Ween
Encyclopedia
Ween is an American alternative rock
group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope
, Pennsylvania
when central members Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween
) and Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween
) met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music
. The band's style is eclectic, and while they could generally be referred to as rock music
, one of their defining tendencies has always been toward experimentation with various styles, often incorporating a strong element of humor and absurdity. Both Gene and Dean are skilled multi-instrumentalists that frequently have overdubbed various instruments on their recordings, though they also record with the regular touring band as well. Gene is normally the lead vocalist and Dean the lead guitarist.
, Syd Barrett
, The Beatles
, Queen
, Frank Zappa
, Prince
, Butthole Surfers
, The Residents
, and the lo-fi punk movement. They self-released six cassettes in the late eighties: Mrs. Slack, The Crucial Squeegie Lip
, Axis: Bold as Boognish
, Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death
, The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD
, and Prime 5
. Around this time, Gene also released his own tape, Synthetic Socks
, which featured Dean on a few songs. Ween was often compared in their early years to other offbeat artists such as Frank Zappa
and Tom Waits
, though they would eschew such comparisons. Ween's public debut was a "Purple Haze
" cover closing a 1987 talent show. Ween gained local recognition by playing bars in New Hope, PA such as John & Peter's on Main Street, and still frequent the establishment to this day.
in 1989 and released their first album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness
. Produced by Andrew Weiss, it was made up of an eclectic 26 tracks.
The band recorded a second album on a four-track cassette recorder from January to October 1990, in an apartment called the Pod, located in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania
. This album, The Pod
, was released in 1991, named after the apartment where it was recorded. The duo's use of drum machine
s, pitch-tweaked guitars and vocals and drug-laced humor became a trademark part of their sound. The cover of The Pod was a parody of the cover of the 1975 Leonard Cohen
album, The Best of Leonard Cohen
, but with the head of Mean Ween (sometime bassist Chris Williams) in place of Cohen's.
Pure Guava
, the first of a series of releases on the Elektra
label, featured their highest charting single, "Push th' Little Daisies
" (1992) which gained them media and MTV
attention, as the video was a highlighted target on MTV
's Beavis and Butt-head
reflecting the annoying quality but high popularity of the song.
Chocolate and Cheese
followed in 1994, featuring tracks influenced by 70s pop/rock and soul, such as "Freedom of '76" and "Voodoo Lady," the latter of which appeared on the Road Trip and Dude Where's My Car soundtracks. The "Freedom of '76" music video was directed by Spike Jonze
. At this time, Ween began to expand their live and studio line-up, providing both a crisper production sound in the studio and an easier live setup (up until this time, Ween had been using DAT tapes
to provide backings for their songs). Chocolate and Cheese was also produced by Andrew Weiss
, who has gone on to produce the majority of Ween's albums and become the duo's primary collaborator in the studio.
Ween turned to Nashville
studio musicians for the recording of 12 Golden Country Greats
(1996) which only contained ten tracks. According to Aaron, "That's why it's called 12 Golden Country Greats, even though there's only 10 songs on there. The 'greats' are those Nashville session guys."
The nautically themed album The Mollusk
followed in 1997. Some fans and critics consider the album to be a culmination of Ween's penchant for satire, deconstruction, and their appreciative mastery of genres, including 1960's Brit-pop, sea shanties
, Broadway
show tunes, and especially progressive rock
. In 2007, Melchiondo himself named The Mollusk
his favorite among Ween's oeuvre.
The band's desire to pursue alternate forms of media led to the MP3
-only release Craters of the Sac (1999), presented by Dean for online download and free trade. Elektra Records
released a live compilation entitled Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990-1998
in 1999.
This was followed by White Pepper
(2000), their pop
-themed album and final studio set for Elektra. The track "Even If You Don't" was made into a music video directed by the creators of South Park
, Trey Parker
and Matt Stone
. Shortly after the release of White Pepper
Ween started the Internet radio station WeenRadio, which was awarded third best Internet music site by Rolling Stone
.
Ween signed to Sanctuary Records
in 2003 and released quebec
, their first studio set in three years.
In 2004, they released Live in Chicago, a DVD and CD set that compiled tracks from two energetic live performances.
In February 2006, Dean and Gene, along with their band, rented an old farmhouse and converted it into a working studio. After writing over 50 songs and recording rough versions through 2006, they picked through them and, with Andrew Weiss as producer, re-recorded album versions for what would become The Friends EP and the full-length La Cucaracha
which was released October 23, 2007 on Rounder Records
.
Ween formed their own label in 2001, Chocodog Records
, which oversaw the release of several self-produced live sets. Paintin' the Town Brown, which was compiled and mastered by the band, was meant to be the first Chocodog release. According to Dean Ween, once the album was completed, Elektra realized the sales potential of the CD and denied Ween the right to release it through Chocodog. Later, Ween released the first official Chocodog album, Live in Toronto
(a live recording from the 1996 tour, in which Ween performed with Bobby Ogdin & The Shit Creek Boys). The limited-pressing CD, available exclusively through the band website, became an instant collector's item. Subsequent Chocodog releases (Live at Stubb's and All Request Live
) were produced in higher volumes to meet demand. In 2005, the label released the first installment of a rarity compilation series entitled Shinola
, and announced plans to re-release the 1987 cassette tape by Gene, Synthetic Socks.
On September 21, 2008, Dean Ween announced on the official Ween website that they planned to release a CD-DVD combo before Christmas of that year. He stated, "This time we’re going to be going all the way back to the days when we were still a duo with a cassette deck in the early 90’s. It’s probably the brownest CD on the Chocodog label yet." That CD was titled At the Cat's Cradle and was recorded live at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on December 9, 1992. The duo emulated their early performances, using only a Digital Audio Tape
(DAT) player for their backing tracks. The package also included a DVD featuring some video of performances from the same era.
On March 10, 2009, Dean Ween announced on the official Ween website that he and Gene had started to rehearse once again. He added that fans should expect to see a "new look" Ween soon. A potential new album was most likely postponed, as no further news about it surfaced.
On February 3, 2010, Ween released a new song, "DC Won't Do You No Good", that became available through a Target Cancer website.
On July 28, 2010, the National Post
featured an article with an interview with Dean Ween, in which it was stated that the band is due in the studio this winter to start work on its 12th album.
On August 11th, 2011, Dean quietly released a two-disc, MP3
-only collection of songs called The Caesar Demos -- named after the band's original working title for Quebec -- to friends on his Facebook
page. In his comment, he stated the songs were all recorded between 2001 and 2003 while drummer Claude Coleman, Jr. was recoving from injuries sustained in a car accident, and that many of the tracks featured only himself and Gene. In addition to a handful of recordings that eventually made the album, the demos feature several alternate takes as well as a number of songs that have remained unreleased.
, hard rock
, punk rock
, progressive rock
, psychedelic rock
, heavy metal
and speed metal
, to country pop
, country folk
, honky tonk
, flamenco
, funk
, pop
, psychedelic pop
and soul
. Their lyrics are usually humorous in tone, and their influences include Prince
, Thin Lizzy
, Queen
, The Spinners, Pink Floyd
, Beastie Boys
, The Beatles
, David Bowie
, Butthole Surfers
, The Dead Milkmen, Led Zeppelin
, Meat Puppets
, Motörhead, Steely Dan
, Talking Heads
, They Might Be Giants
, Violent Femmes
, Frank Zappa
, Jimi Hendrix
, Bob Seger
, Van Halen
, Hank Williams, America
and Bruce Springsteen
.
Ween joined members of Japanese group Boredoms to form noise rock
group Z-Rock Hawaii
, and Dean is also a member of hardcore band Moistboyz
which sometimes features Dave Dreiwitz
during live performances.
Artists influenced by Ween include Big Dumb Face
.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope
New Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope, formerly known as Coryell's Ferry, is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 2,528 at the 2010 census. The borough lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. A two-lane bridge carries automobile and foot traffic across the...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
when central members Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween
Gene Ween
Aaron Freeman , best known as Gene Ween, is a musician and a founding member of the experimental alternative rock group Ween...
) and Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween
Dean Ween
Dean Ween is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.-Biography:...
) met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The band's style is eclectic, and while they could generally be referred to as rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, one of their defining tendencies has always been toward experimentation with various styles, often incorporating a strong element of humor and absurdity. Both Gene and Dean are skilled multi-instrumentalists that frequently have overdubbed various instruments on their recordings, though they also record with the regular touring band as well. Gene is normally the lead vocalist and Dean the lead guitarist.
Early years
Their earliest home recordings were drug fueled, anarchic and free-spirited, drawing on influences as far-reaching as R. Stevie MooreR. Stevie Moore
Robert Steven Moore is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. In addition to having numerous albums released on labels around the world, the prolific Moore has self-released over 400 cassette and CD-R albums since 1968, as well as dozens of home videos, mostly through the R. Stevie Moore...
, Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
, The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
, and the lo-fi punk movement. They self-released six cassettes in the late eighties: Mrs. Slack, The Crucial Squeegie Lip
The Crucial Squeegie Lip
The Crucial Squeegie Lip is the first recording by Ween. It was released in 1986 on Bird O' Prey Records. Almost nothing is known about this release, and an original version of the tape is almost impossible to find; Bird O' Prey Records dissolved several years ago. Dean and Gene were both 16 at the...
, Axis: Bold as Boognish
Axis: Bold as Boognish
Axis: Bold As Boognish is the name of Ween's second released recording in 1987. The title is a parody of a Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold as Love. Almost nothing is known about this tape and the record label that released it shut down years ago. The song "Bumblebee" was re-recorded and released on...
, Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death
Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death
Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death is a tape by Ween released in 1987. It features tracks previously released on Ween's other two tapes, and it also features new tracks. Hardly anything else is known about this album.-Track listing:...
, The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD
The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD
The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD is a recording by Ween. It was released in 1988. The first side of this album features songs from a live show, while the second contains studio tracks. A majority of the records pressed are in possession of Dean Ween, although some copies were sold at concerts and given...
, and Prime 5
Prime 5
Prime 5 is a recording by Ween. It was released in 1989. It is a sort of greatest hits compilation, comprising tracks from their first four releases: The Crucial Squeegie Lip, Axis: Bold as Boognish, Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death and The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD excerpts...
. Around this time, Gene also released his own tape, Synthetic Socks
Synthetic Socks
Synthetic Socks is a very early recording by Gene Ween, released on TeenBeat Records in 1987. It is almost entirely the product of Gene Ween making personal recordings in his bedroom ....
, which featured Dean on a few songs. Ween was often compared in their early years to other offbeat artists such as Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, though they would eschew such comparisons. Ween's public debut was a "Purple Haze
Purple Haze
"Purple Haze" is a song written in 1966 and recorded in 1967 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and released as a single in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It appeared on their 1967 album Are You Experienced...
" cover closing a 1987 talent show. Ween gained local recognition by playing bars in New Hope, PA such as John & Peter's on Main Street, and still frequent the establishment to this day.
Major releases
Ween was signed to Twin/Tone RecordsTwin/Tone Records
Twin/Tone Records was a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that operated from 1977 until 1994 and helped several local groups receive national attention. The label was born from the Minneapolis punk rock music scene, which included venues like Jay's Longhorn Bar. The label was begun by...
in 1989 and released their first album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness
GodWeenSatan: The Oneness
-Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, VocalsGene Ween - Guitar, Vocals, liner notesWeen - ArrangerGreg Frey - Engineer, Recording TechnicianTheo VanRock - MixingAndrew Weiss - Producer, Mixing-Song information:...
. Produced by Andrew Weiss, it was made up of an eclectic 26 tracks.
The band recorded a second album on a four-track cassette recorder from January to October 1990, in an apartment called the Pod, located in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania
Solebury Township, Pennsylvania
Solebury Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,692 at the 2010 census.The Solebury School is located in the township, off U.S...
. This album, The Pod
The Pod
* "The Stallion " was not listed on the covers of original Shimmy Disc releases, although the song is present as track #5.-Liner notes:From the Shimmy-Disc CD:-Personnel:* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer...
, was released in 1991, named after the apartment where it was recorded. The duo's use of drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s, pitch-tweaked guitars and vocals and drug-laced humor became a trademark part of their sound. The cover of The Pod was a parody of the cover of the 1975 Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
album, The Best of Leonard Cohen
The Best of Leonard Cohen
The Best of Leonard Cohen is a greatest hits album by Leonard Cohen, released in 1975. In some territories, it is also known as Greatest Hits...
, but with the head of Mean Ween (sometime bassist Chris Williams) in place of Cohen's.
Pure Guava
Pure Guava
-Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, EngineerGene Ween - Vocals, EngineerMean Ween - VocalsGuy Heller - Vocals on "Flies On My Dick"Scott Lowe - Vocals, Whistle Larry Curtin - Vocals , Whistle Howie Weinberg - Mastering...
, the first of a series of releases on the Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
label, featured their highest charting single, "Push th' Little Daisies
Push th' Little Daisies
"Push th' Little Daisies" is a single released by the band Ween appearing on their third Album Pure Guava in 1992. It was released as a single in 1993...
" (1992) which gained them media and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
attention, as the video was a highlighted target on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
reflecting the annoying quality but high popularity of the song.
Chocolate and Cheese
Chocolate and Cheese
Chocolate and Cheese is Ween's fourth studio album, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994. It was the first Ween album to eschew the crude four-track home recordings of their first three albums and utilize a professional recording studio...
followed in 1994, featuring tracks influenced by 70s pop/rock and soul, such as "Freedom of '76" and "Voodoo Lady," the latter of which appeared on the Road Trip and Dude Where's My Car soundtracks. The "Freedom of '76" music video was directed by Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
. At this time, Ween began to expand their live and studio line-up, providing both a crisper production sound in the studio and an easier live setup (up until this time, Ween had been using DAT tapes
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As...
to provide backings for their songs). Chocolate and Cheese was also produced by Andrew Weiss
Andrew Weiss
Andrew Weiss is a bass guitarist and producer.He produced and played bass for most of the Ween albums; for Greg Ginn's post Black Flag band Gone; and for ex-Black Flag singer Henry Rollins's Rollins Band from 1987 to 1993. His distinctive bass sound on The End of Silence, an aggressive and slightly...
, who has gone on to produce the majority of Ween's albums and become the duo's primary collaborator in the studio.
Ween turned to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
studio musicians for the recording of 12 Golden Country Greats
12 Golden Country Greats
The original version of "Powder Blue" runs for 4:16 and ends with a sample from Muhammad Ali. Ween were denied permission to use the sample by the Ali lawyers, but Elektra pressed the album accidentally...
(1996) which only contained ten tracks. According to Aaron, "That's why it's called 12 Golden Country Greats, even though there's only 10 songs on there. The 'greats' are those Nashville session guys."
The nautically themed album The Mollusk
The Mollusk
* "She Wanted to Leave / " contains the main song, "She Wanted to Leave", as well as a reprise of "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight".- Personnel :* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer* Gene Ween - Vocals, Engineer* Kirk Miller - Sound Effects...
followed in 1997. Some fans and critics consider the album to be a culmination of Ween's penchant for satire, deconstruction, and their appreciative mastery of genres, including 1960's Brit-pop, sea shanties
Sea shanty
A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...
, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show tunes, and especially progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. In 2007, Melchiondo himself named The Mollusk
The Mollusk
* "She Wanted to Leave / " contains the main song, "She Wanted to Leave", as well as a reprise of "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight".- Personnel :* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer* Gene Ween - Vocals, Engineer* Kirk Miller - Sound Effects...
his favorite among Ween's oeuvre.
The band's desire to pursue alternate forms of media led to the MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
-only release Craters of the Sac (1999), presented by Dean for online download and free trade. Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
released a live compilation entitled Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990-1998
Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990-1998
Paintin' the Town Brown was the first Ween live album, released by Elektra Records on June 22, 1999.Paintin' the Town Brown serves as a live retrospective for the group, a 2 CD set containing songs from Ween's very first live shows to Ween's tour in support of The Mollusk...
in 1999.
This was followed by White Pepper
White Pepper
-Singles:* "Even If You Don't" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with the B-side "Cornbread Red".* "Stay Forever" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with "The Grobe" and "Who Dat?"-Musicians featured on the record:* Dean Ween* Gene Ween...
(2000), their pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-themed album and final studio set for Elektra. The track "Even If You Don't" was made into a music video directed by the creators of South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
. Shortly after the release of White Pepper
White Pepper
-Singles:* "Even If You Don't" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with the B-side "Cornbread Red".* "Stay Forever" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with "The Grobe" and "Who Dat?"-Musicians featured on the record:* Dean Ween* Gene Ween...
Ween started the Internet radio station WeenRadio, which was awarded third best Internet music site by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
Ween signed to Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
in 2003 and released quebec
Quebec (album)
-Personnel:*Dean Ween – bass, guitar, drums, guitar , keyboards, vocals, sitar , vocoder*Gene Ween – synthesizer, guitar , bass, guitar , keyboards, vocals, omnichord, drum machine...
, their first studio set in three years.
In 2004, they released Live in Chicago, a DVD and CD set that compiled tracks from two energetic live performances.
In February 2006, Dean and Gene, along with their band, rented an old farmhouse and converted it into a working studio. After writing over 50 songs and recording rough versions through 2006, they picked through them and, with Andrew Weiss as producer, re-recorded album versions for what would become The Friends EP and the full-length La Cucaracha
La Cucaracha (album)
-References:**...
which was released October 23, 2007 on Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
.
Ween formed their own label in 2001, Chocodog Records
Chocodog Records
Chocodog Records was started in 2001. It was founded by Gene Ween and Dean Ween of the band Ween and run by their management company, Greg Frey Management. This company was created after their contract with their record company, Elektra Records, expired. Chocodog started with the release of Ween's...
, which oversaw the release of several self-produced live sets. Paintin' the Town Brown, which was compiled and mastered by the band, was meant to be the first Chocodog release. According to Dean Ween, once the album was completed, Elektra realized the sales potential of the CD and denied Ween the right to release it through Chocodog. Later, Ween released the first official Chocodog album, Live in Toronto
Live In Toronto Canada
-Cover art:The cover art is a parody of the 1964 Frank Sinatra/Count Basie album It Might as Well Be Swing....
(a live recording from the 1996 tour, in which Ween performed with Bobby Ogdin & The Shit Creek Boys). The limited-pressing CD, available exclusively through the band website, became an instant collector's item. Subsequent Chocodog releases (Live at Stubb's and All Request Live
All Request Live
All Request Live is the fourth Ween live album and the third to be released on their home record label Chocodog Records. It was released in 2003....
) were produced in higher volumes to meet demand. In 2005, the label released the first installment of a rarity compilation series entitled Shinola
Shinola, Vol. 1
Shinola, Vol. 1 is the tenth studio album by the band Ween. Released by Chocodog on July 19, 2005, Shinola is a collection of odds and ends that the band put together over the years....
, and announced plans to re-release the 1987 cassette tape by Gene, Synthetic Socks.
On September 21, 2008, Dean Ween announced on the official Ween website that they planned to release a CD-DVD combo before Christmas of that year. He stated, "This time we’re going to be going all the way back to the days when we were still a duo with a cassette deck in the early 90’s. It’s probably the brownest CD on the Chocodog label yet." That CD was titled At the Cat's Cradle and was recorded live at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on December 9, 1992. The duo emulated their early performances, using only a Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As...
(DAT) player for their backing tracks. The package also included a DVD featuring some video of performances from the same era.
On March 10, 2009, Dean Ween announced on the official Ween website that he and Gene had started to rehearse once again. He added that fans should expect to see a "new look" Ween soon. A potential new album was most likely postponed, as no further news about it surfaced.
On February 3, 2010, Ween released a new song, "DC Won't Do You No Good", that became available through a Target Cancer website.
On July 28, 2010, the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
featured an article with an interview with Dean Ween, in which it was stated that the band is due in the studio this winter to start work on its 12th album.
On August 11th, 2011, Dean quietly released a two-disc, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
-only collection of songs called The Caesar Demos -- named after the band's original working title for Quebec -- to friends on his Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page. In his comment, he stated the songs were all recorded between 2001 and 2003 while drummer Claude Coleman, Jr. was recoving from injuries sustained in a car accident, and that many of the tracks featured only himself and Gene. In addition to a handful of recordings that eventually made the album, the demos feature several alternate takes as well as a number of songs that have remained unreleased.
Style and influences
Ween's musical style incorporates elements of genres ranging from country rockCountry rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
, to country pop
Country pop
Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...
, country folk
Country folk
Country folk is a hybrid sub-genre of country and folk music closely associated with the singer-songwriter and folk rock sub-genres. It is generally characterized as a component of the progressive country style and has its roots in the recordings of folk artist Bob Dylan.-Style:Country folk has...
, honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. Their lyrics are usually humorous in tone, and their influences include Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, The Spinners, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
, The Dead Milkmen, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
, Motörhead, Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
, Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
, Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
, Hank Williams, America
America (band)
America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...
and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
.
Ween joined members of Japanese group Boredoms to form noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
group Z-Rock Hawaii
Z-Rock Hawaii
Z-Rock Hawaii was released in 1996 by Gene Ween and Dean Ween of the band Ween, and the Japanese artists Yamantaka Eye, Seiichi Yamamoto, Yoshimi P-We, and Yoshikawa Toyohito of Boredoms.- Track listing :#"Chuggin'#"Bad to the Bone"#"In the Garden"...
, and Dean is also a member of hardcore band Moistboyz
Moistboyz
Moistboyz is a band founded by Mickey Melchiondo Jr. and Guy Heller . In the spirit of Melchiondo's other group, Ween, the two have donned aliases. Melchiondo is known as the character Mickey Moist and Heller as Dickie Moist. The first two Moistboyz LP's, now sold together on one CD, are very...
which sometimes features Dave Dreiwitz
Dave Dreiwitz
-Biography:Dave Dreiwitz was born on January 2, 1966 in New York City, New York to traditional jazz musician parents, Richard and Barbara Dreiwitz. In 1985 at the age of nineteen, Dave joined the Hoboken, NJ based psych rock band Tiny Lights, his first professional band out of high school...
during live performances.
Artists influenced by Ween include Big Dumb Face
Big Dumb Face
Big Dumb Face is a band formed by Wes Borland shortly before he left Limp Bizkit. The style hails to Frank Zappa and Ween as their primary influence...
.
Current members
- Dean WeenDean WeenDean Ween is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.-Biography:...
, pseudonym for Mickey Melchiondo – lead guitar, vocals, etc. - Gene WeenGene WeenAaron Freeman , best known as Gene Ween, is a musician and a founding member of the experimental alternative rock group Ween...
, pseudonym for Aaron Freeman – lead vocal, guitar, etc. - Dave DreiwitzDave Dreiwitz-Biography:Dave Dreiwitz was born on January 2, 1966 in New York City, New York to traditional jazz musician parents, Richard and Barbara Dreiwitz. In 1985 at the age of nineteen, Dave joined the Hoboken, NJ based psych rock band Tiny Lights, his first professional band out of high school...
– bass - Claude Coleman, Jr. – drums
- Glenn McClellandGlenn McClellandGlenn McClelland is the keyboardist for the band Ween. He also played keyboards for Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1987 to 1993. He currently is a vocalist and keyboardist for Scott Rednor and His Band...
– keyboards
Worked with
- Jason Fuller – keyboards in touring band 2001
- Mean Ween (Chris Williams) – bass on "Alone" (The PodThe Pod* "The Stallion " was not listed on the covers of original Shimmy Disc releases, although the song is present as track #5.-Liner notes:From the Shimmy-Disc CD:-Personnel:* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer...
), second vocals on "Little BirdyLittle Birdy (song)"Little Birdy" is a song by the rock band Ween that appeared as the opening track of their 1992 album Pure Guava. The song features voice modulation to make the vocal track first lower and higher in pitch. The lyrics express admiration of the happiness of a certain bird...
" (Pure GuavaPure Guava-Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, EngineerGene Ween - Vocals, EngineerMean Ween - VocalsGuy Heller - Vocals on "Flies On My Dick"Scott Lowe - Vocals, Whistle Larry Curtin - Vocals , Whistle Howie Weinberg - Mastering...
), bass (The MolluskThe Mollusk* "She Wanted to Leave / " contains the main song, "She Wanted to Leave", as well as a reprise of "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight".- Personnel :* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer* Gene Ween - Vocals, Engineer* Kirk Miller - Sound Effects...
), live - Scott Lowe – second vocal and whistling solo on "Don't Get Too Close" (Pure Guava), various backing vocals (Chocolate and CheeseChocolate and CheeseChocolate and Cheese is Ween's fourth studio album, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994. It was the first Ween album to eschew the crude four-track home recordings of their first three albums and utilize a professional recording studio...
), second vocal on "Rift" (Shinola, Vol. 1Shinola, Vol. 1Shinola, Vol. 1 is the tenth studio album by the band Ween. Released by Chocodog on July 19, 2005, Shinola is a collection of odds and ends that the band put together over the years....
) - Pat Frey – drums on "Baby Bitch", "Mango Woman", "I'll Miss You", "Shot Heard 'Round the World"
- Guy Heller – vocals on "Flies on My Dick" (Pure Guava)
- Bobby Ogdin, piano; Charlie McCoyCharlie McCoyCharles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
, harmonica/trumpet/tuba; Pete Wade, guitar; Buddy HarmanBuddy HarmanBuddy Harman was an American session musician.-Career:Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Roger Miller,...
, drums; Russ Hicks, steel guitar; Bob Wray, bass; Kip Paxton, bass; Buddy Blackman, banjo; Buddy SpicherBuddy SpicherBuddy Spicher is an American fiddle player.Spicher started in the late 50s as part of the backing band for Audrey Williams, the widow of Hank Williams, later with Hank Snow, the Charles River Valley Boys....
, fiddle; Hargus "Pig" Robbins, piano; Dennis Solee, clarinet; Gene Chrisman, drum – musicians on 12 Golden Country Greats12 Golden Country GreatsThe original version of "Powder Blue" runs for 4:16 and ends with a sample from Muhammad Ali. Ween were denied permission to use the sample by the Ali lawyers, but Elektra pressed the album accidentally... - Bobby Ogdin & The Shit Creek Boys – Bobby Ogdin, piano; Danny Parks, guitar; Stu Basore, steel guitar; Matt Kohut, bass; Hank Singer, fiddle - touring band 1996/Live In Toronto CanadaLive In Toronto Canada-Cover art:The cover art is a parody of the 1964 Frank Sinatra/Count Basie album It Might as Well Be Swing....
/Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990–1998 - David SanbornDavid SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
- Saxophone on "Your Party"
Instruments
- Dean WeenDean WeenDean Ween is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.-Biography:...
– Fender StratocasterFender StratocasterThe Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
, Fender MusicmasterFender MusicmasterThe Fender Musicmaster is an electric guitar by Fender, and was the first of their 3/4 scale guitars. With a single pickup and no tremolo arm, it was a basic but functional instrument.... - Gene WeenGene WeenAaron Freeman , best known as Gene Ween, is a musician and a founding member of the experimental alternative rock group Ween...
– Gibson Les PaulGibson Les PaulThe Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
, Martin D28 - Dave DreiwitzDave Dreiwitz-Biography:Dave Dreiwitz was born on January 2, 1966 in New York City, New York to traditional jazz musician parents, Richard and Barbara Dreiwitz. In 1985 at the age of nineteen, Dave joined the Hoboken, NJ based psych rock band Tiny Lights, his first professional band out of high school...
– RickenbackerRickenbackerRickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
bass, FenderFenderFender Musical Instruments Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Fender, of Scottsdale, Arizona is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster...
precision - Claude Coleman, Jr. – DWDrum WorkshopDrum Workshop is a drum and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Their slogan is "The Drummer's Choice".-History:...
drums, Bosphorus CymbalsBosphorus CymbalsBosphorus is a cymbal manufacturer based in İstanbul, Turkey and Kennesaw, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta in the United States. The foundry is located near the Bosphorus Strait, from which the company draws its name. It is owned by three master cymbalsmiths, Ibrahim Yakici, Hasan Seker, and Hasan...
Early independent releases (1986–1989)
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1985 | Mrs. Slack |
| 1986 | The Crucial Squeegie Lip The Crucial Squeegie Lip The Crucial Squeegie Lip is the first recording by Ween. It was released in 1986 on Bird O' Prey Records. Almost nothing is known about this release, and an original version of the tape is almost impossible to find; Bird O' Prey Records dissolved several years ago. Dean and Gene were both 16 at the... |
| 1987 | Axis: Bold as Boognish Axis: Bold as Boognish Axis: Bold As Boognish is the name of Ween's second released recording in 1987. The title is a parody of a Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold as Love. Almost nothing is known about this tape and the record label that released it shut down years ago. The song "Bumblebee" was re-recorded and released on... |
| 1987 | Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death is a tape by Ween released in 1987. It features tracks previously released on Ween's other two tapes, and it also features new tracks. Hardly anything else is known about this album.-Track listing:... |
| 1988 | The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD is a recording by Ween. It was released in 1988. The first side of this album features songs from a live show, while the second contains studio tracks. A majority of the records pressed are in possession of Dean Ween, although some copies were sold at concerts and given... |
| 1989 | Prime 5 Prime 5 Prime 5 is a recording by Ween. It was released in 1989. It is a sort of greatest hits compilation, comprising tracks from their first four releases: The Crucial Squeegie Lip, Axis: Bold as Boognish, Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death and The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD excerpts... |
List of notable demo tapes
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1990 | The Pod Demos (The Bilboa and Big Timmy Wasserman Tape |
| 1990 | Pandy Fackler |
| 1991 | Pure Guava Demos |
| 1992 | Chocolate and Cheese Demos |
| 1994 | 12 Golden Country Greats Demos |
| 1995 | Mollusk Demos (Released 2007) |
| 1997 | White Pepper Demos |
| 2001-2003 (Released 2011) | Caesar Demos |
Studio albums (1990–present)
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | GodWeenSatan: The Oneness GodWeenSatan: The Oneness -Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, VocalsGene Ween - Guitar, Vocals, liner notesWeen - ArrangerGreg Frey - Engineer, Recording TechnicianTheo VanRock - MixingAndrew Weiss - Producer, Mixing-Song information:... | Twin/Tone, reissued 2001 Restless Restless Records Restless Records was started in El Segundo, California in 1981 by Enigma Records and primarly released alternative, metal and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records... |
| 1991 | The Pod The Pod * "The Stallion " was not listed on the covers of original Shimmy Disc releases, although the song is present as track #5.-Liner notes:From the Shimmy-Disc CD:-Personnel:* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer... | Shimmy Disc Shimmy Disc Shimmy Disc was an influential New York City based record label founded in 1987 by Mark Kramer. Before it was sold to the Knitting Factory, it was responsible for providing a mass audience for acts including Bongwater, Daniel Johnston, Fly Ashtray, Galaxie 500, King Missile, Boredoms, Ruins, Ween,... , reissued 1995 Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
| 1992 | Pure Guava Pure Guava -Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, EngineerGene Ween - Vocals, EngineerMean Ween - VocalsGuy Heller - Vocals on "Flies On My Dick"Scott Lowe - Vocals, Whistle Larry Curtin - Vocals , Whistle Howie Weinberg - Mastering... | Elektra |
| 1994 | Chocolate & Cheese Chocolate and Cheese Chocolate and Cheese is Ween's fourth studio album, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994. It was the first Ween album to eschew the crude four-track home recordings of their first three albums and utilize a professional recording studio... | Elektra |
| 1996 | 12 Golden Country Greats 12 Golden Country Greats The original version of "Powder Blue" runs for 4:16 and ends with a sample from Muhammad Ali. Ween were denied permission to use the sample by the Ali lawyers, but Elektra pressed the album accidentally... | Elektra |
| 1997 | The Mollusk The Mollusk * "She Wanted to Leave / " contains the main song, "She Wanted to Leave", as well as a reprise of "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight".- Personnel :* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer* Gene Ween - Vocals, Engineer* Kirk Miller - Sound Effects... | Elektra |
| 1999 | Craters of the Sac | online only MP3 MP3 MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression... release |
| 2000 | White Pepper White Pepper -Singles:* "Even If You Don't" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with the B-side "Cornbread Red".* "Stay Forever" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with "The Grobe" and "Who Dat?"-Musicians featured on the record:* Dean Ween* Gene Ween... | Elektra |
| 2003 | quebec Quebec (album) -Personnel:*Dean Ween – bass, guitar, drums, guitar , keyboards, vocals, sitar , vocoder*Gene Ween – synthesizer, guitar , bass, guitar , keyboards, vocals, omnichord, drum machine... | Sanctuary Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world... |
| 2005 | Shinola, Vol. 1 Shinola, Vol. 1 Shinola, Vol. 1 is the tenth studio album by the band Ween. Released by Chocodog on July 19, 2005, Shinola is a collection of odds and ends that the band put together over the years.... | Chocodog |
| 2007 | La Cucaracha La Cucaracha (album) -References:**... | Rounder Records Rounder Records Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students... |
Live albums
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990–1998 | Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
| 2001 | Live In Toronto Canada Live In Toronto Canada -Cover art:The cover art is a parody of the 1964 Frank Sinatra/Count Basie album It Might as Well Be Swing.... | Chocodog Chocodog Records Chocodog Records was started in 2001. It was founded by Gene Ween and Dean Ween of the band Ween and run by their management company, Greg Frey Management. This company was created after their contract with their record company, Elektra Records, expired. Chocodog started with the release of Ween's... /Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. is an London-based independent record label set up by Oliver Geywitz in 2003. The label has worldwide distribution and is mainly orientated towards Indie rock music.... |
| 2002 | Live at Stubb's 7/2000 | Chocodog |
| 2003 | All Request Live All Request Live All Request Live is the fourth Ween live album and the third to be released on their home record label Chocodog Records. It was released in 2003.... | Chocodog |
| 2004 | Live in Chicago | Sanctuary Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world... |
| 2008 | At The Cat's Cradle, 1992 At The Cat's Cradle, 1992 (album) -Tracklisting :- Personnel :* Dean Ween, pseudonym for Mickey Melchiondo – lead guitar, vocals* Gene Ween, pseudonym for Aaron Freeman – lead vocal, guitar... | Chocodog/Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. is an London-based independent record label set up by Oliver Geywitz in 2003. The label has worldwide distribution and is mainly orientated towards Indie rock music.... |
EPs and singles
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | I'm Fat I'm Fat "I'm Fat" is a single by the band Ween. It was released 7" clear vinyl/black vinyl/white vinyl by Vital Music Records in 1992.The track features Dickie Moist from the Moistboyz, and Gene Ween on vocals.... | Vital Music |
| 1992 | Push th' Little Daisies Push th' Little Daisies "Push th' Little Daisies" is a single released by the band Ween appearing on their third Album Pure Guava in 1992. It was released as a single in 1993... | Elektra Records Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... | 1992 | Sky Cruiser Sky Cruiser "Sky Cruiser" is a single released by the band Ween in 1992 on a 7" pink vinyl on Sub-Pop Records.-Track listing:... | Sub Pop Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene... |
| 1992 | Sky Cruiser EP | White Records |
| 1993 | Push th' Little Daisies | Elektra Records |
| 1994 | I Can't Put My Finger On It EP | Elektra Records |
| 1994 | Freedom of '76 EP | Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is an independent record label formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd.-History:The label was formed in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 1980s... |
| 1994 | Voodoo Lady EP Voodoo Lady EP The Voodoo Lady EP is an EP released by the band Ween in 1994 on Flying Nun Records/White Records.The EP's title track also appears on the band's 1994 album Chocolate and Cheese. It is also one of two Ween songs - the other being Push th' Little Daisies - to chart on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks,... | Flying Nun Records |
| 1996 | Piss Up a Rope/You Were the Fool EP | Flying Nun Records |
| 1996 | Piss Up a Rope Piss Up a Rope "Piss Up a Rope" is a song by the band Ween in 1996 from the album 12 Golden Country Greats. It was released on 7" yellow vinyl single on Diesel Only Records.... | Diesel Only Records |
| 1997 | Mutilated Lips Mutilated Lips "Mutilated Lips" is a single that the band Ween released on Elektra Records from the 1997 album The Mollusk.The song lyrics refer to being under the influence of psychedelic drugs... | Elektra Records |
| 1997 | Ocean Man Ocean Man "Ocean Man" is a song by Ween on their 1997 album The Mollusk released on Elektra Records. It was used during the end credits of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004 and in a 2003 commercial for the Honda Civic. It is in the film soundtrack The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Music from the Movie... | Elektra Records |
| 2000 | Even If You Don't Even If You Don't "Even If You Don't" is a single released in 2000 by the band Ween from the album White Pepper. It was covered by the indie/pop-punk supergroup Two Tongues on their self-titled debut album, released in 2009.-Enhanced CD single:... | Mushroom Records Mushroom Records Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros... |
| 2000 | Stay Forever Promo EP | Mushroom Records |
| 2000 | Stay Forever Red Vinyl EP | Mushroom Records |
| 2003 | Tried and True/Mountains and Buffalo | Sanctuary Records |
| 2005 | "Monique The Freak" limited edition one sided etched 12" | Chocodog/Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. is an London-based independent record label set up by Oliver Geywitz in 2003. The label has worldwide distribution and is mainly orientated towards Indie rock music.... |
| 2005 | "Gabrielle" limited edition one sided brown 7" | Chocodog//Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. is an London-based independent record label set up by Oliver Geywitz in 2003. The label has worldwide distribution and is mainly orientated towards Indie rock music.... |
| 2007 | The Friends EP CD and limited edition picture disc 12" | Chocodog//Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. Schnitzel Records Ltd. is an London-based independent record label set up by Oliver Geywitz in 2003. The label has worldwide distribution and is mainly orientated towards Indie rock music.... |
| 2010 | DC Won't Do You No Good | Web release |
Appearances
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | En Esch En Esch En Esch, a.k.a. Klaus Schandelmaier, is a contemporary musician and has been a member of the bands KMFDM, Pigface, and Slick Idiot.-History:... - Cheesy | TVT Records TVT Records TVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and... |
| 1994 | Frente! Frente! Frente! are an Australian alternative rock group, formed in 1991. The original lineup featured singer Angie Hart, founder and guitarist Simon Austin, bassist Tim O'Connor , and drummer Mark Picton... - Lonely | Mushroom Records Mushroom Records Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros... |
| 1994 | A Merry Little Christmas : A Holiday Sampler from Elektra & EastWest | Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... /EastWest |
| 1995 | Kostars Kostars Kostars was an alternative/pop-rock side project formed by Vivian Trimble and Jill Cunniff while on a headlining tour with Luscious Jackson in 1995. Trimble and Cunniff, who needed an additional outlet for the transistor radio hits they were writing, wrote under the name Kostars titled Klassics... - Klassics With a K | Grand Royal Grand Royal Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California based vanity record label set up in 1992 by the Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings.... |
| 1995 | Used & Recorded by 3RRR Vol.2 | Radio Release |
| 1996 | Beautiful Girls | Miramax / Elektra |
| 1996 | Ben Vaughn Ben Vaughn Ben Vaughn is an American musician, music producer and a longtime Rambler enthusiast.Vaughn grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey, and his interest in music began at age 6 when his uncle gave him a Duane Eddy record. The "Ben Vaughn Combo" released two albums and toured the U.S. from 1983 to 1988... - Instrumental Stylings | Bar None Records |
| 1996 | Yoko Ono-Rising Mixes Rising (Yoko Ono album) Rising is a 1995 album by avant-garde artist Yoko Ono. Released on November 7, on Capitol Records, the album features the backing band IMA , which included Ono's son Sean Lennon, Timo Ellis, and Sam Koppelman. The album has sold 11,000 copies in the United States to date... | Capitol Records Capitol Records Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine... |
| 1996 | Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks is a tribute album based on the Emmy Award-winning animated TV series, Schoolhouse Rock!. It was released by Atlantic/Hollywood Records in 1996 and contains 15 tracks, the original "Schoolhouse Rocky" theme and covers of 14 songs from the series performed by popular music... | Atlantic Records Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... |
| 1998 | Hub Hub (bassist) Leonard "Hub" Hubbard is a former band member of The Roots and played bass for the Philadelphia outfit from 1992 to 2007. He played on all of their records until his departure from the group, including 1999's Things Fall Apart and 2004's The Tipping Point. He is known for always having a chew stick... - Hub | SLASH RECORDS |
| 1998 | Chef Aid: The South Park Album Chef Aid: The South Park Album -Episode reference:- Singles :* "Chocolate Salty Balls "CD1# "Chocolate Salty Balls " - Performed By Chef# "Oh Holy Night" - Performed By Eric Cartman... | Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
| 1998 | The X-Files: The Album The X-Files: The Album The X-Files: The Album was the soundtrack album by various artists released in conjunction with the 1998 movie, The X-Files. The album peaked at #26 on Billboard's chart and it was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies.... | WEA Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
| 2002 | Morvern Callar Morvern Callar (film) Morvern Callar is a 2002 British film directed by Lynne Ramsay and starring Samantha Morton in the title role. It is based on Alan Warner's 1995 novel Morvern Callar.-Plot synopsis:... | Warp Records |
| 2004 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Music from the Movie and More... The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Music from the Movie and More... The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Soundtrack is the soundtrack album from the 2004 animated film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. It was released on November 9, 2004 on Warner Sunset Records and Sire Records.-Background:... | Sire/London/Rhino |
External links
- Ween.net
- Liveween.com
- - Live Ween BitTorrents
- Weenhub - Ween on DirectConnect
- Ween collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive - New Hope-Solebury School District
- Ween at Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
- Ween on iClips