Ken Bethea of Old 97’s Tells His Famous Poop Story
Several years ago, my cousin told me one of the funniest stories I’d ever heard. It was about Ken Bethea, the guitarist for the Old 97’s, and it involved a romantic encounter interrupted by a bowel movement that went horribly, horribly awry. The story ended with Ken jumping through a bathroom window. My cousin had heard the story from Robert Jenkins, a known scalawag but a close friend of the band. The story was so funny, that I borrowed it and have been retelling it ever since, invariably with great effect.
So when I heard the band was having a listening party May 13 at the Granada for their new CD, Blame It on Gravity, I thought that was as good an excuse as any to ask Ken whether the story was really true — and, if it was true, if he’d stop by the FrontBurner Studios and tell it for posterity’s sake. As it turns out, by the time the story had found its way to me, a few fantastical details had been added. But not many.
As a public service, I bring you the full and accurate account from the man himself:
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Eeee. Gads.
12 minutes of my life…gone.
fail
Sorry, his wind-up is way too long there. Got work to do. But I gotta say, hmm. I had a work buddy about 14 years back who told a very, very similar story on himself — romance, BM gone horribly awry, bathroom window. Told it as his very own — in his case, it had happened in the Washington, D.C. area. I, too, thought it was one of the funniest stories I’d ever heard.
Hmm.