DECEMBER 31, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1908 or 1909 - Jonah Jones, trumpet player, singer, band leader, and Capitol Records artist, is born Robert Elliott Jones in Louisville, Kentucky. If anyone knows for sure which year, please leave a comment.
1928 - Ross Barbour, vocalist with the Capitol Records group The Four Freshmen, is born in Columbus, Indiana
60 Years Ago Today In 1951 - George Thorogood, singer, guitarist, EMI America Records and Capitol Records artist, is born in Wilmington, Delaware

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - Tex Ritter's Capitol Records single "I’m Wastin’ My Tears On You", with "There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1947 - Roy Rogers marries Dale Evans. Both would become Capitol Records solo artists as well as a Capitol Records duo.
1952 - Skeets McDonald's Capitol Records single "Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes", with "Big Family Trouble" on the flip side, is still #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1955 - Nelson Riddle's Capitol Records single "Lisbon Antiqua" enters the top 40 of Billboard's Pop singles chart
1960 - Ferlin Husky's Capitol Records single "Wings of a Dove" is still #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart
1965 - The Beatles' Capitol Records single, "I Feel Fine" (with "She's A Woman" on the flip side), and Capitol Records album, "Beatles '65", are both certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
45 Years Ago Today In 1966 - The Seekers' Capitol Records single "Georgy Girl" enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1968 - Glen Campbell's Capitol Records single "Wichita Lineman" is still #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart
1969 - Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsies play for the first time in public at the first of two consecutive days of gigs at the Fillmore East in New York City, New York. The last two shows performed the next day on January 1, 1970 will be recorded for a live album that will be released by Capitol Records to honor a 1965 contract that Hendrix had signed with the label.
1970 - Paul McCartney files a writ in London High Court against "The Beatles and Co.", seeking the legal dissolution of the partnership, which will finally take place December 30, 1974
30 Years Ago Today In 1981 - Dave Cavanaugh (aka "Big Dave" Cavanaugh), tenor saxophonist, bass player, and A&R producer for Capitol Records, dies in Tarzana, California at age 62
1984 - Duran Duran's Capitol Records single "The Wild Boys" is #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1985 - Rick Nelson (radio, telelvision, and motion picture actor, singer, songwriter, Imperial Records and Capitol Records artist), his fiancée Helen Blair, and five members of Nelson's Stone Canyon Band die after their plane crashes a mile southeast of DeKalb, Texas after a Fire in the pasenger cabin forces the pilots of Nelson’s DC-3 to attempt an emergency landing in a field. The crew escaped through the cockpit windows, but none of the pasengers survived.
1994 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Garth Brooks' album "The Hits" which will go on to sell over 10 million copies and be certified Diamond by the R.I.A.A.
10 Years Ago Today In 2001 - Charlie Louvin, former Capitol Records artist and member of The Grand Ole Opry, suffers broken ribs, a concussion, and a cracked breastbone in a car wreck

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1929 - Future Capitol Records artist Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians' first annual New Year's Eve broadcast from the Roosevelt Grill in New York City is heard over the CBS Radio network
80 Years Ago Today In 1931 - Gil Melle, saxophonist, synthesizer and drum machine player, painter, graphic artist (designed album covers for Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, and Sonny Rollins), film score writer ("The Andromeda Strain", one of the first electronic music film scores), who at age 19 became Blue Note Records first white artist, is born Gilbert John Melle in Riverside, California
1947 - Future Capitol Records artists (both as a duo and as solo artists) Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are married.
1960 - Ferrante & Teicher's United Artists Records single "Exodus" is #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The United Artists catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records' parent company EMI Music
50 Years Ago Today In 1961 - Future Capitol Records band The Beach Boys (previously performing under the names The Pendletones, Kenny and The Cadets, and Carl and The Passions) play for the first time using that name when the appear at a Ritchie Valens' Memorial Concert in Long Beach, California and earn $300
2002 - Kevin Macmichael, guitarist and co-founder (with vocalist Nick Van Eede) of the Virgin Records America band Cutting Crew, dies of lung cancer at age 51. Their 1987 hit "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is the label's first U.S. release and its first #1 single. Virgin Records America's catalog is now owned by Capitol's parent company, EMI Music.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1905 - Jule Styne, pop, motion picture and Broadway composer (wrote, with lyricists that included Sammy Cahn and Frederick Loewe, the music for the songs "I've Heard That Song Before", "I'll Walk Alone", "It's Been a Long, Long Time","Let It Snow, Let It Snow", "The Things We Did Last Summer", "Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night in the Week", "[Kiss Me Once and Kiss Me Twice] It's Been A Long, Long Time", "Five Minutes More", "Three Coins in the Fountain" [an Academy Award Winning tune] and others, and the scores for the Broadway shows "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" [1949, lyrics by Leo Robin, which includes the songs "Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend" and "The Party's Over"], "Bells Are Ringing" [1956, with lyrics by Comden and Green which was turned into the 1960 movie whose soundtrack was released by Capitol Records and included Capitol Records artist Dean Martin singing "Just in Time"] as well as "Funny Girl" [1964, with lyrics by Bob Merrill] whose original Broadway cast album was also released by Capitol Records] and others) is born Julius Kerwin Stein in London, England