"Mr. Bojangles" is a song written and originally recorded by American country music artist Jerry Jeff Walker for his 1968 album of the same title.
Since then, it has been recorded by many other artists, including US country music band the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, whose version (recorded for the 1970 album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy) was issued as a single and rose to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971.
Live versions of the song appeared on Walker's 1977 album, A Man Must Carry On, and his 1980 album The Best of Jerry Jeff Walker and he sang it with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their 2015 concert album entitled "Circlin' Back".
The NGDB's single version begins with the Uncle Charlie interview (subtitled "Prologue: Uncle Charlie and his Dog Teddy") that also precedes the song on the Uncle Charlie album.
It was originally backed with another interview with Uncle Charlie, also taken from the album. When "Mr. Bojangles" started climbing the charts, the B-side was re-pressed with the same song without the interview.
NGDB guitarist Jeff Hanna performed most of the lead vocals on the track, with bandmate Jim Ibbotson performing harmony vocals; the two switched these roles on the last verse.
British pop singer Robbie Williams recorded the song for his 2001 album, Swing When You're Winning. In early 2002, he released the song as a double A-side with "I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen". Released exclusively in Central and Eastern Europe, the single did not manage to break into the top forty in any country, but the songs, especially "Mr. Bojangles", became substantial radio hits around Europe.
