Customer Reviews

Wheel Man (Dig)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Watermelon Slim and his band, The Workers, are truly the real deal. These guys play blues, rock, and shuffles like they were born to do it. Not a bad song on this disc. No slick production, just a great band playing great music. In a music world of increasing wannabees and looks taking precedent over substance, this band is a breath of fresh air. True lovers of the blues will love this disc. I can't play it enough. Be sure to check out his release from last year as well.

This shows that Watermelon can do it all. I love the rocking out, fast tempo songs like "Drinking and Driving", but there is also a harmonica and vocal track, and an old-fashioned holler.
I still think that the more Rock'n'Roll style songs are the greatest.
Just great. You've got to hear it!

I very much like Watermelon Slim since I heard him in his sensational April 2005 album "Watermelon Slim & the Workers" in which he made an authentic demonstration of how to play Chicago blues with complete respect for the ways of the clasic players. It was simply magnificent. Later I listened to "Up close & Personal", another Slim's acoustic jewel (see my review March 24, 2007 ), and now I have just listened to this CD, which serves me to get confirmation that we are in front of an authentic bluesman with eminent command of both acoustic and electric styles. He's one of the most authentic and original Blues music out there. In this record you can find high level typical electric Blues like "I've got news", " I know one" or "Fast Eddie", phenomenal acoustic Blues "Jimmy Bell" or " Sawmill holler", incredible slow Blues like "Newspaper reporter". In short, great blues stuff. I only can find one shortcoming which is the rock song "Drinking & Driving", this prevents me from grant five stars to the CD, but elesewhere the record gets the quality of a number one. My evaluation is 4,5 stars. Another added value is the very great MAGIC SLIM as the lead guitar in some tunes, fantastic. I recommend it strongly

Never heard of him. Now I am hooked. Outstanding blues artist.....
Pick this up if you want the real thing!

We discovered Watermelon Slim serendipitously at a live performance. (Slim's a former newspaper reporter -- I wonder if he'd laugh at a 6-syllable word used to describe him.) He's become one of my household's favorite blues artists. We love _Wheel Man_ for Slim's outstanding storytelling as well as his phenomenal playing and singing. Slim can evoke a scene vivid enough for film with just a few words in his signature drawl.

While Slim's slide guitar work is some of the best out there in any genre, "Jimmy Bell" -- just Slim singing and playing harmonica -- is one of this album's stars. A fantastic collection of songs from an artist who deserves far more recognition.

Watermelon Slim's 2nd album for the Canadian label, NorthernBlues Music is called "The Wheel Man", and is every bit as fresh and juicy as his hugely successful intitial 2006 self-titled "Watermelon Slim & The Workers" album. Slim's version of the Blues is just a little different, and therein lies the "breath of fresh air" that has him and the boys fast becoming "Blues festival favorites" all over the country this Summer. You can tell that Slim is having fun with the music, and that fun easily infects the crowd. If you haven't heard Watermelon Slim & The Workers, buy this album; as a matter of fact, buy BOTH of his albums. If you have heard his first album, I shouldn't need to tell you that this is more of the same refreshing stuff.

What can I say? This guy is a blues national treasure. An overnight
senasation that took 30 years to happen, Slim seems to have finally
come up on the national radar. He is an utterly awesome slide guitar
and harp player as well as prolific songwriter. Not quite the knockout
CD his last one was, but pretty damn good. BTW, check out WS's website.
Some good interviews and videos!

This guy is sensational. Its great blues with an authentic feel and obvious heritage but with a sense of humour and just a tinge of country. Love it - and you should check out his live DVD - awesome. I cannot understand why this guy is not top of the blues charts. I had the chance to see him in Clarksdale and I wish an enterprising promoter would bring him to Australia.

I've been wanting to pick up some of his recordings ever since hearing him on xm radio. He brings a unique honesty and fire to the blues these days. He will most likely go down as one of blues genres all time greats, and you and I have a chance to experience him in his prime. This is a great album. There weren't any disappointing songs to me. I loved it all. Thank you Mr Slim... keep it up.

Try as I may, and I have tried, I really only just like "The Wheel Man." The band chugs along, never missing a beat, and when someone breaks rank for a solo, one cannot deny the power of blending technical proficiency and combustion. Ringleader Bill Homans, who is, of course, Watermelon Slim, never slows down, whether yowling about his sorrows or his joys, and his one-of-a kind vocals do take a bit of getting used to.

So what's wrong here? For me, the biggest issue is a severe case of what I have heard termed "listener fatigue." This recording just sounds harsh, brittle, and compressed, as though it was part of the musical fodder that is mixed and engineered for FM radio playlists---not like a blues recording--and that takes away from my ability to listen to the music.