FEBRUARY 5, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1919 - Red Buttons, burlesque comedian, motion picture and television actor, singer, and Capitol Records artist (soundtrack album for Walt Disney's "Pete's Dragon") is born Aaron Chwatt in The Bronx, New York
1948 - David Denny, guitarist with the Capitol Records group The Steve Miller Band, is born in Berkeley, California

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1943 - Dave Dexter, Jr. joins Capitol Records
65 Years Ago Today In 1947 - It's a busy three way split session in Los Angeles, California for Paul Weston who's conducting the orchestra first for Andy Russell who records the track "Just A Memory", then for Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton who wax the track "If I Had A Talking Picture Of You", and finally for Clark Dennis, who records the track "Together". Capitol Records will issue all three tracks on the compilation album "Somebody Loves Me - The Music Of Buddy De Sylva" (CD-49).
60 Years Ago Today In 1952 - Ella Mae Morse, with Nelson Riddle conducting his own arrangements to his orchestra (Walter "Pete" Candoli and Vito "Mickey" Mangano on trumpet, Francis "Joe" Howard, Jimmy Priddy, Paul Tanner, and Si Zentner on trombone, Donald "Don" Raffell on tenor saxophone, Chuck Gentry on baritone saxophone, Albert Lerner on piano, Bob Bain on guitar, Meyer "Mike" Rubin on bass, and Frankie Carlson on drums) records the tracks "Organ Grinder's Swing", "It's So Exciting" and "Sleepin' At The Foot Of The Bed" at Capitol Records' Melrose Avenue studios in Hollywood, California between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM. Capitol Records will issue "Sleepin' At The Foot Of The Bed" as the flip side of the single "Male Call" (Capitol 2186). Bear Family Records will issue all the tracks on Morse's CD box set "Barrelhouse, Boogie And The Blues" (BCD 16117) in Germany.
60 Years Ago Today In 1952 - During a split session in Los Angeles, California, Les Baxter conducts the orchestra first for Buddy Cole who records the tracks "Festival Hop", "Lost In Meditation", an untitled and as yet unissued Baxter original, and "Invitation" then for Helen O'Connell who records the track "Be Anything (But Be Mine)". Capitol Records will issue "Festival Hop" and "Invitation" together as a single (Capitol 2005) and "Lost In Meditation" as a single (Capitol 2106) with "Lonely Wine" on the flip side as by Les Baxter and His Orchestra, and "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" as a single (Capitol 2011) with "Right Or Wrong" on the flip side.
55 Years Ago Today In 1957 - Stan Kenton (on piano) and His Orchestra (Bob Fitzpatrick, Kent Larsen, John Halliburton, Jim Amlotte, and Karl De Karske on trombone, Ralph Blaze on guitar, Red Mitchell on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums) record the tracks "Women Usually Do" with Ann Richards and The Modern Men (linuep unlisted) on vocals, "Opus In Cartreuse with Ann Richards and The Modern Men (linuep unlisted) on vocals and Bill Perkins on tenor saxophone, "Thanks For You" with vocals by The Modern Men, and "Interlude" with vocals by The Modern Men at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California. Capitol Records will issue the first, second and fourth tracks on Kenton's album "Kenton With Voices" (T 810).
55 Years Ago Today In 1957 - Dean Martin, with Gus Levene conducting the orchestra (Walter "Pete" Candoli, Conrad Gozzo, and Vito "Mickey" Mangano on trumpet, Hoyt Bohannon, Murray McEachern, and George Roberts on trombone, Heinie Beau, Fred Falensby, Arthur "Skeets" Herfurt, and Robert Lawson on reeds, Edwin "Buddy" Cole on piano, Bob Bain and Alvino Rey on guitar, Joe Comfort on bass, and Nick Fatool on drums) and chorus (lineu unlisted) records the tracks "Money Is A Problem", "You I Love", "Ten Thousand Bedrooms", "Only Turst Your Heart" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California between 11:00 PM and 1:30 AM on February 6, 1957. Capitol Records will issue all the titles on Martin's album "Songs from 'Ten Thousand Bedrooms'" (Capitol EAP-1-840).
55 Years Ago Today In 1957 - Leopold Stokowski conducts The Concert Arts Orchestra (lineup unlisted) as it records Bach's "Toccata And Fugue In D Minor" and Mussorgsky-Ravel's "The Hut On Howl's Legs" and "The Great Gate Of Kiev" from "Pictures At An Exhibition" at The Riverside Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. Capitol Records will issue the first track as by Leopold Stokowski conducting his Symphony Orchestra on the album album "Landmarks Of A Distinguished Career (BACH/DEBUSSY/STRAUSS/SIBELIUS)" (P-8399) and the last two tracks as by Leopold Stokowski on the album "The Orchestra Full Dimensional Sound" (SAL-8385).
1958 - The Kingston Trio record the tracks "Hard, Ain't it Hard", "Three Jolly Coachmen", "Scotch and Soda", "Tom Dooley", a version of "Tom Dooley" with a German intro, "Sloop John B", and "Coplas" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California for their eponymous album "The Kingston Trio"
1961 - Ferlin Husky's Capitol Records single "On The Wings Of A Dove", with "Next To Jimmy" on the flip side, returns to #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1968 - The Beatles' Capitol Records soundtrack album "Yellow Submarine" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1919 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith start United Artists Studios. The company will later start a music division, United Artists Records, whose catalog is currently owned by Capitol Music Group's parent company, EMI Music
1931 - Future Capitol Records artist Eddie Cantor makes his radio debut on future Capitol Records artist Rudy Valee's show "The Fleischmann Hour"
1960 - Alto Saxophonist Lou Donaldson (with Bill Hardman on trumpet, Horace Parlan on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Al Harewood on drums) records the tracks "Blues For J.P.", "Politely", "(Way Down Upon The) Swanee River", "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", "The Man I Love", "Goose Grease", and "The Truth" with producer Alfred Lion and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey for Donaldson's Blue Note Records album "Sunny Side Up". "Blues For J.P.", "The Man I Love", and "The Truth" were rejected and later appeared on Mosaic Records' box set "The Complete Blue Note Lou Donaldson Sessions"
1960 - Mark Dinning's M-G-M single "Teen Angel", with "Bye Now Baby" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. Dinning is the younger brother of Capitol Records artists The Dinning Sisters
1989 - Paula Abdul's Virgin Records America single "Straight Up", with "Cold Hearted" on the flip side, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1953 - Walt Disney's animated feature film "Peter Pan" premieres at the Roxy Theatre in New York City, New York
1958 - The New York chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) is formed