Waterboy (song)

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For other uses, see Water boy (disambiguation).

"Waterboy" / "Water Boy"

Cover of sheet music to a piano version of the "negro convict song" arranged by Avery Robinson for singer Roland Hayes, 1950
Song
Published	1922
Genre	Jazz, Folk, Blues
Length	Typically 3-4 mins
Writer(s)	Traditional
Composer(s)	Avery Robinson (arr.)

"Waterboy" (a.k.a. "The Water Boy") is an American traditional folk song.

Originally a black prison work song, a jazz arrangement by Avery Robinson^[1] popularized "Water Boy" in the 1920s. From 1949 onwards, it has also been performed by many blues and folk artists.

[edit] Versions

Roland Hayes (1922)

This is the version arranged by Avery Robinson^[2] (see image).

Fats Waller - Fats Waller in London (1922)^[3], 1938 (1938)^[4]

"Waterboy" was recorded by several other jazz singers around this time, including Fats Waller (see below), Earl Hines and John Payne.^[5]

John Lee Hooker (1949)

This version appears on the compilations The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, The Unknown John Lee Hooker: 1949 Recordings and Jack O' Diamonds: 1949 Recordings.^[6]

Odetta & Larry - The Tin Angel (1954)

Odetta - My Eyes Have Seen (1959)

Song: "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy".^[7]
"Waterboy" became a song Odetta performed regularly, and it appears on several of her albums. It is also the song she plays in the film No Direction Home, in a TV performance from the 1960s (shown to highlight her influence on Bob Dylan).