John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Bozo

The former president of Capitol Records, Alan W. Livingston, died at the age of 91.

I didn't really know about him. But it turns out he was the creator of Bozo. Now, we just had Larry Harmon die in the last year, the guy who played Bozo and owned the rights. But the whole Bozo thing started with records on Capitol, songs and stories.

This article says he initially rejected the Beatles' singles as not being right for the U.S. market, but that he finally agreed to release "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and bring them to the States in '64. So that must be part of the story how they ended up on Vee-Jay Records and Swan and Capitol later had all the grief of getting the rights back. Kind of a boneheaded move, but the guy couldn't know everything.

It also says Livingston got his older brother, Jay Livingston, to write the memorable theme music for the show "Bonanza." That's a real coincidence, because I was just three hours reading the liner notes to a Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney album, "That Travelin' Two-Beat," which was written, music and lyrics, by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. And as things turn out, wouldn't you know, it was on Capitol Records!