Ween has opened the vault on 12 Golden Country Greats again, unexpectedly sharing a new four-song EP called Golden Wastes. It arrives just weeks after the band marked the 30th anniversary of the 1996 record with an expanded deluxe reissue carrying more than 20 previously unreleased recordings from the same sessions.
Golden Wastes gathers four additional tracks that didn't make that deluxe cut: "I'm Holding You (Waste Version)," a different take on the album's tender country ballad; "There's A Smooth Talkin' Dude Around," a rock-leaning alternate version of "Pretty Girl"; an alternate take of "Mister Richard Smoker," one of the record's most-played songs in concert between 1996 and 2024; and "I'm Gonna Fix Your Ass," another version of a song that did make the deluxe edition.
In a note about "I'm Gonna Fix Your Ass," the band said the song was originally considered for the Chocolate and Cheese deluxe set before landing on the cutting room floor, and that the mix used for the 12 Golden Country Greats deluxe edition was the one member Deaner earmarked for release. The band described it as a country ballad about getting ripped off by someone in your own social circle.
12 Golden Country Greats was recorded in Nashville with a group of session players the band nicknamed the Shit Creek Boys, and Elvis Presley's longtime backing group the Jordanaires contributed vocals to two of the record's tracks, "I'm Holding You" and "Powder Blue."
Golden Wastes extends what has already become one of the more thorough looks back at a single rock album's making that Ween has offered, following the deluxe reissue with a companion collection rather than letting the outtakes stay in the vault.
The facts
- Four-song EP of outtakes from the 12 Golden Country Greats era
- Arrives weeks after the album's 30th anniversary deluxe reissue
- 12 Golden Country Greats was recorded with backing vocals from the Jordanaires on two tracks
- "Mister Richard Smoker" was one of the album's most-played tracks in concert from 1996 to 2024
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