JUNE 20, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1942 - Brian Wilson, songwriter, singer, bass player, pianist, record producer and member of Capitol Records band The Beach Boys, is born Brian Douglas Wilson at 3:45am at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California
1945 - Anne Murray, singer and Capitol Records recording artist (1969-1991), is born Morna Anne Murray in Springhill, Nova Scotia
1960 - John Taylor, solo artist and bass player for the Capitol Records bands Duran Duran and Power Station and Maverick Records band Neurotic Outsiders, is born Nigel John Taylor in Solihull, Warwickshire, England

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1953 - Les Baxter and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "April in Portugal" is still #3 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart and its flip side "Ruby" is #11 down from #9, Les Paul and Mary Ford's Capitol Records single "Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You)" is #10 up from #14, Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Pretend" is #13 down from #10, and Kay Starr (with orchestra conducted by Harold Mooney)'s Capitol Records single "Half A Photograph" is #15 up from #19
1955 - Faron Young's Capitol Records single "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young", with "Forgive Me Dear" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1960 - Rick Nelson's Imperial Records single "Young Emotions" is #18 down from #14 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. EMI Music Group, Capitol Music Group's parent company, currently owns the Imperial Records catalog.
1961 - EMI Records, Capitol Records' parent company, moves from Blyth Road to new offices at EMI House, 20 Manchester Square, London, England W1
1963 - Buck Owens' Capitol Records single "Act Naturally" is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1965 - Ira Louvin (born Lonnie Ira Loudermilk), Capitol Records recording artist (solo and in a duo with his brother Charlie as the Louvin Brothers) and his fourth wife Anne Young are killed when the car they were riding in while heading home after finishing a show in Kansas City, Missouri is hit head on by a drunk driver in Williamsburg, Missouri
1965 - Buck Owens' Capitol Records single "Before You Go", with "(I Want) No One But You" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1966 - Capitol Records officially releases The Beatles' album "Yesterday And Today" in the U.S. with the "trunk" cover art. Some copies, because of the rush to release, have the new art pasted over the original "butcher" cover art. Let the steaming begin! :)
1970 - The Beatles' Apple Records single "The Long And Winding Road", distributed by Capitol Records in the United States, is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart
1972 - Buck Owens records the track "You Ain't Gonna Have Ol' Buck To Kick Around No More" which Capitol Records will release as a single on August 28, 1972 with "I Love You So Much It Hurts" on the flip side
1976 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's single, "I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train", with "Baby's Home" on the flip side, his last single for the label after recording for the label for 27 years and 2 months,
15 Years Ago Today In 1994 - Members of the Capitol Records band The Smithereens hold an online conference with fans on Compuserve
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville recording artist Dierks Bently performs “Come A Little Closer” on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America"
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville recording artist Trace Adkins voices the role of The Cowboy on The Disney Channels' CGI cartoon series "Higglytown Heroes"
2005 - An article in Billboard magazine reports that Capitol Records Nashville CFO Tom Becci has been promoted to COO for the label, where he’ll oversee Capitol Records Nashville's financial operations as well as overall label operations
2006 - Capitol Records releases Leeds, UK singer, songwriter and musician Corrine Bailey Rae's self-titled debut album in the United States
2007 - Donna King (aka Donna King Conkling, born Donna Olivia Driggs), singer, radio and television performer, wife of Capitol Records executive and founder of Warner Bros. Records Jim Conkling, and member of the Capitol Records group The King Sisters, dies of asthma and cancer at age 88 in Plano, Texas, where she had been living in recent years with her daughter, Candy Brand. Services were held Monday, June 25, at 11 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 14001 Burbank Blvd., Sherman Oaks, California.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
165 Years Ago Today In 1844 - Tom Dula, on whose life and death the song "Tom Dooley" is based, is born Thomas C. Dula in Reedy Branch, Wilkes County, North Carolina
1910 - Fanny Brice debuts in The Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. She would go on to become a motion picture and radio actress (best known for her character "Baby Snooks") and a Capitol Records artist (the Capitol Records children's album "Baby Snooks Learns"). Capitol Records will also release the original Broadway cast album for the musical "Funny Girl" which was based on Brice's life.
1936 - Mickie Most, songwriter (for Herman's Hermits, The Animals, as well as Lulu and Jeff Beck), record producer, founder and owner of RAK Records (whose catalog is currently owned by EMI Music Group, Capitol Music Group's parent company and had hits during the 1970s with Suzi Quatro, Mud, and Hot Chocolate), is born Michael Peter Hayes in Aldershot, Hampshire, England
1948 - Tina Sinatra, producer, actress and daughter of future Capitol Records artist Frank Sinatra, is born Christine Diane Sinatra in Los Angeles, California
30 Years Ago Today In 1979 - Kenny Rogers' United Artists Records single "She Believes In Me", with "Morgana Jones" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
70 Years Ago Today In 1939 - Future Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer finishes his gig as the Tuesday night announcer of The Camel Caravan Show
1948 - Ed Sullivan's CBS television series "The Toast Of The Town" debuts with guests Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, who will sign with Capitol Records in exactly two months on August 20, 1948
1960 - WGN-TV Chicago's "Bozo" show debuts as a live half-hour program weekdays at noon, starring Bob Bell as Bozo (Chicago's Bozo until 1984) who performs comedy sketches and introduces cartoons