The Wheel Man

Watermelon Slim & The Workers, Watermelon Slim

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 17, 2007)
• Original Release Date: April 17, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: NorthernBlues Music
• ASIN: B000NJKYUE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,007 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This Oklahoma City singer and slide guitarist is at the creative apex of traditional blues. He took the roundabout route to get there--fighting in the jungles of Vietnam, officiating at funerals, and working as a trucker, forklift operator, saw miller, firewood salesman, and collection agent until a near-fatal heart attack compelled him to find his calling as a bandleader in 2002. Slim's fourth album since then is even sharper than 2006's critically heralded breakthrough Watermelon Slim & the Workers. It's a devil's playground for his weathered-oak voice and Delta-fueled six-stringing, full of stories of crime ("The Wheel Man"), lust ("Peaches"), and sin ("Jimmy Bell"). For Slim, that's par for the course, but this time he's drafted Chicago blues stalwart Magic Slim for a terse, burnished solo and vocal turns on the title tune and piano great David Maxwell to make three other numbers sparkle and jump. Yet some of the most compelling songs, like the howling a cappella "Jimmy Bell" and the slide 'n' vocal turn "Judge Harsh Blues" are Watermelon Slim alone. And that's enough. His sound and his soul are packed with true, natural grit. --Ted Drozdowski

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the real deal!, April 29, 2007

By	MPQ (San Diego, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Blues!, June 7, 2007

By	E. R. Wilding (Hull, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Wheel Man, my review from Barcelona, May 21, 2007

By	Jose Maria Domenech Fedi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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