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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4 comments
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.