12 Golden Country Greats
| 12 Golden Country Greats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 16, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | November 2–8, 1995 | |||
| Length | 32:37 (modern versions) 33:35 (with removed Muhammad Ali sample) | |||
| Label | Elektra Records | |||
| Ween chronology | ||||
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12 Golden Country Greats is a studio album by Ween, released on July 16, 1996.
For 12 Golden Country Greats, Ween used their resources from their Elektra deal to record the album with professional country-music session musicians in Nashville, TN.
Description and History[edit | edit source]
On September 27, 1994, Ween released their fourth studio album, Chocolate and Cheese, and four months later began writing material for their potential fifth, carrying over the country-influenced Chocolate and Cheese outtakes "Powder Blue" (written circa March 1993) and "I'm Holding You" (written circa September 1994). Around January of 1995, they wrote the song "Piss Up a Rope", which further anchored the country music concept.
Ween had always had an interest in country music, and since the duo were writing more conventional country songs, they wanted to use their album advance to fund a Nashville-recorded studio album with a backing band of famous country session players.
Between August and October 1995, Ween constructed a demo tape made up of 11 country songs the duo had written to be sent to Nashville musicians as a form of pitching the album. In September of 1995, the duo moved into a beach house in New Jersey, where they began writing a new set of material centered around nautical theming, separate from the country concept; this included "Waving My Dick in the Wind." The duo were unsure of which album to put “Waving My Dick in the Wind" on, but ultimately decided not to include it with the country material.[1]
The album was produced by friend of the band Ben Vaughn, who was the one to pitch the demo to various country musicians. Although some declined due to the material's obscenity[2], thirteen musicians ultimately played on the album. The recording sessions for "12 Golden Country Greats" took place between November 2–8, 1995, at Bradley's Barn, with Dean Ween only featured on three tracks. The duo also recorded "Japanese Cowboy" during these sessions, which was not included on their demo tape (Vaughn felt the album lacked a "single", causing the duo to write and record the song on the last day of the sessions). Thirteen songs were recorded for the album, of which three would be scrapped ("I've Got No Darkside", "So Long Jerry", and "Boston Chicken").
The album was originally to be titled November Nights[1], though 12 Golden Country Greats was chosen as the name instead.
Track Listing[edit | edit source]
Liner Notes[edit | edit source]
[From 2-61909 promo copies]
For this album, we wanted to see if it was possible to hire the great session players from the golden age of country music, and after a few phone calls, I realized that the fifth Ween album was gonna have 3 guys named “Buddy” playing on it. We wrote these songs exclusively for this record, and we spent most of the time leading up to these sessions frightened that our band was gonna kick our skinny Northeastern asses. As it turns out, I [don't] think that we phased these guys at all. These same players have individually played with Elvis Presley, Jerry Reed, Roy Orbison and Willie Nelson, to name a few. (Charlie McCoy and “Pig” Robbins are best known in the rock community for their work on Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album) So, around November 1st, Gener and I jumped in my car and drove down to Nashville where we spent eight lovely nights at the Shoney’s Inn, conveniently located next to the County Music Hall of Fame. We spent the majority of our time in Nashville (in and out of the studio) drinking coffee with non-dairy creamer, and beer. The rest of our time was spent laughing at each other singing in a room full of 50-60 year old guys playing songs that we wrote. I think that in this time of crappy “power country,” our session was a lot of fun for everyone involved. The players on this record are the best that I’ve ever played with, and they nailed every one of these songs on the first and second takes. They played off charts written by Mr. McCoy, our session leader, and if you ever get curious about the horn arrangements on “Mister Richard Smoker,” I would be glad to show you the charts. - Dean Ween.
Credits[edit | edit source]
Sourced from the liner notes unless otherwise stated.
- Gene Ween - vocals, guitar on "Fluffy"[2]
- Dean Ween - vocals on "Piss Up a Rope" and " Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain," guitar on "I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm"[2]
- Bobby Ogdin - piano
- Buddy Spicher - fiddle, mandolin
- Pete Wade - guitar, dobro, six-string bass
- Russ Hicks - pedal steel guitar
- Hargus "Pig" Robbins - piano
- Buddy Blackman - banjo
- Denis Solee - clarinet
- Charlie McCoy - bass, harmonica, percussion, vibraphone, organ, trumpet, tenor banjo, tuba
- Bob Wray - bass
- Kip Paxton - bass
- Buddy Harman - drums
- Gene Chrisman - drums
- The Jordanaires - vocals
- Ben Vaughn - producer
- Bobby Bradley - engineer
- Chuck DeHaan - cover art
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Cans branded with the album cover were produced as promotional items for the album.
References[edit | edit source]
Scans[edit | edit source]
Back cover
Front cover 2
Back cover 2
CD
Insert 1
Insert 2
Insert 3
