Chasing the Watermelon Man (from KCRW's Lost Notes)

Good Food

KCRW

Society & Culture

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

An audio folk story examining the tradition of Black watermelon long-haulers, who drive to farms in the South for watermelon and sell them in Black neighborhoods around the US. This is a special bonus edition from KCRW's Lost Notes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi Good Food listeners, Evan here with a special project from KCRW that I think you'll enjoy,
0:06.4	the story of the Watermelon Man.
0:09.5	From the carts bumping over the cobblestones of Chicago to the stands we see today, the arrival of fresh
0:16.5	heirloom seed southern watermelon is definitely a welcome site.
0:21.7	We celebrate the end of summer and this fabulous for it with a special
0:25.3	piece from KCRW's own Tyler Boudreau. Some longtime listeners may remember
0:30.9	Tyler from her James Beard nominated story about the Black Republican Cherry.
0:36.2	In this special edition of KCRW podcast Lost Notes, Tyler takes us into the rhythms of Herbie Hancock's classic song, Watermelon Man,
0:45.9	and chases down the fruits history and some of her own.
0:49.6	Hope you enjoy. You can hear more stories from KCRW in the Lost Notes Feed wherever you're listening now. In the summer of 2023, this jazz funk groove bounced into my ears and fixed itself on a loop.
1:11.0	It's called Watermelon Man by jazz legend Herbie Hancock. on a you may recognize as this. Both versions of Herbie Hancock's watermelon man are highly influential
1:39.3	jazz recordings and they sent ripples of change throughout American music in the 20th century.
1:45.8	As a music lover and a DJ, their timeless sounds that visit me often, popping up in the hot summer
1:52.4	time or when I accidentally blow into an empty beer bottle,
1:56.0	it's a rhythm that comes and goes often, like a passing breeze. But this time around, I just couldn't shake watermelon man.
2:04.0	It all started when I traveled to Chicago in 2023. I was on the heels of
2:17.0	reporting an audio folk story about the Black Republican Cherry and I was in the
2:22.4	windy city for the James Beard Media Awards.
2:26.2	My entire experience chasing the story of these cherries affirmed my belief in the power of
2:32.0	storytelling. I developed a deep awareness that folk stories
2:36.3	hold our history and reveal our shared humanity. I was deep in my feelings when I went to Chicago.
2:57.0	While I was in town, I paid a visit to my long-distance cousins who live on the south side. My Chicago family hadn't seen me since I was a
	...

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