“Mr. Bojangles” (Jerry Jeff Walker) #77 8/10/1968

Once again, we have competing versions of a song, though the major hit came a few years later from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Jerry Jeff Walker wrote the tune after being jailed in New Orleans for public drunkenness - imagine that. He really was in a cell with a street performer who called himself Mr. Bojangles to conceal his true identity, and Bojangles actually did a soft-shoe for the other inmates. Jerry Jeff’s version got to #77; Bobby Cole’s slower take (featured tomorrow) topped out at #79.