DECEMBER 25, 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1915 - Pete Rugolo, bandleader, songwriter, arranger (for Capitol Records artists Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, June Christy, Nat "King" Cole, Harry Belafonte, and many others), music director of Capitol Records from 1949-1957, and motion picture and television score composer, is born in San Piero, Sicily
1918 - Eddie Safranski, bandleader and bass player with Capitol Records group Stan Kenton and His Orchestra, is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1948 - Barbara Mandrell, singer and Capitol Records artist (1986), is born Barbara Ann Mandrell in Houston, Texas
1954 - Steve Wariner, singer, songwriter, guitarist, member of The Grand Ole Opry, and Capitol Records Nashville artist (1998), is born in Noblesville, Indiana

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
65 Years Ago Today In 1946 - The King Cole Trio's Capitol Records single "The Christmas Song", with "In The Cool Of The Evening" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Pop singles charts and Merle Travis' Capitol Records single "Divorce Me C.O.D.", with "Missouri" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts.
1965 - The Beatles' Capitol Records single "Day Tripper" enters the top 40 of Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart at #28 and will peak at #5 on January 22, 1966. It's flip side, "We Can Work It Out" is #11 and will peak at #1 on January 8, 1966.
1970 - George Harrison's Apple Records single "My Sweet Lord", with "Isn't It A Pity" on the flip side and distributed by Capitol Records in the United States, is #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1982 - Capitol Records releases Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band's album "The Distance" on cassette
25 Years Ago Today In 1986 - Duran Duran's Capitol Records single "Notorious", with "Winter Marches On" on the flip side, is #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1995 - Dean Martin, singer, motion picture actor, televsion variety show host, Capitol Records solo artist and part of the group The Rat Pack, dies at 3:00 AM of acute respiratory failure at age 78 in Beverly Hills, California.
2009 - Vic Chesnutt, singer, songwriter, guitarist and Hot Texas, Capitol (1996), Polygram, Backburner, spinART, and New West Records artist, dies from an overdose of muscle relaxants that had left him in a coma in an Athens, Georgia hospital.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Henry Vestine (aka "The Sunflower"), guitarist with The Beans, The Mothers Of Invention and the Liberty Records group Canned Heat (1965-early 1969, 1971), is born in Tacoma Park, Maryland. Liberty's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records' parent company EMI Music.
1978 - Kenny Rogers' United Artists Records single "The Gambler", with "Momma's Waiting" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart. United Artists' catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records' parent company EMI Music.
1994 - Anita Baker, with Ian Frasier conducting the orchestra (lineup unlisted) using an arrangement by Billy Byers, records "The Christmas Song" at former President Bill Clinton's Christmas Concert in New York City, New York. Blue Note Records will lease the track from from Special Olympics International, Inc. and issue it on the compilation CD album "Jazz To The World" (8-32127-2).