FEBRUARY 20, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1937- Nancy Wilson, singer, television variety show host and actress, 1999 Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame inductee, and Capitol Records artist, is born Nancy Sue Wilson in Chillicothe, Ohio
1946 - Jerome Giles, guitarist and leader of the Capitol Records group J. Giles Band, is born in New York City, New York

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1947 - Merle Travis' Capitol Records single "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed", with "Sweet Temptation" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country charts
1952 - Mel Blanc records the tracks "Tweet, Tweet, Tweety" and (with an uncredited vocal by June Foray) "Bugs Bunny And The Grow-Small Juice" with producer Alan Livingston and composer and arranger Billy May conducting the orchestra at Capitol Records' studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. The tracks will be released as individual singles by Capitol Records.
1959 - Tennessee Ernie Ford's Capitol Records album "Hymns" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
45 Years Ago Today In 1965 - Buck Owens' Capitol Records single "I've Got A Tiger By The Tail", with "Cryin' Time" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
45 Years Ago Today In 1965 - The Beatles record the track "That Means a Lot" at EMI's Abbey Road Studios around midday
40 Years Ago Today In 1970 - John Ono Lennon's Apple Records single "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)", with Yoko Lennon Ono's "Who Has Seen The Wind?" on the flip side, is released by Capitol Records in the United States just 25 days after being recorded
25 Years Ago Today In 1985 - Clarence Nash, voice actor (best known for "Donald Duck") and Capitol Records artist, dies at age 80
1991 - Polygram, Parlophone, Vee-Jay, Swan, Capitol, Apple, Zapple, and Geffen Records artist John Lennon is posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award
2007 - Capitol Records releases Luscious Jackson's compilation album "Greatest Hits"
2009 - I was interviewed for a documentary about Johnny Mercer by director/producer Bruce Ricker at the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, CA in the Eastwood Sound Stage. I followed Leonard Maltin and Miles Kreuger and met Richard Carpenter on the way in.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1957 - Dave Guard And The Calypsonians, forerunners of the Capitol Records group The Kingston Trio, record an acetate demo of "Run Joe"
1961 - Johnny Burnette's Liberty Records single "Little Boy Sad", with "(I Go) Down To The River" on the flip side, enters the U.S. Country singles charts
1972 - James C. Bracken, co-owner of Vee-Jay Records, dies in Chicago, Illinois at age 62
1982 - Chrysalis Records artist Pat Benatar marries her guitarist, Neil Gerado, in Hawaii