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Herbie Hancock — Watermelon Man
Album: Takin' Off
Avg rating:
7.7

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2041









Released: 1962
Length: 7:02
Plays (last 30 days): 1
(Instrumental)
Comments (125)add comment
 awhfman wrote:

Frickin' 1962! Amazing!




YES!!
Frickin' 1962! Amazing!
Read Herbie’s bio last year - what a brilliant musician
 audiofiend wrote:

More jazz please


Perhaps Bill could spin up a Jazz mix  as an option on RP.  Just a thought which I do have  every now and then but they usually get me into trouble!
Watermelon Man sounds like he's dancing around Cantaloupe Island.
More jazz please
 dwlangham wrote:

To my untrained ear, it sounds like Hubbard and Gordon make the most of their turns atop a superb rhythm section.




Very well stated!  You don't need a "trained ear" to appreciate greatness!
Great tune although very similar to Cantaloupe Island.
 cc_rider wrote:

With a lineup like that, just, wow.
c.




I  Agree!!   
Love the piece, but IMHO it suffers extended time with a repeat / no inspiration for the last two minutes, thus the lower rating.
Herbie’s all grown up. What a tune! Groovy with a Capital G. Hats off, Herbie!
 justin4kick wrote:


First I thought, "My god, that dude is quite the character." Then I thought, "Wait, I think I know him..."
One of the all time classic tunes by the Man, Herbie Hancock.  
With a lineup like that, just, wow.
c.
I can almost picture it being summer 1999 and this comes up on the Simcity 3000 soundtrack.  That game did have some sweet jazz music.
 
GODLIKE!!!  ICONIC!!!
Released this when he was 22. Damn, brother.
To my untrained ear, it sounds like Hubbard and Gordon make the most of their turns atop a superb rhythm section.
Love this Jazz era, late 60s/early 70s funky vibe
Prefer this version to his later Fusion version
 rhlrstn wrote:

RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations... 


Or just switch over to the rock mix on our p
Simply sublime. Great for this rainy Friday afternoon. More please.
 SmackDaddy wrote:


Or choose the "RP Rock Mix Channel" and stop f'n complaining



Thanks for the laugh I needed that. Now get off my lawn.
 pgh_pa_guy wrote:

I'd be curious to see the ages of those who say negative things about music like this. I can't understand some of the sh...tuff that passes for music today.


There probably aren't very many regular listeners here who are under the age of 45, judging by the Top-Rated tunes.  I'm not sure why so many people here resort to ageism when they disagree with another listener/commenter.  You can see the ages of the people who leave comments by the way.  Anyhow, great song.
Só jazzy and funky on a Friday🍺
 rhlrstn wrote:

RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations... 


Or choose the "RP Rock Mix Channel" and stop f'n complaining
I had to come in from the other room at the sound of Freddie Hubbard. And Dexter Gordon...and, I'm pretty sure, Billy Higgins. What a lineup. I need a jazz version of Radio Paradise.
 DanielHLloyd wrote:

Don't like this classic? Go listen to the Headhunters version....you will find it a little more funky (in many ways). 


This is the cool lineup - Freddie and Dexter are the coolsters.
damn - power line up from heck. Grooves all over the place and bopping to here and gone.
Don't like this classic? Go listen to the Headhunters version....you will find it a little more funky (in many ways). 
Sounds like Ramsey Lewis to me
 RProckStation wrote:

BRING BACK THE ROCK RADIO PARADISE STATION~!
 

It's ROCKING hard for me
mindblowing for a 22 year old 
 PeteCreech wrote:
One of the many things I dislike about jazz is the feeling that the track might never end. Possibly the opposite to that felt by lovers of the genre. I've tried, but I just can't find anything to like.
Nevertheless a burden worth bearing for all the other wonderful music played on RP.
 
bye
 noe.architecte169 wrote:
 
 
Interesting comment from someone who must be a drummer.  Is that about the slow constancy of the snare?
Love the left hand of the drummer 
Freddie Hubbard, the horn player on my favorite version of "Cantaloupe Island." Jahahaaaammin'
 rhlrstn wrote:

RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations... 
 

Music is subjective, but if the guy doesn't like Herbie he doesn't like music.
Might also point out that RP has a 'rock' channel that perhaps would be to your liking...
rhlrstn wrote:

RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations... 
 

Posted 8 months ago by rhlrstn:RProckStation wrote:

sucko barfo~!

BRING BACK THE ROCK RADIO PARADISE STATION~!

RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations...

Or, alternatively, you can tune into the RP Rock Mix channel and get down to it!
I'd be curious to see the ages of those who say negative things about music like this. I can't understand some of the sh...tuff that passes for music today.
On cable TV, there is a recent program about Blue Note record label. And you hear Herbie and Wayne Shorter talking about music.  

My god, these guys are freakin smart. 
 alain.brault wrote:
Don't know why but I'm reminded of the gentleman that heard on the radio that there was a buffoon driving the wrong way on the local highway.
 
"I'm driving the wrong way?  How can you say that when you don't know where I'm going?"
I've actually heard this with vocals and lyrics ... and it was almost as good as this original rendition.

Love that fat tone from the trumpet:  Freddie Hubbard is grooving.
One of the many things I dislike about jazz is the feeling that the track might never end. Possibly the opposite to that felt by lovers of the genre. I've tried, but I just can't find anything to like.
Nevertheless a burden worth bearing for all the other wonderful music played on RP.
Putting in the context of modern American music, the the ability to bring soul to everyone across the cultural spectrum, and the unrivaled coolness it bestowed upon each listener, this should be at least a very rare 9.
 rhlrstn wrote:

RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations... 
 

+1
...or take the chance to go for an adventurous (and educational) musical journey on RP...
 RProckStation wrote:
sucko barfo~!

BRING BACK THE ROCK RADIO PARADISE STATION~!
 
RP is branded as "Eclectic" not Rock... if that's what you're looking for, go tune into one of a million FM stations... 
sucko barfo~!

BRING BACK THE ROCK RADIO PARADISE STATION~!
ahhh - finally.  Through the seas of PSD.  THANK YOU HERBIE!
 rdo wrote:


kcar, there is one thing I have learned from this comment board,  I learned it in college and grad school of course many times over before that........people like you are complete and utter buffoons. 


 
Don't know why but I'm reminded of the gentleman that heard on the radio that there was a buffoon driving the wrong way on the local highway.

"Shit, there's way more than one....."

Sounds familiar?  
Gotta Dance
No, I'm decreasing to only 4 - Acceptablle
To me this is 7 - Quite Likeable 
https://i1.wp.com/latinjazznet.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Herbie-Hancock-corrected-LJN.jpg?resize=640%2C400
Corn fields do that to you?
 minjinsor wrote:
космическая музыка{#Bananajam}-джаз !
 
space jazz music   !
Herbie Hancock: the proud graduate of Grinnell College in Grinnell Iowa. One of the finest liberal arts colleges in the midwest. Located smack dab in the middle of the state...corn fields.

Although...US highway 6 use to run through the middle of town. This is the same highway that Jack Kerouac hitch hiked for "On the Road", so maybe he spent time there...got a piece of pie and ogled midwest girls...before he was pissing off a flat bed truck...screaming across Nebraska in the moonlight.       
{#Bananajam}{#Dancingbanana_2}{#Bananapiano}{#Bananajam}{#Bananasplit}
космическая музыка{#Bananajam}-джаз !
 Skydog wrote:

Butch Warren, Billy Higgins

 
John McLaughlin?
 misterbearbaby wrote:

Dexter Gordon. Freddie Hubbard. Herbie Hancock.

What at this moment is lacking?



 
Butch Warren, Billy Higgins
 MargoMallen wrote:
Outstanding indeed!!!!

 
{#Clap}{#Clap}{#Clap}{#Clap}
4th wine of the evening, leaning over my laptop with 2 cheap Logitech speakers booming....sounds good to me.

screw it.....8. 

Dexter Gordon. Freddie Hubbard. Herbie Hancock.

What at this moment is lacking?


This is kind of similar to the vibe that was put down by Coltrane-Tyner.    

My gosh...Dexter Gordon and John Contrane playing around in different bands.

 
Great composition by a musical icon.
 kcar wrote:

British sign:
As far as I can tell, you don't play an instrument and don't know much if anything about music theory. Fine. If you believe that wouldn't gain any greater interest in or liking for certain kinds of music by learning to play, or learning music theory or...just making the slightest effort to listen in a different way, you're entitled to your belief.

But you have nothing to say about music. Having a prolonged conversation with you about music would drive most people mad. Trust me, I speak from painful experience. A two-minute chat about music with someone like Herbie Hancock would be more informative, interesting and enlightening than a three-hour discussion with you.  

("High-priced"? Money has nothing to do with it. A formal education with lecture, discussion, grades, etc. isn't necessary at all.) 

For someone supposedly so fed up with this subject, rdo, you sure do bring it up a lot. Without any solicitation, invitation or provocation. If you want to keep your thoughts about music in a miserably tiny box, have at it. Just don't expect the rest of us to join you there or respond to your tiresome attempts at inciting a debate.  

Is someone paying you to be a jerk on these boards? If so, they're definitely getting their money's worth. 
 

 
I don't think any theoretical knowledge is required to dig such a cool tune like this.
make it stop
please make it stop ... {#Frustrated}
this song seems sooo long, and the little squeeze box in the living room has no "psd" option

I wish I actually know about music so I can appreciate this (like all other musicians {#Bananajam}{#Drummer} who like the technique and all), because all I can hear now is the repetitive , continuous sounds..

(i am not saying the song is bad, just so I don't get the rage of HH & watermelon followers.. just.. sharing my frustration - and lack of music taste some would say- here :D {#Crashcomp})
{#Notworthy}   ... OK, not my preferred version, but {#Notworthy} anyway.
 MargoMallen wrote:
Outstanding indeed!!!!

 
{#Clap}    {#Clap}    {#Clap}
Outstanding indeed!!!!
 kcar wrote:

British sign:


As far as I can tell, you don't play an instrument and don't know much if anything about music theory. Fine. If you believe that wouldn't gain any greater interest in or liking for certain kinds of music by learning to play, or learning music theory or...just making the slightest effort to listen in a different way, you're entitled to your belief.

But you have nothing to say about music. Having a prolonged conversation with you about music would drive most people mad. Trust me, I speak from painful experience. A two-minute chat about music with someone like Herbie Hancock would be more informative, interesting and enlightening than a three-hour discussion with you.  

("High-priced"? Money has nothing to do with it. A formal education with lecture, discussion, grades, etc. isn't necessary at all.) 

For someone supposedly so fed up with this subject, rdo, you sure do bring it up a lot. Without any solicitation, invitation or provocation. If you want to keep your thoughts about music in a miserably tiny box, have at it. Just don't expect the rest of us to join you there or respond to your tiresome attempts at inciting a debate.  

Is someone paying you to be a jerk on these boards? If so, they're definitely getting their money's worth. 
 

 

kcar, there is one thing I have learned from this comment board,  I learned it in college and grad school of course many times over before that........people like you are complete and utter buffoons. 


 rdo wrote:
Someone recently told me I need a little high-priced "re-education" before I can appreciate this crap...
Thanks, but, no thanks.... 

 

For someone supposedly so fed up with this subject, rdo, you sure do bring it up a lot. Without any solicitation, invitation or provocation. If you want to keep your thoughts about music in a miserably tiny box, have at it. Just don't expect the rest of us to join you there or respond to your tiresome attempts at inciting a debate.  

As far as I can tell, you don't play an instrument and don't know much if anything about music theory. Fine. If you believe that wouldn't gain any greater interest in or liking for certain kinds of music by learning to play, or learning music theory or...just making the slightest effort to listen in a different way, you're entitled to your belief.

But you have nothing to say about music. Trust me, I speak from painful experience. A two-minute chat about music with someone like Herbie Hancock would be more informative, interesting and enlightening than a three-hour discussion with you.  

Any time a person makes a dedicated effort to learn a craft, skill, discipline or field, she is going to understand, appreciate and respond more fully to that body of knowledge because it has become a part of herself. That's true of bowling, throwing pottery, designing a house, or learning what it takes to make a piece a music that you don't understand or like at first. 

(AL Tennyson, "Ulysses" excerpt):

I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
 
 rdo wrote:
Someone recently told me I need a little high-priced "re-education" before I can appreciate this crap...


Thanks, but, no thanks.... 

 
no cure for braindeath.....
A classic!
HH is just so cool
{#Clap} 
 rdo wrote:
Someone recently told me I need a little high-priced "re-education" before I can appreciate this crap...


Thanks, but, no thanks.... 

 
I'd say you need to start with a basic education first.{#Beat}
 PartialZero wrote:
I usually say I don't like Jazz, but this is something fine.  Is this Jazz?
 
Sure.  But that's like touching an oak and asking, "Is this tree?"  There are many species of "tree" and many species of "jazz".
Someone recently told me I need a little high-priced "re-education" before I can appreciate this crap...


Thanks, but, no thanks.... 
Groooovay!
This is jazz! Beautiful! Deceptively simple here.
Cool.
Wow, I sure scored on that PSD!
I usually say I don't like Jazz, but this is something fine.  Is this Jazz?
Hot Damn!
Canteloupe Island and Watermelon Man. The man has a knack for fruits and jazz. I love it. Interesting to hear his chronological discography up and through the 80s with "Rockit". This artist is amazing in so many ways. I love it.
Don't know about Romeo but we beDANCIN' right here right now! {#Dancingbanana}
{#Bananapiano}
That was Excellent!
Almost 50YEARS old?!  WOW!
 Hairfarmer wrote:


{#Eh} Plenty of stations tha play instrumental R&B-flavored pop and call it Jazz is more like it.
 

You are correct, Sir!
Love the wide range of music.
Oh yeah!  Love that sforzando at the beginning of each line (well, a couple of 'em anyway).

First track of the day and as soon as it came on my grizzly 14 month old daughter broke into a huge grin and started dancing next to the speakers.
 Rooney wrote:

Part of the beauty of RP is that it doesn't get stuck in a groove.  One size fits all kind of music gets really old and tiring after awhile.  I like your combos RP!  Keep up the good work...{#Clap}


 
Well said

 Proclivities wrote:
No, there really aren't plenty of (good) jazz stations out there - especially ones which are commercial-free. 

kcsm.org

Don't get me wrong—the more Jazz on RP, the better. Love HH.

 Proclivities wrote:

No, there really aren't plenty of (good) jazz stations out there - especially ones which are commercial-free.

 
KSDS, baby. In the car if you're here in SD or online otherwise. Great album, with the smilin one on drums!

 iTuner wrote:

Plenty of Jazz stations out there. Don't need any more here. Could use less IMHO.
 
No, there really aren't plenty of (good) jazz stations out there - especially ones which are commercial-free.

 iTuner wrote:

Plenty of Jazz stations out there. Don't need any more here. Could use less IMHO.
 
eclectic
Definition e·clec·tic
ADJECTIVE 
1.  varied: made up of parts from various sources "an eclectic collection of paintings"
2.  choosing from various sources: choosing what is best or preferred from a variety of sources or styles "an eclectic taste in music"
{#Wave}

Part of the beauty of RP is that it doesn't get stuck in a groove.  One size fits all kind of music gets really old and tiring after awhile.  I like your combos RP!  Keep up the good work...{#Clap}


my mother ruined me playing too much of this and the like.    It makes my fingernails bent backwards.
 iTuner wrote:

Plenty of Jazz stations out there. Don't need any more here. Could use less IMHO.
 

{#Eh} Plenty of stations tha play instrumental R&B-flavored pop and call it Jazz is more like it.
 4merdj wrote:


Or more Jazz, for that matter, if I might add to your comment. {#Yes}
 
Plenty of Jazz stations out there. Don't need any more here. Could use less IMHO.
 KKeith wrote:
Is this the same Herbie Hancock who had that MTV hit in the 80s or is this his dad?
 
The same guy.  He's been in the business since the early 1960's.

I grew up with Mongo Santamaria's cover (1963), and until now hadn't heard the original. Wow, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, and Herbie Hancock?! Also didn't know until now that Takin' Off was Hancock's debut album. Massively cool, Bill.
 peter_james_bond wrote:
I wouldn't mind if this song got more play on RP. {#Music}
 

Or more Jazz, for that matter, if I might add to your comment. {#Yes}
Excellent!{#Music}
 peter_james_bond wrote:
I wouldn't mind if this song got more play on RP. {#Music}
 
Ditoo!

I wouldn't mind if this song got more play on RP. {#Music}
 Prodigal_SOB wrote:

Well it is jazz, they are allowed to wander from the melody a little and change things around a bit from performance to performance.  Though the two versions are structured and voiced quite differently I think they are in fact the very same song.  In this the original version there is an eight bar piano intro and they go right into the melody at the point when the horns come in.  In the Headhunters version there is a very long vamp intro that you might think of as the melody if it was the first version you heard.   Eventually though (at aprox. 2:30 in your video) they do get around to playing the melody fairly unadorned.   If you start your video at the 2:30 mark and this one at 1:22 where it changes from a solo version to this recording then the two versions might sound a lot closer.  I did finally get around to uploading the Headhunters version.  It was rejected.

 
Whoof!  Just one more reason why I listen to RP (and really dig the commentary!) 

(He says, as he hits the 'Support RP' button...)  {#Smile}

HH started out swinging in a good jazz groove and went way downhill, IMHO.

 Megavolt wrote:
I was about to ding RP for getting the name of this song wrong, but it really is "Watermelon Man". I was thinking of the "Watermelon Man" from the Headhunters album, a very different song, to the point that is kind of odd they have the same name. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo5GcYeh7XA
 

 
Well it is jazz, they are allowed to wander from the melody a little and change things around a bit from performance to performance.  Though the two versions are structured and voiced quite differently I think they are in fact the very same song.  In this the original version there is an eight bar piano intro and they go right into the melody at the point when the horns come in.  In the Headhunters version there is a very long vamp intro that you might think of as the melody if it was the first version you heard.   Eventually though (at aprox. 2:30 in your video) they do get around to playing the melody fairly unadorned.   If you start your video at the 2:30 mark and this one at 1:22 where it changes from a solo version to this recording then the two versions might sound a lot closer.  I did finally get around to uploading the Headhunters version.  It was rejected.


 I had thought about uploading this a year or two ago and saw that it had already been rejected, but since the rejected song database doesn't give a CD title I couldn't really tell if it was this one or the electric Headhunters version.  I really was thinking about sending up both of them just to make sure it got its chance when I heard this.  While both of them are great this is definately my favorite of the two.

I was about to ding RP for getting the name of this song wrong, but it really is "Watermelon Man". I was thinking of the "Watermelon Man" from the Headhunters album, a very different song, to the point that is kind of odd they have the same name. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo5GcYeh7XA
 

{#High-five} Alright lmic! You suggested this song in a comment you made to the song Cantaloupe Island on May 15th:

lmic wrote:
Yay! Thanks, Bill!

 
 thatch wrote:
While I give this song high marks and am happy that RP plays it, it would be great if Bill played a wider selection of jazz from this era. Herbie Hancock, Miles, Dizzy, Ella, Coltrane, Blakey, etc all have extensive playbooks. There is little reason to repeat a single song.

lmic wrote:


Agree! Even Watermelon Man would go far to extend the HH repertoire.
Is this the same Herbie Hancock who had that MTV hit in the 80s or is this his dad?
                    {#Bananapiano}  #10