CD Review: Watermelon Slim and the Workers, Bull Goose Rooster

Not recommended

For a brief time in 2006-2008, Watermelon Slim was the flavor of the month in blues. He released three successful albums—Watermelon Slim and the Workers (2006), The Wheel Man (2007) and No Paid Holidays (2008)—and walked off with some end of year awards. His off-key Southern drawl and unpolished style seemed refreshing. I managed to put aside my reservations about his politically incorrect nickname when I heard his populist lyrics. But then he released a couple of country CDs and seemed to disappear from the blues scene. He's back with a new album of mostly blues. It doesn't seem nearly as refreshing.

Watermelon Slim is William Homans, a retired truck driver from Oklahoma City. He plays the harmonica and slide guitar with a great deal of enthusiasm and not inconsiderable skill. His music is a mixture of blues, country and gospel. The present album contains six covers and ten originals, nine of which are written by Slim. The tenth, a harp-guitar instrumental, “The Wobble,” was penned by drummer Michael Newberry.

He leads off the album with a spirited version of Junior Wells' “Tomorrow Night,” which features his most nuanced harp solo.  Here is a less polished version from a 2010 performance.

He covers Slim Harpo's two best-known songs, “I'm a King Bee” and “Scratch My Back,” without improving on them. Woody Guthrie's “Vigilante Man” is done to a rock background and a marching snare drum. The other two covers are a cappella versions of the gospel song “Take My Mother Home” and a folk song, “Northwest Passage.”

Slim's writing is inconsistent. The title tune is an up-tempo variation on the standard, “Little Red Rooster,” in which Slim tries to one-up the original's double entendre.

My favorite cut on the CD, “Blue Freightliner,” is musically almost a copy of Junior Parker's “Mystery Train.” “Trucking Class,” in which Slim's defends the honor of truck drivers against the criticism of an intellectual snob, is pure country in its lyrics and accompaniment. “Prison Walls,” the only other cut posted on the internet, is a typical inside-the-prison lament with a monotonous rock background.

Two political songs, “A Wrench in the Machine” and “Foreign Policy Blues” also suffer from overloud backgrounds which overwhelm some of the lyrics. The same could be said for the trivial “I Ain't Whistlin' Dixie.”

The brown cloud that hangs over the entire proceedings is Slim's vocals. The embarrassment is most evident on “Over the Horizon,” a country ballad in which Slim duets with Danielle Schnebelen to honky tonk piano accompaniment by Dennis Borycki. It's a nice piece of writing about a couple no longer in love but afraid to abandon their security for an unknown future, but Slim ruins it with his off-key singing. (But thanks for not changing your name, Danielle.)

As noted, Slim had the courage to tackle two songs a cappella. His pitch is steadier on “Take My Mother Home,” which is more comfortably within his range, but I couldn't stomach the sanctimonious lyrics. On “Northwest Passage,” he is lost in the wilderness in a song that seems to go on forever. “Words Are Coming to an End,” the closing ballad with acoustic accompaniment by Gary Nicholson, is Slim's take on mortality. It manages to be gloomy without being enlightening.

I haven't been listening to Slim in recent years, but he hasn't changed much. There are some good moments on this CD, but overall I can't recommend it. What seemed novel seven years ago now makes me wonder what I could have been thinking.

Tracks: Tomorrow Night; Bull Goose Rooster; Over the Horizon; Vigilante Man; A Wrench in the Machine; I'm a King Bee; Prison Walls; Blue Freightliner; Scratch My Back; I Ain't Whistlin' Dixie; Take My Mother Home; The Wobble; Trucking Class; Northwest Passage; The Foreign Policy Blues; Words Are Coming to an End. (62 min.).

Personnel: Watermelon Slim, vocals, harmonica, slide guitar; Ronnie “Mack” McMullen, guitar; Cliff Belcher, bass; Michael Newberry, drums; Dennis Borycki, piano (1 track); Ike Lamb, guitar (1 track); Gary Nicholson, guitar (1 track); Danielle Schnebelen, vocal (1 track).