APRIL 19, 2016

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1927 - Don Barbour, singer in the Capitol Records group The Four Freshmen, is born in Greencastle, Indiana

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1948 - During two sessions held this day in Los Angeles, California Jan Garber and His Orchestra (lineup unlisted) record the titles "Rambling Wreck From Georgia Tech/Fight Alabama", "Maryland, My Maryland/Hark The Sound Of Tal Heel Voices", "Washington And Lee Swing/Glory To Old Georgia", and "Maine Stein Song/Hail To Old O.S.C." at the first session and "Yale's Boola Song/The Princeton Canon Song", "The Fordham Ram/Hail To Pitt", "On, Brave Old Army Team/Anchors Aweigh", and "Lights Out (University Of California)/Strike Up The Band (UCLA)" at the second session. Capitol Records will issue all the tracks on Garber's album "College Medleys" (H-154).
65 Years Ago Today In 1951 - General Douglas MacArthur delivers a farewell address before a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Capitol Records will issue two highlights of the speech on the 78 RPM version (DAS-274) and six excerpts on the 10 inch 33 1/3 RPM version (H-274) of the album "General MacArthur Farewell Address".
Here's the entire speech: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four of the entire speech.
1954 - Frank Sinatra, with arranger Nelson Riddle conducting the orchestra (Harry Edison on trumpet, Tommy Pederson and Ray Sims on trombone, George Roberts on bass trombone, Abe Most and Skeets Herfurt on alto saxophone, Eddie Miller and Babe Russin on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Joe Koch on baritone saxophone, Frank Flynn on vibraphone, Bill Miller on piano, Bob Bain on guitar, Joe Comfort on bass, and Alvin Stoller on drums), records the titles "All Of Me", "Jeepers Creepers", "Get Happy", and "Taking A Chance On Love" for his Capitol Records album "Swing Easy" at radio station KHJ's studios (now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study and the Academy Film Archive) at 1313 North Vine Street, Hollywood, California. Capitol Records will issue all the titles on Sinatra's album "Swing Easy" (H-528)
1955 - It's a Tuesday, and Capitol Records album department head, Francis Scott, leaves on the first leg of a trip to London to confer with executives of Electric & Musical Industries, Ltd. on a mutual exchange of masters between the companies.
60 Years Ago Today In 1956 - Actress Grace Kelly, actress and Capitol Records artist (on the motion picture soundtrack to "High Society", and whose duet with Bing Crosby on the single "True Love" earned a Gold record [the last in Crosby's career]), marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco
60 Years Ago Today In 1956 - During two sessions held this day in The Capitol Tower at 1750 Vine Street in Hollywood, California vocalist and trumpet player Louis Prima, with Keely Smith on background vocals and tenor saxophonist Sam Butera & The Witnesses (James "Little Red" Blount Jr. on trombone, William "Willie" McCumber on piano, Jack Marshall on guitar, Amado Rodrigues on bass, and Robert "Bobby" Morris on drums) records the titles "Medley: Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody (And Nobody Cares For Me)", the instrumental "Body And Soul", "Oh Marie", and "Buona Sera" at the first session between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM and "Jump. Jive An' Wail", "(Nothin's Too Good) For My Baby", "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You", and "Medley: Basin Street Blues/When It's Sleepy Time Down South" at the second session between 10:00 PM and 1:00 AM on April 20, 1951. Capitol Records will issue all the titles on Prima's album "the Wildest!" (T 755).
60 Years Ago Today In 1956 - Pianist Lou Busch as Joe "Fingers" Carr, with an orchestra (lineup unlisted) records the titles "Spaghetti Rag", "12th Street Rag", and "The Old Piano Roll Blues" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue all the titles on Carr's album "Mister Ragtime" (T 760).
60 Years Ago Today In 1956 - Vocalist Sonny James, with Bill Simmons on piano, Paul Buskirk on electric mandolin, and possibly Paul Brawley on bass, and William Pecchi on drums, records the titles "Twenty Feet Of Muddy Water" and "All Mixed Up" at the Jim Beck Studio in Dallas, Texas. Capitol Records will issue both titles together as a single (Capitol 3441).
1957 - Ferlin Husky's Capitol Records single "Gone", with "Missing Persons" on the flipside, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles chart
1962 - The Beach Boys (David Marks on guitar, Carl Wilson on guitar and vocals, Brian Wilson on bass guitar and vocals, Mike Love on vocals, and Dennis Wilson on drums and vocals) record the tracks "Surfin' Safari", "409", "Lonely Sea", and "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring" at Western Recorders in Los Angeles, California with Brian Wilson producing the session. Capitol Records will issue "Surfin' Safari" and "409" as the band's first single for the label (Capitol 4777).
1964 - The Beatles pre-record the tracks "Can't Buy Me Love"; "I Wanna Be Your Man"; "Long Tall Sally"; a medley that used "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me", "From Me To You", "She Loves You", and "I Want to Hold Your Hand"; "Roll Over Beethoven"; "Shout"; and "Twist and Shout" for an Associated Rediffusion UK TV special "Around The Beatles" that will air on May 9, 1964
1965 - Capitol Records releases The Beatles' single "Ticket To Ride" with "Yes It Is" on the flip side
1975 - Grand Funk Railroad's Capitol Records single "Bad Time", with "Good And Evil" on the flip side, enters the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart
1990 - Dave Dexter, author, Kansas City reporter for Down Beat magazine (his reviews for Count Basie and His Orchestra got the band noticed), Capitol Records publicity and A&R man (got Peggy Lee to come out of retirement, signed Nellie Lutcher and Julia Lee) and record producer (The History Of Jazz series, New American Jazz all star album, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others), VP of A&R for Capitol Records' International division (created over 500 albums for "The Capitol Of The World" series of world music), remixed the early albums by The Beatles (until Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) for U.S. release, editor and writer for Billboard Magazine, dies in Sherman Oaks, California at age 74. His papers have been donated to the University of Missouri Kansas City and they have a great biography of Dave as part of their Club Kaycee website.
15 Years Ago Today In 2001 - Billy Idol and his band travel to New York City to tape his edition of "VH1 Storytellers". Ten months after the taping, on February 26, 2002, Capitol Records will release "Billy Idol's VH1 Storytellers" featuring 14 songs from the session including three tracks from his days fronting the band Generation X ("Dancing With Myself," "Kiss Me Deadly," "Ready Steady Go") to his 1983 solo hit, "White Wedding" and Idol's covers of Tommy James & The Shondell's "Mony, Mony" and the Doors' "L.A. Woman".
5 Years Ago Today In 2011 - Roy Edward "Eddie" Burris, a drummer for Capitol Records artist Merle Haggard's band The Strangers who co-wrote the 1969 song "Okie From Muskogee" with Haggard, dies at age 79 of heart-related problems at a Tulsa, Oklahoma hospital.
5 Years Ago Today In 2011 - Vanguard/Capitol Records releases Kimberly Caldwell's debut album "Without Regret"

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
35 Years Ago Today In 1981 - Sheena Easton's EMI America single "Morning Train (Nine to Five)", with "Calm Before The Storm" on the flipside, is #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. EMI America's catalog is currently owned by Capitol Music Group's parent company, Universal Music Group.
1995 - The Georgia legislature declares April 19, 1995 to be Johnny Mercer Day in the state for Mercer's "outstanding contributions to the field of music". Johnny Mercer is a co-founder of Capitol Records.