Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer, you take one down, you pass it around...and I'm (twelve days--yikes!) late again....
As has happened here numerous times before, my introduction to this week's tune was...my darling daughter. A couple years back she sent me a short list of songs she was enjoying and thought I might enjoy as well. For whatever reason, this one really stood out and was literally love at first listen. Unfortunately (never enough time!), this song remains the only one of his I know...but if you're only going to know one, might as well make it a good one....
Pokey Lafarge was born Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, Il in 1983. He took an early interest in music thanks to one of his grandfathers (who was a banjo player), and after graduating from high school in 2001 hitchhiked to the west coast where he earned a living busking. He would continue to travel the country, self-released his first album in 2006, and had a musical contract for his second release in 2008. Over the next two years he would team up with three musicians who would become his backing band, the South City Three. Though significant commercial success has thus far eluded him, he has built a nice career, with his band having backed Jack White on a couple of songs and been White's opening act, toured regularly, as well as him writing songs for soundtracks and acting in a couple of movies. He's also won two Independent Music Awards for album of the year. For his career, Lafarge has released eleven studio albums, one live album, and five singles. He released his latest album just this year.
Fun Fact: The "Pokey" in Pokey LaFarge comes from a nickname his mother gave him when he was a child, because, surprisingly enough, he often moved slower than she wanted him to.
"End of My Rope" was released on LaFarge's 2020 album, the rather lowly entitled Rock Bottom Rhapsody. The song was not released as a single. In what's become something of a trend over the last few Jukebox posts, neither the single nor the album had a Wikipedia entry, so any chart positioning (likely none) is unknown.
Featuring a driving bass and a rock-solid drum line throughout, LaFarge, tongue planted firmly in cheek, spins the tale of a man at the...end of his rope. The lyrics are smart, the vocals compliment perfectly the song's rockabilly roots, and there's a gospel-tinged organ that screams "come to me Jesus." There's also a heaping helping of "yeahs" (and a couple of "oh yeahs" for good measure) in the chorus, and all of it makes for a dynamite song to lighten up our world. A simple--and subtle--gem.
Lyric Sheet: "Let me die on stage/Singing the last song I know/Let the spotlight shine the skin/Off my bones..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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