15/05/2026
In 1996, Ween confounded fans and critics alike with 12 Golden Country Greats: a deceptively titled album of expertly played, thoroughly traditional country music performed by the same duo better known for twisted, genre-defying songs like “Push th’ Little Daisies,” “Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)” and “The Stallion Pt. 3.”
On July 31, Rhino will celebrate the project’s 30th anniversary with a 36-track deluxe edition, including more than 20 unreleased demos, session outtakes and covers from the original Nashville sessions. Stream the previously unreleased, 81-second “Bad Day in Brownsville” at the link in the comments.
Recorded at Bradley’s Barn in Nashville with producer Ben Vaughn, the album found Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo) and Gene Ween (Aaron Freeman) trading their humble Tascam four-tracks for the city’s elite session players, including Elvis’ legendary backing vocalists the Jordanaires, pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins and fiddler Buddy Spicher. However, the subject matter was no less ribald, as noted by song titles such as “Piss Up a Rope,” “Mister Richard Smoker” and “Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain.”
The new version restores tracks left off the original release, like “I’ve Got No Darkside” and the Jerry Garcia tribute “So Long, Jerry,” finally fulfilling the promise of the album’s titular dozen. Fans will also get rarities like “Boston Chicken,” Ween’s rollicking take on the Rolling Stones’ “Fool To Cry” and the long-lost “Good Timing Rhyming Song.” A disc of 12 demos rounds out the collection.
Ween took a five-year break from the road between 2011-2016 but performed with some regularity until 2024, when it announced it would “step away from the stage for the foreseeable future.” At the time, the decision was attributed to concerns about Melchiondo’s mental health.
