THE STANDELLS: Dirty Water LP

Description

“Dirty Water” was one of the most prototypical, and most successful, garage rock singles of the 1960s, nearly making the Top Ten in mid-1966. The Rolling Stones were possibly the single biggest influence upon American garage bands, and “Dirty Water” is one of the most Rolling Stones-influenced garage classics of them all, albeit with a definite American pop crudeness to the fore. The guitar riff that opens and recurs throughout “Dirty Water” is garage raunch at its most indelible: simple, repetitive, and bluesy, but not quite like the lines played on actual electric blues singles. Dick Dodd’s vocal certainly rates as one of the most definitive American garage performances: rebellious, adolescent, frustrated, and boastful all at the same time. In fact, the very first part of his vocal is a half-spoken boast about the story he’s going to tell about his town, one in which the river flows with dirty water and is full of frustrated women who seem as hungry to get nookie in before their curfew as the guys who wait for them by the river are. Dodd’s vocal is strong enough on its own, but is reinforced by the sullen, almost responsive backup vocals of the rest of the Standells, who come in on alternate lines as kind of Greek choruses to Dodd’s pontificating. It all comes together on the chorus, where the voices join in exultantly celebrating the dirty water, paving the way for Dodd to declare that Boston is his home. The tune gets even more Rolling Stonesy in the instrumental break, where the insistent guitar riff, organ, and handclapping beats are joined by a wailing harmonica. The fadeout puts the focus on the chorus, the Standells chanting how they love that dirty water as Dodd extemporizes more studly blues-rock raunch. The lyrics of “Dirty Water,” penned by Standells producer Ed Cobb, understandably led many to believe the band was from Boston, but in fact they were very much based in Los Angeles. The Inmates had a little success with a revival of “Dirty Water” in the late ’70s. Richie Unterberger – AllMusic