Please excuse a little bit of good old fashioned fan fiction:
Our story opens on a remote cabin in the middle of the woods, somewhere in rural Pennsylvania. A man is chopping wood to the sound of nothing but crickets chirping and the wind gently blowing against the trees. The sun is only beginning to come up but our hero has been awake for hours enjoying the solitude of the surroundings. After years of touring the world and enjoying the excesses of his profession, the rustic solitude is just what the doctor ordered.
A black Cadillac with tinted windows slowly approaches on the 4 mile driveway as the sun slowly rises above the trees. The man chopping wood puts down his ax and lights a cigarette. He knew this day would come. The car stops; both the passenger and driver doors open. Two men in dark suits approach cautiously but purposefully. "Are you Gene Ween?" asks the driver.
"I haven't gone by that name in a long time. A long time..." says the man and takes a drag from his cigarette.
The passenger pulls out a piece of pager and hands it to the driver. He says nothing. "Ah, so you are Aaron Freeman then? From New Hope PA? Formerly known as Gene Ween? Is that correct?"
"Guilty as charged," says Freeman, "What do you want?"
"We need you to record an album. Dean Ween is waiting at the studio. We have a helicopter waiting to transport you. Just get in the car and we'll take you there. "
"I'm afraid I don't do that anymore." said Aaron "Your information is obviously outdated. Dean, I mean Mickey, should have told you that. Or was he too busy with his fishing?" With this Aaron Freeman picked up his ax and began chopping wood again.
"Aaron, you know you need to do this. What is it going to take to get you in this car. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. " Said the passenger, breaking his silence.
"Well, " said Aaron, not looking back to the mysterious men. "there is one way. I will record again, but only under a few very specific conditions."
"What is it Gene...I mean Freeman?" said the driver.
"I want to record an album under my birth name. And I want it to be a covers album of a mostly forgotten poet and songwriter of the 60s."
The men in the black suits looked at each other for a moment. Then the driver turned to Aaron Freeman and said: "Ok. As long as you get in this car now. And leave the ax. "
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Thats how I like to imagine the first solo album by
Aaron Freeman (usually known as
Gene Ween) was conceived. The real story isn't quite so bizarre, but comes with its fair share of drama.
Ween, who haven't released an album since 2007's excellent
La Cucaracha seem to be, by most accounts, on a bit of a hiatus.
Dean Ween (real name
Mickey Melchiondo) has been spending his time off from touring with his fishing business,
Mickey's Guide Service giving guided tours to angler fans (if anyone is looking for a gift for me, this would be a good one). And Freeman, who has an all too public substance abuse problem, has been doing solo shows as Gene Ween, doing stripped down versions of Ween favorites. Gene/Freeman even stopped in
Pittsburgh back in 2009. After a much talked about
"meltdown" onstage recently, it was clear that Freeman's demons had reared their ugly heads again, and the concept of touring steadily with Ween seemed a bit less real. So in the spirit of rooting for the player and not (only) the team, hearing that Papa Gene was making an album in his own name and on his own unique terms was an uplifting announcement.
What strikes me most about
Marvelous Clouds is how straight forward it is. The songs boast almost no frills and are gorgeous in their simplicity. Freeman obviously has a great respect for
Rod McKuen, who wrote all of the songs performed here decades ago. I listened to a bit of McKuen's songs in the weeks leading up to the release of Marvelous Clouds. Quick Trivia: McKuen is most famous for writing the hit 'Seasons in the Sun' (although his version is not the more popular version) and coining the phrase "Make Love, Not War". The production on this album does bring the very 60's sounding tunes into 2012 sensibilities, but the original vibe is still there.
Its also noteworthy that this collection of songs sounds almost nothing like anything Ween has ever put out. Usually when the lead singer of a popular band churns out a solo release, it sounds just like the band, but with different backing musicians (see
Jack White,
John Fogerty, etc). Freeman is able to deliver something that clearly he (not the Gene Ween character hes been playing for decades) wanted to do. The affected vocal stylings that Ween fans have grown to love are almost nowhere to be found here. Freeman sings in his natural voice and the listener gets the impression that we are listening to a pure and organic form of therapy. And that is ultimately a beautiful thing.
Further reading:
At this point in time we don't know exactly how Aaron Freeman's current solo venture will be viewed in the history of Ween. The recent interview with Rolling Stone where Freeman surprised fans (and band members) by saying that he was retiring the Gene Ween moniker seems by some to have been a tad premature. But even after the sudden breakup, its clear where Freeman's heart lies.
The beauty of a good rock band is being able to make layered, complex and involved pieces of music and make them sound incredibly simple. Even more impressive is when a band like Pittsburgh's Meeting of Important People can pop out a brand new tune in the morning, and by the afternoon anyone who has listened to it will think its been around for years; the music is that infectious.
