Waterboy (song) explained

Waterboy" / "Water Boy
Cover:	Water Boy sheet music.jpg
Caption:	Cover of sheet music to a piano version of the "negro convict song" arranged by Avery Robinson for singer Roland Hayes, 1950
Published:	1922
Genre:	Jazz, Folk, Blues
Length:	Typically 3-4 mins
Composer:	Avery Robinson (arr.)
Lyricist:	Traditional

"Waterboy" (a.k.a. "The Water Boy") is an American traditional folk song. It is built on the call "Water boy, where are you hidin'?"^[1] The call is one of several water boy calls in cotton plantation folk tradition.^[2]

Numerous artists have written and/or recorded their own versions of this African-American traditional song, including Jacques Wolfe, a Romanian immigrant, and Avery Robinson^[3] who popularized "Water Boy" as a jazz song in the 1920s. From 1949 onwards, many blues and folk 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.^[4] 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."^{[5] [6]}

Versions

• Roland Hayes (1922): Arranged by Avery Robinson;^[7] see sheet music for the song.
• Fats Waller - Fats Waller in London (1922),^[8] 1938 (1938).^[9] "Waterboy" was recorded by several other jazz singers around this time, including Earl Hines and John Payne.
• Paul Robeson recorded the song several times.^[10]
• Edric Connor in a British Pathé short film (1947);^[11] this is also the version arranged by Avery Robinson.
• John Lee Hooker (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.^[12]
• Odetta & Larry - The Tin Angel (1954)
• Odetta - My Eyes Have Seen (1959): Song: "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy".^[13] Odetta performed "Waterboy" regularly, and it appears on several of her albums. It is also the song she plays in the film No Direction Home, in a TV performance from the 1960s (which highlighted her influence on Bob Dylan).
• Harry Belafonte and Odetta - Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall (1960)
• Jimmie Rodgers (1960)
• Don Shirley Trio (1961)
• Allan Sherman did a parody of the song as "Seltzer Boy" on the album My Son, the Folk Singer (1962). He was sued by the songwriter's estate for copyright infringement and paid damages.^{[14] [15]}
• Roger Whittaker - The Last Farewell (1975)
• The Kingston Trio - Stewart Years
• Rhiannon Giddens - Tomorrow Is My Turn (2015)

External links

• "Water Boy" on Allmusic
• Callan School of English: Lyrics to Odetta's "Waterboy"

Notes and References

1. Book: Sheila Tully . Boyle . Andrew . Buni . Paul Robeson: The Years of Promise And Achievement . 2005 . 147 . The work song, 'Water Boy', is built around the cry for water of a gang of condemned and laboring men. Robeson sang the refrain (the water cry itself, 'Water boy, where are you hidin'?') a cappella and very softly, and the verses themselves ... . University of Massachusetts Press.
2. Book: Courlander, Harold . Negro Folk Music U.S.A. . 1963 . 86 . In the cotton fields and the cornfields of the present time, as on the old plantations, the water carrier is in constant demand. The call for the water boy (or girl), in one or another of ... Some water calls such as 'Water Boy, Where Are You Hidin'?' have come to be regarded as true songs, and may be heard on phonograph recordings. . Columbia University Press.
3. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p313923/songs|pure_url=yes}} Songs composed by Avery Robinson ]. AllMusic.
4. Book: Spaeth, Sigmund . Read 'Em and Weep. The Songs you Forgot to Remember . Halcyon House . 1927 . 40 . 24 July 2023 . Google Books.
5. Book: Bordman, Gerald . Jerome Kern: His Life and Music . New York . Oxford University Press . 1980 . 146.
6. A sample of "Mendebras" is available online at CCEH: Tunes: "Mendebras".
7. https://www.jstor.org/pss/1214997 The Black Perspective in Music, "Isaac Hayes in London"
8. Fats Waller - In London, AMG
9. Fats Waller - 1938, AMG
10. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=song|id=water-boy-mt0011962937|pure_url=yes}} 'Water Boy' by Paul Robeson ]. AllMusic . 23 July 2023.
11. "Edrig Conner of Serenade In Sepia" . 23 July 2023 . British Pathé . 1947.
12. John Lee Hooker - "Water Boy", AMG
13. Odetta - "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain/Water Boy", AMG
14. A Gift of Laughter by Allan Sherman (1965)
15. Book: Cohen, Mark . Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman . . 2013 . 131 . 9781611684278 . 23 July 2023 . Google Books.