Nico

NICO is an Enhanced CD companion to the home video LETTERS FROM A PORCUPINE, and is playable on either a CD-ROM drive or a standard CD player. A portion of the proceeds from both NICO and LETTERS FROM A PORCUPINE go to benefit MAP (the Musicians Assistance Program).
Blind Melon: Shannon Hoon (vocals, acoustic guitar); Christopher Thorn (acoustic & lap steel guitars, guitar, banjo, Mellotron, bell, tambourine);
Rogers Stevens (acoustic & electric guitars, Hammond B-3 organ, congas, shakers, background vocals); Brad Smith (flute, acoustic bass, bass, dumbek, congas); Glen Graham (Mellotron, drums, hi-hat, congas, dumbek, percussion).
Producers include: Blind Melon, Mike Napolitano, Mike Kelsey, Andy Wallace.
Engineers include: Blind Melon, John Burton.
Personnel: Shannon Hoon (vocals, acoustic guitar); Terry Stevens (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, congas, shaker); Rogers Stevens (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, congas); Christopher Thorn (guitar, acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, banjo, Mellotron, tambourine, bells); Michael Tackett, Miles Om Tackett (cello); Brad Smith (flute, double bass, congas, dumbek, background vocals); Danny Clinch (harmonica); Stephen Moses (trombone); Glenn Graham (Mellotron, drums, congas, hi-hat, dumbek, percussion).
Audio Mixers: Mike Napolitano; Andy Wallace; Blind Melon.
Recording information: Bad Animals, Seattle, WA (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Bullet Sound Studio, The Netherlands (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Christopher's Home Studio (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Kelsey's Playground (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Kingsway Studio, New Orleans, LA (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Lafayette, IN (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Mammoth Mountain, CA (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); River Sound Studios, New York, NY (??/??/1991-03/07/1995); Riversound Studio, New York, NY (??/??/1991-03/07/1995).
Photographer: Danny Clinch.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Liz Heller; Chris Jones ; Brad Smith .
Named for the late Shannon Hoon's infant daughter, NICO is a collection of outtakes, previously-unreleased originals and a pair of covers. Blind Melon was regularly pegged as a happy-go-lucky, hippie throwback act, but this collection exposes a band that bristled with creativity. Among the discoveries here that show Blind Melon to be more than a back-up band for the Bee Girl are "Glitch," a hypnotic percussive song that evokes the Master Musicians Of Jajouka.
Blind Melon's creative spark was surely a restless one. "Letters From A Porcupine" is a musical message left by singer Hoon on guitarist Christopher Thorn's answering machine. An impromptu session in Hoon's hotel room toward the end of a 19-month tour produced "Life Ain't So Shitty." The band's version of John Lennon's protest song "John Sinclair" shows off a major influence; a Steppenwolf cover ("The Pusher") provides some eerie foreshadowing.