12 Golden Country Greats

12 Golden Country Greats
Studio album by
Ween
ReleasedJuly 16, 1996 (1996-07-16)
RecordedNovember 2–8, 1995
StudiosBradley's Barn, Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Genres
Length33:35 (original version)
32:37 (reissued version)
1:57:46 (deluxe edition)
LabelElektra
ProducerBen Vaughn
Ween chronology
Chocolate and Cheese
(1994)		 12 Golden Country Greats
(1996)		 The Mollusk
(1997)
Singles from 12 Golden Country Greats
  1. "Piss Up a Rope"
    Released: 1996
  2. "You Were the Fool"
    Released: 1996
Singles from 12 Golden Country Greats (Deluxe Edition)
  1. "Bad Day in Brownsville"
    Released: May 13, 2026
  2. "Boston Chicken"
    Released: June 3, 2026
  3. "So Long Jerry"
    Released: June 24, 2026
  4. "Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain (2026 Remaster)"
    Released: July 15, 2026

12 Golden Country Greats is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Ween, and their third on Elektra Records. It is the only album on which the group limited themselves to a specific genre of music (in this case, country music).

Background and recording

According to producer and friend of the band Ben Vaughn, Ween asked him to produce the album because he already had experience working with musicians in the Nashville country scene, having produced Arthur Alexander's album Lonely Just Like Me (1993) and co-written songs with Rodney Crowell and Gary Nicholson. The legendary Bradley's Barn was chosen as the recording studio for the album.[2]

Some musicians, such as keyboardist Bobby Emmons (who also served as a church deacon) and Danny Davis, declined to participate in the recording due to the vulgar nature of much of the lyrics, with Emmons saying "I prefer not to work on blue material". However, Ween and Vaughn still got many highly regarded country musicians to play on the album.[3] Later, Ween assembled some of the session musicians again into a touring band dubbed The Shit Creek Boys.

Album title

Despite the album's title, it only features ten tracks. Ween claimed that the "12" represents the veteran musicians that appear on the record.

However, the band did indeed record twelve songs during the demo sessions for the album. When it came time to record the actual album, the band chose not to use the songs "I Got No Darkside" and "So Long, Jerry" but kept the album title. "So Long, Jerry", a tribute to the then recently deceased Jerry Garcia, was featured as a B-Side on the "Piss Up a Rope" single.

Song information

The session musicians were responsible for almost all of the instrumentation on the album. The only instrumental parts recorded by the core members of Ween were guitar solos by Dean and Gene on "I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm" and "Fluffy", respectively.[3]

Gene sings the lead vocal part on every song except "Piss Up a Rope" and "Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain", which feature Dean on lead vocals. The Jordanaires, best known for having provided background vocals for Elvis Presley, appear on the tracks "I'm Holding You" and "Powder Blue".

The melody of "Japanese Cowboy" closely resembles that of "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis. The band has played the two songs as a medley in live shows.[3]

In the tradition of country music, during "Powder Blue", Gene introduces each member of the band, who then plays a short solo on their instrument. The track was intended to run for 4:16, the last approximately one minute of which would consist of an audio clip of Muhammad Ali from after the Rumble in the Jungle fight playing over the backing instrumental track of the song. Ali's lawyers denied Ween permission to use the audio sample, but the album had already been mixed by that point, and Elektra accidentally initially pressed the album with Ali's speech still included. Repressings contain a cropped version of the track that ends abruptly at 3:13, after the introduction: "Ladies & Gentlemen, I'd like to present Muhammad Ali" (who is no longer heard).

Singles

"Piss Up a Rope" was released as a 7-inch vinyl single on Diesel Only Records. The B-side was "Sweet Texas Fire", a non-album track recorded during the Chocolate & Cheese sessions.

"You Were the Fool" and "Piss Up a Rope" were released together as a 7-inch vinyl single on Flying Nun Records (with "You Were the Fool" on "Side A" and "Piss Up a Rope" on "Side AA"). "So Long Jerry" (a tribute to Jerry Garcia recorded during the 12 Golden Country Greats sessions, but omitted from the final album) was included with these songs on a CD single issued by Elektra.

Appearances in other media

"Piss Up a Rope" was included in the 1997 crime film U Turn, which was set in a rural area. That same year "I'm Holding You" was included in the independent drama film Dream with the Fishes.[4] "I'm Holding You" also appeared on the soundtrack album for Dream with the Fishes, which was released in June 1997.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[1]
Entertainment WeeklyC−[6]
NME1/10[7]
Pitchfork8.5/10[8]
Rolling StoneStarStar[9]
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStarStar[10]
Spin6/10[11]
SputnikmusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[12]

Reviews for the album were mostly positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "as satisfying as any of their records, and gutsier, too", despite interpreting "Mister Richard Smoker" as being homophobic, and awarded the album 4 stars out of 5. Sputnikmusic's Zachary Powell gave the album 4+1⁄2 stars out of 5 and claimed that "Writing songs about similar themes to what country songs have been written about but including their personal brown touch is what the band does best." Another writer for the same site, Bill Thomas, gave the album 4 stars out of 5. Ethan Smith of Entertainment Weekly, on the other hand, railed against the album, describing the songs as being "notable more for their homophobia, misogyny, and racism than for anything funny", and gave it a C−.

In a 2011 interview, producer Ben Vaughn remarked that, when the album was released, many Ween fans were confused by the radical break with the band's previous sound, comparing it to the fan reception given to Neil Young's album Trans.[3]

30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

On May 13th, 2026, the band announced through Rhino Records that 12 Golden Country Greats would receive a remastered deluxe edition spread across 3 LPs, released in July. The first LP is the remastered original album, the second LP contains demos for most of the album (minus Japanese Cowboy) and including early versions of 3 cut tracks. The 3rd LP consists of various vault tracks that had never been given an official release before, also including the two songs ("I've Got No Darkside" and "So Long Jerry") that had been intended for the original album but were cut at the last minute, as well as a cover of the Rolling Stones song Fool to Cry. [13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ween.

12 Golden Country Greats
No.TitleLead VocalsLength
1."I'm Holding You"Freeman4:02
2."Japanese Cowboy"Freeman3:01
3."Piss Up a Rope"Melchiondo3:33
4."I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm"Freeman2:44
5."Pretty Girl"Freeman2:35
6."Powder Blue" (3:13 on repressings of the album)Freeman4:16
7."Mister Richard Smoker"Freeman2:42
8."Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain"Melchiondo2:45
9."You Were the Fool"Freeman4:26
10."Fluffy"Freeman3:31
Total length:33:35

30th anniversary deluxe edition bonus tracks

12 Golden Demos

All tracks are written by Ween.

No.TitleLength
1."I Don’t Wanna Leave You on the Farm (demo)"2:37
2."Piss Up a Rope (demo)"3:28
3."Mister Richard Smoker (demo)"2:06
4."Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain (demo)"2:38
5."Pretty Girl (demo)"2:33
6."Fluffy (demo)"2:39
7."You Were the Fool (demo)"2:49
8."Powder Blue (demo)"2:31
9."I’ve Got No Darkside (demo)"5:03
10."Maybelle (demo)"4:26
11."I’m Holding You (demo)"3:59
12."So Long Jerry (demo)"4:55
Total length:39:44

14 Golden Outtakes and Demos

All tracks are written by Ween except “Fool to Cry” by the Rolling Stones.

No.TitleLength
1."I've Got No Darkside"5:16
2."Boston Chicken"2:38
3."Bad Day in Brownsville"1:10
4."Good Timing Rhyming Song"1:28
5."Sweet Texas Fire"2:31
6."Twinkle"2:18
7."If You Can't Look Me in the Eye"1:51
8."I'm Gonna Fix Your Ass"4:54
9."Fool to Cry"4:13
10."Spaghetti"3:16
11."I'll Miss You"2:55
12."Maybelle (Waste Version)"4:28
13."Scum of This Town"1:54
14."So Long Jerry"5:35
Total length:44:27

Personnel

Ween

Additional musicians:

Technical:

Charts

Chart performance for 12 Golden Country Greats
Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 72
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[17]23
2026 chart performance for 12 Golden Country Greats
Chart (2026) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18]67
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[19] 47

References

  1. 1 2 Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "12 Golden Country Greats". AllMusic. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ Hudak, Joseph (August 15, 2018). "Ween to Revisit '12 Golden Country Greats' Album at Nashville Shows". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wilkening, Matthew (July 16, 2016). "Ween Producer Ben Vaughn Details the Making of '12 Golden Country Greats'". Taste of Country. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ "» Our Favorite 'Pulp Fiction' Knockoffs".
  5. ↑ "Dream with the Fishes - Original Soundtrack | ... | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  6. ↑ Ethan Smith. "12 Golden Country Greats". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Cigarettes, Johnny (1998). "Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Ween 12 Golden Country Greats". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on May 20, 2000. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ Flaum, Eric (August 8, 1996). "Ween: 12 Golden Country Greats". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  10. ↑ Sarig, Roni (2004). "Ween". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 864–65. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ↑ Norris, Chris (August 1996). "Ween 12 Golden Country Greats". Spin. p. 103. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  12. ↑ Zachery Powell (October 10, 2006). "Ween 12 Golden Country Greats". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Ween Announce 12 Golden Country Greats 30th Anniversary Edition With More Than 25 Unreleased Tracks". Stereogum. May 13, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  14. ↑ Berman, Stuart (June 13, 2025). "A conversation with Dean Ween from 1996". stübermania!. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  15. ↑ Wilkening, Matthew WilkeningMatthew (July 16, 2011). "Ween Producer Ben Vaughn Details the Making of '12 Golden Country Greats'". Taste of Country. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  16. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 298.
  17. ↑ "Ween Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Ween – 12 Golden Country Greats" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Top Album Sales: Week of August 15, 2026". Billboard. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.