Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live '90–'98

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Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live '90–'98
A somewhat joyous brown Boognish against a flat bright yellow-beige background.
Live album by
Ween
ReleasedJune 22, 1999
RecordedDecember 1990–November 19, 1997
Venuevarious
Length127:34
LabelElektra Records
Ween chronology
The Mollusk
(1997) 		Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live '90–'98
(1999) 		Craters of the Sac
(1999)

Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live '90–'98 is a live album by Ween, released on June 22, 1999 on Elektra Records.

Description and History[edit | edit source]

Paintin' the Town Brown was Ween's first major live album. Rather than focus on a particular show or tour, the double-CD album takes an anthology format, with various live recordings spanning about seven years, from 1990 to 1997 (despite the album's title, there are no tracks from 1998). This includes early duo performances with the DAT-deck, the first full live band with Andrew Weiss and Claude Coleman, the 1996 country tour with Nashville musicians dubbed "The Shit Creek Boys", and the later, more modern band lineup with Dave Dreiwitz and Glenn McClelland.

Promoting the record at the time, Dean Ween explained:

This whole record was transferred directly from cassettes, many of which were on the floor of my car at some point or another, but we've gotten it to sound pretty respectable. It sorta feels like a photo album when you hear it. Hopefully the good times that we had playing this music will translate over to you.[1]

The album was released by Elektra, though it was reportedly supposed to be the debut of Ween's self-owned label, Chocodog Records.

Track Listing[edit | edit source]

Disc One[edit | edit source]

# Song Date listed on back cover Full Date Band Notes
1 Mushroom Festival in Hell Holland 1/91 unknown show Duo with DAT deck Gener says "It's 1991" in the spoken intro, so the year is correct. However, the earliest performance listed on Brownbase is from 11/92.[2] Ween toured Holland and Switzerland from 12/90 to 2/91, but Brownbase does not list any shows from January at all.[3] Many shows from this early era are lost so this may be the case here.
2 Japanese Cowboy Santa Monica, CA 10/96 10/11/1996 - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA[4] Shit Creek Boys (country tour)
3 Mountain Dew St. Louis, MO 3/92 3/14/1992 - Cicero's, St. Louis, MO[5] Duo with DAT deck
4 Bumblebee Switzerland 12/90 unknown show Duo with DAT deck Ween toured Holland and Switzerland from 12/90 to 2/91.[6] However, the only date from Switzerland actually listed on Brownbase (which happens to be labeled 12/90 and contains the song "Bumblebee") is a different performance than the one heard here.[7] Many shows from this early era are lost so this may be the case here.
5 Voodoo Lady Amsterdam 12/97 11/15/1997 - Melkweg (The Max), Amsterdam, Netherlands[unconfirmed][8] Post-Mollusk lineup (w/ Dreiwitz, Coleman, McClelland) Ween toured Europe from Nov. to Dec. 1997 and played four known dates in Holland; "Voodoo Lady" was played on all four dates.[9] However, the only one in Amsterdam was in November (not December as listed in the liner notes).[10] Audio from all four shows is unavailable. If this is from the same show as "Awesome Sound" (seems possible), then this is the likely date because of the venue (see the details for that song). But there's no particular reason to assume it's the same show.
6 Ode to Rene San Francisco, CA 2/93 2/9/1993 - Berkeley Square, Berkeley, CA[unconfirmed][11] Duo with DAT deck Ween played at least five known shows in California in Feb. 1993.[12] The only one listed on Brownbase from San Francisco is 2/12, but the audio recording reveals a different performance than the one heard here.[13] There is a show listed from 2/9 in Berkeley (not technically SF but in the Bay Area), with an unknown setlist.[14] Either that is the actual date, or this is a lost show.
7 Mister Richard Smoker Santa Monica, CA 10/96 10/11/1996 - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA[15] Shit Creek Boys (country tour)
8 Dr. Rock Melbourne, Australia 5/95 4/19/1995 - The Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne, Australia[16] C&C band (w/ Weiss & Coleman) The liner notes are probably incorrect in more than one way. Firstly: May of 1995 Ween was in the U.S. However they did tour Australia and New Zealand in April. Secondly: Deaner's liner notes from PtTB state that this was from the second of two consecutive nights at "the same club in Melbourne", and that it was the first song of the night. Well, they did play this club on two consecutive nights, and we have audio of the second show (4/20), but "Doctor Rock" is not the first song of the set, and it's a different performance than the one on PtTB (you can check by listening to the audio). The setlist for the first night (4/19) is unknown, but the Rotten Cheese compilation (which uses the same recording for this song as PtTB) lists it as the date for this performance, so there's no particular reason to doubt it.[17] In addition, Deaner's liner notes state that this was recorded the same night as the Oklahoma City bombing, which lines up with this date as well. As a curious aside: Brownbase lists a 1/27 show as the date for the "flower bouquets and Joni Mitchell" comment.[18]
9 I Can't Put My Finger on It Oslo, Norway 12/97 11/19/1997 - Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, Norway[probably][19] Post-Mollusk lineup (w/ Dreiwitz, Coleman, McClelland) Ween toured Europe from Nov. to Dec. 1997. However, Brownbase only lists one show from Norway and it was from 11/19; that's November, not December. "Finger" was played at this date but there is no recording available.[20] Deaner's liner notes state that this song is from their "first ever show in Norway", which lines up with this date.
10 Cover It With Gas and Set It on Fire Trenton, NJ '93 3/6/1993 - City Gardens, Trenton, NJ[unverified][21] Duo with DAT deck The only known show in Trenton, NJ in the year of 1993 was this one.[22] However, many shows from this era are missing, so it may be a different date we don't know about.
11 Awesome Sound Amsterdam, Holland 12/97 11/15/1997 - Melkweg (The Max), Amsterdam, Netherlands[probably][23] Post-Mollusk lineup (w/ Dreiwitz, Coleman, McClelland) Ween toured Europe from Nov. to Dec. 1997 and played four known dates in Holland; "Awesome Sound" was played on three of them.[24] However, the only one in Amsterdam was in November (not December as listed in the liner notes).[25] Audio from all four shows is unavailable. However, Deaner states in the liner notes that this was played at "The Melkweg", which lines up with this date.
12 Tender Situation Leeuwarden, Holland 12/90 unknown show Duo with DAT deck Brownbase does not list any Ween shows from the town of Leeuwarden from any year ever.[26] However, Ween did tour the Netherlands and Switzerland from 12/90 to 2/91.[27] There is no particular reason to doubt the liner note info here; it's probably from an unknown show.
13 Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony? Oslo, Norway 12/97 11/19/1997 - Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, Norway[probably][28] Post-Mollusk lineup (w/ Dreiwitz, Coleman, McClelland) Ween toured Europe from Nov. to Dec. 1997. However, Brownbase only lists one show from Norway and it was from 11/19; that's November, not December. "Pony" was played at this date but there is no recording available.[29] This may be the actual date, or maybe there is another show we don't know about. Deaner's liner notes state that this is from the same show as "Finger", which was their "first ever show in Norway", which lines up with this date.
14 I Saw Gener Cryin' in His Sleep Santa Monica, CA 10/96 10/11/1996 - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA[30] Shit Creek Boys (country tour)
15 Marble Tulip Juicy Tree San Francisco 4/96 4/30/1996 - Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA[31] Duo with DAT deck
16 She Fucks Me Washington D.C. 10/96 10/28/1996 - 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.[32] Shit Creek Boys (country tour)

Disc Two[edit | edit source]

(all tracks performed with the Chocolate and Cheese-era lineup)

# Song Date listed on back cover Full date Notes
17 Poop Ship Destroyer Columbia, MO 1/95 1/31/1995 - The Blue Note, Columbia, MO[33]
18 Vallejo Las Vegas, NV 11/94 11/14/1994 - Huntridge Theater, Las Vegas, NV[34]
19 Puffy Cloud Los Angeles, CA 10/94 10/9/94 - McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA[35] Santa Monica is in the LA area. Deaner's liner notes state that this is from McCabe's Guitar Shop, which lines up with this date.

Known Personnel[edit | edit source]

Sourced from the liner notes unless stated otherwise.

  • Gene Ween - vocals, guitar
  • Dean Ween - guitar, vocals, backing tracks and tapes for DAT-era recordings and some later recordings
  • Claude Coleman, Jr. - drums on Chocolate and Cheese-era recordings and later
  • Andrew Weiss - bass on Chocolate and Cheese-era recordings
  • Bobby Ogdin - piano, keyboards and percussion on Shit Creek Boys recordings
  • Matt Kohut - bass on Shit Creek Boys recordings
  • Danny Parks - guitar on Shit Creek Boys recordings
  • Hank Singer - fiddle and percussion on Shit Creek Boys recordings
  • Stu Basore - pedal steel guitar on Shit Creek Boys recordings
  • Dave Dreiwitz - bass on post-1996 recordings
  • Glenn McClelland - keyboards on post-1996 recordings
  • Kirk Miller - producer, compiling, mixing
  • Greg Frey - producer, compiling, editing
  • Pidah Kloos - mixing on 1990-91 recordings
  • Mercenary Productions - mastering
  • Gregory Burke - design
  • Christopher Falvey - typography
  • Andrew Daddio - photography

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ File:Paintin the town brown promo.png
  2. ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=Ween&song_id=129
  3. ↑ https://brownbase.org/show_filter.php?band=Ween&s=900&p=10&sort=1&ascDesc=DESC#table_top
  4. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=502
  5. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=779
  6. ↑ https://brownbase.org/show_filter.php?band=Ween&s=900&p=10&sort=1&ascDesc=DESC#table_top
  7. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=1336
  8. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=609
  9. ↑ https://brownbase.org/every_time_played.php?band=Ween&song_id=232
  10. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=609
  11. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=741
  12. ↑ https://brownbase.org/show_filter.php?band=Ween&s=800&p=10&sort=1&ascDesc=DESC#table_top
  13. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=743
  14. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=741
  15. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=502
  16. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=693
  17. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=693
  18. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=662
  19. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=612
  20. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=612
  21. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=745
  22. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=745
  23. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=609
  24. ↑ https://brownbase.org/show_filter.php?band=Ween&s=500&p=10&sort=1&ascDesc=DESC#table_top
  25. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=609
  26. ↑ https://brownbase.org/show_filter.php?country=Netherlands&band=Ween
  27. ↑ https://brownbase.org/show_filter.php?band=Ween&s=900&p=10&sort=1&ascDesc=DESC#table_top
  28. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=612
  29. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=612
  30. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=502
  31. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=650
  32. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=498
  33. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=665
  34. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=525
  35. ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=715
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