JULY 17, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1912 - Art Linkletter, talk show host and Capitol Records artist (1958-1969), is born Gordon Arthur Kelly in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
75 Years Ago Today In 1935 - Diahann Carroll, singer, motion picture, Broadway, and television actress and Capitol Records artist (on the original Broadway cast album "No Strings"), is born Carol Diahann Johnson in The Bronx, New York

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1959 - Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan), singer and Decca, Capitol (on the 1942 single "Travelin' Light"), and Verve Records artist, dies at age 44 from liver and heart disease at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, New York and is later interred in St. Raymond's Cemetery, Bronx, New York.
1967 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' single "All You Need Is Love" with "Baby You're A Rich Man" on the flip side
1974 - Don Rich (born born Donalad Eugene Ulrich), fiddle player, guitarist, singer with the Capitol Records group The Buckaroos (which backed up Rich's good friend Buck Owens and recorded on their own), dies at age 33 when he loses control of his motorcycle and strikes a guard rail on Highway 99 north of Bakersfield, California after a recording session at the Buck Owens Studios in Oildale, California. He is later interred at Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery on Kern Canyon Road (Highway 184) in the foothills of northeast Bakersfield, California
25 Years Ago Today In 1985 - Wynn Stewart (born Winford Lindsey Stewart), singer, songwriter, guitarist and Capitol Records country artist (1956-1958, 1964-1971), dies of a heart attack at age 51 at his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee the day he was going to leave to start a four-day tour in Louisiana and Texas to promote his upcoming, self-released album. There will later be graveside services at Rose Hill Cemetary, north of Willard, Tennessee
2009 - Gordon Waller, lead singer in the Capitol Records vocal duo Peter And Gordon, died of cardiovascular disease at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut at age 64.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1941 - Spencer Davis, harmonica player, guitarist, and founder of the United Artists Records group, is born in South Wales, United Kingdom
60 Years Ago Today In 1950 - "The Colgate Comedy Hour" makes its television debut with hosts comedy team and Capitol Records artists Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
1952 - Arthur Blanch, Australian country singer and future EMI and Capitol Records artist (1968), has his first recording session, recording six tracks including two of his own compositions, one of which, "Shearing Time", was his earliest hit, for Rodeo Records
1956 - MGM releases the motion picture "High Society" whose soundtrack, featuring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby (who gets the gold record in his career for the single "True Love"), Grace Kelly, and Celeste Holmes, is released by Capitol Records
1963 - Tenor saxophonist Harold Land, with Carmell Jones on trumpet, John Houston on piano, Jimmy Bond on bass and Mel Lee on drums, records the tracks "Take This Hammer", "Hava Na Gila", "Foggy, Foggy Dew", "On Top Of Old Smokey", and "Blue Tail Fly" for his album "JAZZ IMPRESSIONS OF FOLK MUSIC" for Imperial Records, whose catalog was acquired by Capitol Records.
1966 - Frank Sinatra marries his third wife, actress Mia Farrow in a private ceremony in Las Vegas
1967 - John Coltrane, saxophonist, composer, and Blue Note Records artist, dies at age 40 from liver cancer at Huntington Hospital in Long Island, NY
1968 - United Artists premieres The Beatles' animated feature motion picture "The Yellow Submarine" in London, England
1988 - Richard Marx's EMI Manhattan Records single "Hold On To The Night", with "Lonely Heart" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
55 Years Ago Today In 1955 - Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California