DECEMBER 15, 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!
1911 - Stan Kenton, pianist, bandleader, and Capitol Records artist, is born Stanley Newcomb Kenton in Wichita, Kansas
1916 - Buddy Cole (aka Eddie LaMar), jazz pianist, organist, orchestra leader, and Columbia and Capitol Records artist, is born Edwin LeMar Cole in Irving, Illinois.
1946 - Carmine Appice, singer, songwriter and drummer for the bands Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, The Rod Stewart Band, Beck, Bogart & Appice, and Capitol Records band King Cobra (1986-1988), is born on Staten Island in New York
45 Years Ago Today In 1970 - Alison Martino, founder of Vintage Los Angeles, writer, television producer, and daughter of Capitol Records artist Al Martino and his wife Judi Stilwell Martino, is born in Los Angeles, California.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1944 - The Pied Pipers' Capitol Records Single "The Trolley Song" is #2 on the U.S. Pop singles chart
1944 - Stan Kenton and His Orchestra's single "Everytime We Say Goodbye" enters the top 40 of the U.S. Pop singles charts
1947 - Ray Bauduc and his Bobcats (Nate Kazebier on trumpet, Brad Gowans on valve trombone, Matty Matlock on clarinet, Eddie Miller on tenor saxopone, Stan Wrightsman on piano, Nappy Lamare on guitar, Morty Corb on bass, and Bauduc on drums), records the tracks "Susie" and "Down In Honky Tonk Town" (which will be released together as a single by Capitol Records), as well as "When My Sugar Walks Down The Street" and "Li'l Liza Jane" (also later released together as a single by Capitol) which has a vocal that may have been done by Nappy Lamar, in Los Angeles, California.
1953 - Ella Mae Morse, with Big Dave's Orchestra (Dave Cavanaugh conducting Charles Butler and Ernest "Ted" Romersa on tenor saxophone, Joe Koch on baritone saxophone, Gerald Wiggins on piano, Jack Marshall on guitar, Red Callender on bass, Roy Harte on drums) recorded the tracks "Have Mercy Baby" and "Money Honey" with an unidentified male vocal group, along with the tracks "Rock Me All Night Long" and "Daddy, Daddy" at Capitol Records' studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California between 9 PM and 12:30 AM on December 15, 1953. Capitol Records would release all the tracks on Morse's album "Barrelhouse Boogie And The Blues" (Capitol H-513).
60 Years Ago Today In 1955 - It is reported that Tennessee Ernie Ford's Capitol Records single "Sixteen Tons", the flipside of "You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry"", has sold more than 2 million copies in the less than two months since it's October 17, 1955 release, making it the most successful single, and the most successful "B-Side", ever recorded to that date.
60 Years Ago Today In 1955 - Billy May and His Orchestra (with May conducting his own arrangements to Conrad Gozzo, Mannie Klein, Vito Mangano, and Uan Rasey on trumpet, Francis Howard, Ed Kusby, Tommy Pederson, and Si Zentner on trombone, Skeets Herfurt and Wilbur Schwartz on alto saxophone, Fred Falensby and Ted Nash on tenor saxophone, Chuck Gentry on baritone saxophone, Paul Smith on piano, Al Hendrickson on guitar, Joe Mondragon on bass, and Alvin Stoller on drums) record the titles "Mad About The Boy" and "Fascinatin' Rhythm" at Capitol Records Melrose Avenue studios in Hollywood, California. Capitol Records will issue both titles on the album "Dance To The Bands!" (TBO 727).
60 Years Ago Today In 1955 - Pianist Joe Bushkin and His Orchestra (Abe Osser conducting unlisted musicians) record the titles "The Song Is You", "Embraceable You", "I Cover The Waterfront", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine" in New York City, New York. Capitol Records will issue all the songs on Bushkin's album "Midnight Rhapsody" (T 711).
60 Years Ago Today In 1955 - Ferlin Husky (on vocals) and His Hush Puppies (lineup unlisted) record the titles "I Can't Go On This Way", "Farther And Farther Apart", "I Dreamed Of An Old Love Affair", and "Hang Your Head In Shame" in Nashville, Tennessee. Capitol Records will issue all the titles on Husky's album "Songs Of The Home And Heart" (T 718).
1958 - Capitol Records group The Kingston Trio give a concert in El Paso, Texas that is recorded by Capitol and later released as part of the Bear Family box set "The Kingston Trio: The Guard Years"
55 Years Ago Today In 1960 - Ferlin Husky's Capitol Records single "Wings Of A Dove" is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
55 Years Ago Today In 1960 - In an extended sessions, Hank Thompson (on vocals and guitar), with Billy Armstrong, Harold Glenn Hensley, and Billy Wright on fiddle, Jimmy Pruett on piano, Billy Gray and Merle Travis on guitar, Robert John "Bobby" Garrett on pedal steel guitar, Allen "Al" Williams on bass, and Gwin Merle "Junior" Nichols on drums), records the titles "I've Gotta Have My Baby Back", "Oklahoma Hills", and "Hangover Tavern" at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California between 6:00 PM and 10:30 PM. Capitol Records will issue "I Gotta Have My Baby Back" on Thompson's album "An Old Love Affair" (T 1544), "Oklahoma Hills" as a single (Capitol F4556) with "Teach Me How To Lie" (recorded December 17, 1959) on the flipside, and "Hangover Taver" as a single (Capitol F4605) with "Give The World A Smile" (recorded December 18, 1958) on the flipside.
1964 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' album "Beatles '65" in the United States
50 Years Ago Today In 1965 - Capitol Records re-release Peter and Gordon's titles "A World Without Love" and "Nobody I Know" together as a single (Capitol 6076) as part of the green label Starline series.
50 Years Ago Today In 1965 - Guitars Unlimited (Jack Marshall directing unlisted musicians) records the title "Quiet  Night Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue the title on the album "Guitars Unlimited" (T 2451).
1967 - The Beatles' Capitol Records album "Magical Mystery Tour" is certified Gold by the R.I.A.A.
1968 - Sonny James' Capitol Records single "Born To Be With You" is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts
1969 - John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band (Featuring George Harrison, Delanie and Bonnie, Keith Moon, and Billy Preston) make their debut UK concert appearance at the "War Is Over" UNICEF benefit concert at The Lyceum in London, England. It will be Lennon's last live performance in England. On the same day posters and billboards, paid for by John and Yoko, go up around the world stating "WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It)".
45 Years Ago Today In 1970 - Jerry Corbitt (on vocals and guitar with unlisted others), records the title "Have You Got A Load On?" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue the song as "Load On" on Corbitt's album "Jerry Corbitt" (ST-771).
35 Years Ago Today In 1980 - Sheree Brown (on vocals with unknown accompaniment) records the title "Everything You Do" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue the title on Brown's album "Straight Ahead" (ST-12153).
35 Years Ago Today In 1980 - Future Flight records the title "Walk, Don't Run" in Los Angeles, California with producer Lamont Dosier. Capitol Records will issue the song on the band's self-titled album "Future Flight" (ST-12154).
1984 - Duran Duran's Capitol Records single "The Wild Boys" is #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1957 - Alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson (with Donald Byrd on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Sonny Clark on piano, Jamil Nasser (aka George Joyner) on bass, and Art Taylor on drums) records the tracks "Groovin' High", "Strollin' In", "Sputnik", and "Dewey Square", with producer Alfred Lion and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, for Donaldson's 1958 Blue Note album "Lou Takes Off". Blue Note's catalog is currently owned by Capitol's parent company EMI Music and Blue Note Records is currently a division of Capitol Records, Inc.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1939 - The David O. Selznick/MGM motion picture "Gone With The Wind" premieres at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
1943 - Fats Waller, pianist, pipe organist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader, dies of pneumonia at age 39 aboard a train in Kansas City Missouri that's heading to New York City
1944 - The plane transporting 40 year old US Army Major and bandleader Glenn Miller, along with other military personnel, takes off from Bedford, England, is seen starting to cross the English Channel, but does not land at its destination in Paris, France. Their whereabouts are still unknown. The most recent theory was that the plane was destroyed when it flew below returning bombers that had to drop their unused bombs before landing, but other sources suggest that Miller landed and was later either killed later during a spy mission or died of a heart attack in a French bordello. None of these theories have been proved for certain, so far.
1966 - Walt Disney (born (Walter Elias Disney), animator, film producer, studio and entertainment park founder, dies of lung cancer in Burbank, California at age 65 and is later not cryogenically preserved below the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland, but is cremated on December 17, 1966 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Glendale, California. His ashes are interred in the cemetery's Court of Freedom section.