The Mr. Bojangles you may never have known
Yes I know, this song is older than dirt so many reading this can't relate, but the song Mr. Bojangles as recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band back in (OMG!) 1970 was huge in its day, and got a hella lotta airplay. Not too much so I ever got sick of it, but a lot.
One part of the song that got airplay at first was the intro, which consisted of an "Interview with Uncle Charlie," which it turns out was the great uncle of producer (and brother of on of the founding members of the Dirt Band John) Bill McEuen:
"[Producer] Bill McEuen was a fan of this Lightnin' Hopkins' record with Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Big Joe Williams called "Down South Summit Meetin','' which had all these spoken word interludes. McEuen had previously recorded several conversations with his wife Alice's great Uncle Charlie on their front porch, which he edited and placed as the intro to "[Mr.] Bojangles." Taking these two raw pieces of art and combining them turned out to be genius. We're very proud of that record."
Growing up I always loved the sound of that old man's voice...today I miss hearing him.
