Watermelon Man (composition)

Infobox Standard
title = Watermelon Man
english_title =
comment =


image_size =
caption =
writer = Herbie Hancock
composer =
lyricist =
published = 1962
written =
language =
form =
original_artist = Herbie Hancock
recorded_by = Mongo Santamaría (1962)
King Curtis (1962)
Woody Herman (1963)
Quincy Jones (1963)
Jon Hendricks (1963)
Erroll Garner (1964)
Maynard Ferguson (1964)
Gloria Lynne (1965)
Manfred Mann (1965)
The J.B.'s (1972)
Buddy Guy (1972)
Albert King (1973)
Sly and Robbie (1981)
Jimmy Smith (1995)
Poncho Sanchez (1995)
(and many others)
performed_by =

"Watermelon Man" is a jazz standard written by Herbie Hancock, first released on his debut album, "Takin' Off" (1962), in a grooving hard bop version that featured improvisations by Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon. A single of the tune reached the Top 100 of the pop charts. Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaría released the tune as a latin pop single the next year on Battle Records, where it became a surprise hit, reaching #10 on the pop charts.Strong, Martin Charles (2004). "The Great Rock Discography: Complete Discographies Listing Every Track". Canongate. pp. 652-653. ISBN 1841956155] Santamaría's recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Hancock radically re-worked the tune, combining elements of funk, for the album "Head Hunters" (1973).Brackett, Nathan (2004). "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide". Simon & Schuster. p. 361. ISBN 0743201698]

"Takin' Off"

Hancock wrote the piece to help sell his debut album as a leader, "Takin' Off" (1962), on Blue Note Records; it was the first piece of music he had ever composed with a commercial goal in mind. The popularity of the piece, due primarily to Mongo Santamaría, paid Hancock's bills for five or six years. Hancock did not feel the composition was a sellout however, describing that structurally, it was one of his strongest pieces due to its almost mathematical balance.Lyons, Len (1989). "The Great Jazz Pianists: Speaking of Their Lives and Music". De Capo Press. p. 275. ISBN 0306803437] The form is a sixteen bar blues. Recalling the piece, Hancock said, "I remember the cry of the watermelon man making the rounds through the back streets and alleys of Chicago. The wheels of his wagon beat out the rhythm on the cobblestones." The tune, based on a bluesy piano riff, drew on elements of R&B, soul jazz and bebop, all combined into a pop hook. Hancock joined bassist Butch Warren and drummer Billy Higgins in the rhythm section, with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Dexter Gordon on tenor saxophone.Creswell, Toby (2006). "1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them". Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 333. ISBN 1560259159] Hancock's chordal work draws from the gospel tradition, while he builds his solo on repeated riffs and trilled figures. [Doerschuk, Robert L.; & Doerschuk, Bob (2001). "88: The Giants of Jazz Piano". Backbeat Books. p. 139. ISBN 0879306564]

Mongo Santamaría

Hancock filled in for pianist Chick Corea in Mongo Santamaría's band one weekend at a nightclub in The Bronx when Corea gave notice that he was leaving. Hancock played the tune for Santamaría at friend Donald Byrd's urging. Santamaría started accompanying him on his congas, then his band joined in, and the small audience slowly got up from their tables and started dancing, laughing and having a great time. Santamaría later asked Hancock if he could record the tune. Santamaría recorded a three minute version, suitable for radio, where he joined timbalero Francisco "Kako" Baster in a cha-cha beat, while drummer Ray Lucas performed a backbeat.Gerard, Charley (2001). "Music from Cuba: Mongo Santamaria, Chocolate Armenteros, and Cuban Musicians". Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 54-55. ISBN 0275966828] Santamaría included the track on his album "Watermelon Man" (1962). Santamaría's recording is sometimes considered the beginning of Latin boogaloo, a fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with those of R&B. [Flores, Juan (2000). "From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity". Columbia University Press. p. 93. ISBN 0231110766]

"Head Hunters"

Hancock re-recorded the tune for "Head Hunters" (1973), combining synthesizers with a Sly Stone and James Brown funk influence,Vincent, Rickey (1996). "Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One". St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312134991] adding an eight-bar section. Hancock described his composition "Chameleon", also from "Head Hunters", to "Down Beat" magazine in 1979: "In the popular forms of funk, which I've been trying to get into, the attention is on the rhythmic interplay between different instruments. The part the Clavinet plays has to fit with the part the drums play and the line the bass plays and the line that the guitar plays. It's almost like African drummers where seven drummers play different parts"; "Watermelon Man" shares a similar construction. [Kernfeld, Barry Dean (1995). "The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz". Blackwell Publishing. p. 488. ISBN 0631195521] A live version was released on the double LP "Flood" (1975), recorded in Japan.

On the intro and outro of the tune, percussionist Bill Summers blows into a beer bottle imitating hindewhu, a style of singing/whistle-playing found in Pygmy music of Central Africa. Hancock and Summers were struck by the sound, which they heard on the ethnomusicology LP, "The Music of the Ba-Benzélé Pygmies" (1966), by Simha Arom and Genviève Taurelle.Agawu, Victor Kofi (2003). "Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions". Routledge. p. 219. ISBN 0415943892]

Other versions

The tune is a jazz standard and has been recorded over two hundred times.Santoro, Gene (2004). "Highway 61 Revisited: The Tangled Roots of American Jazz, Blues, Rock, & Country Music". Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN 0195154819] Jazz lyricist Jon Hendricks set words to the composition and recorded it on "Jon Hendricks Recorded in Person at the Trident" (1963). Hendricks invented the technique of creating lyrics for jazz classics called vocalese. Hendrick's version was also cut by Manfred Mann on the US release of their album "The Five Faces of Manfred Mann" (1965). In 1964, the composition was covered by Bill Haley & His Comets for the Orfeon Records label; it was retitled "Surf de la Sandía".Fact|date=February 2008 Jazz singer-songwriter Gloria Lynne added lyrics to the tune with Hancock's permission. [Blair, Paul (September 2006). " [http://www.hothousejazz.com/september06.htm Featured Artists] ". "Hot House". Retrieved on February 21, 2008.] The tune was also covered in 1972, by The J.B.'s, James Brown's backing band at the time. You might also hear the song when boarding ATA Airlines. They have used this as their "theme song" since the early 1990s.

Hancock's "Head Hunters" recording has been sampled numerous times in pop music, including the songs: "1-900-LL-Cool-J", from "Walking with a Panther" (1989) by LL Cool J,Thompson, Dave (2001). "Funk". Backbeat Books. p. 132. ISBN 0879306297] "Open Your Eyes", from "Organized Konfusion" (1991) by Organized Konfusion, "Smoke Some Kill", from "Smoke Some Kill" (1988) by Schoolly D, and "Sanctuary", from "Bedtime Stories" (1994) by Madonna. [Benson, Carol; & Metz, Allan (1999). "The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary". Music Sales Group. p. 23. ISBN 0825671949]

References