The Wiz: About Blind Melon and the song "New Life"
What connects addiction, life-changing news and a bee?
Meet "Blind Melon" - "New Life".
Alongside being the charismatic and energetic voice of "Blind Melon", with a sound like nobody else, Shannon Hoon struggled deeply with addiction and repeatedly entered and left rehabilitation.
He hoped an outside event might help him change from within. In this devastating autobiographical song, Shannon describes a phone call that is about to transform his life.
He learns he is going to become a father and imagines the devoted parent and role model he should be. Throughout the song, he hopes the news and his new responsibility will bring him a new life too. By the end, he is pleading for it in broken cries.
Nico Blue was born in July 1995. Shannon had entered rehabilitation again in preparation for the birth. A counselor even accompanied him afterward on the tour promoting the band's extraordinary second album, "Soup".
Around three months later, during that tour, Shannon was found dead on the band's bus after a night of drug use, leaving his infant daughter without a father.
About a year after his death, "Blind Melon" released "Nico", a collection of alternate versions, two covers and recordings Shannon had left behind. The band completed some, while others remained bare, low-fidelity tape recordings.
Much of the proceeds went toward Nico's education fund. Judging by the videos on YouTube, she seems to be doing well, occasionally joining the band onstage to sing.
Nico also appeared with "Abandon Jalopy", the project of "Blind Melon" bassist Brad Smith. Here she is in a video documenting work on the single in Shannon's hometown:
The wonderful concert and documentary film "Letters from a Porcupine", released after his death, deepened my emotional connection with the band. It mainly follows the making of "Soup" in New Orleans, combining live performances, music-video extracts, interviews and footage Shannon filmed himself.
The complete film is on YouTube, and I highly recommend it. The first two songs show the sheer power of Shannon and the band live:
Long before smartphones, Shannon carried a video camera everywhere, recording almost every stage of the band's life and his own: the success, the silliness, everyday moments and the struggle with his demons.
Around 23 years after his death, a crowdfunding effort and hundreds of hours of Shannon's footage helped bring the documentary "All I Can Say" to life.
Among the film's directors and editors is Danny Clinch, an acclaimed photographer who also makes music videos and concert films, with artists including Bruce Springsteen, "Pearl Jam" and Chris Stapleton. The trailer:
A roughly 15-minute interview with Clinch about the film:
A kind of full-circle moment at an after-party following a New York screening: the band, Clinch on harmonica and behind the lens, and Nico singing. The footage is not great, but it is moving nonetheless:
"Blind Melon" today
The band remains intermittently active and even released two singles last year. Travis T. Warren has been their singer since the 2006 reunion, more than a decade after the tragedy.
Warren was a devoted fan as a child and had Shannon's image tattooed when he turned 18. In this video from last October, marking 25 years since Shannon's death, he discusses his life, the band's influence and his transition from guitarist to singer, as well as missing one of their final shows when he was young. At the end, he performs a wonderful song he wrote for Shannon 20 years ago:
A personal note about the band
I discovered "Blind Melon" as a teenager, perhaps the age when music hits us hardest. Music from those years rarely leaves us. A "Blind Melon" song still almost always moves me, despite their relatively small catalog and the fact that I only explored them deeply after Shannon died.
Their best-known hit is "No Rain", yes, the one with the girl dressed as a bee. It is a great song, though somewhat overplayed. While they have other folk-leaning material, that sound does not really define this extraordinary band for me.
Most of their first two studio albums, and "Nico" afterward, blend blues rock, grunge distortion and power with occasional Southern flavors in a captivating way.
Their lyrics carry honesty and hardship, brought into the world by an unforgettable voice, sometimes playful, sometimes tormented. As with other musicians we have lost, the words can clash with the music's cheerful, uplifting feel. And yes, occasionally that music delivers a distorted kick to the head!
Enjoy!
O.Miz
In the image:
Top row, from the left: the band's album covers, with the recent documentary poster at the far end.
The four middle images: Shannon filming, Shannon with baby Nico, the band's wild Woodstock 1994 performance, and the black-and-white back cover of "Nico".
Bottom row: Shannon, the band during their debut-album era, Shannon fooling around between earth and sky, and, last but not least, Nico Blue joining the band about a year ago, with Danny Clinch on harmonica in the background.
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