Blind Melon (album)
Encyclopedia
Blind Melon is the eponymous debut album by the rock
band Blind Melon
, released on September 14, 1992 through Capitol Records
. Fronted by singer Shannon Hoon
, Blind Melon had a distinctive traditional rock sound, influenced by southern rock
and psychedelic music
. The aggressive leads and shouted vocals of "Soak The Sin" and "Tones of Home
" evoked heavy metal
; "Time's" spacious bridge and ambient, winding outro shared commonalities with Grateful Dead
-style improvisational music; while heavily acoustic songs "Change" and "No Rain
" hinted at pop
and folk
influences. "No Rain" became Blind Melon's breakthrough single.
to Los Angeles
, California
. Soon afterwards he met guitarist Roger Stevens
and bassist Brad Smith, both Mississippi
natives who had came to Los Angeles a year earlier. They began playing together and soon recruited a second guitarist, Christopher Thorn. The foursome then looked for a drummer in the local area, but months past and their search was unsuccessful. Stevens and Smith eventually persuaded drummer Glen Graham from Mississippi to come to Los Angeles and join the band.
After Blind Melon recorded a four song demo called The Goodfoot Workshop, Capital Records became interested and signed them in 1991 although they never released the band's demo as an EP. Blind Melon then collaborated with producer David Briggs
to put together their first EP titled The Sippin' Time Sessions. However, the record was not released due to "slick and doctored" results that were unanticipated. It was during this time Hoon met up with fellow Indiana native and Guns N' Roses
frontman Axl Rose
. Rose had given Hoon the opportunity to sing backup vocals on several songs on Use Your Illusion I
, most notably "Don't Cry
".
In late 1991, Blind Melon decided to leave Los Angeles to record its debut album since they felt the city did not reflect their music style. A Capital Records music manager had suggested they retreat to North Carolina. Chapel Hill
, North Carolina was attractive to the band because of its "good music scene", however they could not find an affordable house big enough there for them and their equipment. The band eventually rented a house in Durham
, North Carolina.
(who had produced Pearl Jam's Ten
) at London Bridge Studio
in Seattle, Washington. The recording sessions for Blind Melon were completed in the spring of 1992.
Blind Melons production is marked by the use of outdated amplifiers and other antiquated studio technology. Modern studio effects were not used in its production as the band wanted to create a pure and "intimate" sounding record. Hoon stated, "We all kind of liked the production that was on a lot of early Stones
records, (where) whatever it is you're playing is what it's going to sound like."
, the video's director, selected Heather DeLoach
for the 'Bee Girl' role because she looked similar to Graham's sister in the photograph and on the subsequent album cover.
unless listed.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Blind Melon
Blind Melon
Blind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward.Best remembered for their 1993 single "No Rain", the group enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1990s with their neo-psychedelic take on alternative rock...
, released on September 14, 1992 through Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. Fronted by singer Shannon Hoon
Shannon Hoon
Richard Shannon Hoon was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He was the frontman and lead singer of the band Blind Melon until his death from a cocaine overdose in 1995.-Early life:...
, Blind Melon had a distinctive traditional rock sound, influenced by southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
and psychedelic music
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
. The aggressive leads and shouted vocals of "Soak The Sin" and "Tones of Home
Tones of Home
For the album of the same title, see Tones of Home: The Best of Blind Melon."Tones of Home" was the first single by alternative rock band Blind Melon. It was released in 1992 and reached #20 on Billboard's modern rock chart...
" evoked heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
; "Time's" spacious bridge and ambient, winding outro shared commonalities with Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
-style improvisational music; while heavily acoustic songs "Change" and "No Rain
No Rain
"No Rain" is a song by Blind Melon, released on the band's 1992 debut album Blind Melon. "No Rain" is well-known for its accompanying music video, which features the "Bee Girl" character. The music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, received heavy airplay on MTV at the time of its release."No Rain"...
" hinted at pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
influences. "No Rain" became Blind Melon's breakthrough single.
Background
In 1990, lead singer Shannon Hoon moved from IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Soon afterwards he met guitarist Roger Stevens
Roger Stevens
Sir Roger Bentham Stevens was a British academic, diplomat and civil servant.-Life:Stevens was born 8 June 1906. He married his first wife, Constance Hallam Hipwell , in 1931, and they later had a son. His second wife was Jane Chandler , whom he married in 1977...
and bassist Brad Smith, both Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
natives who had came to Los Angeles a year earlier. They began playing together and soon recruited a second guitarist, Christopher Thorn. The foursome then looked for a drummer in the local area, but months past and their search was unsuccessful. Stevens and Smith eventually persuaded drummer Glen Graham from Mississippi to come to Los Angeles and join the band.
After Blind Melon recorded a four song demo called The Goodfoot Workshop, Capital Records became interested and signed them in 1991 although they never released the band's demo as an EP. Blind Melon then collaborated with producer David Briggs
David Briggs (producer)
David Briggs was an American record producer best known for his work with Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse. He is noted for his eclectic imagination and style.-Early life:David Briggs was born in Douglas, Wyoming...
to put together their first EP titled The Sippin' Time Sessions. However, the record was not released due to "slick and doctored" results that were unanticipated. It was during this time Hoon met up with fellow Indiana native and Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
frontman Axl Rose
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...
. Rose had given Hoon the opportunity to sing backup vocals on several songs on Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, the other being Use Your Illusion II. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album. In fact, in the original vinyl...
, most notably "Don't Cry
Don't Cry
"Don't Cry" is a song by rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I, while the version with the alternate lyrics is the 13th track on Use Your Illusion II...
".
In late 1991, Blind Melon decided to leave Los Angeles to record its debut album since they felt the city did not reflect their music style. A Capital Records music manager had suggested they retreat to North Carolina. Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, North Carolina was attractive to the band because of its "good music scene", however they could not find an affordable house big enough there for them and their equipment. The band eventually rented a house in Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, North Carolina.
Production
Nicknamed the 'Sleepyhouse', some recording sessions for the album took place at their Durham, North Carolina residence. Thorn stated, "We rehearsed in the house and recorded in the house. We became a much better band in the house, and that's where we really developed our sound." However, Blind Melon recorded the bulk of the album with producer Rick ParasharRick Parashar
Rick Parashar is a music producer who came to prominence in the early 1990s through his work with grunge bands such as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Blind Melon. Parashar co-founded London Bridge Studio with his brother, Raj...
(who had produced Pearl Jam's Ten
Ten (Pearl Jam album)
Ten is the debut studio album by the American grunge band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991 through Epic Records. Following the disbanding of bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard's previous group Mother Love Bone, the two recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready, and...
) at London Bridge Studio
London Bridge Studio
London Bridge Studio is a Seattle recording studio that has hosted and recorded many influential artists, producers and engineers since 1985. Founded by brothers Rick Parashar and Raj Parashar as a private studio space, the studio surged to fame with the 1991 release of Pearl Jam's multiplatinum...
in Seattle, Washington. The recording sessions for Blind Melon were completed in the spring of 1992.
Blind Melons production is marked by the use of outdated amplifiers and other antiquated studio technology. Modern studio effects were not used in its production as the band wanted to create a pure and "intimate" sounding record. Hoon stated, "We all kind of liked the production that was on a lot of early Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
records, (where) whatever it is you're playing is what it's going to sound like."
Composition
The album's music style has been described as alternative, southern rock with a 70's retro-rock feel. Hoon's vocals on the record are high-pitched, and "scratchy" sounding. A couple of the songs on Blind Melon criticize religion. "Holyman" slams people who maintain that only their religious views are right, and "Dear Ol' Dad" is about Hoon's ex-girlfriend who left him because of religion. The song "Sleepyhouse" is a recollection of a time the band spent at their Durham, North Carolina residence, and with friends at a Yellow House in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.Artwork
Blind Melons cover art is based on a 1975 photograph of Georgia Graham, Graham's younger sister, in a bee costume. The cover art further inspired the concept of the 'Bee Girl' character in the band's video for "No Rain". Samuel BayerSamuel Bayer
Samuel David Bayer is an American commercial, music video and film director, and cinematographer.-Early life:Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York...
, the video's director, selected Heather DeLoach
Heather DeLoach
Heather DeLoach is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the tap dancing "Bee Girl" in the 1992 music video for the hit single "No Rain", by Blind Melon...
for the 'Bee Girl' role because she looked similar to Graham's sister in the photograph and on the subsequent album cover.
Track listing
All tracks by Blind MelonBlind Melon
Blind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward.Best remembered for their 1993 single "No Rain", the group enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1990s with their neo-psychedelic take on alternative rock...
unless listed.
- "Soak the Sin" - 4:01
- "Tones of HomeTones of HomeFor the album of the same title, see Tones of Home: The Best of Blind Melon."Tones of Home" was the first single by alternative rock band Blind Melon. It was released in 1992 and reached #20 on Billboard's modern rock chart...
" - 4:26 - "I Wonder" - 5:31
- "Paper Scratcher" - 3:14
- "Dear Ol' Dad" - 3:02
- "Change" (Hoon) - 3:41
- "No RainNo Rain"No Rain" is a song by Blind Melon, released on the band's 1992 debut album Blind Melon. "No Rain" is well-known for its accompanying music video, which features the "Bee Girl" character. The music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, received heavy airplay on MTV at the time of its release."No Rain"...
" - 3:37 - "Deserted" - 4:20
- "Sleepyhouse" - 4:29
- "Holyman" - 4:47
- "Seed to a Tree" - 3:29
- "Drive" - 4:39
- "Time" - 6:02
Personnel
- Blind Melon - Producer, Art Direction, Mixing
- Shannon HoonShannon HoonRichard Shannon Hoon was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He was the frontman and lead singer of the band Blind Melon until his death from a cocaine overdose in 1995.-Early life:...
- Vocals - Brad Smith - Bass, Backing Vocals
- Rogers StevensRogers StevensThomas Rogers Stevens is the guitarist from Blind Melon, an alternative rock band which began in the 1990s and is most famous for their hit song "No Rain"...
- Lead Guitar - Christopher Thorn - Rhythm Guitar
- Glenn Graham - Percussion, Drums
- George Marino - Mastering
- Rick Parashar - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
- Jon Plum - Assistant Engineer
- Tommy Steele - Art Direction
- Heather Devlin - Photography
Album
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
3 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Tones of Home" | U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 20 |
| 1993 | "No Rain" | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1993 | "No Rain" | U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1993 | "No Rain" | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
20 |
| 1993 | "No Rain" | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
4 |
| 1993 | "Tones of Home" | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10 |