Friday “Free” ~ Mr. Big

Written by the band.

Originally released off their third  album -Fire and Water in 1970.This performance was from their 5th album – Free Live in 71′.

Paul Rodgers – vocals
Paul Kossoff – guitar
Andy Fraser – bass
Simon Kirke – drums

Insanely only after having seen the movie “Ice Storm” a 100 times in-which there was one scene that had the opening of this song playing in it, it wasn’t until today that I realized its name and the band. I kept looking in the song credits of the movie and still couldn’t hit on it.

Ironically it seemed the only song we heard from Free was the over played “All Right Now” which don’t get me wrong was a great song. But it also shows you that bands have other notable great works that seem to go unnoticed because the rest went completely unplayed. And Mr. Big was obviously one of many from this band.

In total they made 7 albums from 69-73.
The original four members lasted until 1972 until Bassist Andy Fraser left and Paul Kossoff was drugging himself to death which he accomplished four years later in 1976. He was one fabulous guitar player. As we all know Paul Rodgers went on to become Bad Company’s singer with Simon Kirke it’s drummer.

When they started “Free” in 1968 Andy Fraser was 15 years old, Paul Kossoff was 17, and both lead singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were 18.

So now I know who created the song Mr. Big. It took long enough though.

 

 

Etta James Broke Down the Barriers and Won.

New Jersey Sports Betting is now Law. Legalizing betting on the State’s Four Horse Tracks.

BloodHorse

Friday At The Fillmore ~ King Curtis ~ “Soul Serenade”

Written by Luther Dixon and King Curtis.
Recorded March 5–7, 1971 at the Fillmore West
Released August 1971
Originally released off his 1964 album Soul Serenade

New York Thoroughbred Horsemen: Do Not Let Your Governor Dissolve Your Governing Body the New York State Racing and Wagering Board and Place You Under a Gaming Board.

Cuomo: Create N.Y. State Gaming Commission

Wednesday When It Was Music ~ Ella Fitzgerald ~ Blues In The Night

Tired Tuesday ~ Midnight Blues ~ Gary Moore

In fact beyond tired.

The World is About to END and it’s all Bob Ficano’s Fault!

Saturday Sooth ~ Babyface ~ For The Cool In You

Written by Kenneth Brian “Babyface” Edmonds.
Released off the songs self entitled 4th album in Aug. 1993.

Now I’ve got to admit beyond the middle 1970s when I personally thought that music went down straight down the toilet, there were also sporadic exceptions that came along. Nothing I’d go out and buy an album for but there was some definitely good singles and songs that emerged. And to me this was one of them.

Friday Freedom ~ In This Place ~ Robin Trower

Written by Robin Trower

Released off his second album Bridge of Sighs in 1974.

Robin Trower – guitar
James Dewar – bass, vocals
Reg Isidore – drums

Aqueduct Racino Brings in $1Million to N.Y. State Thoroughbred Breeding Fund while bringing in $39 Million in Revenue to the State.

And that’s just for under 3 Months.

Aqueduct Casino Breaks $1 Million in Proceeds – BloodHorse

By Tom Precious
Updated: Thursday, January 12, 2012 7:31 PM
Posted: Thursday, January 12, 2012 7:11 PM

In a state unaccustomed to rosy equine industry fiscal numbers, New York officials are going out of their way to hail the breaking of the $1 million mark in proceeds to a Thoroughbred breeding fund from the new casino at Aqueduct.

The Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct has provided $1 million in revenue sharing funds to the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund since it opened the VLT parlor Oct. 28, the state announced Jan. 12.

Officials estimate the breeding fund will total $12 million this year from the Genting New York facility.

The Aqueduct racino for the week ending Jan. 7 saw an average net win per machine of $368 on its 5,000 VLT devices on a total net win for the week of $12.9 million. In contrast, the next closest casino–at Yonkers Raceway–had a per-machine net win during the same week of $305 on its 5,380 machines, according to statistics from the state’s lottery agency that oversees the VLT programs.

During the final three months of 2011, the Aqueduct casino reported $1.4 billion in “onscreen credits” being wagered on the VLT devices and a net win of nearly $90 million. Genting’s take during that period–from its 38% commission–amounts to $34 million, while the state brought in $39 million that is to be earmarked for public school funding. From Genting’s “agent commission,” the New York Racing Association gets 3% for operating expenses and 4% to fund capital expenses and maintenance costs of its tracks.

John Sabini, the state’s top racing regulator who is also chairman of the breeding and development fund, called the $1 million mark in revenue sharing for the fund from the Aqueduct casino “excellent news for the Thoroughbred breeding industry in New York and the entire horse racing industry.”

The breeding fund said money it collected from the casino will be released in February for awards earned in November and December. Additional funding will be released through supplementary awards approved by the fund’s directors. The fund had previously increased breeder award levels by 50% beginning Jan. 1 as a result of the new revenues from the casino.

“New York’s horse breeding industry will benefit greatly from this revenue stream,” Tracy Egan, the fund’s executive director, said in a written statement.

The new money comes after a tough few years for New York’s breeding operations. Genting, meanwhile, is pushing a plan to further expand casino operations at Aqueduct, as well as the development at the facility of the world’s largest convention center.

End

Michigan is another State unaccustomed to rosy anything let alone to the Thoroughbred Equine Industry. Here we don’t have a racing regulator we don’t even have The Office Of Racing Commissioner anymore since 2009. Funny horse racing here was taking from agriculture and placed under Gaming. Yet I don’t know that I ever saw a machine at any race track here that even resembled a VLT. So why we were placed under the jurisdiction of the MGCB is beyond any of us.

All I know is what Racinos can do for not only the Horse Racing Industry and to all the jobs connected to it. But don’t tell me Michigan can’t use an extra $39 Million in Revenue.

Mind you this is just the money this N.Y. race track brought in since they opened on Oct. 28, 2011 just two and a half months ago. You do the math on an entire year.

$12 Million as the article states will go into N.Y. States T.B. Breeding fund this year. Other percentages go to the track and NYRA to fund & operate with a gigantic chunk going to the State. And they’re looking to expand.

Here the charity casinos are booming and the State gets nothing. Proposal 1 in 2004 was a joke. The only thing it did was prevent further gambling to the very first gambling establishment.

Race Tracks

But you can go a mile down to the nearest strip bar, bowling alley, etc… and still gamble.

The only Re-Invention Michigan has done is think of new ways to commit financial suicide the same way they killed off Pinnacle Race Course and tried to blame it on the county. The county didn’t allot us 84 racing dates then slash them to just 3 in 2009-2010. And the local news media here still eludes to the fact that because of what the State did to us, Pinnacle was never finished therefore it was virtually impossible to produce the amount of promised jobs.

Well I’m happy for the N.Y. T.B. Horsemen/Women. Say a prayer for the T.B. Horsemen here that don’t even have a track to race at this year let alone have the benefit of a Racino to go beyond survival.

I said long ago this would be a Win Win situation here. Nobody has listened and nobody cares. After all Michigan is loaded with money, we don’t need a thing. Right Governor Snyder?

Just wait until Ohio opens their Racinos, one as close as Toledo. They’re only being delayed by two months.

Racino = Save the Horse Racing Industry + Aid the State. Something we once did alone with our $400 Million in Revenue and our reward in the end was being discarded.

~

Thursday Throw Down ~ Messin’ With The Blues ~ Muddy Waters & Friends

Recorded live in 1974 at The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Released October 5, 2004

Muddy Waters – Guitar & Vocals
Junior Wells – Harp, Vocals
Buddy Guy – Guitar & Vocals
Bill Wyman – Bass
Terry Taylor – Guitar
Pinetop Perkins – Piano
Dallas Taylor – Drums

Motown Monday ~ The Tracks of My Tears ~ The Miracles

Written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore and Marv Tarplin.
Released June 23, 1965 on the Tamla Label .

Smokey Robinson – lead vocals
Marv Tarplin - guitar
Claudette Rogers Robinson – background vocals
Pete Moore – background vocals,
Ronnie White – background vocals
Bobby Rogers – background vocals
The Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Instrumentation

 

Lyrics are pure honesty, Muse is pure magic.

Sultry Saturday ~ Harlem Nocturne ~ Sam Taylor

Written in 1939 by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers.

Released in 1955 – Sam “The Man” Taylor and His Orchestra.

There are so many great versions of this song I probably haven’t heard them all.

The 2012 Republicans Are So F’D!

LMAO

 

First Casualty…Her Tea Party mixed too many hallucinogenics in their tea, THEN THEY FINALLY CAME DOWN. LOL

Motown Monday ~ The Funk Brothers

These Musicians were MOTOWN.

They alone gave the artists the Muse to make it complete for a sound that would be recognized and known around this entite world as, Motown.

Earl Van Dyke
Robert White
Joe Hunter
Johnny Griffith
Eddie Willis
Joe Messina
William “Benny” Benjamin
Richard “Pistol” Allen
Uriel Jones
The Best Bassist In The World James Jamerson
Bob Babbitt
Jack Ashford
Eddie “Bongo” Brown

Detroit, Michigan had it all and owned the sound.
It was “MOTOWN” and it was ours.

I’m proud to make The Funk Brothers my first Motown Monday of the New Year dedicated to the greatest group of musicians ensembled.

Longshot’s Blog 2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 100,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

I Hope “Maybe This Time” for somebody it will be a Happier New Year.

But to me this is just a yearly new year expression that really doesn’t mean much.

I know it’s a wish that people hope for to those they say it to. But I’ve been burnt so bad by people in this last one and actually coming into this very early new one it is totally disheartening.

The post song is not about people as not winners or about a man. I picked it because I’m hoping in general WE WILL ALL WIN…Finally.

So I indeed wish ALL but hope at least one of us does in fact have a better, healthier and happier new year in 2012.

Friday At The Fillmore ~ Blues At Sunrise ~ Albert King

Written by Albert King
Originally released as a single in 1960.

This live recording was from the album “Live Wire/Blues Power” recorded on June 26, 1968 at the Fillmore West and released the same year.

Other recordings of this concert were on albums “Wednesday Night In San Francisco” & “Thursday Night In San Francisco (June 27)” released in 1990.

Albert King – guitar and vocals
Willie James Exon – Guitar
James Washington – Organ
Roosevelt Pointer – Bass
Theotis Morgan – drums

Mr. Albert King was SRV’s Idol and what a legendary blues icon to learn from.

Monday Moanin’ ~ Don’t Go To Strangers ~ Etta Jones

Written by Redd Evans, Arthur Kent & Dave Mann
Off the self entitled album released in 1960.

Etta Jones - vocals
Frank Wess – tenor saxophone, flute
Robert Wyands – piano
Skeeter Best – guitar
George Duvivier – upright bass
Roy Haynes – drums

This entire album was recorded in a single session on June 21, 1960.

Etta Jones had been recording since the mid-40s but never saw success until this song and album.

The song was nominated for a Grammy.

Christmas Time Is Here ~ Vince Guaraldi Trio

 

From the 1965 Christmas Special “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

Vince Guaraldi Trio

Vince Guaraldi – piano, composer
Jerry Granelli – drums
Fred Marshall – double bass

Lyrics by Lee Mendelson

Childrens’ chorus

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Boys Choir in San Rafael California – vocals

Buon Natale this Christmas Eve ~~~ Tu scendi dalle stelle

Translation: You come down from the stars

Written by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (September 27, 1696 – August 1, 1787) born in Marianella, (near Naples) Italy, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

May everyone’s Christmas Eve be Blessed with Peace & Joy.

Friday At The Fillmore ~ Dark Star ~ Grateful Dead

Written by Robert Hunter – Lyrics and Composed by Jerry Garcia

Recorded on Feb. 27, 1969 Fillmore West

Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
Tom Constanten – keyboards
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan – keyboards, vocals, harmonica, percussion
Phil Lesh – bass guitar, vocals
Bill Kreutzmann – drums
Mickey Hart – drums

Dark Star was originally released as a 2:40 single in 1968. On the other hand doing it live it seemed their devouted fans couldn’t get enough of it. Thus all of the members received composition credits. Both Live/Dead released in 1969 & Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings (released in 2005) featured the same version of the song.

It masters their early work of pioneering psychedelic rockers but also blending into the mix jazz and total musical improvisation. At times you didn’t know where it started, was going or if or how it was to end. Nevertheless it seem to come out as a flawless blend of bliss.

Thursday Throw Down ~ Henry Mancini ~ Peter Gun

OOOOOOH YEAH!!!

Pete Candoli really gets going on this.

Wednesday Woes ~ God Speed Etta James.

You have a billion prayers coming your way. To ease your pain & suffering of what you are having to go through right now. So many thoughts, songs, memories flooding through our minds at this moment. Your family, friends and countless fans are thinking about you and will continue to hope and pray for more better days then not.

We Love You Etta and please don’t ever lose thought of that.

Who in the hell do these N. Korean Citizens think they are trying to kid?

Christmas Depression… Turn it into laughs anyway you can.

Went grocery shopping about five hours ago then stopped and got something to eat. Sitting there at the coney island and of course Christmas music was playing over the speakers when suddenly I found my eyes welling up listening to in my opinion what was the saddest Christmas song ever written. I’ll Be Home For Christmas.

Motown Monday ~ Tammi Terrell ~ I Can’t Believe You Love Me

What an awesome song and highlights the ultimate talent of this vocalist. Another who should have shined as a number one star.

This was Terrell’s first solo recording for “Motown” followed by “Come on and See Me”.

Saturday Down & Dirty ~ Tin Pan Alley/Dirty Pool ~ SRV & Double Trouble

One instantaneous moment of time in every soul who has walked this earth in their lifetime has experienced it. No matter where you were or what state of mind, something grabbed a hold of it and suddenly you felt panic. Didn’t matter if in reality whether there was real cause for it, you found yourself frozen wondering how or what direction you would take your next step to get out of it.

A place, a situation. Is it real or simply a delusion. A certain part of town, a specific area or street where maybe its reputation now had you standing in fear. Seeing or not an individual or many or none, a little drunk, a little high or completely sober but just lost.

One thing was for sure, what you feared the most in that precise moment would also be when you felt the most alive even though you didn’t know what would happen next. For it was that feeling of fear that also meant you were still in existence… so it turned out as something unknowingly good.

A hot summer breeze blowing at midnight with the only chill coming from within when you suddenly realize you have accidentally walked into………. Tin Pan Alley.

Wednesday When It Was Music ~ Walk On By ~ Dionne Warwick

In reality the video itself tells the story of the magic that was created with Composer Burt Bacharach, Co-Writing Lyricist partner Hal David and Singer Dionne Warwick.

It was the time of an era that spoke to you through the muse, words and vocals like none other. And it was the beginning of one of the best combinations of Music Ever.

Something today that nobody seems to have anymore. A collaboration that lasts because it’s that good.

“Walk On By” was just one of multitudes of hits she would sing with Bacharach & David who wrote over a 100 songs together in the early sixties alone with a good portion of them with Warwick in mind.

Over a 20-year period, beginning in the early 1960s, Warwick charted 38 singles co-written or produced by Bacharach and David, including 22 Top-40, 12 Top-20, and nine Top-10 hits on the American Billboard Hot 100 charts.