JANUARY 19, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1911 - Ken Nelson, Capitol Records producer, founding member of the Country Music Association (CMA), and 2001 Country Music Hall Of Fame inductee, is born in Caledonia, Minnesota
1917 - John Raitt, singer, Broadway and motion picture actor, father of Capitol Records artist Bonnie Raitt, and a Capitol Records artist, is born John Emmett Raitt in Santa Ana, California
90 Years Ago Today In 1919 - Rollin Sullivan, singer, comedian, and "Oscar" of the Capitol Records duo Lonzo and Oscar, is born in Edmonton, Kentucky
65 Years Ago Today In 1944 - Laurie London, singer in English and German, actor, Odeon and Capitol Records artist, and the first and youngest person (at age 13) to have single certified Gold by the R.I.A.A. ("He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" with "Handed Down" on the flip side, Capitol 3891), is born in London, England and would retire from singing at age 19
60 Years Ago Today In 1949 - Robert Palmer, singer, guitarist, solo artist and lead singer of the Capitol Records band Power Station, is born Robert Allen Palmer in Batley, Yorkshire, England
1971 - John Wozniak, guitarist, lead singer, and songwriter with the Capitol Records group Marcy Playground, is born in Saint Paul, Minnesota

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1947 - The King Cole Trio's Capitol Records single "For Sentimental Reasons", with "The Best Man" on the flip side is still #1 on the U.S. Pop singles charts and Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records single "A Gal In Calico", with "Winter Wonderland" on the flip side, is #3
1951 - Mel Blanc's Capitol Records single "I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat", with "Yosemite Sam" on the flip side (both tracks were written by Capitol Records VP Alan Livingston), enters the top 40 of the U.S. Pop Singles charts
50 Years Ago Today In 1959 - Ray Anthony's Capitol Records single "Peter Gunn", with "Tango For Two" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of the U.S. Pop singles charts
1967 - The Beatles begin recording the track "A Day In The Life" at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London, England
1971 - George Harrison's Apple Records single "My Sweet Lord", with "Isn’t It a Pity" on the flip side, is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
15 Years Ago Today In 1994 - Capitol Records artists The Band and John Lennon are inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame
2008 - John Stewart, singer, guitarist, songwriter, member of the Capitol Records group The Kingston Trio, and a solo artist, has died after suffering a stroke in San Diego, California (also the city where he was born) at age 68. Services are pending.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1932 - Richard Lester, television and motion picture producer and director (The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!", "The Knack...And How to Get It", Petulia, John Lennon's "How I Won The War", "Robin And Marion", "The Three Musketeers" and its sequals, and many more), is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1957 - Johnny Cash makes his first network TV appearance on Capitol Records artist Jackie Gleason's CBS-TV show "The Jackie Gleason Show"
1963 - Caron Wheeler, singer with the Virgin Records America band Soul II Soul, is born in London, England. Virgin Records is owned by EMI Music, Capitol Records' parent company.
1976 - The former members of The Beatles are offered fifty million dollars to reform by concert promoter Bill Sergent. They decline the offer. The offer becomes a parody on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" when producer Lorne Michaels makes an on-air offer to The Beatles of $5000 dollars to reform on his show. The gag reappears when former member George Harrison appears on the show and is told the offer was only good if all four members appear.
1985 - Sheena Easton's EMI America Single "Sugar Walls" (written by Prince), with "Straight Talk" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. EMI America's catalog is currently owned by EMI Music, Capitol Records' parent company.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1953 - Desi Arnaz, Jr., actor, drummer with the group Dino, Desi, and Billy, and singer, is born via Caesarian section on the same day the episode airs where his mother's character of Lucy Ricardo gives birth to "Little Ricky" on his parents' television show "I Love Lucy". It becomes the highest rated television show up to that time as sixty-eight percent of all TV sets in the U.S. are tuned in to watch.
1995 - Gene MacLellan, singer and songwriter ("Snowbird", a worldwide hit for Capitol Records artist Anne Murray), dies in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada at age 54
1998 - Carl Perkins, singer, songwriter, ("Blue Suede Shoes" and three songs covered by Capitol Records group The Beatles: "Matchbox", "Honey Don't", and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby"), guitarist, 1985 Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee, and 1987 Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, dies from throat cancer at age 65 and is later interred in the Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson, Tennessee