Friday, September 30, 2011

Up Shit Creek, No Paddle

I love Ween.

There I said it. With Ween, you either do or you don't. If you don't, you can probably stop reading this post now.

For anyone still remaining, I was flipping through records looking for something to get me in a traveling mood. I'm gettin' the fuck out of Dodge this weekend. Goin' to my motherfuckin' cabin on the lake. Gonna set me down on the dock and pretend to fish. Maybe shoot me my gun in the woods. Vacation: Fuck Yeah!

So...back to the vinyls (cringe). I'm headed to the country, so what we would be better than country music?

"Ween...Country?" you ask.

You're god damned right; Ween has a country album (two actually). The first, 12 Golden Country Greats, I will review this evening. To be completely honest, this is my all time favorite country album. Gene and Dean pulled together a group veteran Nashville musicians to record their first country offering. This group, who they later toured with under the name The Shit Creek Boys, really bring a classic Nashville country feel to the album. Dobro, harmonica, fiddle; every element is there.

So let's get to it.

Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats

http://www.discogs.com/Ween-12-Golden-Country-Greats/release/2139005

There are a number of vinyl pressings for most of Ween's catalog. The copy of 12 Golden Country Greats that I will review is the most recent reissue for this album. It is packaged in a glossy jacket with a heavyweight custom inner sleeve. The vinyl is marbled brown as Boognish would require.




The front of the jacket is a painting of a Marlboro Man-esque cowboy herding steed across a dusty landscape. His lasso at the ready, his eyes survey the herd from behind leather lids. If that isn't country, I don't know what the fuck is. The vinyl itself is a beautiful marbled brown. Ween has a certain fascination with the color brown, I missed the memo as to why exactly. Custom labels showcase a close up of the Marlboro Man.




The back jacket once again utilizes the cowboy image. The track list is overlayed in plain black lettering. The custom inner sleeve displays the track listing divided by side. The reverse of the sleeve credits the performers.

The first track, "I'm Holding You," is a really smooth country ballad. Gene's vocals on this track are really nice, but not in the connotative sense. They sound friendly and gentle. The steel pedal is featured prominently in this track and it really melds with the twangy country vocals. I want Gene to hold me after listening.

The second track, "Japanese Cowboy," is a more upbeat affair. The lyrics play with oxymorons: blizzards in Georgia, brothers on skates, trains running late. They allude to the feeling off noticing something amiss, specifically your lover. You can really pat your knee and lift your toes to this track.

"Piss Up a Rope" is likely the track, if any, you have heard off of this album. It's a shitty little tune about a man fed up with his wife. This track is...okay. It's not really my thing, but everyone else seems to like it. The lyrics are occasionally funny, but mostly just crass and juvenile. There's a neat little guitar solo, that's probably the only thing I really take away from this track. In true Ween fashion, this song is shit.

The fourth track, "I Don't Want to Leave You on the Farm." is a really excellent track. The fiddle drives the melody of this track, it is rootsy country at its finest. The lyrics add to the melancholy melody as they tell a story of a man on the road agonizing about leaving his lady on the farm. "Days go by and I'm still high, but you know, I'm thinkin' about you." Great lyricism, great feel, and very emotive; a killer cut.

Side A concludes with "Pretty Girl." This track is a hoedown (actually, I'm sure hoedown has some technically specific definition and I'm not sure that this track is a hoedown, but I like to imagine that it is). Grab me my jug and tappin' shoes, we goin' down to the barn. This song makes me want to dance, and I am not a dancing man.

Side B begins with "Powder Blue." This track was the center of a little bit of controversy. Originally, it contained an audio sample of Muhammad Ali. Elektra was denied the rights to use the sample by Ali's lawyers pre-production. Somehow, Elektra managed to accidentally press a few copies with the sample uncut. I believe that the British import still has the sample, but I'm not entirely sure. This pressing does not contain the sample. It made me sad the first time I heard the track, they just awkwardly cut when Gene cues the Muhammad Ali sample. Excepting all that, this track is great. The vocals are twangy as fuck, true country. Gene introduces each member of the band as they perform short solos showcasing all of the instrument in classic country fashion. I just can't get over the absence of the Ali sample.

"Mister Richard Smoker" is a silly little song. Bordering on homophobic, it flirts the line between funny and offensive. Not the best track on the album, but there is some pretty good instrumentation. The short horn section is really good. The lyrics center around Mister Richard Smoker, he smokes big dick. I think that's about all there is to say.

The following track, "Help Me Scrape the Mucus of My Brain," is my favorite cut on this album. The lyrics chronicle a shitty morning of a shitty drunk. He spent the dog food money, that Frenchman loves to party. The track swings along Dobro and steel peddle, it really grooves. The middle of the track does a round of solos featuring each instrument. It effectively conveys the feeling of an apology of a drunk crawling back to the one that really loves him enough to help him scrape the mucus of his brain.

"You Were the Fool" is another sweet country ballad. This track has an almost Grateful Dead feel, like I'm listening to Terrapin Station. The lyrics are fanciful, we speak with turtles just by flippin' them around. We plug holes until we see straight through to the Mind's Eye. They seem to be the words of a friend offering help. Offering a way to reconnect with the world. A way to speak with the turtles just by flippin' them around...

..flippin' them around.
flip them around
You can speak with a turtle just by flippin' them around
Look the turtle in the Mind's Eye
Plug the hole with sticks and look the turtle in the eye.
Woah, woah I just...I think I'm...I'm...

I'm back.

The last track, "Fluffy," is fucking bawss. Gene drops his vocals an octave or so (not with effects) and tells us the story of Fluffy, a disobedient pooch. After an encounter with law enforcement, Fluffy is confined to the porch. The guitar kicks in and slowly builds to a really emotive solo, probably the best of the album. "Live in Toronto" also closes with this track and though the version on the studio album is excellent, it is definitely surpassed by its live counterpart.

This pressing of the album is really reasonably priced, but for a really reasonable reason. Absent the Muhammad Ali vocal sample, this is definitely not the pressing of this album to get. You can snag this one for about $20 brand new, but the original Flying Nun release is fucking impossible to find. It originally came with a t-shirt transfer and some other goodies, I desire it greatly. I am unsure if it contains the Ali sample, but at its current price I would definitely investigate before purchasing. As far as this press goes, I would say buy it. If you're a fan of country music or Ween, you will enjoy it.

Welp, time to get packed and head out west (actually east). I'll be MIA until Monday getting drunk and stoned and operating heavy machinery and firearms.

Fuck Yeah: Vacation!

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