JULY 2, 2010

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1949 - Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer (with Paul Weston and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is still #4 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Mel Tormé (with orchestra conducted by Pete Rugalo)'s Capitol Records single "Again" is #10 down from #8, and Margaret Whiting (with Frank DeVol and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "A Wonderful Guy" re-enters the top 20 at #20.
55 Years Ago Today In 1955 - Nat "King" Cole's double sided Capitol Records hit "A Blossom Fell" (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra) and "If I May" (with The Four Knights on backing vocals and Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra) is #3 up from #4 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Les Baxter and His Orchestra and Chorus' Capitol Records single "Unchained Melody" is #4 down from #2, Frank Sinatra (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Learnin' The Blues" is still #5, and Tennessee Ernie Ford (with Cliffie Stone's Band)'s Capitol Records single "The Ballad Of Davy Crocket" is #21 down from #19
1962 - Capitol Records releases Tennessee Ernie Ford's single "Work Song" with "Rags And Old Irons" on the flip side
1963 - Bobby Darin records his own composition, the track "Treat My Baby Good", arranged and conducted by Jimmy Haskell for a Capitol Records single with "Down So Long" on the flip side, with producer Nik Venet. The single peaked at #43 on the Pop Charts and #11 on the Adult charts.
1963 - The Beatles record the tracks "That's All Right (Mama)", "Carol", "Soldier Of Love" and "Clarabella" for broadcast on the BBC. The tracks will later be released by Apple Records on the album "Live At The B.B.C" with Capitol Records handling distribution in the United States
1964 - Peggy Lee (with studio orchestra of Justin Gordon, Paul Horn, and Jules Jacobs on reeds; Milt Bernhardt and Ed Kusby on trombone; James Decker on french horn; John Pisano on guitar; Chuck Berghofer on bass; Lou Levy on piano; Stan Levey on drums; and Francisco Aguabella on bongo and conga) records the tracks "Shangri-La" (arranged by Dave Grusin), "Again" (arranger unknown), and The Right To Love (Reflections)" (arranged by Lalo Schifrin) with producer Dave Cavanaugh at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California for her Capitol Records album "In The Name Of Love" although "Again" didn't make it on to the album and was finally released by Capitol Records on the 1998 CD "Miss Peggy Lee"
1966 - The Beach Boys' Capitol Records album "Pet Sounds" peaks at #10 on Billboard's album charts
20 Years Ago Today In 1990 - Capitol Records releases Poison's album "Flesh & Blood", which will peak at #2 on the album charts on August 18, 1990, and be certified triple platinum by the R.I.A.A. on February 14, 1991
1991 - Capitol Records releases Arcadia's album "So Red The Rose" and Crowded House's album "Woodface"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1919 - Fred Maddox, brother of Capitol Records artist Rose Maddox and member of the group The Maddox Brothers and Rose, is born in Boaz, Alabama
1941 - Charlie Watts, drummer with the Virgin Records group The Rolling Stones and bandleader of the group Charlie Watts and His Big Band, is born in Islington, London, England
1944 - Nat "King" Cole and Lee Young of the Capitol Records group The King Cole Trio , with future Capitol Records artist Les Paul sitting in as a last-minute replacement for Oscar Moore, perform at the first "Jazz At The Philharmonic" concert in Los Angeles, California. Paul, who was in the army at the time and not allowed to make civilian recordings, used the pseudonym Paul Leslie and Cole, under contract to Capitol, used the pseudonym Slim Nadine when a track they performed with Illinois Jacquet, Jack McVea, J. J. Johnson, Johnny Miller, and Young, "Blues, Part 2", was released as a single (which some have sited as the first Rock 'N' Roll record)
1948 - Vibraphonist Milt Jackson, with pianist Thelonius Monk, John Simmons on bass and Shadow Wilson on drums, records the tracks "Evidence", "Misterioso" and "Epistrophy" at Apex Studios in New York City with producer Alfred Lion and engineer Rudy Van Gelder for the Blue Note Records album "Milt Jackson: Wizard Of The Vibes"
1966 - The Beatles perform the last of five concerts performed over three days at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan
1969 - Brian Jones, founder and lead guitarist of future Virgin Records group The Rolling Stones, dies in his swimming pool after 11PM at his home, Cotchford Farm, in Sussex, England at age 27. He will be found the next morning and many site July 3, 1969 as the day of his death. A visibly shaken band will perform 3 days later with replacement guitarist Mick Jones for a filmed outdoor benefit concert in Hyde Park.
1973 - Betty Grable, actress, dancer, singer, pin-up girl, and one-time wife (1943-1965) of Capitol Records artist Harry James, dies of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California at age 56 and is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL HISTORY
55 Years Ago Today In 1955 - The Lawrence Welk Show debuts on ABC-TV
1956 - Elvis Presley records the tracks "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" in New York City for an RCA single that would be the first single to go gold on both sides
1967 - Jimmy Hendrix makes his only concert appearance at The Whisky on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California
1997 - Jimmy Stewart, motion picture actor, singer and poet, dies at his home in Beverly Hills California as the result a pulmonary embolus at age 89. He was buried on July 7, 1997 next to his wife Gloria at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California
2003 - Former Capitol Records artist Kenny Rogers makes his debut appearance at The Hollywood Bowl