Song · Herbie Hancock
“Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock
From the album Takin’ Off (1986)
“Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2001 and 2020. It was first released in 1986 on the album Takin’ Off. Its best result is #641 on the WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,564 indie & aaa song of all time.
Herbie Hancock wrote "Watermelon Man" for Takin' Off, his 1962 debut album on Blue Note, and the tune went on to become a jazz standard. His original take is hard bop through and through, with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Dexter Gordon on saxophone taking the solos, and when it went out as a single it crept up to number 12 on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart in March 1963.
Hancock came back to it more than a decade later. In 1973 he pulled it apart and put it back together as funk for Head Hunters, proof that a good tune can survive a change of clothes.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 641 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2020 | 1866 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.