According to Standells keyboardist Larry Tamblyn, at least some of the song (notably the reference to "lovers, muggers, and thieves") was inspired by a mugging of producer Ed Cobb in Boston.[8] In addition to the Charles River, other local interest items in the song include the Boston University women's curfew—"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)."
The well-known guitar riff that opens the song was recorded with a Fender Telecaster through a Vox AC30 amplifier by Standells guitarist Tony Valentino.[9] Although Cobb received sole songwriting credit, Tamblyn has stated that the band "completely restructured it ... and made it into what it was", and "we didn’t get any credits for writing nor arranging."[10]
Reception
"Dirty Water" was first issued in late 1965 on the Tower label, a subsidiary of Capitol Records. It first became a hit in the state of Florida, breaking out on WLOF in Orlando in January 1966.[11]
The song debuted on the Cash Box charts on April 30, 1966, and peaked at No. 8. It reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 11[12]. 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 chart in February 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.
Britishgarage rock revivalists The Inmates covered "Dirty Water" in 1979 (and replaced Boston and the Charles with London and the River Thames), a version which was a moderate hit and reached #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1980.[21] 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'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' 1998 album Dark Days.
The Buffalo Sabres NHL team plays a cover version of this song before the beginning of the third period. This version substitutes River Charles with Niagara River, and Boston is replaced with Buffalo.
"Weird Al" Yankovic covered the song during his March 4, 2018 evening show at The Wilbur Theater in Boston.
Pearl Jam covered the song during their September 4, 2018 show at Fenway Park in Boston.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have covered the song on multiple occasions while playing in Boston, most recently during their March 20, 2023, show at TD Garden.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
