Gene Ween talks about Phish covering Roses Are Free

Phish General
#42

I think you might have a little lack of perspective there.

Primus was actually way more popular than anything Les has done ever since. I tihnk Pork Soda was the peak of Claypool’s commercial success, breaking the top 10 in Billboard. The headlined Lollapalooza, and wrote the theme to South Park. I think he’s been playing to steadily dwindling audience and seeing steadily dwindiling record sales since. I’m not saying he’s pandering to Jam Banders, but he certainly pursued that niche market after his public interest in his work waned.

Ween on the other hand never reached to commercial success of Primus or the other big alternative bands of the '90s. They were more like the Flaming Lips in that they had enough of a following and a quirky “hit” (“Push The Little Daisies”) to keep them signed to a major label even though they were never going to be big mainstream stars. They built a loyal following through touring and strong albums. I think White Pepper actually sold more records than Pure Guava or Chocolate and Cheese. The attention of Phish covering them earned them some new fans, but I don’t think they really give a fuck if Phish fans like them or not.

#43

Ween never did much for me… pretty indifferent about the band… and why should ween care if phish fans like them? I mean… just asking… is it all about popularity? Phish helped us gain some fans so we should be grateful? these ween characters are from PA and I went to a bar called john and peters in new hope where ween apparently cut their teeth and my brother pointed out Dean Ween sitting at the bar smoking a cig and drinking a beer… this was a guy who could give two craps about fame and fortune. I think most musicians don’t care too much about that… its art to them and they can’t live without it… and if people enjoy they’re music than goody goody gum drops. ummm… maybe?

#44

Phish are iconic…Ween…hmmm. Who cares what anyone has to say about Phish, especially when it comes from a band of such small significance as Ween. I detect a bit of jealousy from little mean Gene from a band called Ween, who doesn’t like the Jam band scene.

#45

I don’t really care if he doesn’t like the music…that’s his thing. But I’d never even heard of Ween until I heard Roses are Free…he should at least appreciate the publicity. This is like those bands like Chumbawumba who had one big hit and are now “sick of it” and kind of resent the extra attention it got them. You guys would be in a gutter without that song!!

#46

Where’s the Cheese at :question: , Dude. Wheres my car :question: Push The Lil’ Daisys, Mega Hits keep coming out of these Irish Rockers :wave: :crazy:

#47

^^ By that logic Steve-o, Phish should appreciate the publicity they get by the McLovin’s or moe. and never say anything negative about the type of music they play because without them no one would have ever heard of Phish without those bands covering them…right?

Or Zappa and The Who should be eternally grateful to Phish because without Phish covering them no one would have ever heard of them? That logic makes no sense. “Because I had never heard of one of the greatest bands ever before I heard Phish cover them a handful of times, that band should be grateful to Phish because now I have heard of them”. There are lots of people that like the Beatles, the Talking Heads, the Rolling Stones, Los Lobos and Ween now because they heard Phish cover those bands, but it doesn’t means the success of those bands should be solely, or even remotely, attributed to Phish.

Ween’s been a huge iconic band in my life for the last 15 years or so. I mean I probably would have never heard of Phish were it not for Phish covering Roses Are Free, but I don’t think that means that Phish owes Ween anything…nor should it work the opposite way. Phish love Ween, I love Ween and Phish, Gene Ween likes Trey…so can’t we all just get along?

#48

NO! There will be no getting along.

::shits rainbow colored unicorn::

#49

i would like to publicly thank phish for introducing me to the music of the Talking Heads, the Del McCrouy Band, The Rolling Stones, Ween, ZZ Top, Los Lobos, Stevie Wonder, Taj Mahal, Edgar Winter, The Velvet Underground, Son Seals, ACDC, and Bill Monroe, who extensive albums and songs i may have never known if not for phish. :thumbup: :crazy:

#50

Chumbawumba gave all the money they made/still make off that song to charity. Yer an idiot Steveho!

#51

I taught Erika English with 87 Ween mp3s. They make me feel excellent. I GET them, and bass fishing. BT666

#52

This. I have no problem with Gene disliking Phish’s music or jambands in general, though… who cares? His remark does smack of a bit of arrogance, but whatever, that’s expected to some degree.

Whether or not Ween has recorded incredible music is something we could argue about. I’m gonna say “no, they have not,” but it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Party rock just doesn’t do much for me.

#53

:unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: Party Rock? :wtf: :crazy: :thumbdown: :smiling_imp: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

#54

All I listen to is Party Rock. Phish, the Dead, the Stones, Zappa, Ween, Gram Parsons, Prince…basically anything you can party to is party rock, and I can party to it all.

#55

Well, crap, so much for that awesome argument we were gonna have. :wink:

(In all seriousness, I don’t know if they do anything that’s overly unique or special, but I do like that they don’t really seem to give a fuck.)

#56

Then you obviously haven’t heard much Ween. Everything they do is totally unique. “Special” is subjective, but love 'em or hate 'em you can’t deny that there is no band out there like them.

#57

Party rock as opposed to… rocking chair rock? naptime rock? rock and still? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I’ll admit I have not listened to much Ween. In the 90’s I was into phish and my brother was into Ween… never the two shall twain meet… still seems to be the case. :wink:

#58

^^ I have heard a fair amount (several friends were REALLY into them) but you’re right, there’s probably no band out there like them. I guess that in and of itself didn’t make them overly interesting to me.

Let’s try this another way: Devin, what do you love about Ween’s music that you don’t hear anywhere else? (I’m seriously asking this, not being a passive-aggressive prick.)

#59

^That’s a really hard question to answer Jay. How does one describe it without referencing other music that I like? How do you describe something while saying that it’s like nothing else? I love 'em because they sound like Ween and no one else sounds like Ween. I don’t know how to describe sounds, especially with a band that has as varied an output as Ween. I mean I could tell you about how they are a lo-fi avante-psychedelic-rock duo, or how they are a huge Country Band or a post-punk thrashing machine or just how they are sensitive singer songwriters, but that would only describe a tiny portion of their output.

The closest thing I could compare them to is maybe Zappa in terms of how varied their output is, and in terms of how hard their “sound” is to describe without pigeonholing them into one style or another. I can’t point to any one thing musically about them that does it for me, it’s a combination of all their styles and influences that really attracts me to Ween, and to a lot of bands I listen to, be it the Dead, or Phish or Zappa or what have you. I just tend to listen to bands that like to push the boundaries of rock n’ roll and Ween is one of the only bands in the last 20 some odd years to really do that imo.

#60

[attachment=0]rockandstill.jpg[/attachment]
Rock’n’Still ftw

#61

See, I can get down with that. I usually answer the “what kind of music do you listen to?” question with “The kind that doesn’t have a kind,” or doesn’t fit in any genre. I don’t limit it to rock & roll (since most of what I listen to is not rock music) but that’s effectively the one common thread that unites a lot of my ‘favorite’ music.

So I guess I just haven’t heard the gateway Ween that’ll get me in the door. I’ve heard Chocolate and Cheese, GodWeenSatan, The Pod, Pure Guava, and White Pepper that I can think of. “Heard” being the operative word; I haven’t “listened” closely. Mostly their music seemed like simple, plain songs about drugs and poop and sex and partying and vaginas. I know that’s not a fair assessment, but that’s how it came off to me. That may be saying more about the friends who were way into Ween than it does about Ween’s music, though. :laughing: