Ween’s 12 Golden Country Greats Gets 30th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue With 36 Tracks and Lost Cuts

Ween are revisiting 12 Golden Country Greats with a 30th anniversary deluxe edition that digs up more than 25 unreleased tracks, a development that feels especially fitting for an album that once played like a beautifully committed joke. The 1996 record arrived after the duo had already built a cult following on the back of the ragged, playful Pure Guava and Chocolate And Cheese, then headed to Nashville and cut a country album with an unusually serious list of collaborators. They brought in veteran session players they called the Shit Creek Boys and even recruited Elvis Presley’s former backing singers, the Jordinaires, for an album built around titles like “Piss Up A Rope” and “Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain.”

The reaction at the time was, understandably, a mix of confusion and disbelief. By the time Michael Nelson called it Ween’s worst album in a 2012 Stereogum list, the record had already settled into its own odd afterlife. Now the currently inactive band is opening up the vault for an expanded 12 Golden Country Greats package that includes two songs originally left off the album: “I’ve Got No Darkside” and “So Long, Jerry,” a Jerry Garcia tribute that sounds, at minimum, earnestly titled. That brings the song count in line with the album name at last, although the original release, absurdly enough, only contained 10 tracks.

The reissue goes well beyond those missing cuts. It collects four-track demos, studio outtakes, rarities, and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Fool To Cry,” pushing the total to 36 tracks and making the title inaccurate all over again. Today, Ween have shared the previously unreleased, minute-long “Bad Day In Brownsville,” a quick burst of looseness that fits the project’s anything-goes spirit. Below, the full tracklist for the box set.

TRACKLIST:

Disc 1 (original album remastered)
01 “I’m Holding You”
02 “Japanese Cowboy”
03 “Piss Up A Rope”
04 “I Don’t Wanna Leave You On The Farm”
05 “Pretty Girl”
06 “Powder Blue”
07 “Mister Richard Smoker”
08 “Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain”
09 “You Were The Fool”
10 “Fluffy”

Disc 2 (12 Golden Demos):
01 “I Don’t Wanna Leave You On The Farm” (demo)
02 “Piss Up A Rope” (demo)
03 “Mister Richard Smoker” (demo)
04 “Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain” (demo)
05 “Pretty Girl” (demo)
06 “Fluffy” (demo)
07 “You Were The Fool” (demo)
08 “Powder Blue” (demo)
09 “I’ve Got No Darkside” (demo)
10 “Maybelle” (demo)
11 “I’m Holding You” (demo)
12 “So Long Jerry” (demo)

Disc 3 (14 Golden Outtakes and Demos):
01 “I’ve Got No Darkside”
02 “Boston Chicken”
03 “Bad Day In Brownsville”
04 “Good Timing Rhyming Song”
05 “Sweet Texas Fire”
06 “Twinkle”
07  “If You Can’t Look Me In The Eye”
08 “I’m Gonna Fix Your Ass”
09 “Fool To Cry”
10 “Spaghetti”
11 “I’ll Miss You”
12 “Maybelle” (Waste Version)
13 “Scum Of This Town”
14 “So Long Jerry”

12 Golden Country Greats (Deluxe Edition) is out 7/31 on Rhino. Pre-order it here.