I have been mulling about this post for months. Finally getting to it. At the end of last year an obituary caught my eye. I didn’t recognize the name but the words “Mr. Bojangles” stood out. The writer of that song, Jerry Jeff Walker, passed away, but his song will go on. People of a certain generation will know the 1970 version, a kind of upbeat musical number that you can’t always make out the lyrics by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. And Neil Diamond’s version was a little slowed down that one could make out the words better. Its amazing how different artists interpret the same song so differently.
I think the best version of Mr. Bojangles that I have heard is one that was not released as a single. I happened acrossed it on a greatest hits album by Jim Stafford. I borrowed it for his funny songs. We all know Jim’s songs the humous ; “I Don’t Like Spider and Snakes” , “Wildwood Weed”, and “My Girl Bill”.
His version of Mr. Bojangles is unbelievable. The part about when Mr. Bojanles asks “why dogs don’t live so long” is a real tear jerker almost every time I hear it. Enjoy, I put all three versions on here to compare…
Nitty Gritty…. https://youtu.be/e-LVXR6rjXs
Neil Diamond… https://youtu.be/_K0UKms267c
Jim Stafford… https://youtu.be/Eqlk3FhRRDU
Gary Lovell
Copyright. 2021
Unusual Perspectives 