Aaron Freeman - Genene

Since Aaron Freeman announced the necessary demise of his arch persona Gene Ween - the well loved and prolific songsmith he had produced music under since 1984 with his partner in crime Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo) as Ween - he may have puzzled fans with his first solo outing being an album of unearthed covers (Marvelous Clouds) by supposed legend Rod McKuen with whom he had a puzzling but befitting kinship. A crop of new original music is just what Dr. Rock ordered although it's no surprise that we're getting the kinder, gentler version of The Golden Jew.



Certain to further confuse his rabid fanbase Aaron was contacted by Hidden Track about Genene at his hospital room in Belgium where he is undergoing “a transformative procedure.":

He immediately made sure to tell us, “This song is left to interpretation on purpose. To me it’s just an honest song about where I’m at, creepy, real and pretty, just the way I like it.” Freeman finished our chat by saying, “On one hand it’s about change and acceptance on a personal, spiritual level but can obviously be interpreted literally as a sex change.”

These themes of transformation, transmogrification, shifting seem fitting for Freeman (now sober for over a year) at this point in his life and other demos with spoken word samples like Signs of The Transgression riff on similar themes.  Currently on his A. Freeman soundcloud he is only streaming two songs.  Rivers and God2.  Fortunately one of the resourceful brown minions of the Boognish captured and posted for download the majority of 2012 demos that had streamed briefly (excluding Genene unfortunately).

Ween's - Banana's and Blow (performed on harp)

Harpists Kaela and Morgana are students of a performing arts school  in Australia. Kaela's also a fan of Ween and she arranged one of her favourite songs for the harp.  Kaela is the daughter of Adam Phillips, director/animator of Ween's Transdermal Celebration video.   Father Phillips recounts:

Kaela's been hearing Ween all her life. She was 5 when I animated their Transdermal Celebration video. With the album White Pepper in the car's CD player, she'd ask me to "play the song that sounds like it's got coconuts in it", that is Bananas and Blow.

She was terrified of the song Ice Castles though because I told her it was about poison toys so it became the soundtrack to her nightmares. Bad daddy.

In case you're not familiar with the touching original version here's another clip.

Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) solo album Marvelous Clouds

Performing under his hebraic name Aaron Freeman for the first time the Golden Jew himself will perhaps quizzically release an album of material entirely written by a woebegone and suitably obscure songwriting iconoclast Rod McKuen.

McKuen it turns out is nearly as prolific a songwriter as Prince having penned some 1500 songs for artists ranging from Perry Como and Petula Clark to Waylon Jennings, Chet Baker, Johnny Cash, Andy Williams, Pete Fountain, the Kingston Trio, Percy Faith, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Mathis, Al Hirt, Greta Keller, The Boston Pops, the London Philharmonic and the Chairman of the Board himself Mr. Frank Sinatra. 

Having been a poet travelling in similar circles to Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac he would later travel abroad to France where he encountered the Belgian songwriter Jacques Brel.  McKuen is well known as the translator of the chansons of Jacques Brel and in turn introduced him to the American market.  While his collections of poetry have sold broadly, with two Oscar and one Pullitzer nominations for his serious musical compositions from his later period, he is widely reviled if not seriously shat upon by cultural critics.  The appeal then to Freeman, performing under his own name for the first time but giving voice to the songs of a passed over and by most accounts shmaltzy legend, becomes self-evident for anyone familiar with the ground from country to glam that Ween traipses back and forth across like the children of Springfield and Shelbyville do about their town lines.

At the height of his popularity in 1969 McKuen was named by Newsweek magazine 'The King of Kitsch' elsewhere his purplish poetry is variously crititically and vituperatively described as 'tailor made for the sixties', 'treacle', 'schmaltzy', 'smarmy', 'sweet kitsch', 'superficial platidinous and silly'.  In short adjectives that describe a good measure of Ween's back catalogue.

Marvelous Clouds (produced by Ben Vaughan of Ween's 12 Golden Country Greats yore), a collection of 13 songs written by McKuen, is due out April 10 on Partison Records

‘Marvelous Clouds' track list:

1. As I Love My Own
2. Jean
3. Marvelous Clouds
4. A Man Alone
5. The Beautiful Strangers
6. Doesn’t Anybody Know My Name
7. One By One
8. Pushing The Clouds
9. The Lovers
10. Mr. Kelly
11. Love’s Been Good To Me
12. Lonesome Cities
13. The World I Used To Know

Gene Ween wasted in Vancouver (setlist)

Word has been in Ween circles that Gene Ween (born Aaron Freeman) has been sober or working on his sobriety for the past few years.   In the summer of 2009 an uncharacteristically rotund but jolly Freeman seemed to be at very least moderating (and likely off hard drugs) in a pitch perfect solo performance at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern that delivered fan favourites, replete with hackneyed but stylish acoustic guitar solos, all culminating with a slew of encores including rarities at the electric piano like Demon Sweat.

This summer at Ween's Toronto performance at Kool Haus on July 29th (the setlist can be found on this site) he seemed at a healthy hefty weight and his voice was perfectly able to cover all of the ranges their repertoire demands from mawkish squeal, heartfelt squish, to all out wail.  With the complete lock between his partner in crime Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo) and bandmates Dave Dreiwitz, Claude Coleman and particularly keyboard wizard Glen McLelland, Ween delivered one of their trademark epic sets pulling out all the stops including covers of Let's Dance (Bowie) and Ohio (Neil Young).

Now word comes of their recent hopefully humourously abominable performance in Vancouver at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (January 24th) where Gener was visibly wasted (mentally and physically), missing his cues, lyrics and generally unable to perform much to the consternation of his likely highly tolerant (to a definite point) bandmates.

The Vancouver Observer reports that shortly after Bananas and Blow "he began acting a bit strange.  He sat cross-legged on the stage as he sang."  Various accounts have Gener beginning to unravel- if not from the getgo- around Bananas and Blow, in the following tune (Buckingham Green) Gene flubbed the lyrics after Dean's solo (to his apparent visible consternation).  Sitting cross-legged seemed more comfortable than standing during Mutilated Lips which followed.  Freeman was at various points unable to tune a guitar and Dean in contempt turned down his amp while Gene wasn't looking taking the mantle for a tune from his solo repertoire In My Own Bare Hands.

Things seemed to go off (or on  as it were) the rails during Reggaejunkiejew with Gener lying down flat on his back and as the band made repeat attempts to exit the extended jam, with Freeman throwing in 'Jew!' insistently (the lyrics to the song - by Freeman who is notably of Judaic descent - admittedly are little more than 'Matzafari, Reggae Junkie Jew, Fuck You') ultimately chiding him musically with an instrumental rendition of The Carpenters Superstar.  

Gene Ween at God Save The Qweens, New Hope, PA

Aaron Freeman also known as Gener, Gene Ween, The Golden Jew and around his hometown of New Hope, Pennsylvania simply Papa where he is known to drive around in his Honda Element, perhaps a carryover from the licensing of the Ween song Ocean Man.

While Deaner (Mickey Melchiondo) is busy captaining fishing his own fishing charter Gener has his blessing to tour their co-penned material in a solo acoustic context.  Here we see Freeman hanging at God Save The Qweens (13 Mechanic St., New Hope, PA) talking comfortably with Buck's Local News and performing a brief rendition the owner's favourite song Birthday Boy.

Ween - Your Party (live Koolhaus, Toronto, July 29 2010

There were beverages laid out for the party 
There were candy and spices and tricolored pastas 
The meat carved was drawn from succulent juices 
Served on platters of the purest gold 

I was calm when we arrived at the party 
I spoke with fervor, embracing the evening 
My wife leaned over and she whispered 'I love you' 
I held her close - we danced 

We had the best time at your party 
The wife and I thank you very much 
We had the best time at your party 
The wife and I thank you very much 

Creampuffs and bourbon and the music was louder 
My wife was competing in a game of chance 
The party raged and the guests were screaming 
I could have danced all night 

We had the best time at your party 
The wife and I thank you very much 
We had the best time at your party 
The wife and I thank you very much 

Later on when we were under the covers 
I closed my eyes, then I drifted to sleep 
I dreamt about me maybe throwing a party 
And just how great that would be 

And we said 
We had the best time at your party 
The wife and I thank you very much 
We had the best time at your party 
The wife and I thank you very much


- lyrics and music A. Freeman, M. Melchiondo