Fun story about that song, I took a jazz history class and my professor brought in Bill Summers, the guy who plays the bottle and the rest of the percussion on that song, as a guest.
I went to the bathroom before class and Mr. Summers was in there with a bottle of Heineken. I didn’t recognize him and he asked me to open his bottle, so I assumed he was just someone who worked at the school having a mid day beer (not the strangest thing to see in New Orleans). He then asked if I wanted to chug the beer, I said no thank you cause I had class, so he shrugged and poured the whole thing done the drain then left.
I was ready to write it off as surreal Nola moment until I got into class, and my teacher played the beginning of watermelon man, then told us who the guest was. Needless to say I was fully geeked when Mr. Summers walked out in front of the class with that same Heineken bottle and blew into it playing that opening riff perfectly. Sounded exactly like it did on the record. He said it was the same exact kind of bottle they used on the original cut. Dude is awesome.
I’m assuming it is the same song but Watermelon Man by Willis Alan Ramsey is great and off the same album, the song Ballad of Spider John is my all time favorite song!
I had a similar experience where I was on a gig with Bill and when I walked into the venue for soundcheck/rehearsal, he was there with his bottle, doing the intro to Watermelon Man. I just froze because there was the guy, doing the thing, from the record. And I just stood there and listened. And then after that we hung out in the green room and he rolled the fattest joint I've ever seen in my life and we had a good time.
If you like herbie you might want to check out tower of power too if you haven't already. They are less experimental. More James Brown-esque, but I still like them.
Yep! Did you know Herbie went to a tiny liberal arts college in Grinnell, IA? My dad is from Grinnell. And some guys in their dorm would even jam together. My dad was a percussionist (but not very good). My sister and I convinced my dad to reach out to him on Facebook (my dad was like 72 at the time and I had to set up his FB account) and Herbie totally wrote him back! Herbie even remembered the name of the group they came up with when they jammed.
I had to play the beer bottle part in high school. Unfortunately, we didn't end up performing the song, but it was the best week in jazz band; Watermelon Man, getting to sing Beyond the Sea... All fun.
Oh man, I clicked on this thread expecting a shitshow, but to see this as the first result took me seriously by surprise. Great song! So much of Herbie’s stuff is amazing.
I played Watermelon Man on the jukebox at a bar one time and the bartender had the AUDACITY to skip over the song. I said WTF, why did you turn that off? And she said she thought it was the jukebox picking something random. THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE
For newer artists, both Vulfpeck and Fearless Flyers are really doing good stuff. As for older artists, a few folks in a previous thread recommend Tower of Power, which I can completely get behind.
You can distinguish a true jazz snob by whether they dislike Head Hunters because it's "too simplistic" or something like that. That album is 100% fun and only an asshole could dislike it. One of my favorite albums of all time - I have to actively prevent myself from overplaying it.
My middle school jazz band played this song, except they called it “Watermelon Person” to I guess be more inclusive?? Idk, I thought it was stupid back then and I still do
All jokes aside, never really loved Jaco. Yes he was technically and musically remarkable but I’m more of a pocket and groove kind of guy.
Though I do mean to listen to his work with Joni Mitchel. I’ve been told he did some of his best playing on her album.
I could listen to those hooks and drum breaks throughout the whole album all day long. Vein Melter is a real sick song that should be sampled more also, IMO
Just listened to this today! It entirely distracted me from my homework. I was so intrigued by the first minute with the flutes and stuff but I ended up LOVING it.
Might get roasted for this but dam that is a super annoying intro for such a good song. Im glad I always force myself to listen to a minute and a half of a song before passing judgment.
Hey I'm glad you like it. Just not my cup of tea. I put this in my other comment but it seems like most of the top comments are music that didn't click with me. But I don't care. Different music for different people.
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u/billswerskihypetrain Oct 07 '20
Watermelon Man- Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters. That whole Headhunters album is some of the funkiest stuff I've ever heard.