Waterboy (song)
Encyclopedia
"Waterboy" is an American
traditional folk
song.
Originally a black
prison work song composed by Jacques Wolfe
, a Romanian
immigrant, Waterboy became known as a jazz
arrangement by Avery Robinson
popularized "Water Boy" in the 1920s. From 1949 onwards, it has also been performed by many blues
and folk
artists.
Jimmie Rodgers (1960)
Bill Shirley Trio (1961 Most assuredly this should be the DON Shirley Trio
Alan Sherman did a parody of the song as "Seltzer Boy" (1962), taken from the album, "My Son the Folksinger". He was sued by the songwriter's estates for not asking approval beforehand. Sherman paid the penalty for this. (Source: "A Gift of Laughter" by Alan Sherman (1965).)
Music of the United States
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...
traditional folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
song.
Originally a black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
prison work song composed by Jacques Wolfe
Jacques Wolfe
Jacques Wolfe was born in Botoşani, Romania, on April 29, 1896. His family emigrated to New York while he was a very young child. He displayed musical talent as a youngster and at 16, he entered the Institute of Musical Art, now known as Juilliard School. During World War I, he was stationed at...
, a Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
immigrant, Waterboy became known as a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
arrangement by Avery Robinson
Avery Robinson
Avery Robinson was an American classical composer who worked with, among others, Roland Hayes and Paul Robeson.-Biography:Avery Robinson was born on January 21, 1878 in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was a local mill owner there. After graduating from MIT, Avery returned to Louisville to work...
popularized "Water Boy" in the 1920s. From 1949 onwards, it has also been performed by many blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
artists.
Versions
- Roland HayesRoland HayesRoland Hayes was a lyric tenor and is considered the first African American male concert artist to receive wide international acclaim as well as at home...
(1922)
-
- This is the version arrangedArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
by Avery RobinsonAvery RobinsonAvery Robinson was an American classical composer who worked with, among others, Roland Hayes and Paul Robeson.-Biography:Avery Robinson was born on January 21, 1878 in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was a local mill owner there. After graduating from MIT, Avery returned to Louisville to work...
(see image).
- This is the version arranged
- Fats WallerFats WallerFats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
- Fats Waller in London (1922), 1938 (1938)
-
- "Waterboy" was recorded by several other jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singers around this time, including Fats Waller (see below), Earl HinesEarl HinesEarl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
and John PayneJohn Payne (actor)John Payne was an American film actor who is mainly remembered as a singer in 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the NBC western television series The Restless Gun.-Background:Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia...
.
- "Waterboy" was recorded by several other jazz
- John Lee HookerJohn Lee HookerJohn Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
(1949)
-
- This version appears on the compilationsCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, The Unknown John Lee Hooker: 1949 Recordings and Jack O' Diamonds: 1949 Recordings.
- This version appears on the compilations
- Odetta & LarryOdetta & LarryOdetta & Larry was a short-lived blues-folk duo in the mid-1950s. It consisted of Odetta and Lawrence B. Mohr, the former of whom became the more well-known in ensuing decades....
- The Tin AngelThe Tin AngelThe Tin Angel is now the common name for Odetta & Larry's only album, a collection of all their recordings, originally released in 1954 as "Odetta And Larry".- Background :...
(1954)
- OdettaOdettaOdetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
- My Eyes Have SeenMy Eyes Have SeenMy Eyes Have Seen is the third album by American folk singer Odetta, first released in 1959. After two small releases, Odetta had now moved to the larger, more folk and jazz oriented label Vanguard....
(1959)
-
- Song: "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy".
"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 HomeNo Direction HomeNo Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
, in a TV performance from the 1960s (shown to highlight her influence on Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
).
- Song: "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy".
- Harry BelafonteHarry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
and Odetta - Belafonte Returns to Carnegie HallBelafonte Returns to Carnegie HallBelafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall is a live double album album by Harry Belafonte. It is the second of two Belafonte Carnegie Hall albums, and was recorded May 2, 1960...
(1960)
Jimmie Rodgers (1960)
Bill Shirley Trio (1961 Most assuredly this should be the DON Shirley Trio
Alan Sherman did a parody of the song as "Seltzer Boy" (1962), taken from the album, "My Son the Folksinger". He was sued by the songwriter's estates for not asking approval beforehand. Sherman paid the penalty for this. (Source: "A Gift of Laughter" by Alan Sherman (1965).)
- Paul RobesonPaul RobesonPaul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
- The Power & the Glory (1991 compilation)
- The Kingston TrioThe Kingston TrioThe Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
- Stewart Years (2000 compilation)