AUGUST 16, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1940 - T.S. Bonniwell (aka Sean Bonniwell), singer, guitarist, songwriter, founding member of the group The Music Machine, and a Capitol Records solo recording artist (the 1969 album "Close"), is born Thomas Harvey Bonniwell in San Jose, California
60 Years Ago Today In 1949 - Bill "Sputnik" Spooner, songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and founder of the Capitol Records recording group The Tubes, is born William Spooner in Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks Mel for the update on which city in Arizona is Bill's birthplace.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Johnny Mercer, with Freddie Slack and His Orchestra (Slack on piano; Ray Linn, Jack Mootz, and Ernie Figueroa on trumpets; Kenny Wygal and Roger Ingram on trombone (an email from Kenny Wygal's daughter Tricia reads that her father played trumpet for Freddie Slack not trombone); Jack Ordean and Jimmie Rudge on alto saxophone; Don Brassfield and Everett McLaughlin on tenor saxophone; Sam Sachelle on baritone saxophone; Al Hendirckson on electric guitar; Hilmer "Tiny" Timbrell on guitar; Harry Babason on bass; and Dave Coleman on drums) record the tracks "The H.C. Potter's Ball" with Mercer and Don Raye on vocals, and "The Necessary Evil Blues" with just Mercer on vocals. After recording Mercer's tracks, Freddie Slack and His Orchestra (same lineup as above), record the tracks "Half After" "Cocktail Repartee", and "What Is This Thing Called Rebop? All the tracks were recorded in Los Angeles, California and remained unissued until 2005 when they appeared on Mosaic Records' 3 CD compilation "Mosaic Select: Freddie Slack".
1947 - Tex Williams' Capitol Records single "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)" is still #1 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart and Red Ingle and The Natural Seven (with vocals by Cinderella G. Stump aka Jo Stafford)'s Capitol Records single "Tim-Tay-Shun" peaks at #2 up from #3
1950 - Nat "King" Cole (on vocal and piano), with Irving Ashby on guitar, Joe Comfort on bass, Jack Costanzo on bongos, and The Stan Kenton Orchestra (including Maynard Ferguson, Jim Salko, Buddy Childers, Chico Alvarez, and Shorty Rogers on trumpet; Milt Bernhart, Harry Betts, Bob Fitzpatrick, Johnny Halliburton, and Herbie Harper on trombone; Bud Shank and Art Pepper on alto saxophone; Bob Cooper and Bert Calderal on tenor saxophone; and Bob Gioga on baritone saxophone), records the tracks "Orange Colored Sky" (arranged by Pete Rugalo) and Jam-Bo (arranged by Shorty Rogers) with producer Lee Gillette at Capitol Records' Melrose Avenue studios in Hollywood, California
1952 - Al Martino (with orchestra conducted by Monty Kelly)'s Capitol Records single "Here In My Heart" is #7 down from #5 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Somewhere Along The Way" is #12 up from #13 and its flip side "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" with Billy May and His Orchestra is #14 up from #19
1956 - Louis Armstrong, with Buddy Rich on drums and the Oscar Peterson Trio, records the track "April in Paris" for Verve Records album "Ella and Louis" in The Capitol Tower Studios, in Hollywood California
1958 - The Kingston Trio records the tracks "New York Girls", "They Call The Wind Maria", and "Shady Grove/Lonesome Traveler" for their Capitol Records album "...From The Hungry i"
1961 - The Kingston Trio records the track "Oh Sail Away" for their Capitol Records album "Close-Up"
1968 - Apple Records releases Mary Hopkin's single "Those Were The Days", which is produced by Paul McCartney, with "Turn, Turn, Turn" on the flip side. The record becomes Apple's first big hit, selling 4 million copies worldwide, and is distributed by Capitol Records in the United States.
1996 - The Figgs' Capitol Records debut album "Banda Macho" hits #10 on CMJ's Radio Top 200 records chart
2005 - Capitol Records releases Bob Seger's album "Back In '72" on CD for the first time
2005 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Chris LeDoux's compilation album "Anthology Volume 1"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
80 Years Ago Today In 1929 - Bill Evans, pianist and Blue Note Records recording artist, is born William John Evans in Plainfield, New Jersey. Capitol Records currently owns Blue Note Records catalog.
1952 - The Gerry Mulligan Quartet (Mulligan on baritone saxophone, Chet Baker on trumpet, Bob Whitlock on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums) records for the first together in the afternoon at the Laurel Canyon bungalow of recording engineer Phil Turetsky. Using Turetsky's early model Ampex tape recorder, they record the tracks "Bernie's Tune" and "Lullaby Of The Leaves which are released as a single by Pacific Jazz. The single will become the label's first big success. Pacific Jazz's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records.
1962 - Brian Epstein fires The Beatle's drummer Pete Best and hires Ringo Starr to replace him
1968 - Arranger Gerald Wilson (with Ollie Mitchell, Dalton Smith, Alex Rodrigues, Tony Rusch (tp), Frank Strong, Lester Robertson, and Thurman Green on trombone; Mike Wimberly on bass trombone; Jim McGee and George Hyde on french horn; Anthony Ortega on alto saxophone, flute, and piccolo; Ramon Borjorquez on alto saxophone; Hadley Caliman and Harold Land on tenor saxophone; Richard Aplanalp on baritone saxophone; Henry DeVega, Pete Terry, and Bill Perkins on reeds; Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphones; Mike Wofford and Jimmy Rowles on piano, organ, and electric harpsichord; Mike Anthony on guitar; Wilton Felder on electric bass guitar; Carl Lott on drums; Hugh Anderson and Joe Porcaro on percussion) with producer Richard Bock and Recording engineer Lanky Linstrot at Liberty Records' studios on Third Street in Los Angeles (near Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills), California, records the tracks "California Soul", "Yesterlove", and "Lullaby From Rosemary's Baby" for his World Pacific Records album "California Soul"
1977 - Elvis Presley, father of Capitol Records artist Lisa Marie Presley, is pronounced dead of heart failure at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee at age 42
1996 - Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerger proposals. The resulting media company is now known as EMI Group PLC
2007 - It is announced that EMI has hired Saatchi & Saatchi to handle marketing of its back catalog

BTW - It's my daughter Alys' 10th birthday! She was born at 1:37 AM at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California