Smells Like Alternative

This wonderful and summery weather makes me wanna listen to some Blind Melon. Besides, the band has reunited, released a new album earlier this year and are currently on tour. So, it’s a perfect scenario for and FYI on Blind Melon.

• The band consisted of: childhood friends from Mississippi Rogers Stevens (guitar) and Brad Smith (bass) , vocalist Richard Shannon Hoon from Indiana, Pennsylvania native Christopher Thorn (guitar) and drummer Glen Graham, who was also from Mississippi.
• The members met in Los Angeles and formed a band.
• Before settling on Blind Melon, the band considered the names Brown Cow, Gristie, Frog, Mud Bird, Naked Pilgrims and Head Train.
• The band gained buzz off of their 4 song demo The Goodfoot Workshop.
• KISS member Gene Simmons expressed interest in managing the band, but the offer was not taken.
• The band signed with Capitol Records, after the label agreed to the band’s specific terms.
• The band recorded the EP Sippin’ Time Sessions, but prevented it’s release in 1991 in order to write more songs and tour.
• During this down time Shannon Hoon contributed backing vocals to the Guns ‘N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion albums, since he knew Axl from their hometown of Lafayette, Indiana.
• Blind Melon then hit the road for a club tour, they even opened up for Soundgarden for six shows.
• During the tour Hoon made a fork necklace for Chris Cornell while out at a Denny’s after a show; Cornell wore the necklace until Hoon’s passing.
• The band relocated to Durham, North Carolina and tested some new tunes at a local bar called The Brewery.
• In February of 1992, Blind Melon began work on their album at Seattle’s London Bridge Studios.
• During the sessions they joined MTV’s 120 Minutes Tour with Live, PiL and Big Audio Dynamite II.
• The band’s self-titled album was released on September 22, 1992 and would eventually reach #3 on the Billboard 200.
• The first single was “Tones of Home”, which was re-released after the success of “No Rain”.
• “No Rain” reached the top spot of both the Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks.
• The famous video for “No Rain” featured 10 year Heather DeLoach dressed in a bee suit dancing across town. DeLoach went on to appear at the MTV Movie Awards, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and “Weird Al” Yankovic’s video “Bedrock Anthem”.
• Pearl Jam’ s “Bee Girl” is about DeLoach.
• Blind Melon went on to tour with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Lenny Kravitz.
• Blind Melon was part of Woodstock II on August 13, 1994.
• The band contributed the track “Out on the Tiles” for the 1995 Led Zeppelin tribute album Encomium; later in the year the band opened up for Page and Plant for a few shows.
• The band went to New Orleans from November 0f 1994 to January of 1995 to record a new album with Nirvana producer Andy Wallace.
• The band’s second album, Soup, was released on October 2, 1995.
• The video for the first single “Galaxie” has an appearance by one Timothy Leary.
• The track “2 x 4″ deals with Hoon’s experience at a drug detox facility.
• On October 21, 1995 Shannon Hoon passed away from a heroin overdose in New Orleans.
• In 1996 the band appeared on Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks! with their take of “Three is a Magic Number”.
• On November 12, 1996 the remaining members of the band released Nico, which was named after Hoon’s daughter.
• Nico features alternative versions of the songs “No Rain” and “St. Andrews Hall”, as well as, a cover of “John Sinclair” by John Lennon and “The Pusher” by Steppenwolf.
• Blind Melon officially disbanded on March 4, 1999.
• Capitol Records released the 12 track compilation Classic Masters on January 29, 2002.
• The Best of Blind Melon was released on September 27, 2005.
• On September 15, 2006 the band reunited with new vocalist Travis Warren, formerly of Rain Fur Rent.
• Three new songs, “Make a Difference”, “For My Friends” and “Harmful Belly”, were released on November 9, 2006.
• Blind Melon returned for their first show in 12 years on October 7, 2007 in Providence, Rhode Island.
• On April 22, 2008 the band released their first album with Travis Warren, entitled For My Friends.

Here’s the classic video for “No Rain”.

Here’s one of my favorites “Change”.

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