Monthly Archives: January 2006

Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband’s assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died. She was 78. ” I understand that she was asleep last night and her daughter went in to wake her up and she was not able to and so she quietly slipped away. Her spirit will remain with us just as her husband’s has.” a family friend stated.
She was a supportive lieutenant to her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., during the most tumultuous days of the American civil rights movement. She had married him in 1953. After her husband’s assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, she kept his dream alive while also raising their four children. She worked to keep his ideology of equality for all people at the forefront of the nation’s agenda. She goaded and pulled for more than a decade to have her husband’s birthday observed as a national holiday, then watched with pride in 1983 as President Reagan signed the bill into law. The first federal holiday was celebrated in 1986.
There is so much more to the story of Mrs. King’s days here with us and I ask all of you to read up more on her.-Mr.G

In the upcoming weeks I will be setting up a time and a date to speak with Mr. James Cotton, or just COTTON as his friends call him. Cotton became known as the ultimate showman. By the time he got to the center of the stage and blew his first note, the audience was on it’s feet, dancing, screaming, sweating right along with him, and having a good time. That is what it was all about. “Boogie, boogie, boogie,” he’d wail from the stage. He became famous for his back flips. An old fan reminisced with him at a recent festival, “James, the first time I saw you do a back flip, man, I was shocked,” he said, shaking his head, “I’d never seen one before! Thanks.” Cotton laughed, patted his stomach, and replied, “Well, you aren’t getting the flips tonight but you WILL get the music. It is an old, true story – there are nights when he blows his harmonica so hard the keys fall out in his hands. A man with a good sense of humor, his old fans and friends like to remember one night when he began playing so hard his harp fell apart, “Oh, I’m just warming up,” he teased them with a big smile.

Stay Tuned for the date of this extraordinary interview.

Fact: the year 2005 is Cotton’s 61st year in the entertainment business. What an amazing adventure this man is experiencing with his little harmonica. Congratulations SUPERHARP

Wilson Pickett, the impassioned, raw-voiced soul singer who brought a hard-edged, sensuous urgency to a string of rhythm-and-blues hits of the 1960s, died Thursday of a heart attack at Reston, Va., Hospital Center. He had lived in Ashburn, Va., since 1999. He was 64. One of the most exciting performers of his era, Pickett helped define the sound of classic soul music in the 1960s, along with Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, James Brown and Smokey Robinson. He often punctuated his songs with shouts, screams and grunts, giving his music a visceral quality that few other performers could match.
He imbued his leading hits, including “In the Midnight Hour,” “Mustang Sally,” “Funky Broadway” and “Land of 1,000 Dances,” with a rough, sweaty undertone that contained more than a hint of danger and lust. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and received a further career boost that year when his music was featured in the film “The Commitments,” about an Irish soul band. Pickett performed at the New York premiere of the movie and gained a new generation of fans. Pickett was born in Prattville, Ala., on March 18, 1941. The youngest of 11 children, he grew up in a stern home with a mother he called “the baddest woman in my book.” “She used to hit me with anything, skillets, stove wood,” he told Gerri Hirshey in “Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music.” Survivors include his fiancee, Gail Webb of Ashburn; and four children.

Have you ever wished you had a way to get the other people on the road off…off the roads that is. I mean the middle lane is not meant for talking on the phone, or putting on make-up or even fininshing up that morning’s first cup of joe. GET OUT OF THE WAY. I speak from an every day experience of people think ing that they, yes they are the only ones on the road. It is similar to the way I see parents think ing that their kids are the only one in the schoolsystem, but I regress. I am not in a hurry and I have slowed the speed down considerable so just need these folks to move over, move away and most of all pay attention. Every year for my birthday and even for any holiday where gifts are exchanged I have asked for my very own road to all my destinations. I have yet to even see any results on this wish. It is no wonder why Christmas is such a drab day for me. Mr.G.
I guess the only way to go is to fly, oh yeah once again, NO WINGS on these shoulders…it’s always something.

For those listeners who have been faithful and loyal to their Saturday mornings from 9-12, we have some news of interest. Our very own Dave Estell has been promoted to King of the Newer York region. His castle will be somewhere on the city streets where he will be sure to spread his wit and good will to any and all who can hadle HIS way. If you ever want to know how Dave is feeling, JUST ASK. Personally, I have been a fan of his show for many years in a row and feel that the FILTH has influenced my musical choices at times but certainly was an inspiration to do good radio. Greenarrowradio is sort of the BIZARRO Filth, we end in the blues where on the filth the show always kicks off with something of a bluesy origin. So, as his show will still be on for the time being, make sure to check it out and give Dave a shout to let him know what YOU think. Maybe he will find his way to the airways in NYC and we can once again be the musical peasants that thirst for our mighty musical king to lead us to the sound.

Perhaps, we will have the honor to replace the Filthy time slot with something similar yet GREEN—->
Mr.G

When I heard that President Bush said yesterday that he secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans with suspected ties to terrorists because it was “critical to saving American lives” and “consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, I thought I was certain to bump into George Orwell at the coffeepot.
Bush said the program has been reviewed regularly by the nation’s top legal authorities and targets only those people with “a clear link to these terrorist networks.” Noting the failures to detect hijackers already in the country before the strikes on New York and Washington, Bush said the NSA’s domestic spying since then has helped thwart other attacks Ah yes, just like those pesky walking err should I say hiding weapons of mass destruction, this too sounds like Mr. Bush doing what he wants without true justification. His ready, shoot, aim policy grows tiresome and embarassing.

The NSA “authorization is a vital tool in our war against the terrorists,” Bush said. “It is critical to saving American lives. The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties. And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I’m the president of the United States.”

I think we ALL see the answer here…..”as long as you live under my roof you will do as I say”…”yes Papa W.”.

How long before our voices are heard??? Search Monkey is looking for these and many other answers. Any thoughts?

Sooooo What do you think..We have left the the old in the dust and have busted out the NEW. A NEW look that is. What do you think? The midnight backgroud is quite a change but Mustapha and I think we are finally heading in the right direction..Although as you know, we will certainly be off track before you know it. This week has reaffirmed the fact that large groups of people is a thing that yours truly MR.G needs to avoid. As a person who says it like it is….LOOK OUT. I went to Quincy Market in Boston the other day and oh man if there wasn’t a freak buggin me a each streetcorner. I tried to take a leak in the hotel that Red Sox’s slugger (disgruntled) Manny Ramierz lives, to no avail. I imagine his pee is better than mine. The blueman group was the true reason for this venture. It was worth the time. Yet, a small gathering of f thrill-seekers is still too much for me these days. With a strobe light and a hungry belly, a blue faced man is the last thing I guess I want in front of me….regardless, I reccommend the show to all who don’t mind crowds and some wacky fun. http://www.blueman.com

Hey, WHY SO BLUE?????