'There Was Blood Flying Everywhere': The Real Story Behind This Soundgarden Hit Song Is Wilder Than You Think

The song that helped Soundgarden get mainstream attention.

Article: Ultimate-Guitar.com
Author: Justin Beckner
Date Published: September 13th 2024

"Spoonman" was the first single off Soundgarden's breakthrough 1994 album "Superunknown." While the single was quite successful, more importantly, perhaps, it primed the band for their breakout hit "Black Hole Sun." Still, "Spoonman" was largely credited with launching the band into the mainstream spotlight.

The song's origins date back to 1991 during the filming of the Cameron Crowe film, "Singles." Crowe, always a music lover, put Pearl Jam and Soundgarden in charge of the soundtrack of the film. Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament came up with a list of band names for the fictional band in the film before ultimately landing on Citizen Dick, one of those names was Spoonman. Chris Cornell took it upon himself to write a song inspired by the names that didn't get picked, resulting in the song we all know today as "Spoonman."

Feel The Rhythm With Your Hands

The song "Spoonman" was written about an avant-garde street performer named Artis the Spoonman, who has been active since 1972. He is a military veteran and avid artist. He is quite well known in the areas he usually plays, which have primarily been Seattle and California.

He occasionally shared the stage with many high-profile artists such as Aerosmith, Phish, Pete Seeger, Soundgarden, and even Frank Zappa back in 1981. Artis is famous for playing music with spoons – using them against eachother as well as slapping them against his body and face. He's released a handful of records on his own and did a session with Frank Zappa as well, but his most famous recording was on the bridge for the song "Spoonman" by Soundgarden.

According to Artis' website, Frank Zappa once said of him, "You haven't got a commercial bone in your body." His performances are very energetic and contagious, turning formal silverware into a brilliant method of conveying his unique art.

They Beat The Rhythm With Their Bones

According to producer Michael Beinhorn in the book Behind The Boards (by Jake Brown), the recording of Artis' part was a somewhat violent affair"

"…This guy came in with spoons, a bunch of metal, and he said, 'Get a video recorder out, because you're going to want to tape this.' And he wasn't kidding: this guy beat himself so badly with these things that there was blood flying everywhere. We recorded three or four times to make sure the take was right, and he didn't let up for a second. He was out in the main room, and you can kind of hear he's in an open room while it's happening because some of the stuff rings out a little bit. I used a pair of 67s to mic him up."

Chris Cornell was fascinated by Artis, claiming in a 1994 interview with Request:

"It's more about the paradox of who [Artis] is and what people perceive him as. He's a street musician, but when he's playing on the street, he is given a value and judged completely wrong by someone else. They think he's a street person or he's doing this because he can't hold down a regular job. They put him a few pegs down on the social ladder because of how they perceive someone who dresses differently. The lyrics express the sentiment that I much more easily identify with someone like Artis than I would watch him play."

Artis is 75 years young and still going strong.