The Spoonman’s Legacy

Last week, I came out of a grocery store and there was someone playing an accordion on the sidewalk. The music wasn’t terrific, but it was a pleasant addition to the sounds of a typical parking lot. I gave him a nice tip, as I do for most street musicians. It’s one thing to hold a coffee can and ask for spare change; it’s something else to make someone’s day more beautiful by playing music. Many street performers are amazingly skilled in their arts.

This morning, I woke up to the news that Chris Cornell had died. The lead vocalist for Soundgarden and Audioslave was an icon of grunge music in the 1990s and beyond. For some reason, even back when I listened to grunge, his songs were never my favorites. But I have plenty of respect for Chris Cornell’s music and I did enjoy listening to some early Soundgarden. RIP, dude.

The band first hit it big with a single called Spoonman, which was just odd enough to get some attention. A lot of people enjoyed the song, but wondered what it was about.

The Spoonman song was dedicated to Artis the Spoonman, who also played in the recording (you can see him in the music video below). The song was written jointly with members of the band Pearl Jam, as they were working together on the soundtrack for the movie Singles and needed a name for a fictional band; they considered the name Spoonman before moving to another name. And so the song that was released became more about the person or the universal power of music.

Here's the music video for Soundgarden's Spoonman. The real Spoonman plays in it:

If you have ever been to Seattle’s Pike Place Market or Port Townsend, Washington, you may have seen the real-life Artis the Spoonman playing his spoons on the street. He also has played in many festivals and has collaborated with other artists, going back to Frank Zappa.

Artis 2.jpg

Artis is not a social outcast forced to live on the margins of society; he has chosen to lead a non-materialistic life. In a 1994 interview with Request, Chris Cornell explained the song he had written, perhaps capturing some essence of the Spoonman himself:

It's more about the paradox of who he 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. http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/request_10-94.shtml

From the Spoonman’s official page, here are some testimonials from other artists:

“You haven’t got a commercial bone in your body” – Frank Zappa
“..best spoonplayer in the whole damn universe” – Pete Seeger
“Artis the Spoonman, Seattle’s best kept secret” – Steven Tyler
“What did he eat for breakfast, gunpowder?” – Lacy Dalton
“Finally, some real music” – Mickey Hart

Here is a video showing Artis the Spoonman:

And a street collaboration with bluesman Reggie Miles:

When you do watch him play, Artis is very skilled. I almost wonder what he could have done all these years with a drum set, but that’s just my own bias creeping in. The spoons are very cool and they certainly show his expertise.

The same is true for many street musicians around the world: many have immense talent. Some play for a living. Others play for pocket change. Nearly all of them play for the pure love of music and the richness it brings to our lives.

No doubt, he’s inspired other spoon musicians. It’s a whole genre of music, though not a large one. I’ll leave links to a couple of other awesome spoon playing videos below. As the lyrics of the song suggested, “steal the rhythm while you can.”

Here is Abby the Spoon Lady, jamming with Banjo Ben: