WEEN: 1984-1999
1984 - Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo meet in 8th grade typing class at New Hope-Solebury High School in Pennsylvania. Both are making home recordings at the time and begin swapping records from their collections. The boys are visited by the demon-god BOOGNISH, prompting them to form WEEN and assume the alter egos Dean and Gene Ween.
1985 -Ween skips all developmental stages of being a rock band and
are hopelessly addicted to drugs by age 15. First of two cassettes and an EP
released on Bird O' Pray (intentional misspelling, fact-checkers) Records,
Trenton, NJ label run by friends of Ween, Jeff Rusnak and Andrew Weiss, who
goes on to produce much of the band's future output.
1986 - Ween plays first ever club show at Trenton's City Gardens,
opening for the Butthole Surfers. Live "outfit" comprised of Dean and Gene
on guitar and vocals respectively, and a cassette deck with the drums and
bass on tape.
1987- Dean and Gene are forced to attend summer school together after
failing a number of classes, most notably Biology. Summer school teacher
spends months discussing quantum physics with the boys, which contributes to
no visible improvement in the songwriting. Ween wins high school talent show
with their rendition of "Foxy Lady".
1989 - Ween plays at a party in Maplewood, NJ, opening for friends
Skunk, who are being scouted at the time by Twin-Tone Records of
Minneapolis. Both bands are soon signed to Twin-Tone and Ween starts work on
debut album God Ween Satan: The Oneness. Dean and Gene are living together
in New Hope on a horse farm, working at a gas station and a local Mexican
restaurant. Ween is booed off stage opening for Fugazi by a capacity crowd
at City Gardens, establishing a pattern that will continue for the next
couple of years.
1990 - God Ween Satan: The Oneness is released. Arguably the band's
masterwork. The 26-song double record is produced by Andrew Weiss (who is by
then the bass player in the Rollins Band) in his living room. Ween tours
Europe heavily in support of the record, but never manages to do any
American touring as Twin-Tone Records slowly goes out of business. Downtime
is consumed by recording sessions at Chez Ween.
1991 - Ween comes into contact with Shimmy-Disc label boss Kramer,
giving him some tapes of the 4-track home recorded material. Both parties
agree to release the material as is. The tapes become Ween's second album,
and quite possibly the unit's magnum opus, The Pod.
1992 - Planning to release another album's worth of 4-track tapes on
an independent label, Ween is approached by Steve Ralbovsky, then of Elektra
Records, who agrees to release that record, once again, "as is."
1993 - Pure Guava is released on Elektra in 1993. Though essentially
a continuation of The Pod, it is lauded by many as the combo's defining
moment. Ween tours as a duo for the remainder of the year, playing in
America, Canada, Europe, and Australia (where "Push th' Little Daisies," the
first ever Ween "single", actually cracks the top ten).
1994 - Much of the year is spent making the fourth Ween album, for
which Gene and Dean switch to a full band format onstage, and also bid fond
adieu to the 4 track. Chocolate and Cheese, recorded and produced by Andrew
Weiss (who leaves the Rollins Band and joins Ween as full-time bass player)
in a rented industrial space in Pennington, NJ, is released in the fall of
1994. It is hailed as an instant classic, perhaps the apex of the Ween
ouevre.
(Also recorded during the C&C sessions is the Z-Rock Hawaii album, a
collaboration between Ween and Japan's Boredoms.)
Chocolate and Cheese is supported by a year-long world tour and no less than
three singles, "I Can't Put my Finger On It", "Voodoo Lady", and "Freedom Of
'76." A video for "Freedom" is directed by Spike Jonze, and is played on
MTV, by the band's account, "like once."
1995 - Following a lengthy break, work begins on material for the
next Ween album. After a few months of writing, the band realizes that
they've compiled a good number of tunes with a country and western flavor.
They begin to investigate the possibility of making a record in Nashville,
using session musicians from the golden age of country. With the help of
friend Ben Vaughn (who had produced records in Nashville before), Ween
compiles a list of potential players for the record. The core band is
assembled by Charlie McCoy, most famous for his work on Bob Dylan's
Nashville period albums, Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline. With the
help of Ben and Charlie, Ween rounds up 12 of the best living players in
Nashville, four of whom are named "Buddy", and book an eight-day session in
November 1995.
1996 - While Ween originally has no intention of releasing the
sessions (work continues on a "real" Ween album all the while), it is
decided that they are too good to shelve. Hence: The fifth Ween album, 12
Golden Country Greats, released in 1996 and unequivocally perceived as the
ensemble's foremost contribution to the C&W canon.
Despite having no plans to tour in support of the record (most of the
players have long since forsaken the road), Ween are able to organize a
scaled down version of the Nashville band for two shows at Tramps in New
York. The band is led by Bobby Ogdin, one of the album's piano players as
well as an alumnus of Elvis Presley's 1970s band. Spurred by the success of
these shows, everyone in the band commits to a one-month U.S. tour in the
fall of 1996.
1996-1997 - Having long discussed the possibility of making music at
the virtually deserted beach during the winter months, Ween rents a house on
the ocean at Long Beach Island, NJ. As no material is written prior to
moving into the beach house, the environment plays a major role in the
songwriting process, manifesting itself in a very heavy nautical theme. Days
are spent fishing, recording and drinking heavily. Three or four months into
this process, the house's pipes freeze and burst, flooding and ruining the
beach house studio. While damage to the tapes and equipment is minor, Ween
are forced to evacuate the premises and finish the album at home with Andrew
Weiss producing and mixing.
1997 - The Mollusk, universally recognized as the sixth Ween album.
1997-1999 - The release of The Mollusk is followed by the heaviest
amount of touring yet. By this point, the Ween live experience has expanded
to a five-piece band playing three to four hours per night. Ween's
longstanding open taping policy gives rise to an ever-increasing number of
shows being traded by fans over the Internet. The band decides to compile a
live retrospective double CD to be sold exclusively through their website (www.chocodog.com/ween)
but is approached by Elektra, who ultimately releases Paintin' The Town
Brown--Ween Live '90-'98 in the summer of 1999.
1999 - Material for the seventh proper Ween album takes place in a
rented cottage in Maine, as well as at the once-flooded, now refurbished
Mollusk beach house. Recording commences in September at Bearsville Studios
in Woodstock, NY. Chris Shaw is chosen to record the material, primarily due
to his involvement on Ween's two favorite Public Enemy records. ("You can
really feel the 'black rage' that Chris brings to the project," comments the
band.)
A few distinct factors distinguish the resultant White Pepper from the rest
of the Ween catalog. Firstly, the entire record is recorded in a "band"
format, more parallel to the Ween live experience. Also, there is a notable
lack of the word "----" anywhere on the record. No one can explain how the
---- this happened. Additionally, the mind enhancing drugs in the Ween diet
are replaced with alcohol and pharmaceuticals, giving the band new insight
into the psyche of working class America. The record also features strings,
horns, and female backup singers... "three very bad signs for the future of
Ween," says the band.
