Here Today... Gone To Hell!

New book: "A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other" - Sep. 19, 2008

One of the most tragic stories of the 1990s rock world was that of singer Shannon Hoon and his band, BLIND MELON. Despite scoring one of the decade's most enduring singles and videos, "No Rain", and a quadruple-platinum hit with their 1992 self-titled debut album (in addition to touring alongside rock's biggest names), Hoon could not overcome a dangerous drug addiction. Only two records into a promising career, Hoon was dead from an overdose at the age of 28. "A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other" is the first book to tell the group's story ? culled from over 50 exclusive interviews, and featuring many never-before-seen photos.

"A Devil on One Shoulder" was written by journalist Greg Prato, whose work as appeared in a variety of sites and magazines, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, RollingStone.com, and Classic Rock magazine, among others. A longtime fan of the band, Greg has been working on this book ? with the help of the surviving members of the band ? for the past few years. In the process, Greg conducted interviews with such renowned rock names as Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES), Gilby Clarke (GUNS N' ROSES), Mike Clink (GUNS N' ROSES producer), Kim Thayil (SOUNDGARDEN), Jerry Cantrell (ALICE IN CHAINS), Mike Inez (ALICE IN CHAINS), and Craig Ross (LENNY KRAVITZ), plus family and friends ? including Shannon's mother, Nel Hoon.

While it will obviously appeal to fans of Shannon and BLIND MELON, this 344-page paperback book (whose title comes from a phrase that guitarist Rogers Stevens once said to describe Shannon) will also be of interest to fans of GUNS N' ROSES, as Shannon's friendship with Axl Rose is chronicled throughout the years, as well as memories of when MELON opened shows for GN'R in 1993 (at their out-of-control peak). Elsewhere, you'll find additional stories on SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, NEIL YOUNG, LENNY KRAVITZ, PAGE & PLANT, and THE ROLLING STONES ? all of which are bands that BLIND MELON toured with. And of course, new light is shed directly on this great yet often underrated band, as you get the inside scoop behind the three classic Hoon-era albums (the aforementioned "Blind Melon", 1995's "Soup", and 1996's posthumous release, "Nico"), the story behind "No Rain", the colorful yet tragic life of Shannon, and the group's recent rebirth, with new singer Travis Warren (and new album, 2008's "For My Friends").

The book is available through www.lulu.com for $19.99 (U.S.), and there are samples to read at the site (including a full chapter, titled "Axl and Shannon"). BLIND MELON and Shannon Hoon's unforgettable story certainly deserves to be told, and "A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other" covers all the bases. "I am honored that Greg has painstakingly accounted for what the hell happened during those crazy times. He has summed up all the chaos, jubilation, and paranoia that is BLIND MELON," stated Brad Smith, BLIND MELON bassist.

Sample chapter: http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=3997101

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=105161

I just read the preview chapter about Shannon and Axl.  Its basically just a collection of quotes from people that were around at the time including a little snippet from Duff.  Shannon talks about the "Don't Cry" video shoot and how they had "a hell of a catering situation there."  He also jokes that Axl copied his style for the video shoot after he saw what Shannon was wearing (but he really did).  Seems like a good read.......

I thought just the opposite. The preview chapter seemed to badly pieced together, with no general direction. Some books like Reckless Road and Heroin Diaries do the quoting people thing quite well, I thought this was kinda crappy. I hoped it would be a good book, maybe it is.

Whoever wrote this book should never write again. Most boring chapter ever.

It sounds like Axl was a very good friend...it is tragic what happened to Shannon Hoon.

I miss Shannon!

I agree, he is essentially an oxygen thief.

I really want to read this book, but after reading what you guys have to say. I don't know. Why the hell isn't there any good rock and roll biographers?

Saw them perform at Woodstock, actually

Soup is a great album - that a lot of people never noticed

You were there? Cool! It's one of my favourite Blind Melon bootlegs. And yes, Soup is an album people don't seem to notice at all. It's amazing.

I think it is just a sad fact that hangers-on, with rock & roll aspirations of their own, but no real talent, try to sidecar or live vicariously through writing about someone who made it (and unfortunately crashed and burned in this case)...there are exceptions, but rock bio's tend to be very dissapointing rehashing of known stories.  This particular guy was probably drinking a latte in Starbucks and made a list of R&R stories that were already beat to death...Shannon was pretty untouched, easy work.  One of the noticeable exceptions is when an autobiography is penned with 'help' from a good writer/editor (Slash)...or an 'official' bio is written with the fulll support of the subject/participants (Reckless Road).

That being said, I hope Axl works with someone good, and gets his story out there...put an end to everyone cashing in on printed lies.  I am sure he has a bit to say about Shannon...

Love Shannon, Blind Melon n' his backin vocals in UYI... He used to play in a Gn'Rr cover band in Indiana n' few years after that he was hangin on with Axl, cool. Also Blind Melon used to play Used To Love Her in a few shows but though that was never recorded  :no:

Seems like it'll be a decent read.

Yes sir.....Walked around quite drunk for a few days -  Saw Hoon wearing PigTails.......  Was behind the stage somehow for Metallica and saw Lars get wrapped up  in a blanket, placed on the lap of a Huge security guard on a go-cart - and driven to the stage............weird