OCTOBER 1, 2008

IN MEMORIAM
2008 - Nick Reynolds (born Nicholas Wells Reynolds), singer, songwriter, guitarist and founding member of the Capitol Records group The Kingston Trio, dies at age 75 in San Diego, California when his family chooses to have his life support turned off after his being hospitalized for weeks with acute respiratory disease and a variety of other illnesses.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1915 - Skeets McDonald, songwriter, singer, and Capitol Records artist (1951-1958), is born Enos William McDonald in Greenway, Arkansas
1929 - Bonnie Owens, singer, Capitol Records artist with The Strangers, and former wife of Capitol Records artists Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, is born Bonnie Campbell in in Blanchard, Oklahoma. Thanks to Eileen for the update!
1935 - Ann Richards, singer, wife of Capitol Records artist Stan Kenton, vocalist with Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra, George Redman and His Orchestra, and the Capitol Records group Stan Kenton and His Orchestra (1955), and a solo Capitol Records artist, is born in San Diego, California

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
60 Years Ago Today In 1948 - The Striders (aka The 4 Striders, actually three brothers: tenor Eugene Strider, baritone Charles Strider, and bass James Strider, along with tenor Ernest Griffin) record the tracks "Pleasin' You (As Long As I Live)", "Somebody Stole My Rose Colored Glasses", and "Feather Your Nest" at their second (and last) Capitol Records recording session. The first two tracks will be released as a single by Capitol in November 1948. The last track and the three tracks that the group recorded in August 1948 at their first Capitol Records session ("September In The Rain", "There's No One But You", and "Left Me For A Richer Man") were never released by the label. Marv Goldberg has a great article on the history of this group on his website.
1949 - Gordon MacRae records the track "Mule Train" for Capitol Records which will be released as a the flip side of the single (Capitol 777) "Dear Hearts and Gentle People", which he recorded on October 21, 1949
1949 - Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely's Capitol Records single "Slippin' Around" is #5 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, up from #9 the week before, and Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae with Paul Weston and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "Whispering Hope" is #7 down from #6
1955 - Les Baxter and His Orchestra with vocals by The Notables' Capitol Records single "Wake The Town And Tell All The People" with "I'll Never Stop Loving You" on the flip side, is #14 on Billboard's Best Selling Popular Retail Records chart, down from #13 the previous week and The Cheers with Les Baxter and His Orchestra and Chorus' Capitol Records' single "Black Denim Trousers" with "Some Night In Alaska" on the flip side is #18 up from #23 the previous week
1956 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's single "First Born", which was recorded June 4, 1956, with "Have You Seen Her?" on the flip side
1957 - Frank Sinatra records the tracks "On The Road To Mandalay" "Let’s Get Away From It All", and "Isle of Capri" with arranger and conductor Billy May for his Capitol Records album "Come Fly With Me" in Studio A at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California
1957 - Lyle Ritz finishes recording tracks for his album "How About Uke?" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California
1959 - Dakota Staton, with producer Dave Cavanaugh and an orchestra conducted by Sid Feller, records the track "September in the Rain" for her 1960 Capitol Records album "More Than Most"
1962 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' album "Surfin' Safari"
1962 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens' album "Your For Me"
1969 - The Beatles' Apple Records album "Abbey Road" is released and distributed in the United States by Capitol Records
1971 - John Lennon's third solo Apple Records album "Imagine", distributed in the United States by Capitol Records, is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
35 Years Ago Today In 1973 - "Texas" Bill Strength, singer, guitarist, inductee to the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame, and a Capitol Records artist (1953-1956) dies of injuries after an auto accident in August 1973 left him paralyzed from the waist down and later sent him into a coma at age 45
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville artist Dierks Bentley becomes the youngest current member of The Grand Ole Opry
2005 - Paul Pena, singer and Capitol Records artist (1972), dies at age 55 in his San Francisco, California apartment of complications from diabetes and pancreatitis

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1936 - "Dr." George Butler, drummer in the bands Eggs Over Easy and Kilburn & The High Roads, producer for Blue Note (for artists Noel Pointer, Bobbi Humphrey, Donald Byrd, Ronnie Laws and others) and Columbia Records (for artists Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and Marlon Jordan), is born in Autaugaville, Alabama
1955 - Future Capitol Records artist Jackie Gleason's CBS-TV series "The Honeymooners" premieres
1955 - Fats Dominio's Imperial Records single "Ain't That A Shame" is still #1 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart
50 Years Ago Today In 1958 - Martin Cooper, saxophonist with the Virgin Records group Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, is born in Liverpool, England. I adapted the original U.K packaging of the group's albums for release in the United States by Virgin Records America.
1959 - Youssou N'dour, singer and Earthworks Records artist, is born in Dakar, Senegal, Africa. I adapted the original U.K packaging of N'dour's "Immigrés" and "The Lion" albums for release in the United States by Virgin Records America and designed promotional materials for the single "The Truth".
1964 - The Beatles' United Artists motion picture "A Hard Day's Night" premieres in Prague, Czechoslovakia becoming the first Western pop culture film to be seen behind the Iron Curtain
1964 - Vee-Jay Records releases the compliation album "The Beatles vs THE FOUR SEASONS"
1964 - Souvenir Press releases Brian Epstein (manager of The Beatles)' book "A Cellar Full of Noise"
1971 - Former Capitol Records artist Gene Vincent, at BBC's Maida Vale studios in London, England for Radio One, records, with Richard Cole and The Kansas Hook Band, his last session before his death on October 12, 1971
20 Years Ago Today In 1988 - Bobby McFerrin's EMI Manhattan single "Don't Worry Be Happy" is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
80 Years Ago Today In 1928 - According to Walt Disney in a 1933 article in Film Pictorial, today is Mickey Mouse's birthday and the anniversary of the first public showing of his first cartoon – the silent short "Plane Crazy"
1935 - Future Capitol Records artist Judy Garland's first M-G-M contract officially starts at $100.00 per week (equal to about $1300 today)