DECEMBER 22, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1915 - Felix Slatkin, violinist, conductor, concertmaster at 20th Century Fox Studios, session musician and concert master for many of Frank Sinatra's Capitol Records recordings, member and musical director of the Capitol Records group The Hollywood String Quartet (with his wife, cellist Eleanor Aller Slatkin, violinist Joachim Chassman [later replaced by Paul C. Shure], and violist Paul Robyn) which produced 21 albums for Capitol and with whom Sinatra also recorded, as well as The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, founder of The Concert Arts Orchestra, solo artist for Liberty Records (the "Fantastic" series), father of conductor and music director Leonard Slatkin and cellist Frederick Zlotkin (the original Russian spelling of Slatkin), is born in Saint Louis, Missouri

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Eddie Miller and His Orchestra (including Miller on tenor saxophone, Matty Matlock on clarinet) record the track "Everything I Have Is Yours" (arranged by Matlock with a vocal by Martha Tilton), which will go unreleased until it is included on the 1997 Mosaic Records box set "Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions", and "Who, Me?" (written and arranged by Matlock), that will be released on a promotional single (7-1223) by Capitol Records on the flip side of "The Hour Of Parting", in Los Angeles, California
1947 - Stan Kenton and His Orchestra (Buddy Childers, Ray Wetzel, Al Porcino, Chico Alvarez, and Ken Hanna on trumpet; Milt Bernhart, Eddie Bert, Harry Betts, and Harry Forbes on trombone; Bart Varsalona on bass trombone; George Weidler and Art Pepper on alto saxophone; Bob Cooper, and Warner Weidler on tenor saxophone; Bob Gioga on baritone saxophone; Kenton on piano; Laurindo Almeida on guitar; Eddie Safranski on bass; Shelly Manne on drums; Jack Costanzo on bongos; and June Christy on vocals) record the tracks "Harlem Holiday (A Message To Harlem)" (solos by Costanzo, Alvarez, Cooper, Bert, Pepper, Porcino, Kenton, Safranski and Manne), "This Is My Theme" (vocals by Christy), "Bongo Riff" (solo by Costanzo), "Somnambulism" (solos by Safranski, G. Weidler, Bernhart, and Cooper), and "Interlude" (trombones and rhythm only, solo by Kenton) for Capitol Records at RKO-Pathe Studios in New York City, New York
1950 - Les Paul and Mary Ford's first Capitol Records single together, "Tennessee Waltz" with Paul's "Little Rock Getaway" on the flip side, enters Billboard's Pop singles chart
1958 - Frank Sinatra, with conductor Billy May, records the tracks "Day In - Day Out", "Baubles, Bangles And Beads", "Dancing In The Dark", "Saturday Night" and "Cheek To Cheek" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California. May arranged all the tracks except "Saturday Night" which was arranged by Heine Beau. All the tracks will be included on Sinatra's Capitol Records album "Come Dance With Me"
45 Years Ago Today In 1966 - By changing the speeds on two takes, producer George Martin is able to edit them together creating the finished version of The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever"
1974 - Helen Reddy's Capitol Records single "Angie Baby", with "I Think I'll Write A Song" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
35 Years Ago Today In 1976 - Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band's Capitol Records album "Live Bullet" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
10 Years Ago Today In 2001 - Johnny Wakley, singer, songwriter, and son of Capitol Records artist Jimmy Wakely, dies from liver disease at age 57

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1900 - The "His Master's Voice" picture is registered as a trademark of The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd. (later to become Capitol's parent company EMI) in Britain. Francis Barraud's painting "His Master's Voice" was purchased by The Gramophone Company Ltd. on September 15, 1899 and was first used the following year on the company's Record Supplement for January 1900. The company later hired Barraud to paint copies which hang in EMI's corporate offices around the world, including (at least as of 2001) one on the "E" (13th) floor of The Capitol Tower in Hollywood, California.
1958 - The Chipmunks with David Seville's Liberty Records single "The Chipmunk Song", with The Chipmunks' "Alvin's Harmonica" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Pop singles chart. Liberty's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records' parent company EMI Music.