Listening Room: Watermelon Slim — “Black Water”
I told you in the Blues Round Up that Watermelon Slim’s new disc, The Wheel Man, is in stores April 17. There is nothing about having connections that doesn’t rule. I got an advance of Slim’s new album and I listened to it from beginning to end three times within the first 12 hours of having it in my possession.
His most recent self-titled release leads all BMA’s in nominations with six. The Wheel Man might actually be a stronger album! I don’t want to tease too much of my upcoming review, but here is the quick skinny: the best songs from the self-titled record might be a bit better than what’s on The Wheel Man, but this new album is a more consistent listen from beginning to end.
As I write this, I am listening to “Black Water.†There are some really cool songs with that title. Charlie Musselwhite’s unbelievably good Delta Hardware has a great song by that name, Meat Puppets have a good one, and then there is the Doobie Brothers’ classic. Add this cut by Watermelon Slim to that list. Slim’s stylish electric slide work is good enough to force every guy to shake his head and make that face- you know the one we make when we’re listening to something incredibly cool and we feel compelled to demonstrate to the world that we ‘get’ it. Testosterone is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, isn’t it? Add to that a strong vocal and this is one of the better cuts on the album.
One of these days, I might have to write a comparative analysis of songs with the title “Black Water.” How riveting would that be? Well, at least the source material is pretty great.
This is easily going to be one of the best blues releases of 2007.
Filed under: Tags: Bloggin' the Blues, Charlie Musselwhite, Listening Room, Watermelon Slim
