SEPTEMBER 28, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1930 - Tommy Collins, songwriter, singer, Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee, and a Capitol Records artist (1953-1957 and 1963-1964) is born Leonard Raymond Sipes at a farm just outside of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Rockabilly Hall Of Fame website has a great biography page on Tommy.
1952 - Andy Ward, drummer with the Capitol Records group Marillion (1983), is born in London, England

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1959 - Stan Kenton, his orchestra, June Christy, and The Four Freshmen begin a five-week road tour with a concert at Murray State College in Kentucky. Their October 10 concert at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, performed in front of more than twelve thousand people in a pouring rainstorm, will be recorded and released as the Capitol Records album "Road Show".
1959 - The Kingston Trio records John Stewart's "Green Grasses" which will be initially released as the flip side of their Capitol Records single "Coo Coo-U"
1962 - Capitol Records artist Judy Garland files for divorce from her husband and manager Sid Luft, father of her daughter Lorna and son Joseph
45 Years Ago Today In 1963 - The Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe", the flip side of their Capitol Records' single "Surfer Girl", peaks at #15 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1967 - Sonny James' Capitol Records single "It's The Little Things", with "Don't Cut Timber On A Windy Day" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles chart
40 Years Ago Today In 1968 - The Beatles' Apple Records single "Hey Jude", with "Revolution" on the flip side, hits #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart where it will stay for nine weeks
1974 - Andy Kim's Capitol Records single "Rock Me Gently", with "Rock Me Gently Part II" on the flip side, is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart
20 Years Ago Today In 1988 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens' single "Hot Dog", with "Second Fiddle" on the flip side
1991 - Garth Brooks' Capitol Nashville album "Ropin' The Wind" becomes the first album to ever enter both of Billboard's Top 200 Albums and Top Country Albums charts at #1 at the same time
1991 - Miles Davis, trumpet player and Capitol Records (1949-1950)and Blue Note Records (1952-1954) artist, dies after a stroke in Santa Monica, California at age 65
1999 - Capitol Records releases Garth Brooks' album "Garth Brooks In... The Life of Chris Gaines"
2004 - Capitol Records releases Duran Duran's album "Astronaut" on CD and a limited double vinyl version. Capitol Records also releases Everclear's compilation album "Ten Years Gone - The Best Of Everclear 1994-2004", and the compilation CD "Ultimate Christmas Cocktails" as part of its Ultra-Lounge series

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1902 - Ed Sullivan, newspaper sportswriter and theater columnist, gossip columnist on radio and newsreels, and radio and television variety show host (CBS' "Toast Of The Town" which will become "The Ed Sullivan Show" and showcases many Capitol Records artists, and played an important part in kicking of Beatlemania in the U.S.), is born Edward Vincent Sullivan in Manhattan, New York
45 Years Ago Today In 1963 - Murray The K becomes the first disc jockey in the United States to spin a track by The Beatles when he plays their Swan Records single "She Loves You", which has "I'll Get You" on the flip side, on his daily record review contest on radio station WINS in New York City, New York. The single came in third out of the five played.
2004 - Nonesuch Records releases a newly recorded version of Brian Wilson's album "Smile", which had been started 38 years earlier as a Beach Boys' album for Capitol Records and shelved a year after recording started.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1909 - Al Capp, cartoonist who created the strp "Li'l Abner" (which was later adapted into a musical with lyrics by Capitol Records' co-founder Johnny Mercer) and also invented the holiday Sadie Hawkins Day, is born Alfred Gerald Caplin in New Haven, Connecticut
1964 - Nacio Herb Brown (born Ignacio Herb Brown), Broadway and Hollywood composer ("Singin' In The Rain", "Lucky Star", "Broadway Melody", etc. with lyricist Alan Freed) and 1970 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, dies in San Francisco, California at age 68