Herbie Hancock, music · Jon Hendricks, lyrics · First recorded for Blue Note, 1962
Watermelon Man
A sixteen-bar blues in F that Herbie Hancock wrote for his first album, Takin' Off, in 1962. The form is a short blues that is easy to learn, and players have reworked it in many styles. Mongo Santamaría's 1963 hit and Hancock's 1973 funk remake on Head Hunters carried it to wide audiences.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Herbie Hancock✓
- 2 Hear the hit Mongo Santamaría✓
- 3 Hear the funk remake Herbie Hancock✓
- 4 Hear the sung version Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan✓
- 5 Hear it on organ Illinois Jacquet with Milt Buckner and Alan Dawson✓
- 6 Hear it on guitar The Howard Roberts Quartet✓
- 7 Hear it in Latin jazz Poncho Sanchez with Mongo Santamaría✓
- 8 Hear it today Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper✓
How the tune works
Each chorus is sixteen bars in F, in four lines of four bars. The first eight bars follow an ordinary blues: four bars on F, two on B♭, two on F. The last eight run longer than a blues ending. They alternate C and B♭ for six bars, then settle on F for two. The same sixteen bars repeat for the melody and for each solo. The 1973 Head Hunters remake adds an eight-bar section.
The usual changes in F, sixteen bars. The first eight bars are an ordinary blues. The last eight alternate C and B♭, then settle on F.
The source writes the tonic as F7♯9 and the other chords as B♭9 and C9. Many players use plain F7, B♭7 and C7, and recordings vary. The source also prints A♭13 above the F7♯9 in bar 15 without explaining it, and that chord is left out here. The source marks the groove as even eighths. Hancock's 1973 remake adds an eight-bar section that this chart does not show. Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗You hear Hancock's original quintet first, then Mongo Santamaría's hit single and Hancock's funk remake. A sung version, a live saxophone and organ trio, a guitar quartet, a Latin jazz version with Mongo as guest and a 2025 duo follow.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Herbie Hancock 1962
Takin' Off
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Count sixteen bars at a time and tap beat one of each bar. The first eight bars follow an ordinary blues, and the last eight run longer than a blues ending. Hubbard solos first, then Gordon, then Hancock.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the record, one chord per bar, roots only. If sixteen bars is long, practise the first eight alone: four bars of F, two of B♭, two of F.
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Step 2 · Hear the hit Now playing
Mongo Santamaría 1962
Watermelon Man!
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- Listen for
- Listen for the cha-cha beat, with a backbeat on the drums under the bass and percussion. The linked take is only 2:27 long, so the form comes round quickly.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the record, one chord per bar. The take is short, so play it through again from bar 1 when it ends.
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Step 3 · Hear the funk remake Now playing
Herbie Hancock 1973
Head Hunters
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- Listen for
- Bill Summers opens by blowing into beer bottles. Bass and drums set the groove, and the theme arrives gradually. The track has no long solos; the theme passes from instrument to instrument.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the record, one chord per bar. This version adds an eight-bar section that the chart does not show, so expect the form to run longer than sixteen bars.
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Step 4 · Hear the sung version Now playing
Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan 1963
At Newport '63
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- Listen for
- Three singers take the tune, with Hendricks credited for the words. Listen for Hawkins on tenor saxophone and Terry on flugelhorn or trumpet, both credited on this track.
- Try this
- Sing or hum the melody with the record for one chorus, then once without it, keeping the same beat.
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Step 5 · Hear it on organ Now playing
Illinois Jacquet with Milt Buckner and Alan Dawson 1966
Go Power!
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- Listen for
- A live trio of saxophone, organ and drums. No bass player is listed, so follow the low notes and decide who plays them.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the record, one chord per bar. With no bass on the record, add the chord roots on your lowest notes.
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Step 6 · Hear it on guitar Now playing
The Howard Roberts Quartet 1963
H.R. Is a Dirty Guitar Player
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- Listen for
- Guitar leads over organ, bass and drums in a bluesy groove. Roberts's tone is clean with a little reverb, and the whole take runs 2:32.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords on guitar or keyboard with the record, one chord per bar. The take is short, so play it through twice with the record.
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Step 7 · Hear it in Latin jazz Now playing
Poncho Sanchez with Mongo Santamaría 1995
Conga Blue
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- Listen for
- Poncho Sanchez leads a Latin jazz band with Mongo Santamaría as special guest. Compare it with Mongo's own 1963 single from step 2.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with this record, then with Mongo's 1963 single, and write down one difference you hear.
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Step 8 · Hear it today Now playing
Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper 2025
Polar Music Prize 2025 ceremony
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- Listen for
- Spalding plays bass and sings while Glasper plays keys. Listen for how bass and voice keep the groove.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the record, one chord per bar. For a smaller version, play only the chord roots, as a bass would.
More great versions
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Herbie Hancock 1962
“Watermelon Man (alternate take)”, Takin' Off
Take 7 from the same session as the album version, first issued in 1996 on a Blue Note CD.
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Julie London 1965
Feeling Good
Julie London sings the tune on her 1965 Liberty album Feeling Good.
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Gloria Lynne 1966
Live! Take: 2
Gloria Lynne sings the tune on her 1966 Everest album Live!
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Herbie Hancock 1975
“Watermelon Man (live)”, Flood
The live version of the funk arrangement, played in Tokyo in 1975.
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Jimmy Smith 1995
Damn!
Jimmy Smith plays the tune on organ on Damn!, his first Verve album in more than twenty years.
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David Benoit 2003
Right Here, Right Now
Pianist David Benoit plays the tune on his 2003 Verve album Right Here, Right Now.
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Poppy Ajudha 2020
“Watermelon Man (Under The Sun)”, Blue Note Re:imagined
Poppy Ajudha wrote new lyrics for her reworking of the tune, released in 2020 on Blue Note Re:imagined.