DECEMBER 29, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1943 - Rick Danko, rhythm guitar player with the group The Hawks and electric bass player and singer with the Capitol Records group The Band, is born in Green's Corners, outside of Simcoe, Ontario, Canada
1944 - Patti Drew, singer with the Capitol Records group (1964) The Drew-vels (which includes her sisters Lorraine and Erma and bass vocalist Carlton Black) and a Capitol Records solo artist (1967-1971), is born in Charleston, North Carolina. Her mother, a domestic worker for Capitol Records regional promoter Maury Lathower in Evanston, Illinois, invited him to hear her daughters sing at a church function and he got the group signed to Capitol.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1947 - The Dinning Sisters record the track "Buttons And Bows" for Capitol Records which will release it as a single with "San Antonio Rose" on the flip side. The single will enter Billboard's Pop singles charts on October 22, 1948 were it will stay for 16 weeks, eventually peaking at #7.
1952 - Fletcher Henderson, band leader, pianist, arranger, and member of the Capitol Records band Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, dies in New York City, New York at age 55
1962 - The Green River Boys (a "one-off" group, one of whose members is future Capitol Records solo artist Glen Campbell)' Capitol Records single "Kentucky Means Paradise", with "Truck Drivin' Man" on the flip side, enters Billboard's Country singles chart where it will peak at #20
1963 - The "Good Guys", on 5,000-watt radio station WMCA, become the first New York disc jockeys to play The Beatles’ Capitol Records single "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
1964 - Buck Owens records the track "Gonna Have Love" for Capitol Records
45 Years Ago Today In 1966 - The Beatles' record the track "Penny Lane" at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England which will be released as a single by Capitol Records in the United States with "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the flip side
1967 - Paul Whiteman (aka "The King of Jazz"), who commissioned George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and premiered the piece with Gershwin at the piano, bandleader (whose members included future Capitol Records artists Jack Teagarden and Red Nichols as well as vocalist and future Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer), radio and television show host, motion picture actor, and a Capitol Records artist (whose first single, "I Found A New Baby" [with "The General Jumped At Dawn" on the flip side] is the label's first release), dies in Doylestown, Pennsylvania at age 77
1969 - Capitol Records releases Grand Funk Railroad's album "Grand Funk" (aka "The Red Album")
1973 - Ringo Starr's Apple Records single "You're Sixteen", a cover of Johnny Burnette's Imperial Records track, with "Devil Woman" on the flip side and distributed by Capitol Records in the United States, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart at # 27 and will peak at #1 on January 26, 1974
1974 - Helen Reddy's Capitol Records single "Angie Baby" is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1990 - Wilson Phillips' SBK Records single "Impulsive", distributed by Capitol Records, is still #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Etta Jones, with Barney Bigard, record the tracks "Blow Top Blues", "Salty Papa Blues", "Evil Gal Blues" and "Long Long Journey" in Los Angeles, California for Black and White Records. Black and White's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records.
1958 - The Chipmunks with David Saville's Liberty Records single "The Chipmunk Song" is still #1 on Billboard's Pop singles chart and Ricky Nelson's Imperial Records single "Lonesome Town" is #3. Liberty and Imperial's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records parent company EMI Music.
1962 - Ricky Nelson's Imperial Records single "It's Up To You", with "I Need You" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart and will peak at #6 on February 2, 1963
1963 - The Beach Boys' Candix Records single "Surfin'" (their first single) debuts at #33 on Los Angeles radio station KFWB's "Fabulous Forty Survey" for this week