Hancocks first version was released as a grooving hard. Watermelon man is melvin van peebles 1970 comedic satire about the state of race relations in america. Watermelon man 1970 a white insurance salesman, jeff gerber godfrey cambridge, gets the surprise of his life when he wakes up and discovers that his skin now resembles a black man s. In reflecting my childhood, the pianist stated in its liner notes, i recalled the cry of the watermelon man making his rounds through the back streets and alleys of chicagos south side. Vein melter covers a more jazzy terrain, while watermelon man produces some hot work from mason and summers. The new watermelon man is a far cry from the original. This was one of those rare jazz tunes that was so catchy it made the pop charts, first herbies version and the next year again with a. Naturally, then, the followup lp to the single is devoted to 12 airplaylength tracks loaded with bright, swinging latin chachas and mambo rhythms mixed with blues, soul, and jazz, presumably suitable for twisting the night. Hancock rerecorded the tune for head hunters 1973, combining synthesizers with a sly stone and james brown funk influence, adding an.
Herbie hancocks famous watermelon man composition made its first appearance on his 1962 debut solo album takin off. The melody is stretched over prowling funk rhythms and an africaninflected introductory motif is the hook. Watermelon man mongo santamaria song info allmusic. Provided to youtube by universal music group watermelon man remastered 2007 herbie hancock takin off. Piano sheet music watermelon man herbie hancock noviscore. Hancocks next jazzfunk albums of the 1970s were man child 1975, and secrets 1976, which point toward the more commercial direction hancock would take over the next decade. Ohoh, watermelon man ohhh, watermelon man they are just as wrong as they can be make you almost wanna eat the seeds everybody digs watermelon man ohoh, watermelon man eww, watermelon man i would buy one from you every day just be sure you always come my way i really dig watermelon man woahohohoh, watermelon man yeah, yeah woahohohoh.
But if my band were to play this tune, we would learn it from the lead sheet and the tenor sax player would make up his part according to what sounded good and what hes heard other people play on this tune and. With godfrey cambridge, estelle parsons, howard caine, durville martin. Watermelon man by herbie hancock full score and parts. Musicnotes pro plus members save 15% plus get pdfs included in every available key. He included a new version of the tune on his 1973 album head hunters. Watermelon man by herbie hancock composed by herbie hancock.
Hancocks next jazzfunk albums of the 1970s were manchild 1975, and secrets 1976, which point toward the more commercial direction hancock would take over the next decade. Written by herman raucher, it tells the story of an extremely bigoted 1960sera white insurance salesman named jeff gerber, who wakes up one morning to find that he has become black. Watermelon man became a hit, and he would later record it with his head hunters band as well in 1973. The song became a famous jazz standard and was covered more than 200 times. This was one of those rare jazz tunes that was so catchy it made the pop charts, first herbies version and the next year again with a latin version by mongo santamaria. Watermelon man is a 1970 american comedy film directed by melvin van peebles and starring godfrey cambridge, estelle parsons, howard caine, durville martin, kay kimberley, mantan moreland, and erin moran. Trailer for melvin van peebles watermelon man 1970. Jazzfunk, jazz fusion, national recording registry, sampled in more than 80 songs. Our backing tracks for watermelon man have been produced in the following key.
Watermelon man is a jazz standard written by herbie hancock for his debut album, takin off 1962. Watermelon man is especially famous and popular among people as jazz standard, and it was in top 100 of the pop chart. While progress has been made since this film was made, the film still is relevant today if you can look past the horrible styles and occasionally over the top dialogue and lingo. Watermelon man is one of herbie hancocks best known jazz pieces and was first released on his 1962 debut album takin off. Watermelon man was composed by herbie hancock and first released on his debut solo album in 1962. The results, particularly on the tracks chameleon and watermelon man, had a profound impact on other musicians, although critics charged hancock with.
Watermelon man text bass tab by herbie hancock songsterr. Herbie hancock lyrics herbert jeffrey hancock born april 12, 1940 is a jazz pianist and composer from chicago, illinois, united states. He then performs both the original 1962 and the 1973 headhunters versions. Hancock rerecorded the tune for head hunters 1973, combining synthesizers with a sly stone and james brown funk influence, adding an eightbar section. Carles margarit watermelon mandexter gordons transcription. His 1963 hit rendition of herbie hancocks watermelon man was inducted into the grammy hall of fame in 1998. Watermelon man sheet music download free in pdf or midi. Jan 15, 2014 watermelon man was written by herbie hancock, originally for his 1962 hit record takin off. Watermelon man by herbie hancock digital sheet music. Cuban percussionist mongo santamaria released the tune as a latin pop single the next year on battle records, where it. Watermelon man 1970 a white insurance salesman, jeff gerber godfrey cambridge, gets the surprise of his life when he wakes up and discovers that his skin now resembles a black mans. Well, for every band thats played this tune using a tenor saxophone, i suppose there is a tenor part.
An extremely bigoted white man finds out the hard and somewhat humorous way what its like being a black man, firsthand. Watermelon man by herbie hancock samples, covers and. This is a remix of herbie hancock watermelon man from the 1973 album head hunters check it out on youtube its amazing. He then performs both the original 1962 and the 1973 headhunters.
Watermelon1 by mrcar\\ack free listening on soundcloud. It adds a latin groove and occasional vocals, and reached greater popularity on the charts than hancocks original song. Weve found 41 lyrics, 124 artists, and 50 albums matching watermelon man by headhunters. Herbie hancock watermelon man sheet music in c major. Herbie hancock watermelon man lyrics genius lyrics. Herbie hancocks watermelon man was a gigantic hit for mongo santamaria in 1962, doing for him in the 60s what perez prados big mambo hits did for him in the 50s. That man is another extremely well talented musician and it is easy to see why hancock used his talents a lot, even prior to forming the headhunters. Watermelon man for jazz vibraphone youtube herbie hancock watermelon man duration. Hancock wrote this tune with the intention of marketing his record, and was the first tune he composed for commercial reasons. Bei songs wie watermelon man wird klar, wo sich hiphopgro. He rerecorded the track for the album head hunters released in 2003.
Watermelon man by herbie hancock composed by herbie. This 1962 mongo satamaria arrangement is of herbie hancocks 1961 original composition of the same name, watermelon man. Herbie hancocks watermelon man quickly became a jazz standard after being released, having been recorded by lots of artists in less than 5 years after the first release. Watermelon man was written by herbie hancock, originally for his 1962 hit record takin off. Jul 15, 2016 watermelon man is a popular standard thats often called at jam sessions, so its worthwhile getting to know it inside and out. Highly influential jazzfunk outfit the headhunters played live at band on the wall on 18th september 2016. Herbie hancock watermelon man piano tutorial watermelon man was first published on herbie hancocks debut album takin off 1962. The song, hancock tells costello, was an attempt to relate to his africanamerican heritage. Cuban percussionist mongo santamaria released the tune as a. Herbie hancock fender rhodes, clavinet, arp odyssey synthesizer, arp. You now mix the chords you just learned with the melody to watermelon man to explore a chord melody.
Anywho here we go attention before you give this tab a bad rating remember, this is for the jazz fusion. Herbie hancock watermelon man sheet music piano solo in f. It also inaugurated the latin soul craze also known as popcorn or boogaloo, resulting in dozens of similar singles by all sorts of latin units. Released 1970, watermelon man stars godfrey cambridge, estelle parsons, howard caine, durville martin the r movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 37 min, and received a score of out of 100 on. Herbie hancock watermelon man text bass tab learn the song with the online tablature player artist. Naturally, then, the followup lp to the single is devoted to 12 airplaylength tracks loaded with bright, swinging latin chachas and mambo rhythms mixed with blues, soul, and jazz, presumably suitable for twisting the night away. These albums feature the members of the headhunters band, but also a variety of other musicians in important roles. Herbie hancock watermelon man sheet music piano solo. Hancocks first version was released as a grooving hard bop record, and featured improvisations by freddie hubbard and dexter gordon. For this lesson, ill be referring to the version from takin off i. The 1970s brought a revolution of musical vision, with head hunters near the top of the pack in busting down the finite walls of sound and delivering infinite possibilities through a new generation of musicians who had jazz in their. Watermelon man herbie hancock, 1962 jazziz magazine. A single of the tune reached the top 100 of the pop charts. He layers some of his instruments to make some interesting sounds and contrasts through the album, but they really stand out.
Note, this is a tab for the orginal version hancock did in the late 60s. Because the chord riff is so unique, you play the melody and then the riff and move back and forth until the c7bb7 section, where you harmonize the melody. Hey watermelon man hey watermelon man bring me one that rattles when you plug it one thats erd and juicy when you plug it do you understand watermelon man hey watermelon man hey watermelon man hot and bothered need a little cooling when i hear your call i start to drooling do you understand. 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. Mar 21, 2010 hancock rerecorded the tune for head hunters 1973, combining synthesizers with a sly stone and james brown funk influence, adding an eightbar section. Herbie hancocks headhunters 05 playing watermelon man herbie hancock p lionel loueke gvo terri lyne carrington ds marcus miller. Search results for watermelon man by headhunters yee yee. Watermelon man is the first song by herbie hancock with commercial goal. Soon, watermelon man was a jazz standard, with versions by count basie, erroll garner, woody herman, and jon hendricks. Jul 31, 2015 the new watermelon man is a far cry from the original. In the video above, herbie hancock explains to the audience and a rapt elvis costello the story behind the song watermelon man, which was a hit for him and for mongo santamaria. Head hunters herbie hancock 1973 full album youtube.
Sheet music arranged for pianovocalguitar in c major. Note, this is a tab for the orginal version hancock did in the late 60s and not the fushion version he did in the early 70s. Provided to youtube by sony music entertainment watermelon man herbie hancock head hunters. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard afro blue, as performed by john coltrane among others. Watermelon man 1970 stream and watch online moviefone. Search results for watermelon man by headhunters lyrics.
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