The dancer's nickname was 'Mr Bojangles'. In his autobiography 'Gypsy Songman', Walker makes it clear the man he met was white. Further, in an interview with BBC Radio 4 in August he pointed out that at the time the jail cells in New Orleans were segregated along color lines. Track descriptions on Last. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. Don't want to see ads? Upgrade Now. View all trending tracks. He died in New York City on November 25, His father, Maxwell, worked in a machine shop, while his mother, Maria, was a choir singer.
After both of his parents died in , Robinson was raised by his grandmother, Bedilia, who had been an enslaved person earlier in her life. According to Robinson, he used physical force to compel his brother, Bill, to switch names with him, since he did not care for his given name of Luther.
Additionally, as a young man, he earned the nickname "Bojangles" for his contentious tendencies. At the age of 5, Robinson began dancing for a living, performing in local beer gardens.
In , at the age of 9, he joined Mayme Remington's touring troupe. In , he joined a traveling company, later performing as a vaudeville act. He achieved great success as a nightclub and musical-comedy performer. At this stage of his career, he performed almost exclusively in black theaters before black audiences.
In , Robinson met Marty Forkins, who became his manager. Forkins urged Robinson to develop his solo act in nightclubs. Robinson took a break from performance to serve as a rifleman in World War I. Along with fighting in the trenches, Robinson was also a drum major who led the regimental band up Fifth Avenue upon the regiment's return from Europe.
In , he starred on Broadway in the hugely successful musical revue Blackbirds of , which featured his famous "stair dance. The show was a breakthrough for Robinson. He became well known as "Bojangles," which connoted a cheerful and happy-go-lucky demeanor for his white fans, despite the nearly polar-opposite meaning of the nickname in the black community.
His catchphrase, "Everything's copacetic," reinforced Robinson's sunny disposition. Although he worked regularly as an actor, Robinson was best known for his tap-dance routines. But other artists started recording the title song: country-rock outfit the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band reached No 9 in the US charts in with their version. Around that time Walker relocated to Austin, Texas.
He would live there for the rest of his life, becoming almost as beloved by locals as native son Willie Nelson. He was a prolific songwriter and recording artist, releasing 11 albums during the s: his sound was the kind of rough-hewn, country-flavoured folk that would become known as Americana — often inventive, always thoughtful and good-humoured. He appealed to long-haired country, folk and southern rock fans and his live performances, backed by the Lost Gonzo Band, were legendary.
Curiously, the charity started by this Texas-rooted musician forged a strong connection to the UK. The foundation later provided financial support for mental health and addiction recovery services for Austin-area musicians and their families, and staged end-of-life concerts for the terminally ill at their homes known as Swan Songs. Walker himself died of throat cancer. For a musician who never bothered the Top 40, the tributes were fulsome.
He was a true original, and his music will live on.
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