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Song Of The Day – “Tried And True” by Ween

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weencaesarweenquebecI first heard the music of Ween while watching “Beavis & Butthead” back in 1994…they said “Ween suck”…and I totally disagreed! In fact, I think they are one of the greatest bands of all time, and when it comes to adeptness in all genres of music, they are certainly in a league with Frank Zappa.

Ween hail from New Hope, PA and have been together since 1984. They spent their early days playing any venue they could, including dorm rooms at Rutgers University. (I once saw them play in a small bookstore at Rutgers with 70 other fans.) Dean Ween (aka “Deaner” or Mickey Melchiondo) is a shredding guitarist, a complete angler and a sea captain.  Geen Ween (aka Aaron Freeman) possesses one of the most pliant voices in all of rock music and is the vocalist of the group.

After a layoff of a three years and a jump from Elektra Records to the independent Sanctuary label, Ween released their ninth album, Quebec in 2003. Seeing the Quebec tour at the Vic Theater in Chicago (which was filmed for their Ween Live In Chicago DVD), I came to the conclusion that the new audiences that were attracted to the band didn’t seem to be in on the joke of some of their more masochistic song lyrics, taking songs that original fans laughed at very seriously. This tarnished the way I perceived the Quebec album, which is a shame because it really is one of their best and most diverse collections.

Recently, I came across a two-CD download released by Mickey Melchiondo on his Facebook page called The Caesar” Demos. Caesar was the original title for Quebec, and the demos were recorded while drummer Claude Coleman was recuperating after his near fatal car accident in 2002. Many of the demos feature just Mickey and Aaron without backing musicians just like they were at the beginning of their career when they were making their bedroom recordings.

While the demos include alternates of most of the 16 tracks that made the final cut of the album, there are an additional 13 songs that will be new to most Ween fans. Whether in demo form or in their final studio incarnation, songs like “Transdermal Celebration,” “Captain,” “Zoloft,” “Chocolate Town,” “So Many People In The Neighborhood,” “If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All)” and today’s Song Of The Day, are amongst Ween’s finest songs. The version of “Tried And True” for Today’s Song Of The Day is the demo version from The Caesar Demos, and to my ears, is far superior to the final version on Quebec.

Now that Ween have sadly called it quits, let’s hope that there are more unreleased recordings in store for fans in the future.

Song Of The Day – “Reggaejunkiejew” by Ween

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weenallrequestThis is the 2003 “All Request Live” version of a song originally released on the 1994 “Pure Guava” record by Ween.

Before anyone gets too excited, I’m a Jew and so is Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween), so don’t get it in your head that this track is slamming Jews, Rastas or even junkies. It’s just Ween, well, being Ween.

The band has musically touched on its Jewishness before with the song “I Can’t Put My Finger On It” from the album “Chocolate And Cheese” that usually features an extended Klezmer intro in concert. And Freeman has been getting back in touch with his Jewish roots by studying to be a Bar Mitzvah.

The 1994 “Pure Guava” version of this song is a bedroom recording that hangs on its choppy bass line with lots of electronics and modified vocals, as was the stoner Ween tradition of the day. This version is far more freewheeling in its execution and features some stunning shredding courtesy of Mickey Melchiondo (aka Dean Ween).

The “All Request Live” record was recorded live in the studio and broadcast over the internet in 2003, a novelty for the time. All of the songs included on the broadcast and record were requested by fans.

Original post date: 9/8/12

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Reggaejunkiejew” by Ween

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MORE WEEN! This is the 2003 “All Request Live” version of a song originally released on the 1994 “Pure Guava” record by Ween. Before anyone gets too excited, I’m a Jew and so is Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween), so don’t get it in your head that this track is slamming Jews, Rastas or even junkies. It’s just Ween, well, being Ween. The band has musically touched on its Jewishness before with the song “I Can’t Put My Finger On It” from the album “Chocolate And Cheese” that usually features an extended Klezmer intro in concert. And Freeman has been getting back in touch with his Jewish roots by studying to be a Bar Mitzvah. The 1994 “Pure Guava” version of this song is a bedroom recording that hangs on its choppy bass line with lots of electronics and modified vocals, as was the stoner Ween tradition of the day. This version is far more freewheeling in its execution and features some stunning shredding courtesy of Mickey Melchiondo (aka Dean Ween). The “All Request Live” record was recorded live in the studio and broadcast over the internet in 2003, a novelty for the time. All of the songs included on the broadcast and record were requested by fans.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Tried And True” by Ween

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I recently discovered a two-CD download of “Caesar” demos for Ween’s eighth album, “Quebec,” that was released by Mickey Melchiondo (aka Dean Ween) on his facebook page a few years ago. “Caesar” was the original title for “Quebec,” and the demos were recorded while drummer Claude Coleman was recuperating after his near fatal car accident in 2002. Many of the demos feature just Micky and Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween) without backing musicians just like at the beginning of their career. While the demos include alternates of most of the 16 tracks that made the final cut of “Quebec,” there are an additional 13 songs that will be new to most Ween fans. Whether in demo form or in their final studio incarnation, songs like “Transdermal Celebration,” “Captain,” “Zoloft,” “Chocolate Town,” “So Many People In The Neighborhood” and this one, are amongst Ween’s finest songs. Now that Ween have decided to call it quits, let’s hope that there are more unreleased recordings in store for fans in the future.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I Can’t Put My Finger On It” by Ween

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I post this track with heavy heart as the news broke today that one of my all-time favorite bands have decided to pack it in for good. I’ve been a WEEN fan since the early 1990s and have seen Dean (Mickey Melchiondo) and Gene (Aaron Freeman) numerous times over the years. I could have seen this coming since Deaner has been focusing more on his fishing business while Aaron continued to perform solo shows over the past couple of years between Ween tours. Aaron released his first solo record last month called “Marvelous Clouds” consisting solely of songs written by 1960s easy listening “poet” Rod McKuen. Although the band has always released good records, their concerts over the years have grown a little tiresome due to their fan base taking their somewhat misogynistic lyrics seriously instead of as a joke like they were intended to be taken. This song comes from their 1994 album “Chocolate And Cheese.”