"Getting kids into reading and yacht rock is a noble quest!"
-Adam Bernard, Adam’s World Blog
The song, “The Big Win” is a gift for Yacht Rock lovers and their children. Appearing on both the digital release, “Leenie’s Library” and a new album, “Arise Together-Songs to Inspire,” now streaming on all major platforms,“The Big Win” might lay claim as the first Yacht Rock song written and recorded for children.
Featuring
a smooth melody, soft rock vibes, breezy lyrics, and the lucid tenor voice of
Ricky Persaud Jr., the empowering song’s history dates back to the 1980s. Composer
Gail Bluestone and her lyricist sister Eileen Bluestone-Sherman were hot off an
Emmy-win of “The Odd Potato” for Chicago TV, and wrote "The Big Win"
as the opening production number for a children's musical about robots and A.I.
Hence the song’s opening outer space
vibe of zoning into the music!
Gail, who loves timeless R&B and Motown classics including her favorites Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, as well as the Temptations, the Four Tops, Sly and The Family Stone, plus soulful women artists notably Laura Nyro, Carole King, and the 5th Dimension, used their sensibilities to compose the song’s melody.
Then came the future—the second decade of the 21st Century when both A.I. became a reality and the Bluestone Sisters began work on “Leenie’s Library” with the mission of inspiring the Next Generation of New Readers. They wrote and chose songs from their catalogue with catchy tunes and literacy-building content. Eileen and Gail knew that singer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist Ricky Persaud Jr. was the man for the job. His rhythmic tribute “Selena” to the slain Latina pop star was played on regional and indie radio, and a favorite among Eileen, Gail, and their friends. Gail said, “Ricky is a gifted musician with a great thirst for learning, a great ear for listening, and great creativity with sound. He is a perfect collaborator and a true perfectionist.” Ricky is “The Big Win’s” sole instrumentalist, playing all the instruments and singing the song! Instrumentation on the piece includes keyboards, bass guitar, drums, glockenspiel/percussion. Ricky’s influences are like other musicians in the Yacht Rock community, including Prince, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Nirvana, Bob Marley and—of course-- Selena Quintanilla 2.
“Leenie’s Library” is designed to promote literacy through repetition, rhyme, and engaging visuals. The recordings and videos are available for free on YouTube, making it accessible to families and educators everywhere.
“Arise Together-Songs to Inspire” benefits Pickleberry Pie, an organization that provides live entertainment in children’s hospital wards around the nation, comforting ailing children and their parents at the most difficult of times.
A.I., the initial inspiration of “The Big Win” before the technology came to be, states these immortal words about the song, “If this is the beginning of a new genre—Yacht Rock for Kids—it might be ‘The Big Win’ is a simple part of musical history!”
