Soapy Smith gambling house. Legend has it that above the entrance of the stairway leading upstairs to the gambling games was a sign that read "caveat emptor", Latin for "let the buyer beware". Smith's younger brother, Bascomb Smith, joined the gang and operated a cigar store that was a front for dishonest poker games and other swindles, operating in one of the back rooms. Other operations included fraudulent lottery shops, a "sure-thing" stock exchange, fake watch and bogus diamond auctions, and the sale of stocks in nonexistent businesses. Because of bribes, some of the police officers patrolling the streets would not arrest
What the....You Mean I Can't Sing?! but realized that all of them were crying, and the song had a different emotional impact than he had intended. One of the watchers congratulated Van Peebles on the song, but Van Peebles explained that the song was a joke, angering him and his girlfriend, who wanted to beat Van Peebles up. Van Peebles backed off by claiming that the song wasn't a joke. "What the...You Mean I Can't Sing?!" was initially released by Atlantic Records in 1974. Radio stations refused to play any song from the album, demanding an explanation as to what the symbols on the album cover's