JUNE 15, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
100 Years Ago Today In 1909 - Mickey Katz, clarinetist, klezmer player, arranger, member of Spike Jones and His City Slickers, Yiddish song parodist, comedian, Capitol Records artist (1950-1967), father of Broadway, motion picture and television actor and Capitol Records artist Joel Grey, and grandfather of motion picture and television actress Jennifer Grey, is born Meyer Myron Katz in Cleveland, Ohio. Thanks to Mel for letting me know about Katz' birthday.
1917 - Leon Payne, founder of The Lone Star Buddies, songwriter ("Lost Highway" and "I Love You Because"), singer, musician, and Capitol Records country artist (1949-1953), is born Leon Roger Payne in Alba, Texas. Payne would also release a Rockabilly single on Capitol ("That Ain't It" with "Little Rock" on the flip side) using the name Rock Rogers.
1941 - Harry Nilsson (aka Johnny Niles), singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, actor, motion picture score writer, friend of John Lennon, and a Mercury, Tower (a subsidiary of Capitol Records) and RCA Victor Records artist, is born Harry Edward Nilsson III in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York
1963 - Scott Rockenfield, soundtrack composer, drummer with the Capitol Records group Queensryche, and a solo artist, is born in Seattle, Washington
40 Years Ago Today In 1969 - Ice Cube, singer, actor, and a Priority Records (a division of Capitol Music Group) artist as part of the group NWA and as a solo artist, is born O'Shea Jackson in South Central Los Angeles, California

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Andy Russell's Capitol Records single "Laughing On The Outside (Crying On The Inside)", with "They Say It's Wonderful" on the flip side, is #6 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart
55 Years Ago Today In 1953 - Jackie Gleason records the track "Laura" for his album "Music To Remember Her" with Buddy Haskin on trumpet
50 Years Ago Today In 1959 - The Four Freshmen (Bob Flanigan on vocals, trombone and bass; Don Barbour on vocals and guitar; Ross Barbour on vocals and drums; and Ken Albers on vocals, trumpet, mellophone and bass) with arranger Dick Reynolds conducting the studio orchestra (Tommy Tedesco, Al Hendrickson, Howard Roberts, Bobby Gibbons, Bill Pitman, George Van Eps on guitar; Red Mitchell on bass; Jack Sperling on drums; Larry Bunker on vibraphones, bells, congas, and bongos) record the tracks "It All Depends On You", "I Understand", "This October", and "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" at the Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California for their Capitol Records album "The Four Freshmen And Five Guitars" with producer Lee Gillette
50 Years Ago Today In 1959 - Franck Pourcell and His French Fiddlers' Capitol Records single "Only You (Loin De Vous)" is #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart
1960 - Peggy Lee, with producer Dave Cavanaugh and arranger Billy May conducting the studio orchestra (Harry Klee, Ronnie Lang, and Wilbur Schwartz on reeds; George Van Eps on guitar; Max Bennett on bass; Lou Levy on piano; Stella Castellucci on harp; Stanley Levy on drums; Harry Bluestone, Harold Dicterow, Jacques Gasselin, Anatol Kaminsky, Murray Kellner, Marvin Limonick, Joseph Livoti, Nathan Ross, and Felix Slatkin on violin; Alvin Dinken, Virginia Majewski, Alex Niemann, and Abraham Weiss on viola; Charles Gates, Edgar Lustgarten, David Pratt, and Joseph Saxon on cello), and vocal director Jimmy Joyce leading The Jimmy Joyce Childrens Choir on background vocals, records the tracks "White Christmas", "The Christmas Waltz", "The Christmas Song", "Christmas Carousel", and "The Star Carol" for her 1960 Capitol Records album "Christmas Carousel" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California
1963 - Kyu Sakamoto's Capitol Records single "Sukiyaki" (with "Anoko No Namaewa Nantenkana" on the flip side) hits #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, (still the only Japanese language single to do so), knocking Leslie Gore's Mercury Records single "It's My Party", with "Danny" on the flip side, out of the top spot. Al Martino's Capitol Records single "I Love You Because" is #5, Nat "King" Cole's single "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer" is #7, Bobby Darin's Capitol Records single "Yellow Roses" is #10, The Beach Boys' Capitol Records single "Surfin' U.S.A." is #13 and its flip side "Shut Down" is #30
1963 - Buck Owens' Capitol Records single "Act Naturally", with "Over And Over Again" on the flip side, becomes his first single to hit #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
45 Years Ago Today In 1964 - Capitol Records releases Peter and Gordon's single "Nobody I Know" (written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon), with "You Don't Have To Tell Me" on the flip side
1966 - The Beatles' Capitol Records album "Yesterday And Today" was supposed to be released today (and a few copies may actually have made it to some stores through independent distributors) but its official released is delayed until June 20 when the new "truck" cover art replaces the original "butcher" cover
1967 - Alan Jardine, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, with vocalist Diane Rovell of The Honeys, record the track "Vegetables" at The Beach Boys Studio in Bel Air, California
1970 - Capitol Records releases Grand Funk Railroad's album "Closer To Home"
1972 - Harvest Records releases Pink Floyd's album "Obscured By Clouds" with Capitol Records handling distribution in the United States
1996 - Ella Fitzgerald (born Ella Jane Fitzgerald) singer, bandleader, motion picture actress and Brunswick, Verve, Capitol and Pablo Records artist, dies in Beverly Hills, California at age 79 from complications brought about by diabetes and is later interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California
1996 - Billboard magazine reports that Capitol Records Inc. has paid $10 million to acquire 49% of shares of Matador Records

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1943 - Muff Winwood, bass guitarist, songwriter, record producer, member of the Fontana and United Artists Records group The Spencer Davis Band with his brother Steve Winwood, is born Mervyn Winwood in Erdington, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
1959 - Martin Denny's Liberty Records single "Quiet Village" is #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, Dion and The Belmonts Laurie Records single "A Teenager In Love" is #6, and Fats Domino's Imperial Records single "I'm Ready" is #19. Liberty, Laurie, and Imperial Records' catalogs are currently owned by Capitol Music Group's parent company, EMI Music Group.
1963 - Lou Christie's Roulette Records single "Two Faces Have I" is #11 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and The Chiffon's Laurie Records single "One Fine Day" is #17. Roulette and Laurie Records' catalogs are currently owned by Capitol Music Group's parent company, EMI Music Group.
40 Years Ago Today In 1969 - "Hee Haw", starring Capitol Records artist Buck Owens and former Capitol Records artist Roy Clark and with Capitol Records group The Buckaroos as house band, debuts on the CBS television network
1991 - Paula Abdul's Virgin Records America single "Rush Rush" is #1 on Billboards' Top 100 singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1901 - Jack Kapp, co-founder of Decca Records and records producer, is born
1945 - Judy Garland marries Ben Vincent Minnelli in a ceremony performed by Dr. William Roberts of the Beverly Hills Community Presbyterian Church in the home of her mother Ethel Garland, at 1231 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles, California. One of Judy's sisters was her attendant and the best man for Minnelli was lyricist Ira Gershwin.
1962 - EMI lauches the Stateside label in Britain "for repertoire licensed from American labels"
40 Years Ago Today In 1969 - Judy Garland gives her last performance for a live audience when she appears at the Half Note nightclub, Greenwich Village, NYC
1992 - At ceremony #156, Michael Keaton leaves his footprints in cement at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California and at ceremony #157, Tom Cruise leaves his footprints