On this day, March 5, 1965, The Standells recorded "Dirty Water."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Dirty Water



Label on the 1965 US single

Single by The Standells from the album Dirty Water
B-side: "Rari"
Released: November 1965
Recorded: March 5, 1965
Studio: Universal Recorders (Hollywood, CA)
Songwriter(s): Ed Cobb
Producer(s): Ed Cobb

"Dirty Water" is a song by the American rock band The Standells, written by their producer Ed Cobb. The song is a mock paean to the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its then-famously polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River.

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 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)."

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 Billboard's Bubbling Under 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, breaking out on WLOF in Orlando 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's Boston Bruins began playing the song in 1995, and Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox followed suit after home victories beginning in the 1997 season. The surviving Standells have performed the song at Fenway Park from atop the Green Monster. The song's famous guitar riff was recorded with a Fender Telecaster through a Vox AC30 amplifier by Standells guitarist Tony Valentino. The song is also included in the soundtrack for the film Fever Pitch, which includes the Boston Red Sox leading up to the 2004 World Series.

"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.

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The Standells - Dirty Water

David Bryant
6.85K subscribers

3,686,322 views May 12, 2006
Very basic quality video/ TV clip(?) for The Standells Dirty Water. Source unknown.

If you like vintage sounds, check out my blog at http://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/

[ProfessorGAC]

1. My First Guitar Amp Was A Standel!

Only one "L" though. Bought it about 10 years old.
I was super clean so I had to use a stomp box for distortion.
Interestingly, the head was just a preamp. The power amplifier was built into the speaker cabinet, which has not become typical in PA systems.
The sound of that amp would have worked for this song because it that twangy thing. I used it for a couple years then replaced it with a hot -rodded Fender twin.