Ween - Chocolate and Cheese 30th Anniversary 3xLP

Rhino / Elektra (2024, Reissue)

I had made a point to call out Chocolate and Cheese in my end of the year post as one of the best reissues of 2024 that I just didn't have enough time to write about before 2024 concluded.  Well, here we are in April and I'm finally getting to it.  Perhaps a bit of a disservice to such a fine album, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

Ween was a group that was recommended to me by my friend Pat.  As I was getting obsessively into Beck at the time, he thought that Ween would also be up my alley.  Completely unheard, I went out and picked up Pure Guava as well as Chocolate and Cheese pretty much at the same time.  I vaguely remember getting them the same day, but at different stores, but we're talking 1994 here, so I cannot say my memory for events like that is still sharp 31 years later.  I loved both records immediately, though I gravitated more towards Pure Guava, which remains my favorite in Ween's catalog.

That's not to take anything away from Chocolate and Cheese as it has stood the test of time as being my second favorite Ween album.  It's not quite as sprawling and weird as Pure Guava can get, though it is sprawling and weird in its own way.  I think it plays a little bit better as an album and definitely has more cohesive songs in general, despite the dizzying array of styles throughout the album.  You go from the lounge inspired crooning of "Take Me Away" to the fuzzed out yelling of "I Can't Put My Finger on It" to the perfect pop of "Roses are Free" and "What The Deaner Was Talkin' About." And every single one of these fits perfectly in the context of the album.  Quite the feat.

This 30th anniversary edition is a triple LP with the third disc essentially being a new album of unreleased outtakes and a few demos.  You can, and I do, listen to it as a completely separate entry in the Ween canon and it holds up with most songs of that era.  This makes it absulotely the essential version of Chocolate and Cheese and I was happy to double dip on this one.  Boy oh boy, do I wish they would put out one of these for Pure Guava as well.

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m6KA_G_DkUhl9UwCPVH1JD4ovzP4Um6dI

Sam & Dave - Soul Men LP

Stax / Rhino (2017, Reissue)

I'm out of Wilson Pickett records for the time being, but I'm going to keep going through some older soul records every other Thursday until I completely run out.  Luckily I either picked up (or received as gifts) quite a few records that fit the bill towards the end of last year.  This week's entry is Sam & Dave.

Sam & Dave were one of the very first bands I learned about stemming from my love of the Blues Brothers as a kid.  They were the original artist responsible for the Blues Brother's biggest hit, "Soul Man."  I remember as a kid watching some Atlantic Records anniversary TV special and Dan Aykroyd came out to sing the song with Either Sam or Dave, I don't remember which (I suppose I could look it up, but I'll just keep the memory warm and fuzzy as opposed to finding footage of it that makes it seem less magical). Since John Belushi had passed when I was about 4, this special was one of the only 'new' Blues Brothers events that happened.

Anyway, I've always had a Sam & Dave greatest hits CD.  But, like with Wilson Pickett, I thought it was time to pick up some of their actual albums.  Soul Men is the first and only one I have so far.  I want to get more, but the record buying budget is currently a bit tighter than it's been in a while.  Luckily this album has "Soul Man" on it in addition to some other incredible songs like "Broke Down Piece of Man" and "Hold It Baby."

I just love all of these old Stax record.  They're very much a part of the building blocks that made me love music to begin with, but they still sound as fresh to me as they did the very first time I heard them.

Sam & Dave - "Soul Man":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVx2i6jGzf8

Sam & Save - "Broke Down Piece of Man":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0rUeSccx-I