ROCK Sex: Herbie Hancock > Mongo Santamaria > Herbie Hancock

ROCK Sex is all about scratching each other's back; 'you do me, I'll do you'.

Previously I gave examples of how one song can take on new life under different artists, and also how an artist inspires another artist who re-inspires the first artist. Well, today is an example of both.

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Herbie Hanckock was a jolt of new life on the Jazz scene in the early '60s, and he scored an immediate hit from his 1962 debut album penning this hip-swaying classic:

HERBIE HANCOCK -"Watermelon Man" (1962)



Afro-Cuban percussionist MONGO SANTAMARIA was quick to pick up on the Latin Jazz tinge and expand it fully on his classic cover hit. It soon became a standard with great versions by Quincy Jones, Manfred Mann, Maynard Ferguson, and The J.B.'s to follow.

MONGO SANTAMARIA -"Watermelon Man" (1962)



Big Mama Thornton, famed for the original "Hound Dog", made this Blues stride out of it, complete with funny monologue:

BIG MAMA THORNTON -"Watermelon Man" (1970)



Herbie re-invented himself in the early '70s as an afro-futurist, blending tribal instruments with space-age electronics. In similar phoenix fashion he reforged his own classic:

HERBIE HANCOCK & THE HEADHUNTERS -"Watermelon Man" (1973)



You got my back, I got yours.


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Cool Funk Roots: PEREZ PRADO's Mambo

• "Oye Como Va!" - Tito Puente > Santana > Kinky


• "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" - Horace Silver > Earth Wind & Fire > Steely Dan > Stevie Wonder > Madlib

• "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI" - Led Zeppelin > Branford Marsalis > Rolling Stones

• "How High The Moon" - Les Paul and Mary Ford > Sarah Vaughan > Charlie Parker > Miles Davis > John Coltrane


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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