Dirty Water
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ""Dirty Water"" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by The Standells | ||
| from the album Dirty Water | ||
| B-side(s) | "Rari" | |
| Released | 1966 | |
| Genre | Rock and Roll | |
| Length | 2:48 | |
| Label | Tower / Capitol Records | |
| Writer(s) | Ed Cobb | |
| Producer(s) | Ed Cobb | |
| Chart positions | ||
Dirty Water is a song composed in the 1960s and performed by the California rock and roll band, The Standells.
It was their first major hit single (their earlier chart record, "The Boy Next Door," only reached #102 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Charts in February 1965) reaching #11 on the Billboard charts on June 11, 1966 and debuted April 30, 1966 on the Cash Box charts peaking at #8.
The song is a paean to the City of Boston and its then famously polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River:
- Down by the River...
- Down by the banks of the River Charles
- (Oh, that's what's happenin' baby)
- That's where you'll find me
- Along with lovers, muggers, and thieves.
- (Ahh, but they're cool people)
- I love that dirty water
- Oh, Boston, you're my home".
It was also the title of the Standells' most successful LP, and their only nationally charted album. This LP charted on both Billboard and Cash Box peaking respectively at #52 and #39 during the summer of 1966.
The song was produced by Ed Cobb and was originally issued on the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records.
British garage rock revivalists, The Inmates, covered "Dirty Water" in 1981, a version which was a medium sized international hit, and Boston punk band Dropkick Murphys often play the song live, affirming their love of their home city.
The Boston Red Sox baseball team plays the song immediately following a home victory at Fenway Park (much as their rival, the New York Yankees play New York, New York by Frank Sinatra whenever they win at Yankee Stadium).
An ESPN special on the Red Sox showed that former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo also covered the song while in a recording studio. His version appears on his album, "Covering the Bases" (which is entirely composed of cover songs), released in summer 2005.
Aerosmith covered the song live on the Route of All Evil Tour at both shows they played in their hometown of Boston.
Dirty Water is also an improvised comedy, set in "Mike Kiley's Tavern" (Formerly "Lally's Tavern" owned by Tom Lally in the Depression era and WWII on Old Colony Ave. and D Street in South Boston where it was the place to be then.) and performed in Chicago. It features a cast of former Bostonians who play locals at a dive bar called Dirty Water. [1]
Dirty Water is also a long-running club night, started in October 1996, in London, England at a venue named The Boston. The club features bands influenced by sixties garage rock and have played host to many of the best contemporary bands, including the White Stripes, Billy Childish (Thee Headcoats, The Buff Medways, The Musicians of the British Empire), The Woggles, The Von Bondies,The Dirtbombs, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, The 5678s, to name a few. The club has also seen some original sixties performers, such as Sky Saxon of The Seeds, The Monks and Kim Fowley, grace its stage. [2]
