Melvin Van Peebles

Watermelon Skin Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music
America Swirl Vinyl: Real Gone Music
Color Variant: Barnes & Noble

Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are returning Melvin Van Peebles' score to his groundbreaking 1970 comedy Watermelon Man back into print for the first time in more than five decades.  Watermelon Man shattered conventions with its bitingly satirical story about a white couple, intolerant and obnoxious insurance salesman Jeff Gerber (Godfrey Cambridge) and his seemingly liberal wife Althea (Estelle Parsons).  One morning, Jeff awakens to discover that his skin color has changed from white to black-and it's not a result of his daily tanning routine.  Unable to successfully change back, he learns what it's like to live in America as a black man, and his eyes are opened. Van Peebles' soundtrack to Watermelon Man blended jazz, funk, rock, rhythm and blues, proto-rap, and even bluegrass, and the multi-hyphenate talent took the mic himself for the songs "Love, That's America" and "Soul'd on You."  The film's co-star Estelle Parsons made a special appearance on "Where Are the Children."  All that and Ry Cooder, too: the slide guitar virtuoso, while uncredited, is said to have played the indelible slide parts throughout the album.  The vinyl reissue is available in multiple colors, and all pressings include an insert with on-set photos and liner notes by Joe Marchese.