A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and

I remember, in vivid detail, when I first heard of Shannon Hoon's death, like many remember with photographic accuracy their whereabouts upon learning of the Challenger disaster or the terrorist destruction of the Twin Towers. Not to make light of the latter national tragedies, but I am perhaps disproportionately affected by the early demise of troubled musicians. Sunday, October 22, 1995, 8:00 am: I was preparing mass batches of yeasty dough for my collegiate workplace, Runza. I turned on my favourite local radio station, 105.9 the Lazer in Lawrence, Kansas, to hear the DJ somberly announce that the frontman of Blind Melon had been discovered lifeless on the tourbus prior to sound check in New Orleans, the day before. I was so stunned that I had to quit working and call my boyfriend. After all, Blind Melon's latest release, "Soup" had become the soundtrack for my life that year. Honestly, I had become irritated by MTV's overplay of the "No Rain" video and was not as enamoured by the "Bee Girl" as the rest of society. I could relate to the dark undertones of the lyrics on "Soup"; the alternately optimistic and despairingly addictive themes of the album; and the masterful musicianship of all band members. I abruptly stopped listening to Blind Melon music, confused and discouraged by the lack of answers surrounding the details of Shannon's demise. Nearly 15 years after Shannon Hoon's death, intuition led me to revisit my former favorite album "Soup". I discovered Greg Prato's book, "A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon." All of my previous unanswered questions regarding Shannon's untimely death were answered in entertaining, candid, and often heartbreaking detail. Greg has painstakingly compiled quotes from hundreds of interviews of those closest to Shannon. I can't imagine the amount of time it took to sift through the countless interviews of Blind Melon band members, Shannon's family members, music industry associates, and personal friends to weave such a well-organized anthology of Blind Melon's inception, rise to stardom, and struggles as Shannon battled and ultimately lost to his demons. Greg has also tenderly pieced together recollections of Shannon post-mortem, as well as the efforts of the band members to revive Blind Melon over a decade following Shannon's death. I devoured most of the 300+ page book on a flight from California to Kansas; once I started reading, I could hardly put the book down. For anyone who has been touched by Blind Melon's music or any soul who has been tormented by addiction, this book is a must-read. Though Shannon's life met a tragic end, this story can provide inspiration and hope to anyone artistic yet conflicted, loving yet pained by the demands of life. No one who reads this book will be unchanged by the firsthand recollections of this amazing band and all close to them. Many thanks to Greg for creating this most important work.

I was in my 20s when Blind Melon was popular, one of my favorite bands at the time and it was shocking when Shannon Hoon died. This is a very interesting and sad read. It seems to touch a little bit on possible mental problems, and how they can contribute to addiction issues, especially if they happen gradually. Knowing people in my life who were diagnosed with manic depression (in their early 20s) seeing it come on gradually in the late teens until when they were diagnosed, I can see some of the similarities in the descriptions of Shannon. The books is written like an interview, from the people who knew him, and you really do get the feeling you know him and the people around him in the book. It is a very good read, and very respectful of the band and Shannon. It is a very quick read, I read in less than 2 days I think. They book includes some neat pictures.

Purchased as a gift for my wife who has always loved Shannon Hoon. She even got me, a 50 year old with an insatiable appetite for the most brutal metal, to recognize his talent and now I can say I am also a fan. This book contained things even she didn't know which made her very happy and that was the point. Her happiness is my happiness.

I have to say that at first I was a bit put off by the format. Interview pieces and quotes by the band and other people connected to the band, including Shannon. I was waiting for more of a storyline or timeline, but once I got used to how it was presented, I really enjoyed it. They were a great band that never truly got their opportunity to shine as brightly as they should have. Sure, they had a huge hit with "No Rain". I loved that song too, but it wasn't a full picture of what they really were or would have become. The book is a tragic story about a tragic man. Shannon sounds like a "magical" guy that touched almost everyone he met. I'm from the St. Louis area and played in a band before and during their rise to commercial success. They had a show at "Mississippi Nights" and I couldn't go because my band was playing at another club down the street. Sadly, our band played to a bigger crowd that night than they did. I remember thinking that it was a shame that everyone was missing this great band. After reading the book, it makes me wish even more that I could have gone to see them at least once. I never got the chance.

I could not stop reading this book once I started. I must admit at first I was a bit disappointed with the format, but as I started to devour the book, I became so enthralled with the first hand accounts that I now can't imagine the story being told any other way. This book is a wealth of information for any Melon/ Hoon fan. Everything was relevent and so well presented. I especially loved reading how the songs were written. I cherish the memories shared from Shannon's childhood friends, his awesome mom, his devoted girlfriend, the members of the band, and their lovely wives. I bought it on Kindle and I was very disappointed that there were no pictures. Other than that, I consider this book a masterpiece that I refer to often.

Blind Melon, even 15 years after the death of their original singer Shannon Hoon, are absolutely still, one of my favorite bands of all time. Unfortunately with being a fan and not a close friend, I only knew them through their music and what I saw on tv, in magazines, etc. which was very limited and repetitive at best. That is until now. Greg Prato has poured his heart and soul into creating a piece of well documented rock and roll history for which myself and thousands of fans around the world are eternally grateful. On a closing personal note, after reading this book I will never listen to Blind Melon's Sophomore effort, "Soup" again without understanding or feeling all the love, pain, beauty and tragedy that marked this special time in music and I have Greg to thank for this.

I am generally not a fan of oral histories, but Greg Prato does a great job structuring this book to make it very readable and remarkably fascinating. I decided to read this after becoming obsessed with the "Soup" album for nearly a month, listening to it in its entirety everyday, sometimes more than once. This book really makes you feel as though you are a fly on the wall for the formation of the band, recording sessions, live shows and everything in between and even as Shannon's path is a given part of you still hopes the end will be different and it is the hope and passion with which Prato shows for his subjects and his understanding of the hopefulness of their recordings that give you a sense of hope where there is none. This is a wonderful, tragic story of a real band coming together with all their brilliant flaws on display and making some of the most powerful music of the 90s that was ultimately lost due to Hoon's untimely demise.

A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon is an excellent read for both the old fan and new comer to the band. I have been waiting for this book for 15 years since the day that Shannon Hoon sadly passed away. Author, Greg Prato, has a knack of telling the story in the words and context of those who lived with Shannon Hoon. The ultimate sadness is that he couldn't protect himself from himself. What an amazing talent the world lost on October 21, 1995. The follow-up to the first album, Soup, remains one of the greatest undiscovered works of art in all of rock history. Greg Prato tells the story of how the making of this masterpiece unraveled Shannon Hoon and ultimately killed the band altogether. A great read!