MAY 30, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1903 - Alex J. Kramer, vocal coach and composer (best known for co-writing Margaret Whiting's Capitol Records hit "Far Away Places", with lyrics by his wife, Joan Whitney, and Johnny Mercer, Jo Stafford and The Pied Pipers' Capitol Records hit "Candy" with lyrics by Joan Whitney and Mack David) was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1908 - Mel Blanc, cartoon voice artist, radio and television performer, and Capitol Records artist, is born Melvin Jerome Blank in San Francisco, California
105 Years Ago In 1909 - Benny Goodman, clarinetist, singer, composer, bandleader, and Capitol Records artist from January 1947 to 1964, is born Benjamin David Goodman in the Maxwell Street ghetto of Chicago, Illinois
1911 (some listings give 1914) - Bobby Sherwood, trumpet, trombone, guitar and piano player, bandleader, Capitol Records artist as Bobby Sherwood and His Orchestra, is born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sherwood's Capitol Records single "The Elks' Parade", with "I Don't Know Why" on the flip side, was #7 in Capitol's first release schedule and one of the top 3 hits the label had in its first year ("Strip Polka" and "Cow Cow Boogie" were the other two). If anyone knows for sure which year Sherwood was born, please leave a comment.
1945 - Meredith MacRae, motion picture and television actress, daughter of future Capitol Records artists Gordon and Sheila MacRae, and a Capitol (1968) and Imperial Records artist, is born in Houston, Texas.

45 Years Ago In 1969 - Spragga Benz, dancehall DJ, and Capitol Records artist (1995), is born Carlton Grant in Kingston, Jamaica

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1941 - Stan Kenton and his Orchestra make their debut at the Rendezvous Ballroom on Balboa Island, California
1953 - Les Baxter and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "April In Portugal" is #2 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Nat "King" Cole (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Pretend" is #9, Les Baxter and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "Ruby" (theme from the movie "Ruby Gentry" is #12, and Jane Froman (with orchestra conducted by Sid Feller)'s Capitol Records single "I Believe" is #13
1962 - Capitol Records artist Benny Goodman turns 53 and leads the first American Jazz band to play in the Soviet Union on the first of six dates
1966 - The Beatles' Capitol Records single "Paperback Writer", with "Rain" on the flip side, is released in the U.S.
1967 - Claude Rains, Broadway, motion picture, and radio actor and Capitol Records artist ("Bible Stories" series of childrens records), dies at age 77 in Laconia, New Hampshire and is later interred in the Red Hill Cemetery, Moultonborough, New Hampshire
25 Years Ago In 1989 - Dave Coleman, drummer with Capitol Records group Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, dies in Seattle, Washington at age 65
1995 - Capitol Records, as part of its "Spotlight On Great Ladies Of Song" series releases separate compilations of greatest hits featuring Nancy Wilson and June Christy

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
95 Years Ago In 1919 - Joe Gaines, lead vocalist with the Imperial Records group The Hawks, is born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1922 - Future Capitol Records artist "Smilin’" Ed McConnell debuts on radio, smiling and playing his banjo
1958 - Marie Fredriksson, singer, songwriter, and member of the EMI America Records duo Roxette, is born in Östra-Ljungby, Sweden
45 Years Ago Today In 1969 - The Beatles' Apple Records single "The Ballad of John and Yoko", with "Old Brown Shoe" on the flipside, is released in the U.K.
1986 - Hank Mobley, tenor saxophonist and Blue Note Records artist, dies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at age 55
2003 - Mickie Most (born Michael Peter Hayes) founder of RAK Records (whose catalog was bought by EMI in 1983), record producer, with a string of Number 1 hit singles with his own label and for acts such as The Animals, Herman's Hermits, Donovan and Hot Chocolate, father of Calvin Hayes (member of the Virgin Records group Johnny Hates Jazz), dies of mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, in his home in London, England at age 64

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
115 Years Ago Today In 1899 - Irving Grant Thalberg, motion picture producer and head of production for both Universal and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, is born in Brooklyn, New York
60 Years Ago Today In 1954 - Bing Crosby's last original show for CBS Radio is broadcast with Bing's sons Gary and Lindsay as guests
1961 - My wife, Kristine Heimback-Nielsen, is born Kristine Ann Heimback in Glendale, Arizona. Without her love, support and friendship, I wouldn't be possible.
25 Years Ago Today In 1989 - The 33 foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square, China by student demonstrators