Mr. Bojangles (song)

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"Mr. Bojangles" is a popular song written and initially recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1968 and covered since by many other artists. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took the song to #9 on the Billboard pop chart in 1971.

It was about an obscure alcoholic but talented tap dancing drifter (not the famous stage and movie dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, as sometimes assumed). In fact, in his autobiography Gypsy Songman,^[1] Jerry Jeff states "Bojangles wasn't so much a name as a category of itinerant street entertainer known back as far as the previous century."

The lyrics tell how the singer met Bojangles in a prison cell in New Orleans (the first precinct jail to be exact). The two began to converse about life. Bojangles began to dance as Walker admired his skill.

[edit] Recorded Versions

Artists as diverse as Dave Jarvis, Chet Atkins, Frank Sinatra, Rod McKuen, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Whitney Houston, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Jim Croce, Harry Belafonte, Elton John, Lulu, Arlo Guthrie, Nina Simone, Esther Phillips, John Denver, David Bromberg, Neil Diamond, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tom T. Hall, John Holt, Bermuda Triangle Band, Robbie Williams, David Campbell, Jamie Cullum, Ray Quinn, Edwyn Collins, Frankie Laine and Jamie Walker from blues band Tantrum have all covered the song.

[edit] Published Versions

• Rise Up Singing page 25

[edit] References