Who originally wrote & sang Mr Bojanges, and is it based on anyone

Cafe Society
1

I dont know who wrote and sang the original version of the song “mr Bojangles” or if it was based on a real person. Does anyone know?

2

There was a thread about this a while back. Jerry Jeff Walker wrote it, and claimed that it was based on a real night he spent in jail in New Orleans. However, IIRC, in the old thread, someone called BS, and said that it was really inspired by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, no matter what ole scamp Jerry Jeff said.

3

The better-known version from the haydays of AM radio was “Mr. Bojangles” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band which eventually cleaned up their act only to become the Dirt Band. - Jinx

4

Interesting. Apparently Jerry Jeff suffered from the delusion that just because he wrote the song, he actually knew what it was about. :rolleyes:

Anyway, back to the OP, I always heard what Rube related above, that Jerry Jeff spent a night in jail with a fellow who was locally known as Bojangles, a complimentary comparison to the famed Bill Robinson. So the song was based on a real person, though that person’s real name is something I doubt we’ll ever know (but if it is known, the SDMB is a good bet to find it).

5

All I know is that the part about the dog makes me cry like a baby.

6

Aha! I knew you were tender-hearted! You old fake!

7

I can tell you who the song was definitely not about, and that is Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949), one of the most successful African-American entertainers of his time. When he died, he had a huge funeral in Harlem.

8

And this is why we have Cafe Society. Questions about how a song, poem, or other artwork came about just don’t lend themselves to factual answers.

I’ll take Jerry Jeff’s word for it that it was inspired by some guy he met in jail. At the same time I suspect that JJW was at least vaguely aware of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson; maybe he only remembered that he was a dancer, and just liked the name. Speculating further, I imagine that these and other ideas came together from that amorphous cloud that is the inner workings of creative people, and after a while - voila! a hit song.

9

… oh, and back to the OP.

The very first time I heard the song it was done by Alan Lomax, IIRC, not Jerry Jeff Walker.

10

Since this is about a song, I’ll move this thread to our arts forum, Cafe Society.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

11

The first time I heard this song it was by John Denver of all people. It’s a really good version, too.

12

Here Jerry Jeff talks about performing the song the night he wrote it. Jail visits seem doubtful.

13

I don’t see anything in that article that rules out a night in the drunk tank as the inspiration for the song.

14

Google on Jerry-Jeff-Walker bojangles jail and see how many renditions of the story you can find. Here are three:

http://www.bobdylanroots.com/mrbo.html

http://www.thedailystar.com/opinion/columns/2001/03/12/simonson.html

http://www.depauw.edu/news/story.asp?id=380055766782407

And Jerry Jeff himself telling about it, from here: http://www.jjwfan.com/Articles/Rambler1976.htm

The sorrowful tale of an aged alcoholic minstrel carried a distinct message - that even in a drunk tank, human dignity can somehow survive in the form of an old drunk’s love for a dog that died 20 years ago…“Yes, he was a real person - an old white man, a street man in New Orleans,” Walker said. “The other street people would see him and yell, ‘Hey, Bojangles, hit us a lick.’”

So unless you want to call Jerry Jeff a liar, I’d say we have a factual answer to this one.

15

My mom knew Jerry Jeff; I remember meeting him as a kid. She met him through her friend Ray Wylie Hubbard (of Ray Wylie and the Cowboy Twinkies), who wrote JJW’s biggest “hit,” “Redneck Mother.”

I have nothing else to add, except that my favorite JJW song was always the one about his visit to England (title escapes me, thirty years later): “And I substantiate the rumor that the English sense of humor is drier than the Texas sun . . .”

16

For some reason I’ve always been impressed by the fact that Bill “Bojangles” Robinson could run backward very, very fast; apparently he once ran 75 yards backward in 8.2 seconds.

I just find that trivium really provocative for some reason.

Sorry for the hijack.

17

The very best version of “Mr. Bojangles” is by David Bromberg.
in his version,at times,spoken word, Bromberg recites the meeting of Jerry Jeff
and Mr. Bojangles while incarcerrated. Bromberg adds,“Jerry Jeff was not there
(in Jail) researching a Science Project”

Without a Doubt,Brombergs Crowning Glory!
18

The television show Austin City Limits uses that song, London Homesick Blues, as its theme. But it is by Gary P. Nunn. It appears on Jerry Jeff’s Viva Terlingua album, though.