MAY 3, 2022

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!

1903 - Bing Crosby, a singer, radio, motion picture, radio, and television actor, and a Decca and a Capitol Records artist, is born Harry Lillis Crosby at 1112 North "J" Street in Tacoma, Washington.

110 Years Ago Today In 1912 - Virgil Fox, organist and Capitol Records artist, is born in Princeton, Illinois.

1950 - Mary Hopkin, singer (best known for "Those Were The Days") and Apple Records artist distributed by Capitol Records in the United States, is born in Pontardawe, Wales.

1955 - Steve Jones, singer, disc jockey, and guitarist with the EMI and Virgin Records band The Sex Pistols, is born.

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL HISTORY

75 Years Ago Today In 1947 - The Pied Pipers with Paul Weston and His Orchestra's Capitol Records single "Mam'selle" debuts at #10 on Billboards Best Selling Retail Records chart.

75 Years Ago Today In 1947 - Merle Travis' Capitol Records single "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed" is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts.

70 Years Ago Today In 1952 - Kay Starr's Capitol Records single "Wheel Of Fortune" is still #1 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart, Ella Mae Morse's Capitol Records single is still #3, and Jane Froman's Capitol Records single "I'll Walk Alone", with orchestra conducted by Sid Feller, debuts at #19.

1958 - Nat "King" Cole's Capitol Records single "Looking Back" is #4 on The Billboard magazine's R&B Best Sellers In Stores and Most Played R&B By Jockeys charts, #10 on the magazine's Best Selling Pop Singles In Stores and Top 100 Sides charts, #14 on the magazine's Most Played By Jockeys chart, #15 on Cash Box magazine's Best Selling Singles chart, and #38 on KFWB's Fabulous Forty Survey in Los Angeles, California. "Looking Back"'s flipside, "Do I Like It" is also #10 on The Billboard magazine's Best Selling Pop Singles In Stores chart, #26 also on KFWB's Fabulous Forty Survey in Los Angeles, California and #93 also on The Billboard magazine's Top 100 Sides chart. Nat "King" Cole's Capitol Records album "Love Is The Thing" is #9 on The Billboard magazine's Most Played By Jockeys chart and #22 on the magazine's Best Selling Pop LPs chart.

1958 - Vocalist Earl Holliman, with The Dave Cavanaugh Orchestra (lineup unlisted), records the titles "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "Real Love And Affection", "A Teenager Sings Blues", and "White Flame" in Los Angeles, California. Capitol Records will issue "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "A Teenager Sings Blues" together as a single (Capitol 3983) and has yet to issue the other two titles.

1968 - Capitol Records band The Beach Boys begins its US tour, with special guest Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, with two concerts, one at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, District of Columbia and the other at the Baltimore Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

1968 - Overdubs are recorded in Los Angeles, California for Tony Bruno's titles "We'll Be Together Again", "Didn't We", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Reason To Believe", "Little Green Apples", and "Rhonda Mendelbaum". After more overdubs are recorded for all the titles on May 4, 6, and 18, 1968, Capitol Records will issue the final mixes of all the titles on Bruno's album "I'm Feeling It Now" (ST 2930) and the final mix of "Didn't We" also as a single (Capitol 2235) with "Little Men & Little Women" (recorded March 4, 1968 with overdubs on March 18 and April 26, 1968) on the flipside.

1968 - Truck (lineup unlisted) records the titles "I've Been Waiting" and "If" in Los Angeles, California for Capitol Records which has yet to issue either title.

1968 - Vocalists Tony Sandler and Ralph Yount, with Bob Bain conducting his own arrangements to the orchestra (lineup unlisted) record the titles "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "I Sing Noel", "Mister Santa", and "Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)" in Los Angeles, California. After overdubs are recorded in Los Angeles, California on May 24, 1968 for "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "I Sing Noel" and on May 27, 1968, for "Mister Santa" and "Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)", Capitol Records will issue the final mixes of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "I Sing Noel", and "Mister Santa" on the duo's album "Christmas World" (ST 2967), "I Sing Noel" also as a single (Capitol 2333) with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (recorded April 29, 1968, with overdubs recorded on May 27, 1968) on the flipside, and  "Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)" on the two-LP multi-artist compiliation album "The Best Of Christmas" (STBB 2979).

1968 - Overdubs are recorded in Nashville, Tennessee for Ken "Thumbs" Carllile's titles "Gentle On My Mind", "Boss-A-Minuet", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", and "Greenfields" which were all recorded on March 5, 1968. Capitol Records has yet to issue any of the titles or their final mixes.

1969 - Margaret Young, a popular comedienne and singer in the 1920s, Capitol recording artist in 1949, and aunt of Capitol artist Margaret Whiting, dies in Inglewood, California at age 78. She was born Margaret Youngblood.

1971 - Capitol Records band Grand Funk Railroad hold their first press conference with six journalists attending.

1973 - Connie Cato, with unlisted others, records the titles "Four ON The Floor", "Big Stick Of Dynamite", and "Don't Let The Good Times Roll Away" in Nashville, Tennessee. Capitol Records will issue "Four On The Floor" and "Don't Let The Good Times Roll Away" together as a single (Capitol 3679), "Big Stick Of Dynamite" as a single (Capitol 3788) with "Superskirt" (recorded January 31, 1973) on the flipside, and "Four On The Floor" and "Big Stick Of Dynamite" also on Cato's album "Super Connie Cato" (ST-11312).

1973 - Overdubs are recorded in Los Angeles, California for Billy May And The Time-Life Orchestra's titles "The Fool On The Hill" (recorded in The Capitol Tower Studios on March 19, 1973) and "Manha De Carnaval" (recorded and overdubbed in The Capitol Tower Studios on April 30, 1973). Time-Life Records will issue the final mixes of both titles as part of its "As You Remember Them" series in the three-LP set "Volume 7 - Billy May" (STL-247).

1976 - Capitol Records band Wings end their "Wings Over America" tour after a three-night stand at The Forum, in Los Angeles, California, or start their tour in Fort Worth, Texas marking Paul McCartney's first time back on a U.S. stage in a decade.

45 Years Ago Today In 1977 - Helmut Köllen, the bassist, acoustic guitarist, vocalist, and writer for the Capitol band Triumvirat, after a long day in the studio recording, is accidentally killed at age 27 by carbon monoxide poisoning while sitting in his car listening to a cassette tape of the day's session in his garage. A solo album named by his friends after one of his favorite Beatles' songs, "You Won't See Me", is released posthumously later that year by Harvest/EMI Records in Germany. Russ Schenewerk has written a great biographical article about Triumvirat and Köllen.

1980 - Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band's Capitol Records album "Against The Wind" is #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart.

1988 - Poison's album "Open Up And Say...Ahh!" is released on Enigma Records, and distributed by Capitol Records. The album was produced by Tom Werman after Kiss' Paul Stanley had to bow out after scheduling conflicts. The album was recorded and mixed at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles and contains the #1 hit "Every Rose Has It's Thorn".

1988 - Willie Dixon, with unlisted others, records the titles "I Don't Trust Myself" and "Don't Mess With The Messer" in an unlisted studio for Capitol Records. No issuing information is listed.

1998 - Garth Brooks' Capitol Records Nashville single "Two Pina Coladas" is #1 on the U.S. Country singles charts.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY

1936 - Future Capitol Records artist Joe DiMaggio plays his first major league baseball game in Yankee Stadium against the St. Louis Browns.

1965 - The Beatles spend the day filming scenes for their United Artists movie "HELP!" on Salisbury Plain with the assistance of the British Army's Third Tank Division.

1968 - Trumpet player Lee Morgan, with Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone, Cedar Walton on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, records the titles "Helen's Ritual", "Suicide City", "Cunning Lee", "Caramba (aka Dig Dis)", "Soulita", and, without Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone, "A Baby's Smile" at recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with producer Francis Wolff. Blue Note Records will issue all the titles, except "A Baby's Smile" on Morgan's album "Caramba!" (BST84289) and all the titles on the CD release of the album (8-53358-2).

1976 - Carmen McRae (on vocals, with concertmasters Gerry Vinci and David Frisina; Buddy Childers, Bobby Shew, Al Aarons, Snooky Young, Oscar Brashear, and Blue Mitchell on trumpet; Lew McCreary, George Bohannon, Kenny Shroyer, Maurice Spears, Grover Mitchell, and Ernie Tack on trombone; Bill Perkins, Lanny Morgan, Harry Klee, Abe Most, Bill Green, Jerome Richardson, Ernie Watts, Don Menza, Pete Christlieb, and Jack Nimitz on reeds; Artie Kane and Marshall Otwell on piano; Joe Sample, Dave Grusin, and Ian Underwood on keyboards; Larry Carlton and Dennis Budimir on guitar; Joe Mondragon, Chuck Berghofer, and Wilton Felder on bass;, Harvey Mason on drums; and Victor Feldman and Larry Bunker on percussion) begins recording titles for her United Artists Records album "Can't Hide Love" with producer by Dale Oehler, executive producer George Butler, and mixing engineer Hank Cicalo assisted by Milt Caliceis, at A&M Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California.

1988 - The masters are registered for John Fogerty's title "Centerfield", The Blasters' title "So Long Baby Goodbye", Los Lobos' title "I Got Loaded", and The Fabulous Thunderbirds' title "Can't Tear It Up" to be used on the soundtrack album for the film "Bull Durham" which will be issued on the Silva Screen label by EMI (C1-90586 on 12" vinyl and C2-90586 on CD).

1994 - August Anna Brooks, daughter of Liberty Records (later renamed Capitol Records Nashville) artist Garth Brooks, is born.

20 Years Ago Today In 1997 - Former Capitol Records band Katrina & the Waves win the forty-second Eurovision Song Contest, held in Dublin, Ireland, for the United Kingdom singing "Love Shine a Light".

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL HISTORY

1919 - Betty Comden, lyricist (best known as the partner of composer Adolph Green), is born in Brooklyn, New York.

1933 - James Brown, "The Godfather of Soul", is born in Barnwell, South Carolina.

1956 - "Most Happy Fella", a musical by Frank Loesser, opens at The Imperial Theatre in New York City, New York.

1960 - "The Fantasticks", by composer Harvey Schmidt and writer-lyricist Tom Jones, opens off-off-Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse and would run continuously for the next 40 years, becoming the world's longest-running musical. Its hit song, "Try To Remember", is introduced by Jerry Orbach, later better remembered for his stint on TV's "Law & Order" and as the voice of Lumiere in the Walt Disney animated feature "Beauty And The Beast".

50 Years Ago Today In 1972- Bruce Springsteen records 12 songs at an acoustic solo demo session for CBS talent scout John Hammond in New York City which eventually leads to his signing to the label.

1998 - Gene Raymond, actor (lead in RKO's 1933 film "Flying Down to Rio", the first film to team Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), singer (introduced the song "All I Do Is Think Of You" in the 1934 MGM film "Sadie McKee"), and one-time husband of singer and actress Jeanette MacDonald, dies at age 89.

BTW - It's also my brother Paul Nielsen's 60th birthday :)