Whereas most up and coming alternative bands of the early '90s borrowed
from the leaders of the pack
(Nirvana, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, etc.),
Blind Melon was an exception to the rule -- their roots lay in classic rock

(Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin). And while a promising career
lay ahead of them, tragedy would ultimately end the band abruptly. The group
came together in 1989 in Los Angeles, although all their respective members
had migrated there from other U.S. locales
(singer Shannon Hoon from Indiana;
guitarist Christopher Thorn from Pennsylvania; and guitarist Rogers Stevens,
bassist Brad Smith, and drummer Glen Graham all hailed from Mississippi).
The complete opposite of all the glossed up glam metal that was permeating the
Sunset Strip at the time, the quintet used a refreshing back-to-basics approach,
both musically and visually
(giving off a heavy retro vibe early on). The band
considered several names -- Brown Cow, Mud Bird, Naked Pilgrims, and Head
Train -- before agreeing on Blind Melon, a phrase that Smith's father would use
to describe a couple of hippie neighbors from back home in Mississippi.
With their lineup and name solidified, Capitol Records became interested solely
on the strength of a four-song demo, titled The Goodfoot Workshop. Although
the band only had a limited repertoire of songs at the time, they managed to
convince Capitol that they had a healthy backlog of compositions, and were
signed in 1991. The band set out shortly thereafter to work on an EP, produced
by longtime Neil Young producer David Briggs and titled The Sippin' Time
Sessions. But when the end results came out surprisingly slick and doctored, the
project was shelved. Hoon, in the meantime, became re-acquainted with an old
friend of his sister's from back home in Indiana, Guns N' Roses' frontman Axl Rose,
who invited Hoon to sing backup on several tracks for Guns N' Roses' Use Your
Illusion set. Hoon lent his vocal talents to several tracks, the best-known being
the ballad Don't Cry, even appearing along with G N' R in the song's epic video.
Doubled with a high-profile appearance on MTV's 120 Minutes Tour in the spring
of 1992
(along with Live, Big Audio Dynamite, and Public Image Limited), a buzz
began to emerge regarding Blind Melon. The only problem was, they still didn't have
an album in the racks.
The band had gone back into the studio earlier in the year with Temple of the
Dog/Pearl Jam producer Rick Parashar, and although the sessions were completed
by springtime, their self-titled debut didn't see the light of day until September 1992,
by which time their springtime industry buzz had long since dissipated. For the
remainder of the year and the early part of 1993, the quintet toured U.S. clubs
nonstop
(as well as landing arena opening slots for their pals Guns N' Roses).
Although several videos/singles came and went without much MTV/radio fanfare, the
Samuel Bayer-directed clip for their upbeat ditty No Rain
(in which Blind Melon's
album cover that included an old picture of Graham's sister dressed in a bumble
bee-like outfit, came to life) became a smash and catapulted the single and the
album to the top of the charts
(Blind Melon would eventually go platinum four times
over).
Blind Melon spent the remainder of 1993 on the road opening for Neil Young and Lenny
Kravitz, before embarking on their own headlining tour of theaters in 1994
(during
which time they were nominated for a pair of Grammy awards, for Best New Artist
and Best Rock Performance). But it was during this time that drug use spiraled out
of control for Hoon, and the band was forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the
tour as Hoon sought treatment. Blind Melon managed to play a few more shows
later in the year -- handing in a memorable appearance at Woodstock '94, and
opening up for the Rolling Stones on select dates in September. Recording sessions
began in the fall of 1994 for their sophomore effort in New Orleans, with renowned
producer Andy Wallace behind the boards.
The sessions were productive but not without some turbulence -- Hoon was still
indulging in substances, leading to an arrest for drunkenly fighting with an off-duty
policeman
(Hoon would later admit that he had no memory of most of the recording
sessions). Once the album was completed in the spring of 1995, Hoon checked
himself into another rehab facility at the insistence of his bandmates, which pushed
the release date of the album, titled Soup, to late summer. A month before the album appeared in August, Hoon's girlfriend gave birth to the couple's first child, which Hoon
said in interviews had given him a new lease on life and a reason to straighten out
once and for all. The dark and challenging Soup was a true diamond in the rough,
but when it was finally released, the album was savagely bashed by fickle critics
everywhere, which in turn led to a cool reception by the record-buying public
(peaking
at number 28 on the Billboard album charts).
Concerned but anxious to get back on tour, the band hit the road once again.
Drug counselors at the facility that Hoon had been admitted to warned the
band's management that Hoon wasn't ready for the temptations of the road
just yet. But Hoon convinced everyone that he was and a drug counselor/
caretaker was hired to accompany him. After a month and a half of dates,
the counselor was sent packing and Hoon returned back to his dangerous
ways. Just a few days later, on October 21, Hoon was found dead on Blind
Melon's tour bus from an apparent drug overdose, at the age of 28.
Blind Melon took an extended break to try and pick up the pieces and decide
what they would do next. During the interim, the bandmembers finished off
some rough tracks Hoon had completed his vocal parts for, resulting in the
release of Nico in November of 1996
(the album was named after Hoon's infant
daughter, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to Musicians Assistants
Program
(MAP), an organization that helps artists recover from drug and alcohol
addiction). In conjunction with the album's release came the home video Letters
From a Porcupine, which chronicled Blind Melon's history via interviews and live
performances
(the video was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best
Long Form Music Video).
Blind Melon decided to carry on under a different name and with a new singer --
placing ads in music papers and auditioning several prospective frontmen. But
it didn't click, and after an attempt at having Smith double as the lead signer in
addition to his bass playing duties, the band ultimately decided to go their
separate ways. Stevens formed the New York-based band Extra Virgin with
singer Rene Lopez
(one of the vocalists who had recently tried out for Blind
Melon), who issued the album Twelve Stories High in 1999, while Smith and
Thorn formed Unified Theory with singer Chris Shinn -- signing with Universal
and issuing a self-titled release in 2000. In addition, Thorn has produced other
artists
(Amy Correia, Zen Mafia, Gus, Jonny Kaplan) and played guitar on Live's
1999 release The Distance to Here. 2001 saw the release of Smith's solo debut

(under the alias Abandon Jalopy), titled Mercy, an album he began writing and
recording shortly after Hoon's death
(several tracks are about his late bandmate).
Later the same year, Blind Melon was featured on an episode of VH1's popular
Behind the Music series, and Letters From a Porcupine was reissued as a DVD.