like a horse in a saddle
June 1, 2010oh, people. it’s time for another installation of “slimlove loves nathan rabin,” as he tackles one of my favorite delightfully demented albums:
Like The Byrds did with Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, the brothers Ween recruited an all-star team of session musicians to give their smartass foray into country an authentic sheen on 12 Golden Country Greats (true to form, the album is only ten songs long; the album title refers to the session musicians). That’s the album’s most inspired joke: having country legends like Hargus “Pig” Robbins, Elvis’ longtime back-up singers The Jordanaires, and Buddy Harman dress up Ween’s puerile humor in a sparkling, rhinestone-studded Nudie suit.
i started listening to ween in college. their 1999 concert at the warfield was an epic event in my early adulthood. for a while there, T and i were both completely obsessed with 12 golden country greats. we listened to it in the morning before going off to class/work. we tried to convince everyone else we knew to listen to it. we could not understand why they could not see the humor in “piss up a rope,” which is so intentionally offensive it’s hysterically funny (i stand by that opinion, but your mileage may vary):
in recent years, ween has kind of stuck with the neo-prog rock sound they began with the mollusk (a brilliant album, incidentally). and while i still like their newer stuff and i find it, generally speaking, more listenable than godweensatan the oneness or the pod, it’s also not nearly as surprising or crazily awesome as the older albums. but then again, i guess that’s what happens when you stop huffing scotch guard.*
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and yeah, i know that scotch guard thing was a joke. but at the time, if you’re listening to the pod while under the influence, it seems not only plausible but eminently reasonable.
