A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other

The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon

De: Greg Prato

Narrado por: Greg Prato

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 more than 50 exclusive interviews (including the surviving band members and those closest to the band).

“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.” (Brad Smith, Blind Melon bassist)

©2008 Greg Prato (P)2020 Greg Prato

New Fan

I loved late 90's music. No rain was one song that didn't resonate with me and I never gave Blind Melon a second look. I was so wrong. I listened listened to the music when songs were described in the book to reveal how deeply talented this band was. Live concert footage was great. The book performance was pretty good. I think we all had that one friend that was ball to the wall pure energy but reckless. Another talent taken too early. This book was well written and it holds your attention through every chapter.

It's great to hear real stories about Shannon

I found this book interesting. I'm a huge Blind Melon fan and feel they were underappreciated. If they had more time with Shannon who knows what they would of become. They also came around when grunge was super popular and I firmly believe that Shannon's death was over shadowed by Kurt's death. Blind Melon was a completely different style then Nirvana and their big hit seemed kinda sappy compared to Nirvanas hit but the difference is that the impression you got from Blind Melons hit was that they were a hippy band and really didn't represent the rest of their music. If you've never listened to Blind Melon I highly recommend the Soup album. It's a masterpiece. I listened to that album over and over in 1995 when I was 15 years old. So I'm biased because Blind Melon lives inside of who I am but all their fans feel the same way. if you're a Blind Melon fan then you just get it.

Enjoyable

I enjoyed it. I was thrown off initially when I figured out it was a collection of quotes, but that also made it interesting. You’re hearing different views on what was going on, as opposed to just view (that of the author).

Great interviews, not great delivery

The narrator did not have the best performance, but I was so enthralled with Shannon Hoon, I listened to this in one day. Great book for any rock fan

thankful !!

one of my favorite reads ! thank you Greg for writing this like I said it's one of my favorites. an thank you for helping me to get the chance too enjoy once again!!

Honest & Raw

If the listener is expecting a raw and real account of Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon; you got it. There is such honesty found here and an understanding of a very talented young life gone way too early. Take time to go online and listen.

A Must Listen For Any Rock Fan

Greg Prato has written many five star books, this is at the top of the list.

Greg tells the amazing story of Blind Melon - one of the best yet often overlooked bands to come out of the 90s and it's told all through quotes from the people who were there every step of the way.

From the band's overnight shot to fame thanks to the smash single "No Rain" to its sudden end after the tragic death of singer Shannon Hoon, this is a roller coaster ride of a story you wish never ended but sadly did.

Extremely good and very painful

This Blind Melon biography is a classic rock bio, especially because Blind Melon was never the biggest band out there. Most rock biographies cover the huge stars everyone knows, and those books can be amazing, but there’s something special about learning about a different type of rock band and career trajectory. Blind Melon was so much more than a 90s one hit wonder (No Rain) They made tons of great songs and were way under appreciated as a group. Rip Shannon

Fantastic book about an underrated band

Full disclosure here: Blind Melon are one of my all time favorite bands. But even if they weren’t, this is still a captivating book. Telling the story of a bunch of guys from the Midwest who moved out to California with nothing to their names, and became rockstars. They lived a lifetime of ups and downs in just 5 years before Shannon’s passing. They deserve to be remembered for so much more than No Rain.

This book does an excellent job telling their story. Without trying to dramatize it in any way. Greg puts the story together by interviewing people who were actually there (band members, family, label executives, etc.) He even incorporates Shannon’s own words into the story. It really feels like a bunch of old friends sitting around reminiscing. I couldn’t recommend it more. Not just for fans of Blind Melon. But for fans of rock & roll in general. I swear, I’ve never heard of a band going through more in such a short period of time.

It’s also a great companion piece to the recently released documentary All I Can Say. Which compiles hundreds of hours of video footage Shannon shot on his personal camcorder. There is enough to explore in both of them that they’re both worth checking out.

Must read

For all BM fans and any rock fan of the 90s era! Maybe if Hoon wasn’t so self-destructive with the media or if he had left us at 27 he may have been issued more iconic legendary status, but given only 2 albums and the strained relations with some in power, this is the only book that documents one heck of a band from that time frame and after reading this and the follow-up “Shannon,” you really don’t need anymore.