Ween – Chocolate And Cheese – Booklet
Introduction
In 2000 I purchased Ween’s Chocolate And Cheese. I can’t remember why I bought it exactly, but the album intrigued me. I had already read a lot about its eclecticism, and if there’s anything that piques my interest, it’s that word.
Ween
In 1984 Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in school. They shared a passion for music, picked the name Ween (a combination of “wuss” and “penis”) and started recording their own music: “the music was designed to be obnoxious”. In the second half of the 1980s the group released a number of cassettes, containing music played by Ween while being supported by a Digital Audio Tape (DAT) machine (containing pre-recorded backup music). They also performed using the very same DAT.
Ween – Boognish
During one of their shows an A&R representative for the Twin/Tone label, operating from Minneapolis, saw the band play live and offered them a deal. In November 1990 Ween released their debut album, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, an album with no less than 26 songs. Their motto for creating “obnoxious” music was clearly audible. A lot of it was a bit sappy, mediocre juvenile music, but it did contain some special pieces that showed the band was capable of true musical greatness, was able to play a lot of different genres and could be relevant. On the song L.M.L.Y.P., an adaptation of the Prince songs Shockadelica and Alphabet St., Ween is more ‘vintage Prince‘ than Prince was himself around that time.
Little over a year later the band released its second album: The Pod, this time containing 23 songs, on the Shimmy-Disc label. The recordings were done using a 4-track cassette recorder. The cover was a parody of Leonard Cohen’s 1975 compilation album, The Best Of Leonard Cohen.
Ween signed with a major label, Elektra Records, and released their third album in November 1992: Pure Guava, containing 19 songs. With Push Th’ Little Daisies it even spawned a minor hit, which was frequently incorporated into episodes of the MTV cartoon Beavis And Butt-Head.
Until then Ween had mostly performed as a duo, but now it was time to expand the band with a drummer and a bass player. As can be easily deduced from the extraordinary large output per album, the band didn’t suffer from writer’s-block, far from it. The next album was no exception to that rule. The recording process was new though. The preceding albums had all been lo-fi recordings done with their own amateurish equipment, but the upcoming recording sessions would be done in a ‘real’ professional studio.
N.B.:
Ween used their own logo, named Boognish. It can be found on the covers of the albums GodWeenSatan: The Oneness and Chocolate And Cheese (in the belt-buckle). Boognish was a demon-god like figure and was the patron saint for Ween. The logo was often used as backdrop on the stage.
Ween – Chocolate And Cheese
Chocolate And Cheese
Op September 27, 1994, Ween released their fourth album, Chocolate And Cheese, the first to be recorded in a professional studio. Once again, the group’s work ethic was impressive: 16 songs. Demo recordings took place as far back as the summer of 1992, two of them ending up on the album without any rework. The rest was professionally (re)recorded between late 1993 and spring of 1994. Chocolate And Cheese was the first album with a full band. The album is dedicated to John Candy, the comic who had died on March 4, 1994.
The album stars off infectiously with Take Me Away, during which the band says “thank you” to the imaginary crowd (sounding like 5 or 6 men/women?). Funny. Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down) is inspired by a news report of a hillbilly calling the disease “Smile on, mighty Jesus”. The pain and fear declared by a child’s voice is rather painful.Freedom Of ’76 is a falsetto sung soul song about the city of Philadelphia. I Can’t Put My Finger On It is a totally unique song with raw guitars and scream-singing.
A Tear For Eddie is an instrumental tribute to Parliament/Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel, who had died in December 1992. Roses Are Free is a funky-ish song that, according to the band themselves, resembles the music of Prince. The ballad (?) Baby Bitch is about Gene Ween’s ex-girlfriend. The 1960s influence on Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony? is the result of a heavy mushroom trip in a hotel room.
Two acoustic guitars accompany Drifter In The Dark, a song written after Gene Ween first heard the music of country singer Roger Miller. Inspired by voodoo culture, Voodoo Lady has a drive propelled by bongo’s (!). Jappa Road is about a real street in Washington, D.C. and is the happy tune on the album. Candi is the result of a drunk stupor in the studio, and it shows.
Buenas Tardes Amigo was written as a reaction to a scene in Sesame Street where a white puppet is teaching Spanish words to other puppets. The HIV Song was written after a friend jokingly said he wanted to get a megaphone and just shout out horrible diseases. The lyrics just contain the words “AIDS” and “HIV” set to polka, circus music. What Deaner Was Talkin’ About portrays sleepless nights caused by anxiety (attacks). The album is closed off by Don’t Shit Where You Eat, which is about to “not trash the place you sleep in, don’t bite the hand that feeds you, and most importantly don’t poop on the same plate you eat on or you’ll be eating shit. A good lesson for us all”. Some true life altering lessons on a Ween album.
Ween – Chocolate And Cheese – Booklet back cover
Cover
Initially the band had planned a cover with a “gay sailor theme”, but it was turned down by the record company. The combination of The HIV Song and that particular cover was deemed too sensitive. Subsequently, the band was inspired by the compilation All The Great Hits, which shows a boxer’s torso with a boxing belt. Ween thought it would be funny to mimic the idea and create a Playboy like cover, which essentially shows no nudity at all.
The band has never met the album cover’s model. The Playboy link came true some time later when early 2000s the magazine proclaimed Chocolate And Cheese the album with the sexiest album cover of all time.
Ween – Chocolate And Cheese – Taster cassette
Review
I love eclectic albums and Chocolate And Cheese most certainly is that. Even though the sappiness can be overwhelming, and things get painful at times (the ‘child’ complaining of the pain in Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)), the album is the best Ween has ever released. The music is contagious, the diversity impressive, there’s no genre of music the band can’t handle.
However, with Candi the album does also contain the worst song the band ever recorded, by admission of Ween as well: “the worst song that’s on any Ween record” (Dean Ween), “a big, runny diarrhea shit” (Claude Coleman), but Gene Ween primarily remembers “laughing my ass off” in de studio. But, it truly is a hideous song.
On the other hand, it is the only stinker here. Chocolate And Cheese is a fantastic, diverse, sappy, sincere, funny and serious album. In other words: Ween.
But, maybe even more importantly, the album is the ultimate introduction to Ween. If you don’t like Chocolate And Cheese, chances are you don’t like the rest as well. If you do like it, it opens the way to the unique world of Ween.
Liner notes
The promotional versions of the album contained liner notes written by Dean Ween, which have been included below.
CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE is the fourth album by the group WEEN. It was recorded in an industrial park office in Pennington, New Jersey, not far from where we live. As always, it was produced and mixed by Andrew Weiss. The title is a lot deeper than anyone might assume. I suppose you could look at this as our “bustin’ out” album, the one that might establish us as the next COUNTING CROWS. Fuck it, we never even got to meet the chick on our cover. I feel that while this is our most mellow record, somehow it turned out to be the most aggressive of the four. It is also worth mentioning that for the first time in four years, this record was recorded with everyone in perfect health (except Andrew, who broke his ankle on a sheet of ice in January). We really wanted to buy new Mercedes Benzs’ with our Pure Guava advance, but, instead, we built our studio for Chocolate and Cheese. I drive a ’78 Cadillac and Gener has a brown Mercury Cougar. I read that Green Day has already been named Punk Band of the Year by Time Magazine (7-94), maybe we’ll be the Hard Rock Band of the Year. The next Collective Soul. We’re really goin’ for the whole banana this time. “Voodoo Lady” is gonna be the next “Feed the Tree.” I was told that whilst filming his new movie, Oliver Stone had GUAVA cranking on the set and Woody Harrelson threatened to walk off unless “that shit got turned off.” Woody, I saw you sing “Jailhouse Rock” on Letterman and the shit was weak. You’re no Lisa Loeb. We had a million great video concepts for our record, none of which will see the light of day without serious help from Oliver Stone, and a large financial institution. We wanted to film in Africa, with a nation of tribesman behind us with Paul Simon’s head superimposed on everyone. No go. We wanted to film our video in a white Bronco with 50 L.A.P.D. cars and choppers chasing us, people holding up “go deaner” signs. Forget it. Anyways, I’m pretty proud of the way this album ended up and I’m sure you’ll like it too. ’94 is our year, the whole banana…
dean ween 7-94
Ween – Chocolate And Cheese – Singles
Singles
The album produced 3 singles, all released in 1994.
- I Can’t Put My Finger On It
- Freedom Of ’76
- Voodoo Lady
Ween – Chocolate And Cheese – Back cover
Songs
All songs written by Ween, unless stated otherwise.
- Take Me Away
- Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)
- Freedom Of ’76” (Ween, Ed Wilson)
- I Can’t Put My Finger On It
- A Tear For Eddie
- Roses Are Free
- Baby Bitch
- Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?
- Drifter In The Dark
- Voodoo Lady
- Joppa Road
- Candi
- Buenas Tardes Amigo
- The HIV Song
- What Deaner Was Talkin’ About
- Don’t Shit Where You Eat
On August 2, 2024, the Chocolate And Cheese 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition was released, containing 15 extra songs recorded during the recording sessions for the original album.
Musicians
- Dean Ween – guitar, vocals, drums
- Gene Ween – vocals
- Claude Coleman Jr. – drums
Guests:
- Mean Ween – bass and vocals on Candi
- Patricia Frey – drums
- Stephan Said – Spanish guitar
Ween – Live 12/02/1994 (fltr Gene Ween, Dean Ween)
After Chocolate And Cheese
The Chocolate And Cheese tour was divided in 6 different legs running from June 24, 1994, to June 16, 1995, with the full band, followed by a short tour as a duo in 1996. In 1997 Dean Ween commented on the fifth leg as follows: “Absolutely the worst tour that we’ve ever done. I think we’ve toured Europe four times and America probably seven or eight times but this was us at our lowest, most drunken, unhealthy state.”
In 1995 Ween recorded a country album which was released as 12 Golden Country Greats in July 1996. It was followed by The Mollusk in June 1997, an album dedicated to nautical themes, described by the band as “our dark, acid rock record”. The band delivered a couple of songs to Trey Parker/Matt Stone projects, including a song for the South Park episode Chef Aid in October 1998, whose soundtrack was released on the South Park – Chef Aid album. In June 1999 the live compilation Paintin’ The Town Brown: Ween Live 1990-1998 was released, followed by White Pepper in May 2000, the final album on Elektra Records.
After two live albums, the new Ween album quebec, a dark album, was released in August 2003. After two more live albums, Shinola, Vol. 1, an album with “songs we regretted not putting on other records”, was released in July 2005. In 2007 The Friends EP (June) and La Cucaracha (October) were released, again followed by two live albums.
In 2008 Gene Ween went out on a solo tour. In February 2010 a new Ween single was made available, DC Won’t Do You No Good. Following a short 2011 tour, the disbandment of Ween was announced on May 29, 2012. Almost four years later the band was back on stage. Initially intended for just 3 shows, the band went on a modest tour within the US.
On August 29, 2024, the band announced that all planned live shows were canceled “for the foreseeable future”.
In closing
Even though I know a number of their albums by heart, I think I will never fully comprehend Ween. The silliness can be a bit too much, but I truly admire the unique entity that is Ween. The band operates exactly the way they want to and musical compromises are not part of their world.
What’s your take on Ween and Chocolate And Cheese? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Ween and the funny, painful and professional Chocolate And Cheese. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
