I was intimately introduced to Blind Melon’s Soup during the Spring of 1997 by our buddy and positive vibe technician Tom, better known to the crew as Alphonse. Initially when he said we needed to check Blind Melon out, I said what most people say. “Yeah, I know Blind Melon. The Bee Girl. No Rain, Tones of Home, Dear Ol’ Dad; all solid songs.” Not only did he tell me about what I missing out on, he showed me the Blind Melon video, Letters From A Porcupine. The video contained pretty much the entire Soup album at some point throughout and backstory of various tracks and the making of the album. It left my jaw on the floor. I was an instant convert. I had just been introduced to the most criminally underrated album of the 90s. This wasn’t your Bee Girl-era Blind Melon. It was gritty and dark, with a touch of that New Orleans voodoo. Full of self-examinations and confessionals, the most 60s band from the 90s had grown into what they were meant for. With Soup, they had found themselves. It was raw yet grounded and full of Shannon’s personal testimony about addiction (“2×4”), the birth of his daughter Nico Blue (“New Life”), and an ode to his grandma (“Vernie”) interlaced with songs about the darkness in people. A song about serial killer Ed Gein (“Skinned”), one about a mother who drove her car into a lake and drowned her children (“Carseat (God’s Presents)”), and one about a suicide jumper whose death the band witnessed after a show in Detroit (“St. Andrew’s Fall”), all prime examples of the band’s powerful storytelling through sonic layering. It was a departure from the radio-friendly tracks of the first album, filled with emotionally heavy content. It was and is Blind Melon’s pièce de résistance. Discovering this album changed my life in a way that only a select few ever do.
Soup was Blind Melon’s sophomore album follow up to their self-titled debut album. Released in August of 1995, it was initially a commercial flop but over the years has gained tremendous traction in becoming a cult classic. It was recorded in New Orleans and is instrumentally rich so to speak: mandolin, banjo, flute, cello, piano, organ, even kazoo. Christopher Thorn really breaks out the bag of tricks along the way. As the story goes, he bought a banjo for “Skinned” just because he wanted to learn how to play the banjo and did. On “Mouthful of Cavities”, the background vocals are sung by Jena Kraus, who kept following the band from show to show saying she could sing. They finally heard her sing and the rest is history. The album is surrounded by life and magic, but also trauma, sorrow, and loss. It looked like the future was bright for Blind Melon. Unfortunately, Shannon Hoon lived under that little black rain cloud for too long. He passed two months after the album was released, and the album lost momentum and exposure and limited how much the band could promote and tour. His loss was enormous and most likely deprived us of some of the most incredible music to come. He was a generational talent whose loss I feel changed the trajectory of alt rock, but what an amazing piece of work to go out on.
HIGHLIGHTS
Galaxie: Opening punch right out the gate, New Orleans dixieland/brass lead-in from “Hello, Goodbye”, about first love and breakup and Shannon’s car
Vernie: airy and lighthearted tribute to Shannon’s grandma, lighter subject matter to break up the sadness and darkness of the album, still Soup grit to it though
Skinned: a brightly, dark banjo-driven ditty about serial killer Ed Gein, includes a kazoo and catchy hook
Toes Across The Floor: deceptively big muscles on this track, chill opening bass line eventually crescendoing with big punchy sounds and dynamic shifts, emotional
St. Andrew’s Fall: memorial to a young woman, scarring incident the band witnessed, sadness, helplessness in the bridge, followed by musical eulogy, incredible piece of music
Mouthful of Cavities: haunting, cryptic, beautiful harmonies with Jena Kraus, acoustic and bare to start, full and punchy to end, my personal favorite track on the album
“Doesn’t anybody feel That all these killers should be killed And all these healers should be healed So all these beggars can be filled?”
-“Toes Across The Floor”, Blind Melon (1995)
FRAGRANT MELON SOUP
Credit: 1,001 LOW-FAT VEGETARIAN RECIPES, Third Edition by Sue Spitler
NOTE: The flavor of the soup is dependent on the ripeness and flavor of the melon.
INGREDIENTS
1 quart peeled, seeded, cubed, ripe cantaloupe
½ cup orange juice
3-4 Tbsp lemon, or lime, juice
2 Tbsp honey
¼-½ cup fat-free half-and-half, or fat-free milk
4 thin lemon, or lime, slices
Mint, or lemon, balm sprigs, as garnish
1. Process cantaloupe, orange and lemon juice, and honey in food processor or blender until smooth; stir in half-and-half. Refrigerate until chilled, 3 to 4 hours. Makes 4 first-course servings (about 1 cup each).
Serving Suggestion
The Experience Becomes a Ritual: Pour the melon soup into chilled bowls, garnish with mint, and set the needle down on Galaxie.
Balance In Contrast: The dish is chilled, delicate, and bright, while the album is dense, heated, and emotionally stormy. Take a moment to appreciate balance in your life.
Sweet Defiance: As the album shifts from playfulness to darkness to fragile hope, each spoonful becomes a small act of defiance against the weight of life, a fragrant reminder of life’s sweetness.
Groove Rituals 