From bebop to hip-hop and disco to techno-funk, Herbie Hancock‘s career trajectory has been characterized by many surprising twists and turns. But despite the Grammy-winning keyboardist’s sonic shape-shifting, there’s a standard thread working by means of his music that may be traced proper again to “Watermelon Man,” Hancock’s very first single launched by Blue Observe Data in 1962: a real need to attach with folks and attain a wider viewers.
Hancock was simply 22 when he wrote “Watermelon Man,” a danceable tune with an infectious melodic hook and jaunty, see-saw backbeat. It was impressed by his childhood reminiscence of a watermelon vendor whose car rumbled noisily by means of his neighborhood’s cobbled streets in Forties Chicago. “I grew up hearing the clackety-clack, clackety-clack of his horse-drawn wagon,” remembered Hancock in his 2014 autobiography, Potentialities. “I’d heard the rhythmic clacking so many times, it was easy to turn it into a song patter. I wrote out a funky arrangement, with the melody lilting over a rhythmic pattern that represented the wagon wheels going over the cobblestones in the alley.”
Take heed to “Watermelon Man” on Apple Music and Spotify.
The recording
Hancock recorded “Watermelon Man” in Could 1962 for his debut LP, Takin’ Off, taking part in alongside saxophonist Dexter Gordon, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins, a drummer who had beforehand performed with free jazz revolutionaries Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. In his memoir, Hancock confessed he had reservations about how “Watermelon Man” would end up as a result of Higgins wasn’t famend for his capacity to play in a cool type: “The only moment I remember worrying about was just before we played ‘Watermelon Man.’ How would Billy Higgins, who was a bebop and post-bebop drummer, play this funky tune?”
The pianist’s fears have been allayed, nevertheless, as Higgins propelled the tune with a singular undulating groove. “Billy had this way of playing that fell somewhere between straight eighth notes and the swinging triplets of jazz, and he gave the song a great funky-jazz flavor,” defined Hancock in 2014. “Everything just came together beautifully.”
The reception
“Watermelon Man” picked up appreciable jukebox play when Blue Observe launched it as a single however the tune grew to become a US pop hit when Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria – whom Hancock had briefly labored with and confirmed the tune to – put a heavy Latin spin on it in early 1963. Santamaria’s model rose to No. 11 in Billboard’s Scorching 100 and though it outsold Hancock’s personal recording of “Watermelon Man,” the pianist didn’t thoughts as he benefited financially from the publishing royalties. (To rejoice, Hancock handled himself to an AC Shelby Cobra sports activities automobile, which he nonetheless owns in the present day.)
Santamaria’s success with “Watermelon Man” spawned a bunch of numerous cowl variations within the Sixties, starting from ones by jazz musician Quincy Jones and rock and rollers Invoice Haley & The Comets to Jamaican Ska group Byron Lee And The Dragonaires. There have been even vocal renditions; most notably by jazz singer Jon Hendricks, who wrote lyrics for the tune, and British R&B band, Manfred Mann.
In 1973, Hancock revisited “Watermelon Man” on his album Head Hunters, giving the tune a radical jazz-funk makeover that made it unrecognizable from the unique. That later model was sampled by many artists, together with Madonna (on 1994’s “Sanctuary”) and George Michael (on 1996’s “Spinning The Wheel”).
Whereas “Watermelon Man” stays a big musical touchstone in Herbie Hancock’s huge catalog, it additionally continues to affect youthful musicians. British jazz singer Poppy Adjudha revived the tune in 2020 as “Watermelon Man (Under The Sun)” on Blue Observe Re:imagined, a compilation showcasing the rising stars of the UK jazz scene. The presence of Herbie Hancock’s 58-year-old tune on what’s a cutting-edge jazz file confirms that the Chicago pianist’s homage to a humble avenue vendor stays a timeless supply of musical inspiration.
Take heed to “Watermelon Man” on Apple Music and Spotify.
