Who sang the origional version of Mr. Bojangles?
“Mr. Bojangles” is a popular song, written and initially recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1968 and covered since by many other artists. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took the song to #9 on the Billboard pop chart in 1971. It was about an obscure alcoholic but talented tap dancing drifter (not the famous stage and movie dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, as sometimes assumed). Bojangles is thought to have been a folk character who entertained informally in the south of the US and California, and some say he might have been one of the most gifted natural dancers ever. His actual name is not recorded. Authentic reports of him exist from the 1920s through about 1965. According to the lyrics by Jerry Jeff Walker, he met Bojangles in a prison cell in New Orleans (the first precinct jail to be exact). The two began to converse about life. Bojangles began to dance as Walker admired his skill.
