Dirty Water
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| “Dirty Water” | ||
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| Single by The Standells from the album Dirty Water |
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| B-side | "Rari" | |
| Released | 1966 | |
| Genre | Rock and Roll | |
| Length | 2:48 | |
| Label | Tower/Capitol | |
| Writer(s) | Ed Cobb | |
| Producer | Ed Cobb | |
"Dirty Water" is a 12-bar blues song composed by Ed Cobb and first recorded by the California rock and roll band The Standells in 1966. It is considered a classic of garage rock.
The song debuted April 30, 1966 on the Cash Box charts and peaked at #8. It reached #11 on the Billboard singles charts on June 11. It was the band's first major hit single; their earlier charting record, "The Boy Next Door," had only reached #102 on Billboard's "Bubbling Under" chart in February 1965.
The song is a paean to the city of Boston and its then-famously-polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River:
- Down by the River...
- Down by the banks of the River Charles
- (Oh, that's what's happenin' baby)
- That's where you'll find me
- Along with lovers, muggers, and thieves.
- (Ahh, but they're cool people)
- I love that dirty water
- 'Oh oh, Boston, you're my home
Dirty Water was also the title of the Standells' most successful LP, their only nationally charting album. This LP charted on both Billboard and Cash Box magazines' charts, peaking at #52 and #39, respectively, during the summer of 1966.
The song was produced by its writer, Ed Cobb, and was originally issued on the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records.
The Boston Red Sox baseball team is well-known for playing the song immediately following home victories, a tradition that began in the 2001 season. But the tradition started when the Boston Bruins ice hockey team - at the suggestion of two Boston University students working for the team - began playing the song following victories in 2000.
[edit] Covers and samples
- British garage rock revivalists The Inmates covered "Dirty Water" in 1981, a version which was a mid-sized international hit.
- The song is sampled at the beginning of "These Are the Days," the first track on The Ducky Boys' 1998 album Dark Days.
- Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band with special guest Peter Wolf closed with Dirty Water during their back-to-back shows at Fenway in 2003.
- Boston punk band Dropkick Murphys often include the song in live sets, such as the one documented on 2002's Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA and at the 2007 Boston Red Sox baseball World Series victory rolling parade. A version recorded with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Dicky Barrett was released on Fenway Recordings' 2002 compilation In Our Lifetime, Vol. 3: The Revenge of Boston.
- Icelandic indie band Singapore Sling covered it in its 2002 debut album The Curse of Singapore Sling, released in North America and Europe the following year.
- This song is also an homage to the Boston Strangler as denoted by the lyrics "have you heard about the Strangler , I'm the man I'm the man." Some believe
- Ex-Iron City Houserockers singer Joe Grushecky included a version on his 2004 solo release True Companion.
- Former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo's 2005 cover album, Covering the Bases, includes a version of the song.
- U2 included a snippet of the song while playing "Vertigo" during a two-night stand at Boston's Fleet Center in December 2005.
- Aerosmith covered the song at both shows in their hometown of Boston during their 2006 Route of All Evil Tour.
- The Buffalo Sabres NHL team plays a cover version of this song before the beginning of the 3rd period. This version substitutes River Charles with Niagara River and Boston is replaced with Buffalo.
