From the first to the last song on No Paid Holidays, released Tues. June 24th on the Northern Blues label, Watermelon Slim shows once again why his music is able to reach out and touch people hearts as well as their minds. It doesn't matter whether or not you are familiar with the topic or if he's singing about something you've experienced, he sings in such a manner that you can identify with it.
You're usually going find one or two songs on his discs that will ring true, and No Paid Holidays is no exception. I'm sure at one point in time everybody has been in the same predicament as the one described in "Call My Job". Staying out too late, and drinking too many the night before aren't a combination guaranteed to make you bright eyed and bushy tailed for work in the morning. "Call My Job" puts that experience into perspective. I don't know about anyone else, but the times I did that were when I had a job that I wasn't that keen on and was feeling frustrated with my life. Listening to this song I could hear all of those feelings reflected in the lyrics and in the way the song was being delivered.
While all the songs on No Paid Holidays are worth listening to, the one that stood out the most for me was Slim's version of the Laura Nyro tune "And When I Die". Years ago David Clayton Thomas and Blood, Sweat, & Tears had a hit with this song, doing it as an up-tempo, pop song with a full horn section. It was very dynamic and uplifting, much in the same way really good gospel music can carry you away. Instead of trying to compete with that, Slim has gone the opposite route and performs a nearly acappella version that is just as powerful in its simplicity.
I can't really put my finger on what it was about the way he sings it, but from the very first note to the last he had my complete attention. Unlike the Blood, Sweat, & Tears version which was very slick and polished, Watermelon's version is rough-hewn and raw, It sounds like each word is costing him, as he struggles to express what he needs to say about a subject that none of us really like to talk about. Yet, at the same time you can hear the dogged determination in his voice that says how important it is for him to say it. He sounds like anyone of us would sound trying to deal with something particularly difficult.
Article comments
1 - Joanie
As good as Slim is on disc, just remember this: he's even better live!