Po' Monkeys juke joint in Merigold Mississippi -- a real Bobert kinda place -- has made the big time by being written up in the New York Times at the above link.

Brief excerpt:

"The word "juke" is believed to be derived from the African-influenced Gullah dialect of the Southeast coast, in which "jook" means "disorderly" or "wicked." In 1934, the folklorist Zora Neale Hurston wrote, "Jook is a word for a Negro pleasure house," often a "bawdy house" where black workers "dance, drink and gamble."

In the Delta of northwest Mississippi, an alluvial plain where cotton and sharecropping long ruled, juke joints were condemned by preachers as the houses of the devil, but they offered welcome relief from drudgery. Touring these clubs in the early 20th century, men like Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson pioneered the blues as an art form.

Just when did Mr. Seaberry start the club? His own memories can be vague.

"I don't know exactly to a T," he said. "Maybe 40 or 50 years ago."

And what is the source of the name?

"Po' Monkey is all anybody ever called me since I was little," he said. "I don't know why, except I was poor for sure."

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The home of the Delta Blues, the iconic birthplace of the Mudcat, has "made it" in New York, New York. Take a bow, bluesmen all.


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