MAY 21, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1916 - Dennis Day, tenor, radio, television and motion picture actor, and Capitol Records artist (whose single "Phil The Fluters Ball", with "Johnny Doughboy Found A Rose In Ireland" on the flip side, was fourth in the first records released by Capitol, and his album "Dennis Day Sings" was one of the first albums released by the label), is born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty in Bronx, New York
1931 - Sleepy Willis, guitarist with Capitol Records artist Dick Curless' band and later his manager, is born Tasio Golios in Newport, Rhode Island
1941 Pauline "Polly" Smoot, Capitol Records employee in North Carolina, is born Pauline Huffman in Milton, North Carolina.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
70 Years Ago Today in 1942 - Freddie Slack & His Orchestra (Slack on piano; George Wendt, Bob Goodrich, and John Kec on trumpets; Bruce Squires and Bill Anthens on trombones; Willie Martinez on clarinet and alto saxophone; Al Harding, John Hamilton, and Walter Clark on reeds; Jack Marshall on guitar; Jim Lynch on bass; and John Cyr on drums} record "Baby Doll", "Cow Cow Boogie" with vocals by 17 year old Ella Mae Morse and, as backing for vocalist Johnny Mercer, "The Air Minded Executive" in a split session with David Street from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, with Johnny Mercer producing, at C. P. MacGregors Studios at 729 S. Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California
1944 - Benny Carter and His Orchestra record the tracks "I Can't Escape From You", "I'm Lost", "I Can't Get Started" and "I Surrender Dear" In Los Angeles, California for Capitol Records
1949 - Jo Stafford & Gordon MacRae (with Paul Weston and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "'A' You're Adorable" is #9 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Mel Tormé (with orchestra conducted by Pete Rugolo)'s Capitol Records single "Again" is #10, Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records single "Baby It's Cold Outside" is #12, Jo Stafford & Gordon MacRae (with Paul Weston and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Need You" is #13, and Mel Tormé (with orchestra conducted by Pete Rugolo)'s Capitol Records single "Careless Hands" is #15
1949 - Capitol Records is given until May 26 to answer brought in a counter suit by Mercury Records that asks for an injunction to stop Capitol from releasing recordings licensed from Telefunken and an accounting of profits made from the recordings. Capitol had brought suit against Mercury after it had released recordings from the Telefunken label which Mercury said were part of a licensing deal it has with Gramophone Works of Czechoslovakia but had not released and had no plans to release the recordings using the Telefunken name.
1955 - Les Baxter and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "Unchained Melody" is #2 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Tennessee Ernie Ford (with Cliffie Stone's Band)'s Capitol Records single "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett" is #7, Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "A Blossom Fell" and it's flip side "If I May" with The Four Knights joining Cole and Riddle is #8, Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup is #14, and Frank Sinatra (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Learnin' The Blues" is #16
50 Years Ago Today in 1962 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens' single "Save The Last Dance For Me" with "King Of Fools" on the flip side
1964 - "Four By the Beatles", an EP of 4 songs by The Beatles ("All My Loving", "This Boy", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Please Mister Postman") is released by Capitol Records only in the United States
1969 - The Beatles announce that accountant Allen Klein will now handle their financial affairs.
1971 - Apple Records releases Paul McCartney's album “Ram" with Capitol Records distributing the album in the United States
1988 - Capitol Records releases Poison's album "Open Up And Say... Ahh!"
2004 - Rick Henderson, alto saxophonist in Duke Ellington's Orchestra on Ellington's "Ellington 55" album on Capitol Records, dies at his home in Washington, D.C. at age 76
2006 - Billy Walker, country-music singer, guitarist, Capitol Records and Columbia Records artist, nicknamed "The Tall Texan", is killed at age 77 when the van he was driving back to Nashville after a performance in Foley, Alabama veered off Interstate 65 in Fort Deposit, Alabama and overturned.
2009 - Kimberly Caldwell signs with Vanguard Records, which currently is distributed by Capitol Records

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
100 Years Ago Today In 1912 - Dario Soria, co-founder of Cetra-Soria records, co-founding manager (along with his wife, producer Dorle Jarmel Soria) of Angel Records, is born in Rome, Italy. The Sorias ran Angel from 1953, when they sold their Cetra-Soria classical label (the largest catalog of recorded opera in the world) to EMI, until 1957 when Angel was folded into Capitol Records for distribution.
1940 - Tony Sheridan, singer and Polydor Records artist who was backed on recording sessions by The Beatles, is born Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity in Norwich, England
1964 - The Beatles' "Sie Liebt Dich" (a version of their song "She Loves You" sung in German) with "I'll Get You" on the flip side is released on Swan Record
1969 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “bed-in” begins at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada
1983 - David Bowie's EMI America single "Let's Dance" is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
10 Years Ago Today In 2002 - DRG Records re-issues the "Bells Are Ringing" motion picture soundtrack on compact disc. It was originally issued on CD in 1989 by Capitol Records and July 5, 1960 as a vinyl LP.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS
1988 - Sammy Davis, Sr., dancer, singer and father of Capitol Records artist Sammy Davis, Jr., dies of natural causes at age 87 in Beverly Hills, California