The Legend of Mr. Bojangles
The popular but enigmatic tap dancer, born Luther "Bill" Robinson, also known as Mr. Bojangles was a real-life folk character who entertained across the south of the US , New York and California, and some say he might have been one of the most gifted natural dancers ever.
Read on to learn more about Robinson and the song that was written about him by Jerry Jeff Walker and recorded by many artists. My favorite recording of "Mr Bojangles" is by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
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Mr. Bojangles: The Biography of Bill Robinson
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Mr. Bojangles: The Biography of Bill Robinson
Amazon Price: (as of 11/12/2009)
TAP DANCE HALL OF FAME
- Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
- Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was a founding member of the Negro Actors Guild of America, Robinson was also named "Mayor of Harlem" in 1933. Hailed as "The Dark Cloud of Joy" on the Orpheum Circuit, he performed in vaudeville from 1914-1927 without a single season's layoff. Broadway fame came with the all-black revue, Blackbirds of 1928, in which he sang and danced "Doin' the New Low Down." Success was instantaneous. He was hailed as the greatest of all dancers by at least seven New York newspapers. Brown Buddies (1930), Blackbirds of 1933, All in Fun (1940) and Memphis Bound (1945) followed. The Hot Mikado (1939) marked Robinson's sixty-first birthday, which he celebrated by dancing down Broadway, one block for each year.
Sammy Davis On The Importance Of Mr. Bojangles
Sammy Davis Jr.'s Version of "Mr. Bojangles"
This song is a true story, written by Ronald Clyde Crosby originally of Oneonta, NY, but you know him better as Jerry Jeff Walker. It seems Mr. Walker was in New Orleans, and he spent a few days talking with his cell mate in the parish jail. The song, of course is Mr. Bojangles.
Mr. Bojangles Lyrics
Silver hair, ragged shirt and baggy pants, that old soft shoe
He'd jump so high, he'd jump so high, will he likely touch down ?
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance.
I met him in a cell in New Orleans, I was down and out
He looked to me to be the eye of age as he spoke right out
He talked of life, he talked of life, laughing slapped his leg stale
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance.
He said the name Bojangles and he danced a lick all across the cell
He grabbed his pants for a better stance, oh he jumped so high and he clicked
up his heels
He let go laugh, he let go laugh, shook back his clothes all around
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance, yeah, dance.
He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs throughtout the south
He spoke with tears of 15 years of how his dog and him but just travelled all about
Hid dog up and died, he up and died, and after 20 years he still grieves
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance.
He said I dance now at every chance at honky-tonks for drinks and tips
But most of the time I spend behind these county bars,Ocause I drink so bitO
He shook his head, yes he shook his head, I heard someone ask him, OpleaseO,
Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance, dance, Mr Bojangles, dance.
Jerry Jeff Walker Bojangles
Mr. Bojangles
Amazon Price: $13.96 (as of 11/12/2009)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Country Gold" - Mr. Bojangles
Live in Aso, Kumamoto, Japan in 1990
Dirt, Silver & Gold -Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
[IMPORT] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] 2 discs set
Mr. Bojangles is presented here in the original A side version of the song. The song was issued on both sides of the original 45, one with a minute and a half long prelude, then the song kicks in. When you flip the 45 over you get a shorter "B" side version, which actually starts differently than the version on the A side 45.
Dirt, Silver & Gold
Amazon Price: $27.97 (as of 11/12/2009)
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Mr. Bojangles On The Web
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In The Movies
"Bojangles" starred in more than a dozen movies. He appeared as a dancing butler in movies with young Shirley Temple and in movies with Will Rogers and other famous film stars. 
The Little Colonel
Shirley Temple & Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
Shirley Temple - America's Sweetheart Collection, Vol. 3 (Dimples / The Little Colonel / The Littlest Rebel)
Amazon Price: $18.99 (as of 11/12/2009)
Funeral of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1949)
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- Sorry Sorry May 15, 2009 @ 3:03 am
- The song was inspired by an encounter with a street performer in the New Orleans first precinct jail. Although this man could tap dance, the inspiration for the song was not the famous stage and movie dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson nor the New Orleans blues musician Babe Stovall.
According to Walker, a murder on the July 4th weekend of 1965 precipitated the arrest of all the street people in the area. In the crowded cell, a disheveled old homeless man began to talk to Walker who had been arrested earlier for drunkenness. The man told various stories of his life but the tone darkened after 'Mr Bojangles' recalled his dog who'd been run over. Someone then asked for something to lighten the mood and the man obliged with a tap dance.
Walker mentions that all the men in the cell had nicknames to prevent easy identification by the police. The dancer's nickname was 'Mr Bojangles'. In his autobiography 'Gypsy Songman',[1] Walker makes it clear the man he met was white. Further, in an interview with BBC Radio 4 in August 2008 he pointed out that at the time the jail cells in New Orleans were segregated along color lines.
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- 2FriendsTreasures 2FriendsTreasures Apr 30, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
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