"Waterboy" (a.k.a. "The Water Boy") is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

traditional

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

song. It is built on the call "Water boy, where are you hidin'?" The call is one of several

water boy In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farm workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the ...

calls in cotton plantation folk tradition. Numerous artists have written and/or recorded their own versions of this African-American traditional song, including Jacques Wolfe, a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

immigrant, and Avery Robinson who popularized "Water Boy" as a jazz song in the 1920s. From 1949 onwards, many

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

artists have performed their own arrangements of it. The opening call to the "water boy" has been said to bear a resemblance to melodies found in classical works by Cui, Tchaikovsky, and Liszt, as well as a Jewish marriage song and a Native American tune.Sigmund Spaeth, Read ‘Em and Weep. The Songs you Forgot to Remember (New York: Halcyon House, 1926, p. 40. The first melody of the subsequent refrain is similar to the old German tune "Mendebras," used for the hymn "Oh Day of Rest and Gladness."Spaeth, ibid. See also Gerald Bordman: His Life and Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 146. To hear Mendebras

Versions

Roland Hayes Roland Wiltse Hayes (June 3, 1887 – January 1, 1977) was an American lyric tenor and composer. Critics lauded his abilities and linguistic skills demonstrated with songs in French, German, and Italian. Hayes's predecessors as well-known Afr ...

(1922) ::This is the version arranged by Avery Robinson (see

image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

). *

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

- ''Fats Waller in London'' (1922), 1938 (1938) ::"Waterboy" was recorded by several other jazz singers around this time, including Fats Waller,

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

, and John Payne. *

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

- 1934 *

Edric Connor Edric Esclus Connor (2 August 1913 – 13 October 1968) was a Caribbean singer, folklorist and actor who was born in Trinidad and Tobago. He was a performer of calypso in the United Kingdom, where he migrated in 1944 and chiefly lived and wor ...

(1947) British Pathé website ::This is also the version arranged by Avery Robinson *

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

(1949) ::This version appears on ''The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker'', ''The Unknown John Lee Hooker: 1949 Recordings'', and ''Jack O' Diamonds: 1949 Recordings''. *

Odetta & Larry Odetta & Larry was a short-lived blues-folk duo in the mid-1950s. It consisted of Odetta and Lawrence B. Mohr, the former of whom became the more well known in ensuing decades. Background Odetta Holmes and Lawrence B. Mohr met at a bar called ...

- ''

The Tin Angel ''The Tin Angel'' is Odetta & Larry's only album, and the first recording by Odetta, originally released in September 1954 on Fantasy Records. Background * The album is a collection of recordings of Odetta and Larry Mohr from 1953–54; it wa ...

'' (1954) *

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

- '' My Eyes Have Seen'' (1959) ::Song: "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy".
"Waterboy" became a song Odetta performed regularly, and it appears on several of her albums. It is also the song she plays in the film ''

No Direction Home ''No Direction Home: Bob Dylan'' is a 2005 documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th-century American popular music and culture. The film focuses on the period between Dylan's arrival in New ...

'', in a TV performance from the 1960s (shown to highlight her influence on

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

). *

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

and Odetta - ''

Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall ''Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall'' is a live double album by Harry Belafonte. It is the second of two Belafonte Carnegie Hall albums, and was recorded May 2, 1960. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Pop albums charts. Belafonte shares the stage ...

'' (1960) *

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

(1960) * Don Shirley Trio (1961) *

Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

did a parody of the song as "Seltzer Boy" (1962), taken from the album ''

My Son, the Folk Singer ''My Son, the Folk Singer'' is an album by Allan Sherman, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1962. On the album sleeve, the title appears directly below the words "Allan Sherman's mother presents." The album, recorded before a live audience, ...

''. He was sued by the songwriter's estates for not asking approval beforehand. Sherman paid the penalty for this. (Source: "A Gift of Laughter" by Allan Sherman (1965).) *

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...

- ''The Last Farewell'' (1975) *

- ''The Power & the Glory'' Paul Robeson - The Power & the Glory, AMG/ref> *

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and ...

- ''Stewart Years'' *

Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician. She is a founding member of the country, blues and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she is the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens i ...

- ''Tomorrow Is My Turn'' (2015)

External links

"Water Boy" on Allmusic

References

{{Authority control Jazz songs American folk songs Odetta songs 1922 songs