Dirty Water
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"Dirty Water" is a song by the American rock band The Standells, written by their producer Ed Cobb. The song is a mock paean to the city of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, and its then-famously polluted Boston Harbor and
Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...
.


History

According to Standells keyboardist Larry Tamblyn, at least some of the song (notably the references to "lovers and thieves") was inspired by a mugging of Cobb in Boston. In addition to the river, other local interest items in the song include the
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
women's
curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...
—"Frustrated women ... have to be in by 12 o'clock"—and a passing mention of the Boston Strangler—"have you heard about the Strangler? (I'm the man I'm the man)."


Reception

First issued in late 1965 on the Tower label, a subsidiary of
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
, the song debuted April 30, 1966, on the ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' charts and peaked at No. 8. It reached No. 11 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' 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 No. 102 on ''Billboard''s
Bubbling Under Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main Billboar ...
chart in February 1966. Although "Dirty Water" is beloved by the city of Boston and its sports fans, the song first became a hit in the state of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, breaking out on
WLOF WLOF (101.7 Hertz, MHz) is a nonprofit organization, non-commercial FM radio, FM radio station city of license, licensed to Elma, New York and serving the Buffalo metropolitan area. It broadcasts a Catholic church, Catholic Christian talk and ...
in Orlando in January 1966. '' 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 No. 52 and No. 39, respectively, during the summer of 1966. The song is traditionally played by Boston sports teams following home victories. The
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
began playing it in 1995, and
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
followed suit after home victories beginning in the 1997 season. The surviving Standells have performed the song at
Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...
from atop the
Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate at the left-field Foul line (baseball), foul line, making it a popular target f ...
. The famous guitar riff was recorded with a Fender Telecaster through a
Vox AC30 The Vox AC30 is a Instrument amplifier, guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox (company), Vox. It was introduced in 1958 to meet the growing demand for louder amplifiers. Its "jangly" high-end sound made it widely used by British musicians and oth ...
amplifier by Standells guitarist Tony Valentino. The song is also included in the
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
for the film '' Fever Pitch'', which includes the Boston Red Sox leading up to the 2004 World Series. Starting in April 2019,
Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
, a club in the
English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, began playing "Dirty Water" after home matches, because the club is owned by
Fenway Sports Group Fenway Sports Group Holdings, LLC (FSG), is an American multinational sports holding conglomerate which owns Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, NAS ...
, the same owners as the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
. "Dirty Water" was included in the influential compilation album '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'', and is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". Though the song is credited solely to Cobb, band members Dodd, Valentino, and Tamblyn have claimed substantial material-of-fact song composition copyright contributions to it as well as contributing to its arrangement.


Personnel

* Dick Dodd – drums, lead vocal *Gary Lane – backing vocal, bass guitar *Larry Tamblyn – backing vocal, Vox Continental organ *Tony Valentino – backing vocal, electric guitar, harmonica


Chart history


Covers and samples

*
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...
revivalists
The Inmates The Inmates are a United Kingdom, British Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock band, which formed after the split of The Flying Tigers in 1977. In 1982, they had a medium-sized international hit record, hit with a cover version, cover of The Stan ...
covered "Dirty Water" in 1979 (and replaced Boston and the Charles with
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
), a version which was a moderate hit and reached #51 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart in January 1980. This song was promoted with customized promo versions recorded for many towns distributed to radio stations. For example, the promo copy played on
Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...
's WZZQ said " Pearl River" and "Jackson you're my home". *The song is sampled at the beginning of "These Are the Days", the first track on
the Ducky Boys The Ducky Boys are a street punk band from Boston. Since forming in 1995 in the Charlestown, Massachusetts, Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, the band has released six full-length albums and over 80 songs. The band's name is derived from the ...
' 1998 album '' Dark Days''. *Boston punk band
Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...
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 and 2018 Boston Red Sox baseball World Series victory rolling parades. A version recorded with
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...
' 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. *Former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo's 2005
cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, '' Covering the Bases'', includes a version of the song. *The
Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...
NHL team plays a cover version of this song before the beginning of the third period. This version substitutes River Charles with
Niagara River The Niagara River ( ) flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The origin of the river's name is debated. Iroquoian scholar Bruce T ...
, and Boston is replaced with Buffalo. *
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
covered the song during his March 4, 2018 evening show at The Wilbur Theater in Boston. *
Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...
covered the song during their September 4, 2018 show at Fenway Park in Boston. *
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
and the
E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...
have covered the song on multiple occasions while playing in Boston, most recently during their March 20, 2023 show at the TD Garden.


See also

* List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States


References


Sources

* {{authority control Songs about Boston The Standells songs 1966 singles Songs written by Ed Cobb Boston Red Sox 1966 songs Capitol Records singles