"Dirty Water" is a song by the American rock band

The Standells The Standells are an American garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as a "punk band of the 1960s", and said to have inspired such groups as the Sex Pistols and Ramones. They are best kno ...

, written by their producer

Ed Cobb Edward C. "Ed" Cobb (February 25, 1938 – September 19, 1999) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for writing the song " Tainted Love" for Gloria Jones, which lat ...

. The song is a mock

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ( monody). It comes from the Greek παιάν (also πα ...

to the city of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and its then-famously polluted

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History ...

and

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

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. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

women's

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

—"Frustrated women ... have to be in by 12 o'clock"—and a passing mention of the

Boston Strangler The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in the Boston, Massachusetts, area during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, ...

—"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, 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 ''Billboards

Bubbling Under Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

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 state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, breaking out on

WLOF WLOF (101.7 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Elma, New York and serving the Buffalo metropolitan area. It broadcasts a Catholic talk and teaching radio format. Referred to as '' The Station of the Cross'', WLOF is owned ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

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 #52 and #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; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

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 in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

began playing the song in 1995, and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

followed suit after home victories beginning in the 1997 season. The surviving Standells have performed the song at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

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 and is a popular target for right-handed hitters. Overview The wall was part ...

. The song's famous guitar riff was recorded with a Fender Telecaster through a

Vox AC30 The Vox AC30 is a guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox. It was introduced in 1958 to meet the growing demand for louder amplifiers. Characterised by its "jangly" high-end sound it has become widely recognized by British musicians and others, su ...

amplifier by Standells guitarist Tony Valentino. The song is also included in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

for the film ''

Fever Pitch ''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: '' Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and '' Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", bu ...

'', which includes the Boston Red Sox leading up to the

2004 World Series The 2004 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2004 season. The 100th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...

. "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 Joseph Richard Dodd Jr. (October 27, 1945 – November 29, 2013) was an American actor and musician who was a cast member of ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' starting in its first season, and later a member of several musical groups including The Stande ...

– drums, lead vocal *Gary Lane – backing vocal, bass guitar *Larry Tamblyn – backing vocal,

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...

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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

garage rock revivalists The Inmates covered "Dirty Water" in 1979 (and replaced Boston and the Charles with

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

), 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, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

's WZZQ said "

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

" 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 neighborhood of Boston, the band has released six full-length albums and over 80 songs. The band's name is derived from the name of an Irish street gan ...

' 1998 album '' Dark Days''. *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 and 2018 Boston Red Sox baseball World Series victory rolling parades. 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. *Former Red Sox pitcher

Bronson Arroyo Bronson Anthony Arroyo (born February 24, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and musician. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates between 2000 and 2002, the Boston Red Sox from 2003 to 2005, the ...

's 2005 cover album, '' 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 in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

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. * "Weird Al" Yankovic covered the song during his March 4, 2018 evening show at The Wilbur Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. * Pearl Jam covered the song during their September 4, 2018 show at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

References