Peter Steele & Jimmy Duff at the bar

Jimmy Duff, proprietor of Duff’s Brooklyn, posted this to his Myspace page today, following the reported death of Peter Steele,  Brooklyn-born singer for Type O Negative:

Since Josh has publicly confirmed the passing of Peter, it’s now appropriate to comment on this very sad loss.

First of all, my sincere condolences go out to Peter’s family, as well as Johnny, Kenny and Josh, Paul, Steve and Joey. I extend the same to all of  Peter’s friends and fans worldwide at this very difficult time.

Peter was an amazing artist, a true friend, and one hilarious character. He was a tortured soul as well, but that’s part of what ultimately made his art so compelling. He’s at peace now so that’s the one consolation. That and the music and memories of good times that will always live on.  Thanks for all the music and laughs Peter, you will never be forgotten, and always missed.

J. DUFF

Finally some good news to read today. Even though the economy is in the toilet, $16 million was spent to renovate the Beacon Theatre. This beloved concert venue, which many of us love for hosting the Allmans every spring, is back after seven months of work to bring it back to its 1920s glory. The Times has a great overview and photo gallery which says,

New end standards along the aisles of the 2,829 new rust-red seats were cast from patterns close to the originals. Furthermore, multiple levels of ceiling cove lighting were rewired, then the fixtures rebulbed, as restorers say, returning the illumination to a glory not seen for 50 years…

I’ve been here many times; the last was to see David Gray. It is a special place on the Upper West Side. Even though Yogi’s is not within stumbling distance any longer to The Beacon, there are many more watering holes nearby.

Hats off to Madison Square Garden Entertainment for bringing back this jewel to New York. Paul Simon is the first to perform in the renovated landmark.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSnKwp7YVzo]

A long time ago I spent several years living in St. Louis, and I’ve always been partial to Anheuser-Busch products, the Cardinals, and pretty much the entire Midwest. So today when I went looking for something to speak to the potential, and highly likely, takeover of A-B by InBev, I found this song by Phil McClary, a dude who really likes his Bud, the Cardinals, and America. The lyrics:

KISS OUR GLASS
by Phil McClary

We’ve got Momma’s apple pie and baseball too,
Lets not forget we were the first up on the moon…
Great accomplishments aside one things perfectly clear,
America is not for sale and neither is her beer..

Oh AB you’re Americana as Americana can get,
Don’t sell your slice of the American dream cause
History won’t forget,
All you hard working Americans stand up and show some class
Have a drink with Mother Freedom and tell InBev to Kiss your Glass…

I drank a bunch of cold Budweiser’s,
watched Dale Sr rule the track,
Toasted a frosted mug of Bud light,
To every soldier in Iraq
I got silly drunk and crazy,
Praise the Lord I never wrecked,
I had a designated driver the day I married my best friend
Bud Select-

Oh, Augie I never knew you,
Nor any of your kin,
But sell the stock, this world will rock,
We might just switch to Gin..

All you hard working Americans stand up and show some class
Have a drink with Mother Freedom and tell InBev to Kiss your Glass…

Now God Blessed the Clydesdale,
the Arch and Old St Louis,
Mr. Buck and Mr. Shannon
God Blessed both of you too…

Every time I think of Baseball, Busch Stadium, Cold Beer…
It’s A.B. Products that makes every memory Clear…
Oh AB you’re Americana as Americana can get,
Don’t sell your slice of the American dream cause
History won’t forget,

All you hard working Americans stand up and show some class
Have a drink with Mother Freedom and tell InBev to Kiss your Glass…
Kiss your Glass,
Have a drink w/Mother Freedom and tell Inbev to kiss your…
RED WHITE & BLUE GLASS!

So now Eddie is back to moderate the music section of nycbp.com, which is the jukebox section of the message boards. There are three things Eddie knows: fighting, drinking, and country music. You should check out his blog.

Since we have the new message boards back up, we are going to be talking about the best music on jukeboxes in saloons. In addition, what are the songs you WANT to see added to your jukeboxes (or as the tech wave strikes, to the iPod under the bar, hooked up to the sound system).

What are your favorites? Post it in the message boards. I know for Eddie, he can’t get enough Gretchen Wilson, so here is her biggest hit song, Redneck Woman.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0ItxtPRMt0]