JANUARY 24, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1936 - Jack Scott, singer, guitarist, and Capitol Records artist (1961-1964), is born Giovanni Dominico Scafone, Jr. in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. There are also references to him being born on January 28 and on both days in 1938. If anyone knows for sure when Jack Scott was born, please leave a comment
1939 - Ray Stevens, comedian, actor, singer, 1980 Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee, and Prep Records (1957, the label was a subsidiary of Capitol Records) and Capitol Records (1958) artist, is born Harold Ray Ragsdale in Clarksdale, Georgia
1944 - Neil Diamond, singer, songwriter, motion picture actor, and Capitol Records artist (1980 - soundtrack to "The Jazz Singer"), is born Neil Leslie Diamond in Brooklyn, New York

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1953 - Kay Starr's Capitol Records single "Side By Side", with "Noah" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Pop singles chart
50 Years Ago Today In 1962 - Future Parlophone and Capitol Records artists The Beatles sign a management contract with Brian Epstein at his office at the NEMS record store in Whitechapel
1968 - Merle Haggard's Capitol Records single "Sing Me Back Home", with "Good Times" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Country singles chart
1979 - Brian Wilson, member of the Capitol Records group The Beach Boys, divorces his wife, Marilyn Rovell
30 Years Ago Today In 1982 - Juice Newton's Capitol Records single "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)", with "Ride 'Em Cowboy" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Country singles cart
1986 - Gordon MacRae (born Albert Gordon MacRae), singer, Broadway, motion picture, and television actor, and Capitol Records artist (1947-1969), dies of of pneumonia, the result of complications from cancer of the mouth and jaw, at age 65 in Lincoln, Nebraska
2006 - Capitol Records releases Roseanne Cash's album "Black Cadillac", Linda Ronstadt's 2 CD compilation "The Best Of Linda Rondstadt", and Starsailor's album "On The Outside". EMI/Capitol Records releases Al Green's album "Livin' For You"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1925 - Jimmy Scott, conga drummer, is born Jimmy Anonmuogharan Scott Emuakor in Nigeria. Paul McCartney, who got to know Scott when he played in London night clubs, used Scott's catch phrase "ob-la-di ob-la-da" (a Yoruba tribal phrase meaning "life goes on") as the basis of The Beatles' track "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da".
1945 - Spirits of Rhythm record the tracks "Honeysuckle Rose", "Last Call Blues", "She Ain't No Saint", and "Scattin' The Blues" for Black & White Records in Los Angeles, California. EMI Music, Capitol Records parent company, currently owns the Black & White catalog
65 Years Ago Today In 1947 - Warren Zevon, singer, songwriter, and Virgin Records America artist (1987), is born in Chicago, Illinois
1964 - Brian Epstein signs Sounds Incorporated to a management and agency contract with NEMS Enterprises and gets them a deal with EMI
1986 - Vincent Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli), Broadway and motion picture director, father of Capitol Records artist Liza Minnelli and husband for six yearst to Capitol Records artist Judy Garland, dies at age 82 and is later interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
25 Years Ago Today In 1987 - Future Capitol Records/Grand Royal Records artists The Beastie Boys' Def Jam single "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)", with "Paul Revere" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart