12 Golden Country Greats

by Ween

12 Golden Country Greats cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: July 16, 1996
  • Label: Elektra
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 32:33
  • Community rating: 3.37/5 from 9 ratings

Artists on this release: Dean Ween, Gene Ween

Album Notes & Community Reviews

For their fifth album, '12 Golden Country Greats', Ween committed entirely to the country genre, enlisting producer Ben Vaughn and a supergroup of legendary Nashville session musicians to record at the famed Bradley's Barn. The resulting ten songs juxtapose the band's characteristically profane and surrealist lyrics against a backdrop of authentic, expertly performed arrangements by players who had worked with icons like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. This singular project saw Gene and Dean Ween largely ceding instrumental duties to focus on vocals, creating a polarizing work that is both a sincere tribute and a subversive parody of classic country music.

Genres

Descriptors: parody, satirical, witty, storytelling, traditional

Tracklist

  1. I'm Holding You (04:02)
  2. Japanese Cowboy (03:01)
  3. Piss up a Rope (03:33)
  4. I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm (02:44)
  5. Pretty Girl (02:35)
  6. Powder Blue (03:14)
  7. Mister Richard Smoker (02:42)
  8. Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain (02:45)
  9. You Were the Fool (04:26)
  10. Fluffy (03:31)

Credits

  • Dean Ween - vocals, guitar
  • Gene Ween - vocals, guitar
  • The Jordanaires - vocals
  • Bill Matthews - vocals
  • Neal Matthews Jr. - vocals
  • Gordon Stoker - vocals
  • Ray Walker - vocals
  • Pete Wade - dobro, guitar, 6-string bass
  • Bob Wray - bass
  • Kip Paxton - bass
  • Buddy Blackman - banjo
  • Russ Hicks - pedal steel
  • Buddy Spicher - fiddle, mandolin
  • Bobby Ogdin - piano
  • Hargus "Pig" Robbins - piano
  • Denis Solee - clarinet
  • Charlie McCoy - organ, banjo, bass, harmonica, percussion, trumpet, tuba, vibraphone
  • Gene Chrisman - drums
  • Buddy Harman - drums
  • Andrew Weiss - engineer
  • Bobby Bradley - engineer
  • Ben Vaughn - producer
  • Chuck Dehaan - art direction

More from Ween: full discography