetheart", and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" for his Capitol Records album "Sleep Warm" with producer Lee Gillette and Frank Sinatra conducting the orchestra (Alfred Viola on guitar; Joseph G. 'Joe' Comfort on bass; Alvin A. Stoller on drums; Ken Lane and William 'Bill' Miller on piano; Elizabeth Greensporn and Edgar 'Ed' Lustgarten on cello; Kathryn Julye on harp; Alvin Dinkin and Louis Kievman on viola; Victor Arno, Harry Bluestone, Jacques Gasselin, Seymour Kramer, Carl LaMagna, Daniel 'Dan' Lube, Amerigo Marino, and Paul C. Shure on violin; Jack Cave on french horn; Herman C. Gunkler, Dale Issenhuth, Jules Jacob, Abraham E. Most, and Theodore M. 'Ted' Nash on saxphone) at The Capitol Tower Studios, in Hollywood, California
1961 - Judy Garland records the tracks "Comes Once In A Lifetime" and "Sweet Danger" for her Capitol Records album "The Garland Touch"
1965 - The Beatles record the track "Drive My Car" which will appear on the Parlophone version of their album "Rubber Soul" in the U.K. and in the U.S. on their Capitol Records album "Yesterday and Today"
1968 - John Lennon records the track "Julia" for The Beatles' self-titled Apple Records album (aka "The White Album")
1973 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's single "Smokey Taverns, Bar Room Girls" with "The Devil Ain't A Lonely Woman's Friend" on the flip side
1980 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' compilation album "The Beatles' Ballads"
1980 - Capitol Records Canada releases Prism's compilaton album "Greatest Hits"

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1925 - Lenny Bruce, comedian, is born Leonard Alfred Schneider in Long Island, New York. A recording of one of Bruce's UK appearances was to be released in the U.K. by Zapple Records, a division of Apple Records, but the label was shut down by Allen Klein in 1969 and the record was never completed.
1974 - Ed Sullivan, (born Edward Vincent Sullivan), newpaper sportswriter and theater columnist, newsreel gossip columnist, radio and television host, dies of esophageal cancer in New York City at age 73 and is later interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.

OCTOBER 12, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1955 - Pat DiNizio, guitarist and vocalist with the Capitol Records group The Smithereens, is born Patrick Michael DiNizio in Plainfield, New Jersey

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1953 - Ray Anthony and His Orchestra record the track "Chattanooga Choo Choo" which Capitol Records will release as part of Anthony's album "I Remember Glenn Miller" in 1954
1955- Capitol Records releases Stan Freberg's version of "(I'm Gettin') Nuttin' For Christmas" (there are at least 4 other covers of this song by other artists) as a single, with "The Night Before Christmas" on the flip side
1965 - The Beatles start recording tracks for their next album "Rubber Soul" whic is due for release in December(!), beginning with the track "Run For Your Life" in five takes, and begin work on the track "This Bird Has Flown", later retitled "Norwegian Wood", in Studio Two at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England
1969 - Merle Haggard's Capitol Records single "Okie From Muskogee" enters Billboard's Country Singles chart
1971 - Gene Vincent, songwriter, guitarist, singer, and Capitol Records artist, dies at age 36 at Inter-Valley Hospital in New Hall, California where he had been admitted with a bleeding stomach ulcer
1988 - Enigma Records releases Poison's single "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", with "Livin' For The Minute" on the flip side, which is manufactured and distributed by Capitol Records.
1995 - Capitol Records releases Charlie Daniels' album "Same Ol' Me" twenty four years after releasing his first album, "Charlie Daniels", in 1971. In between, Daniels had recorded for Kamasutra, Capricorn, Epic and Liberty Records.
1998 - Capitol Records distributes a seven-cut sampler of tracks featured on both the 4 CD box set "The John Lennon Anthology" and "Wonsaponatime", the single disc digest culled from the 4 CD set, to triple-A and AC radio

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1964 - Vee-Jay Records releases the album "Songs, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles"
1969 - The "Paul Is Dead" theory gets its first wide radio exposure when Eastern Michigan University Student Tom Zarski calls during WKNR-FM's Russ Gibb's usual Sunday afternoon "rap" with listeners in Detroit, Michigan with questions about the supposed death of Paul McCartney. The rumor had been getting some air play starting on October 9 on Ann Arbor, Michigan's WOIA midnight show hosted by Larry Monroe, who held a panel discussion on the next night's show to discuss it.
2001 - Natalie Cole, singer, daughter of Capitol Records artist Nat "King" Cole, and former Capitol Records artist, marries Bishop Kenneth Dupree. senior pastor of the Victory Baptist Church in Tennessee.

OCTOBER 11, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1943 - Gene Watson, country singer and Capitol Records artist (1975-1980), is born Gary Gene Watson in Palestine, Texas

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1956 - The Buddy Collette/Chico Hamilton Sextet (Buddy Collette on reeds, John Anderson on trumpet, Gerald Wiggins on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, Curtis Counce on bass, and Chico Hamilton on drums) record the tracks "Green Dream", "It's You", "A Walk On The Veldt", "How Long Has This Been Going On", "The Blindfold Test", "Jungle Pogo Stick", "Tanganyika", "Wagnervous", "And So Is Love", and "Coming Back For More" with engineer John Kraus at The Capitol Tower Studios. The recordings will be released by V.S.O.P. Records as an album called "Tanganyika".
1963 - Judy Garland performs the song "That's All" live for her CBS-TV series. A recording of the performance will appear on Garland's Capitol Records album "Just For Openers".
1965 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens' single "Buckaroo" with "If You Want A Love" on the flip side
1965 - Capitol Records releases six singles by The Beatles on its Starline oldies green swirl label (with separate pressings manufactured on both the west and east coasts): "Twist And Shout"/"There's A Place", "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You", "Please Please Me"/"From Me To You", "Do You Want To Know A Secret"/"Thank You Girl", "Roll Over Beethoven"/"Misery", and "Boys"/"Kansas City". The first four were identical to the versions released by Vee-Jay records. The last two were put together by Capitol just for this release.
1982 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' compilation album "20 Greatest Hits" to honor the 20th anniversary of the group's first release.
1985 - Tex Williams, actor, singer, guitarist, and Capitol Records artist (ironically best known for the 1947 #1 single "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)"), dies of lung cancer at his home in Newhall, California at age 68
1995 - Blind Melon perform live at The Palace in Hollywood, California. Capitol Records will later release an album of the performance called "Live At The Palace". The CD will be reissued by Capitol/EMI on October 17, 2006 with expanded packaging.
2005 - EMI/Capitol Special Markets releases the Christmas compilation CDs "Jingle All The Way", "A Christmas Tapestry", "Warm December", and "Christmas Treasury"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1918 - Ray Martin, composer (classical as well as television and movie scores), arranger, conductor, and EMI recording artist as part of the group The Picadilly Strings in the UK, and who wrote background arrangements for Imperial Records in the U.S., is born in Vienna, Austria. EMI Music Group, Capitol Music Group's parent company, currently owns the Imperial Records catalog.
1962 - The Beatles' first Parlophone single, "Love Me Do", enters the UK singles chart. The Beatles will be on the U.K. singles chart continuously for the next 105 weeks until October 15, 1964, setting the record for the group with the most consecutive weeks on the British singles chart.
1971 - Brother Records releases The Beach Boys' single "Long Promised Road" with "'Til I Die" on the flip side. The Brother Records catalog is currently being distributed by Capitol Records.
2004 - The Panic Channel begin their first recording session. They will sign with Capitol Records in 2005 and their debut album will be released in 2006.

OCTOBER 10, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1958 - Tanya Tucker, singer, songwriter and Capitol Records Nashville artist, is born Tanya Denise Tucker in Seminole, Texas

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1953 - Stan Freberg's Capitol Records single, “St. George and the Dragonet” with "Little Blue Riding Hood" on the flip side, knocks Les Paul and Mary Ford's Capitol Records single "Vaya Con Dios", with "Johnny" on the flip side, out of the #1 spot on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart after an 11 week stay at #1. Freberg's single will stay #1 for 4 weeks, giving Capitol the #1 single in the U.S. for 15 straight weeks in a single year.
1956 - Capitol Records releases Judy Garland's album "Judy" with arrangements and orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle
1957 - Roy Eldridge, with Russell Garcia and Strings, begin two straight days of sessions for his Verve Records album "That Warm Feeling" at The Capitol Tower Studios, in Hollywood, California. On the same day, Stan Getz and The Oscar Peterson Trio record their entire Verve records album "Stan Getz And The Oscar Peterson Trio". If anyone knows if this was a split session, of if they used separate studios, please leave a comment.
1959 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's album "Sixteen Tons" five years after the single was a hit
1959 - More than twelve thousand people brave a pouring rainstorm in Lafayette, Indiana, to hear Stan Kenton's Orchestra, June Christy, and the Four Freshmen perform two consecutive shows at the Music Hall at Purdue University which are recorded and released by Capitol Records on the album "Road Show"
1963 - Edith Piaf, singer and Capitol Records artist, dies of cancer near Cannes, France and is officially pronounced dead the next day. Her husband, actor and singer Theo Sarapo, was with her. She is later buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.
1964 - Eddie Cantor (born Israel Iskowitz), comedian, singer, Broadway, motion picture, radio and television star, author, a founder of the March of Dimes, first president of the Screen Actors Guild, and Capitol Records artist, dies of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California. He is later buried in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.
1966 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' single "Good Vibrations" with the instrumental "Let's Go Away For Awhile" on the flip side. It is band's first single to feature Carl Wilson on lead vocals. The track will hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart on December 10, 1966.
1970 - Capitol Records releases Pink Floyd's album "Atom Heart Mother"
1988 - Roy Rodgers, singer and Capitol Records artist, is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
1989 - Capitol Records releases Dean Martin's compilation "Dean Martin" as part of their "Collectors Series"
1995 - Capitol Records releases Glen Campbell's compilation album "Essential, Vol. 3"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1939 - Eleanor Rigby dies in her sleep of unknown reasons at age 44, exactly 365 days before the birth of John Lennon (1940 was a leap year so there was an extra day). She is buried, and has a tombstone bearing her name, at St. Peter's, Woolton, Liverpool, England, the church where Paul McCartney first met John Lennon at a social event where The Quarry Men were performing.
1964 - Neheh Cherry, singer and Virgin Records America artist, is born Neneh Marianne Karlsson Cherry in Stockholm, Sweden. I adapted the UK packaging on her self-titled debut album for release in U.S. on Virgin Records America.
1966 - The Don Ellis Orchestra (Don Ellis, Glenn Stuart, Alan Weight, Ed Warren, Bob Harman on trumpet; Dave Wells and Ron Myers on trombone; Terry Woodson on bass trombone; Ruben Leon on alto and soprano saxophone and flute; Tom Scott on alto saxophone, saxello, and flute; Ira Schulman and Ron Starr on tenor saxophone, flute, and clarinet; John Magruder on baritone saxophone, flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet; Dave Mackay on piano; Ray Neapolitan, Frank De La Rosa, and Chuck Domanico on bass; Steve Bohannon on drums; Alan Estes on drums and timbales; and Chino Valdes on conga, bongos) perform live at the Pacific Jazz Festival, in Costa Mesa, CA where the tracks "Orientation", "Angel Eyes", and Freedom Jazz Dance" are recorded and will eventually be released on their Pacific Jazz album "Live in 3 2/3 / 4 Time". Capitol Records currently owns the Pacific Jazz catalog.
1995 - Blue Note Records releases the Christmas compilation "Jazz To The World" on CD

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1939 - Judy Garland leaves her hand and foot prints in cement at a ceremony outside of Graumann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California
1954 - David Lee Roth, vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and radio personality, is born in Bloomington, Indiana

OCTOBER 9, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1940 - John Lennon, singer, songwriter, poet, musician, and Capitol Records artist with the group The Beatles and as a solo artist, is born John Winston Lennon during a Nazi air raid in Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, Liverpool, England. Fans usually gather every year in front of The Capitol Tower by Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame to celebrate.
1944 - Peter Tosh, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and Capitol Records artist, is born Hubert Winston McIntosh in Grange Hill (Church Lincoln District), Jamaica
1975 - Sean Lennon, singer, songwriter, and Capitol Records artist, is born by c-section, weighing 8 pounds and ten ounces, in New York City on his father's 35th birthday.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1943 - Capitol Records agrees to pay royalties into an American Federation Of Musicians fund for all records released, thus ending the union-led ban on instrumental recordings for the label. Decca Records had settled with the union on September 18, 1943, but the other two major labels, Columbia and RCA/Victor will hold out for more than a year until November 1944, giving Capitol an exclusive on many new recordings that will help make it into one of the top four labels in the United States.
1946 - Margaret Whiting records the track "Guilty" which was written by her father, Richard A. Whiting and Harry Akst. The track will be released as a single by Capitol Records with "Oh! But I Do" on the flip side. The single will peak at #4 on Billboard's Pop singles charts.
1956 - Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant record, as a team, for Capitol Records for the last time at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California
1958 - Buck Owens on guitar and vocals (with Rollie Weber on guitar and background vocals, Ralph Mooney on pedal steel guitar, Jelly Sanders and Don Rich on fiddle, George French, Jr. on piano, Allen Williams on bass, and Pee Wee Adams on drums) records 4 songs, including the track "Second Fiddle" which peaked at #24 on the charts, in a session for Capitol held at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California with producer Ken Nelson. Some of the tracks would appear on Owens' self-titled first Capitol Records album in 1961.
1989 - Capitol Records artists Hank Thompson and Cliffie Stone (also a Capitol Records A&R executive and producer) are inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
2001 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Garth Brooks' single "Wrapped Up In You" delivered digitally to country radio stations at 8:30 AM. Originally set to be released on September 17, but postponed due to the events of September 11, 2001. Brooks also gives a press conference and Q&A session at 8:30 AM at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee
2001 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Trace Adkin's album "Chrome"
2004 - Keith Urban's Capitol Records Nashville single "Days Go By", with "These Are The Days" on the flip side, tops Billboard's Country Singles chart where it will stay for four weeks

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1973 - Elvis Presley, father of Capitol Records artist Lisa Marie Presley, divorces her mother, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
2001 - BGO (Beat Goes On) Records releases a remastered version of The Tubes' last Capitol Records album "Love Bomb" on CD.

OCTOBER 8, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1944 - Susan Raye, singer, disc jockey, television actress, protégée of Buck Owens (who produced many of her tracks and would record duets with her), and Capitol Records artist, is born in Eugene, Oregon. If anyone knows her middle name, please leave a comment.
1949 - Dennis Bellinger, bass player with Capitol Records group Grand Funk Railroad, is born in Flint, Michigan

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1954 - Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, and Clark Terry on trumpet; Quentin Jackson and Britt Woodman on trombone; John Sanders on valve trombone; Russell Procope on alto saxophone and clarinet; Rick Henderson on alto saxophone; Paul Gonsalves on tenor saxophone; Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet and tenor saxophone; Harry Carney on bass saxophone and bass clarinet; Duke Ellington on piano; Oscar Pettiford on bass; Dave Black on drums;and Frank Rollo on bongos), record the tracks "Twelfth Street Rag" "September Song" with Jimmy Grissom on vocals, and "Caravan" at a Capitol Records session held at Universal Studios in Chicago, Illinois
1957 - Frank Sinatra, with arranger and conductor Billy May, records the tracks "Around The World", "Blue Hawaii", "Brazil", "Come Fly With Me", "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling" for his Capitol Records album "Come Fly With Me" at The Capitol Tower Studios, in Hollywood, California
1981 - Oscar Moore, original guitarist with the Capitol Records group The King Cole Trio (1937-1947), dies in Las Vegas, Nevada at age 64
1984 - Capitol Records artist Anne Murray becomes the first female to win the Country Music Association's Album of the Year award
1988 - Poison's Capitol Records single "Fallen Angel", with "Bad To Be Good" on the flip side, peaks at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1990 - Poison's Capitol Records album "Flesh & Blood" is certified 2x Multi-Platinum by the R.I.A.A.
1990 - Former Capitol Records artist Tennessee Ernie Ford is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
1997 - Brown Meggs, husband of Nancy Bates Meachen, writer (won the 1974 Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America), screen writer ("Two Fathers Justice") and former executive, president and CEO at Capitol Records (helped finally sign The Beatles to Capitol when he was Capitol's Director of Eastern Operations) and Angel Records (helped revive the label), dies of a brain hemorrhage at age 66 in San Francisco, California. According to quote on guitarmusic.org, the Leo Kottke said that Meggs, who was president of Capitol when he was with the label "...hated the music business and liked people who were either impervious to the business or too dim to even know it was there."
2002 - To commemorate its 60th anniversary, Capitol Records releases the 6 CD box set "Capitol Records 1942-2002" both as a limited 12" box set with a full size book of photos from the Capitol Records photo archives (which at one time was also to include a small statue of The Capitol Tower) and as a small 6 CD box with a booklet with some of the images from the large book.
2002 - Capitol Records reissues John Lennon's "Mind Games" album in the United States

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1947 - Tony Wilson, songwriter, bass player, and vocalist with the Apple Records band Hot Chocolate (until 1975) is born in Trinidad. The band was originaly named The Hot Chocolate Band by Mavis Smith, who worked for the Apple Corps press office. Their first recording was a reggae version of John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance". Hot Chocolate's singles and albums were originally released by Big Tree Records in the United States, with distribution by Atlantic Records (at the time a Warner Communications Company. Later the band's catalog was distributed by EMI America Records and is now controlled by Capitol Records.
1971 - Apple Records releases John Lennon's "Imagine" album in the U.K.
1976 - The Sex Pistols sign to EMI, parent company of Capitol Records. The band lasted with the label until January 22, 1977 and wrote the song "EMI" to tell of their experience.

OCTOBER 7, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1926 - Diana Lynn, child prodigy pianist, radio (appeared on Johnny Mercer's Music Shop), motion picture (Paramount's "Star Spangled Rhythm" and the two "My Friend Irma" movies with Martin and Lewis as well as "Bedtime For Bonzo" and many others), and television actress, and Capitol Records artist (1952 - two classical piano albums with Paul Weston and His Orchestra), is born Dolores (aka Dolly) Loehr in Los Angeles, California. Many thanks to Mel for the information about Diana.
1927 - Al Martino, singer, first American to top the U.K pop charts, and Capitol Records artist, is born Alfred Cini in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If anyone knows his middle name, please leave a comment.
1968 - Thom Yorke, singer, songwriter, member of the Capitol Records band Radiohead, and Capitol Records solo artist, is born Thomas Edward Yorke in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1940 - This date has been given on some sites as the birthday of Capitol Records band Quicksilver Messenger Service singer and songwriter Dino Valenti (aka Jesse Oris (or Orris) Farrow, born Chester William Powers, Jr., but in fact he was born August 7, 1943 in New York City
1947 - Tex Williams' Capitol Records Americana single "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)", with "Roundup Polka" on the flip side, hits #1 on the U.S. charts
1949 - Peggy Lee, with an unlisted studio orchestra conducted by Pete Rugolo, records the tracks "Save Your Sorrows For Tomorrow", "Sunshine Cake", "Run For The Roundhouse, Nellie" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue "Save Your Sorrows For Tomorrow" as a single (Capitol 810) with "Sugar" on the flip side, "Sunshine Cake" as a single (Capitol 849) with "Goodbye John" on the flip side, and "Run For The Roundhouse, Nellie" as a single (Capitol 57-769) with "A Man Wrote A Song" on the flip side.
1963 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' album "Little Deuce Coupe"
1966 - Brian and Carl Wilson of the Capitol Records group The Beach Boys, along with session musicians Hal Blaine, Diane Rovell, James Bond Jr., Charles Britz, Frank Cap, Carol Kaye, and William Pitman, record tracks for the song "Child Is Father Of The Man" for The Beach Boys' "Smile" album
1968 - Capitol Records releases the soundtrack album to the motion picture "Romeo And Juliet" which, along with original score composed and conducted by Nino Rota, contains dialogue highlights
1978 - Capitol Records artist Merle Haggard marries Leona Williams
1981 - Capitol Records Canada releases Klaatu's fifth album "Magentalane"
1997 - Capitol Records releases Everclear's album "So Much for the Afterglow"
2000 - Capitol Records Nashville artist Chris LeDoux undergoes successful liver transplant surgery in Omaha, Nebraska
2006 - Capitol Records band OK Go! begins a U.S. headlining tour with a special free show at Ann Arbor's Pontiac Garage Stage before the University of Michigan vs. Michigan State football game

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1952 - "The Buick Circus Hour", broadcast live from New York on NBC-TV, premieres. The show features Delores Gray, singer, Broadway and Hollywood actress, and future Capitol Records artist, as a co-star
1975 - The United States Court of Appeals overturns the Immigration and Naturalization Service's order to deport John Lennon
1988 - The documentary film "John & Yoko-A Love Story" is theatrically released in the United States

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1911 - Singer, trumpeter and bandleader Vaughn Monroe is born Vaughn Wilton Monroe in Akron, Ohio

OCTOBER 6, 2007

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1964 - The Beatles begin recording the track "Eight Days A Week" at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, England for their "Beatles For Sale" album. The same day, John Lennon writes the song "I Feel Fine". Sessions for both songs will be finished on October 18, 1964.
1964 - Tommy Collins, at his final recording session for Capitol Records, records the track "All The Monkeys Ain't In The Zoo" with help from Joe Maphis (rhythm guitar) Glen Campbell (lead guitar), Wynn Stewart (guitar), Buck Owens (lead guitar), Merrill Moore (piano), Billy Strange (lead guitar), Jelly Sanders (fiddle), Pee Wee Adams (drums), Roy Nichols (lead guitar), Wanda Collins (duet vocals and backing vocals), and his best friend Merle Haggard (rhythm guitar and harmony vocals)
1967 - Singer, songwriter and guitaritst Fred Neil begins four days of sessions (October 6, 10, 11 and 15) with producer Nik Venet and James E. Bond, Jr. on stand-up bass and Cyrus Faryar, Peter O. Childs and Eric Glen Hord on acoustic guitars in Studio B at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California for his album Capitol Records album "Sessions"
1969 - Apple Records releases The Beatles' single "Something" with "Come Together" on the flip side. Capitol Records handles the single's distribution in the United States.
1969 - Capitol Records Canada, as part of its 6000 series, releases Pink Floyd's soundtrack album to the movie "More". Tower Records, a division of Capitol Records, released the album in August 1969.
1985 - Nelson Riddle, composer, arranger, conductor and Capitol Records artist, dies of of liver ailments at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at age 64. By his side were his children Nelson Riddle III, Rosemary Riddle Acerra, Christopher Riddle, Bettina Bellini, Cecily Finnegan, and Maureen Riddle. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California.
1990 - Garth Brooks is inducted as the 65th member of The Grand Ole Opry
1998 - Capitol Records releases Less Than Jake's second album, "Hello Rockview"
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville artist Trace Adkins video "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" premieres on CMT

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1963 - Capitol Records artist Judy Garland sings the medley "Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again" as a duet with Columbia Records artist Barbara Streisand on Garland's CBS-TV show. A recording of the live performance will be released on Streisand's 1991 Columbia album "Just For The Record...".
2002 - The 5th Annual Carl Wilson Walk Against Cancer is held along with an historic bus tour that included a tour of The Capitol Tower and Studios and other locations of interest and ended at Brian Wilson's house where he was selling lemonade. Actually the lemonade was free, but the signed paper cups were a $50 donation to The Carl Wilson Foundation.

OCTOBER 5, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1907 - Mrs. Miller, singer and Capitol Records artist, is born Elva Ruby Connes in Joplin, Missouri
1943 - Steve Miller (no relation to the above Mrs. Miller), guitarist, singer, founder of The Steve Miller Band, and Capitol Records artist (1967-Present), is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. If anyone know his middle name, please leave a comment.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1961 - Don Barbour, member of the Capitol Records recording group The Four Freshman, dies in an auto accident in Los Angeles, California at age 34, where he's working on tracks for his only solo album. The next year, Capitol Records will release the album titled "The Solo Voice of Don Barbour"
1970 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens & His Buckaroos' single "I Wouldn't Live In New York City (If The Gave Me The Whole Dang Town)" with "No Milk & Honey In Baltimore"
1974 - Accordianist, musician, musical stylist, composer, arranger, bandleader, innovator, and Capitol Records artist (1949-?, 24 singles) Johnny Pecon, with his Polka band, makes his last public appearance at a show held at Slovenian National Home in Cleveland, Ohio. Four months later, on February 23, 1975, Pecon would succumb to cancer.
1977 - Webley Edwards, radio reporter for CBS, host of "Hawaii Calls" radio show for 37 years, and the producer and compiler of the "Hawaii Calls" series of albums released by Capitol Records which featured artists like Alfred Apaka, George Kainapau, Haleloke, and Simeon & Andy Bright, dies in Honolulu, Hawaii at age 74
1994 - Capitol Records artist Merle Haggard is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee
1999 - Chrysalis and EMI/Capitol Records Catalog division release Pat Benatar's 3 CD compilation "Synchronistic Wanderings - Recorded Anthology 1979-1999". Chrysalis' catalog is currently owned by EMI Records, Ltd.
2006 - Capitol Records artist Glen Campbell performs live on stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennesse at the 81st Listener Appreciation Concert for WSM Radio

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1962 - Parlophone Records releases The Beatles' first single "Love Me Do" with "P.S. I Love You" on the flip side in the U.K.
2001 - Rhino handmade releases "Josie and the Pussycats: Stop Look and Listen: The Capitol Recordings" on CD as a limited edition of 5000 pressings.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1925 - At 7:00 PM, the future home of "The Grand Ole Opry", radio station WSM in Nashville, Tennesse is born, when Edwin Craig spoke the following words into the microphone; "This is WSM, 'We Shield Millions.' The National Life and Accident Insurance Company."

OCTOBER 4, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1925 - Jack Kingston, singer, songwriter, yodeler, and the first Canadian country artist signed by Capitol Records (1950), is born in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Johnny Mercer, The Pied Pipers with June Hutton and Paul Weston and His Orchestra record the track "Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will release the track on a single (180) with the track "There's A Fellow Waiting in P'Keepsie" on the flip side. The single will enter Billboard's Pop singles chart on January 4, 1945 where it will stay for 13 weeks and eventually peak at #2.
1971 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's album "The Folk Album" which features Ford's youngest son Brion (then 19) accompanying his father on the track "Cotton Fields", and Buck Owen's compilation album "The Best Of Buck Owens, Volume 4"
1975 - Natalie Cole's first hit Capitol Records single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" written by Chuck Jackson and Cole's future husband Marvin Yancy, with "Joey" on the flip side, hits #1 on Billboard's R&B chart
1975 - Billy Jean Campbell files for divorce from Capitol Records artist Glen Campbell
1978 - A Taste Of Honey's debut Capitol Records album, "A Taste Of Honey", is certified Platinum by the R.I.A.A.
1989 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owen's album "Act Naturally" on CD
2000 - Capitol Records artist Faron Young is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at the 2000 CMA Award Show in Nashville, Tennessee
2001 - Capitol Record producer Ken Nelson and Capitol Records group The Jordanaires are inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in a special ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee
2005 - Capitol Records releases Liz Phair's album "Somebody's Miracle", Ebony Eyez's album "7 Day Cycle", The Magic Numbers self-titled album, John Lennon's compilation album "Working Class Hero-The Definitive Lennon" 2 CD set, and a remastered version of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's album "Acoustic" on CD
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Chris Cagle's album "Anywhere But Here"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1957 or 1960 - Afrika Bambaataa, early developer of Hip-Hop, record producer and EMI America artist (1988-1991), may have been born on this day (maybe as Kevin Donovan) in South Bronx, New York City, New York. Capitol Records currently owns EMI America's catalog. If anyone knows his true birth name and birth date, please leave a comment.
1989 - Graham Chapman, certified medical doctor, actor, comedian, member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, dies of spinal cancer at age 48 in a hospital in London England, the day before a 20th anniversary celebration for the show. Fellow Python member Terry Jones jokingly said, "I thought it was in terribly bad taste for him to die when he did" and "That was the worst case of party-pooping I have ever come across". In 1988 when I was working for Virgin Records America, I adapted the U.K packaging of Monty Python's "The Final Rip Off" 2 CD set for release in the United States. Capitol Records currently owns the Virgin Records America.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1957 - Russell Simmons, co-founder (with Rick Rubin) of Def Jam Records, older brother of Rev. Joseph Simmons (aka "Run" of Run-DMC), and media entrepreneur, is born in Queens, New York
1970 - Janis Joplin, singer, is found dead of a heroin overdose at age 27 her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel (now called the Highland Gardens Hotel), 7047 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, CA. She is cremated at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California, and her ashes are scattered into the Pacific Ocean.