JULY 23, 2018

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
85 Years Ago Today In 1933 - Bert Convy, singer, Broadway and television actor, television game show host, and a Capitol Records artist as part of the group The Cheers (best known for the title "Black Leather Jacket and Motorcycle Boots") is born Bernard Whalen Convy in St. Louis, Missouri

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
70 Years Ago Today In 1948 - Nat "King" Cole's Capitol Records single "Nature Boy" is #10 on The Billboard magazine's Records Most Played By Disk Jockeys and Most-Played Juke Box Race Records charts, #13 on the magazine's Most-Played Juke Box Records chart, #15 on the magazine's Best Selling Retail Race Records chart, and #19 on the magazine's Best-Selling Popular Retail Records chart. Also, The King Cole Trio's single "Don't Blame Me" is #3 on The Billboard magazine's Record Possibilities - The Disk Jockeys Pick chart.

1955 - Frank Sinatra (with Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra)'s single "Learnin' The Blues", with "If I Had Three Wishes" on the flip side, peaks at #2 on Billboard's singles chart. It's kept out of the #1 spot by Bill Haley and The Comets single "Rock Around The Clock".

1957 - Vocalist Skeets McDonald, with unlisted others, records the titles "Fingertips", "I'm Hurtin'", "Bless Your Little Ol' Heart (You're Mine)", and "Love Wind" in The Capitol Tower Studios at 1750 North Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Capitol Records will issue "Fingertips" and "Bless Your Little Ol' Heart" together as a single (F3778) and "I'm Hurtin'" and "Love Wind" together as a single (Capitol F3833).
1957 - Harpist Marcel Grandjany records Rameau's "Egyptienne (From 'Pièces de Clavecin')" and Prokofiev's "Prelude In C Major, Op. 12 N° 7 (From Suite For Piano, Op. 12)" and "Divertissement" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue Egyptienne (From 'Pièces de Clavecin')" on Grandjany's album "Pour La Harpe" (P-8401) and "Prelude In C Major, Op. 12 N° 7 (From Suite For Piano, Op. 12)" and "Divertissement" on Grandjany's album "Music For The Harp" (PAO-8420).
1962 - Vocalist Bobby Darin, with Jimmie Haskell conducting his own arrangements to the orchestra (lineup unlisted), records the titles "A True, True Love", "If A Man Answers", and "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue "A True, True Love" and "If A Man Answers" together as a single (Capitol 4837), "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" as a single (Capitol 5126) with "As Long As I'm Singing" (recorded July 25, 1962) on the flipside, and all the titles on the CD "Capitol Collectors Series - Bobby Darin" (7-91625-2).
55 Years Ago Today In 1963 - At his first session for Capitol Records, vocalist Johnny Burnette, with Jimmie Haskell directing his own arrangements to the orchestra (Anthony Terran on trumpet, Harold Diner on trombone, Donald Robertson on piano, Jerry Cole and Bill Pitman on guitar, Red Callender on bass, Frank Capp on mallets, Earl Palmer, Jr. on drums, Bob Barene, John Peter De Voogt, Leonard Malarsky, Ralph Schaefer, Sidney Sharp, Johnny Vidor, Dorothy Wade, and Tibor Zelig on violins, and Jesse Ehrlich and Irving Lipschultz on cellos), records the titles "I'll Give You Three Guesses, "(Wish It Were Saturday Night) All Week Long", "It Isn't There", and two takes of "Congratulations, You've Hurt Me Again" in The Capitol Tower Studios at 1750 North Vine Street in Hollywood, California between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM with producers Jim Economides and Jimmie Haskell. Capitol Records will issue "(Wish It Were Saturday Night) All Week Long" and "It Isn't There" together as a single (Capitol 5023). Rockstar Records will issue all the titles and takes in England on the CD "Johnny Burnette - That's The Way I Feel" (RSRCD 006) and Bear Family Records will issue all the titles in Germany in the nine-CD box set "Johnny Burnette - The Complete Recordings 1955-1964" (BCD 16438).
55 Years Ago Today In 1963 - Judy Garland records a live version of the song "Maybe I'll Come Back" for her CBS television series that is later included on her Capitol Records album "Just For Openers"

1974 - Helen Reddy is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame just outside The Capitol Tower
1986 - Capitol Records re-releases The Beatles' single "Twist And Shout", with "There's A Place" on the flipside, after the song is used in the motion picture "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" when Matthew Broderick lip syncs to John Lennon's vocals during the parade sequence
1987 - Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley proclaims it "Capitol Tower Day", characterizing the building as "one of Los Angeles' most distinguishable landmarks" which has become "almost as recognizable as the Hollywood sign itself". Ella Mae Morse, whose 1942 recording of "Cow Cow Boogie" was Capitol Records' first hit single, is presented with a plaque commemorating the accomplishment during an evening celebration marking the renovation of the Capitol Records Tower. The 31-year-old building was recently repainted and the beacon on top of the 13-story structure has been wired so it once again will blink out the word Hollywood in Morse Code. Joe Smith, vice chairman and chief executive of Capitol, will host the reception that will also honor such other past and present Capitol artists as Peggy Lee, Yma Sumac, Martha Davis of the Motels and members of the band Duran Duran.
1987 - Megadeth (lineup unlisted) records the title "Mary Jane" for their Capitol Records album "So Far, So Good, So What" (7-48148-2).
1996 - Capitol Records releases "Organs In Orbit", volume 11 of its compilation Ultra-Lounge series
1996 - Capitol Records Nashville releases Suzy Bogguss' first single for the label (after its name had been changed from Liberty Records) "Give Me Some Wheels" with "Far And Away" on the flipside

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
120 Years Ago Today In 1898 - Fred Gaisberg, a young recording engineer and talent scout, who previously worked for Emile Berliner, leaves New York for London to join The Gramophone Company (which would later become EMI, Capitol Record's owner) as its first recording engineer
1951 - Pianist Thelonius Monk (with Art Blakey on drums, Milt Jackson on vibraphone, Sahib Shihab on alto saxophone, and Al McKibbon on bass) records the title "Criss Cross" with producer Alfred Lion, recording engineer Doug Hawkins, and master engineer Rudy Van Gelder at WOR Studios in New York City, New York. The track would be released on the Blue Note Records album "Thelonius Monk: Genius Of Modern Music: Volume 2 (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition). Blue Note Records' catalog is currently owned by Capitol Records.
1965 - United Artists premieres The Beatles' second movie "Help!". Capitol Records will release the soundtrack album for the movie in the United States.
1989 - Capitol Records artist Anne Murray helps christen the new Anne Murray Center, which displays memorabilia of her career, in her hometown of Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1999 - The 30th anniversary Woodstock concert begins the first of 3 days of concerts at Griffiss Air Base, in Rome, New York