PO Monkey Juke

Willie Seaberry (AKA PO Monkey), b August 25, 1940 and died July 12, 2016 in his room
at the Lounge.  Willie ran this "Joint" since about 1961.  Maybe longer as he told me he
couldn't remember just exactly when he opened up at the end of this field on a gravel
road named PO Monkey Road.  Willie had been a farmer his entire life on the Hiter Family farm,
and his juke joint was a main spot for rural blacks during the early years.  He used to operate on
Mondays with  strippers from Memphis and Thursdays with a DJ spinning some Blues and R & B.
Occasionally, live music was held on a weekend.  PO Monkey's is THE LAST of the House-Joints
from the good old days.  Willie was a fun guy and he had a lot of history and stories under his belt.

Probably built around 1915 or so, this sharecropper shack, called PO Monkey's Lounge is
known around the world.  PO Monkey was a big star and has been featured in the Oxford
American, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Esquire-Japan, and PO Monkey's Lounge has been
on Japanese TV and even broadcast to China!  The famous photographer, Annie Lebovitz, even
stopped to photograph PO Monkey.  If you have ever visited the Lounge, you probably didn't
realize that Willie also lived there in just one room that was off the Bar/Kitchen area.
I had been in his "Room" and it was about 6 feet by 10 feet.  Monkey had his colorful outfits
hanging from the ceiling on an iron pipe. Willie always had a pleasant personality and he was
a very enjoyable person to be around.  I picked him up one day several years ago and we went
to the Riverside Hotel to meet "Rat".  I regret that I did not record the stories that these guys
told that day, but I'll always remember both Rat & PO Monkey as they both were
authentic Old School and Colorful Characters.

In 2015, Monkey added food to the deal.
       

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