JUNE 4, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1945 - Gordon Waller, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and part of the Capitol Records duo Peter and Gordon, is born Gordon Trueman Riviere Waller in Braemar, Scotland
1953 - Jimmy McCulloch, lead guitarist with the band Wings and member of bands including Thunderclap Newman and Stone The Crows, is born in Glasgow, Scotland. He would die in London, England on September 27, 1979 at age 26 of a heart failure due to overuse of heroin, morphine, alcohol and marijuana. Miguel Terol has a tribute page to Jimmy on The Musicians' Olympus website.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1942 - With it's name officially changed from Liberty Records, Capitol Records starts business in a small 15’x50’ second floor office with no air conditioning at 1483 Vine Street, just south of Sunset Boulevard, above Sy Devore’s Tailor Shop and next to photographer Gene Lester's studio. Also on this day Capitol Records will become the first record company to give free copies of its records to D.J.s when co-founder Glenn Wallichs personally brings disc jockey Peter Potter, creator of “The Juke Box Jury” radio show, a copy of “Cow-Cow Boogie” (which, along with Mercer's "Strip Polka" will become one of Capitol’s first big sellers). After seeing Potter's reaction, Wallichs decides, for the first time in the history of the American music industry, to give free copies of releases to disc jockeys and reviewers to promote Capitol Records' acts and the sound quality of its recordings. The records are personalized with labels bearing each recipient's name (which would often lead to Capitol's few employees having to stay up to 3 in the morning to fill them out). This quickly makes Capitol Records a favorite of disc jockeys across the country and forces the rest of the industry to follow Capitol. The first female employee was Auriel MacFie who operated the small switchboard and was also the company's receptionist and typist who, according to Dave Dexter, Jr.'s autobiography "Playback", was blonde, smiling, attractive and would, by 1976, become a prominent editor for a major Californian book publisher. The site of Capitol's first office is currently the entrance to the Bank of America parking structure.
1946 - Stan Kenton and His Orchestra (Buddy Childers, Ray Wetzel, Chico Alvarez, John Anderson, Ken Hanna on trumpet; Kai Winding, Miff Sines, Milt Kabak on trombone; Bart Varsalona on bass trombone; Al Anthony, Boots Mussulli on alto saxophone; Vido Musso, Bob Cooper on tenor saxophone; Bob Gioga on baritone saxophone; Stan Kenton on piano; Bob Ahern on guitar; Eddie Safranski on bass; Shelly Manne on drums; June Christy, Gene Howard, Ray Wetzel on vocals), record the Pete Rugolo compositions "Rika Jika Jack" (with vocals by Christy and the band and trombone solo by Kai Winding), "Artistry in Boogie" (with piano solos by Kenton and Pete Rugolo, bass solo by Eddie Safranski, tenor saxophone solo by Vido Musso, trumpet solo by Chico Alvarez, and trombone solo by Kai Winding), "Come Back To Sorrento" (with trumpet solo by Vido Musso) and an imcomplete take of "Collaboration" (piano solo by Pete Rugolo) at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California
60 Years Ago Today In 1949 - Mel Tormé (with orchestra conducted by Pete Rugolo)'s Capitol Records single "Again" is #7 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records single "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is #11, Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae (with Paul Weston and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "'A' You're Adorable" is #12, and Mel Tormé (with orchestra conducted by Pete Rugolo)'s Capitol Records single "Careless Hands" is #16
1955 - Les Baxter and His Orchestra and Chorus' Capitol Records single "Unchained Melody" is #2 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s single "A Blossom Fell" and its flip side "If I May" which also includes The Four Knights is #6, Frank Sinatra (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Learnin' The Blues" is #10, Tennessee Ernie Ford (with Cliffie Stone's Band)'s "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett" is #11, and Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s single "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" is #18
1956 - Capitol Records releases Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps' Capitol Records single "Woman Love", with "Be-Bop-A-Lula" on the flip side and the group, with Vincent on vocals, Cliff Gallup and William Williams on guitar, Jack Neil on bass, and Dickie Harrell on drums, play first-ever gig at Myrtle Beach
1962 - The Beatles' sign their first contract with Parlophone Records
1962 - Capitol Records, as part of Capitol Single Release 841, releases singles by Dinah Shore ("Just A Brief Encounter" with orchestra conducted by Van Alexander), Tex Williams ("You Gotta Have A License" and "Ghost Of A Honky Tonk Slave" with orchestra conducted by Billy Liebert), The Beach Boys ("Surfin' Safari" and "409"), and Art and Dottie Todd ("Sweet Someone" and "Ring-A-Ding")
40 Years Ago Today In 1969 - The Beatles' single "The Ballad Of John and Yoko", with "Old Brown Shoe" on the flip side, is released by Capitol Records in the U.S.
1973 - Murry Gage Wilson, father of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson (and uncle to Mike Love) of The Beach Boys, dies of a heart attack at his home in Hawthorne, California at age 56. Murry was at one time co-producer of The Beach Boys, ran the band's publishing company Sea of Tunes, had his own album on Capitol ("The Many Moods Of Murry Wilson), and was manager and producer of the Tower Records band The Sunrays, and their website has a photos of them with Murry.
1973 - Capitol Records Canada releases Edward Bear's album "Close Your Eyes" and Rolf Harris' album "You Name It"
1990 - Members of the International Sawyer Brown Fan Club hold their first meeting at a breakfast with the Capitol Nashville band the day before the Fan Fair 1990 opens in Nashville, Tennessee. Members of the band go to each table to chat and give autographs, and that afternoon there's an auction of Sawyer Brown memorabilia. There's a write up on the fan club's website about the breakfast and the fan fair.
1998 at 9:00 AM eastern - A news item appears announcing that Gary Gersh, president & CEO, Capitol Records, and Glen Ballard, president, Java Records, have signed Lisa Marie Presley to an exclusive recording agreement with Java Records. Java Records was the joint venture between Capitol Records and writer/producer Ballard.
2001 - Diana Krall finished recording her album "The Look Of Love" in The Capitol Tower Studios
2001 - John Hartford, banjo player, triple Grammy Award winner, and composer (best remembered for Glen Campbell's Capitol Records single "Gentle On My Mind") dies at age 63 in a Nashville hospital after a lengthy battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma
5 Years Ago Today In 2003 - Lisa Marie Presley performs during half-time of the first game of the 2001 NBA finals
2005 - Capitol Records artists hold the top 3 spots on Billboard's Country charts with Keith Urban's "Making Memories of Us" at #1, Trace Adkins' "Songs About Me" at #2, and Dierks Bentley's "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do" coming in at #3
2006 -The Rice Brothers (Wayne, Jim and Joe) with guitarist Dale Cooper, bassist Steve Lawrence, and fiddler Tom Cunningham perform during the evening service at Shadow Mountain Community Church (2100 Greenfield Drive, El Cajon, California) at 6:00 p.m. These former members of the band Brush Arbor will be playing and singing together for the first time since their Capitol Records days thirty years ago [1972-1974]. Wayne Rice has put up a homepage for Brush Arbor with a great discography and history.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
65 Years Ago Today In 1944 - Michelle Phillips, motion picture and television actress, singer with the group The Mamas And The Papas, and mother of SBK Records artist (as part of the group Wilson Phillips) Chynna Phillips, is born vocals Holly Michelle Gilliam in Long Beach, California
1960 - Pianist Randy Weston (with Cecil Payne on baritone saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums) records the tracks "Portrait Of Patsy J", "Uncle Nemo", "Cry Me Not", "Honk Honk", "Saucer Eyes", "204", and "C.B. Blues" (all written by Weston), with producer Teddy Reig in New York City, New York for Roulette Records who will only release the track "Saucer Eyes" as part of "The Roulette Jazz CD Sampler" and will all finally be released in 2003 by Mosaic Records on the CD compilation "Mosaic Select: Randy Weston"
45 Years Ago Today In 1964 - Chris Kavanagh, drummer with the EMI America Records group Sigue Sigue Sputnik as well as Big Audio Dynamite II, is born in England

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1965 - The Rolling Stones' single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", with "The Under-Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" on the filp side, enters Billboard's singles chart where it will peak at #1, the band's first in the U.S.
25 Years Ago Today In 1984 - Frank Sinatra begins a 13 night stand at Carnagie Hall with a black tie benefit for the hall which is reviewed by Jon Pareles for The New York Times
1992 - Harrison Ford leaves his hand and footprints during ceremony #155 at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California