Chocolate and Cheese is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Ween, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994. It was the first Ween album to be recorded in a professional studio, in contrast to the crude four-track home recordings of their first three albums. However, most of the instruments were still played by Dean and Gene Ween, including their drum machine.
Reception and legacy
In July 2014, Guitar World placed Chocolate and Cheese at #45 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. The entire album was played live as part of the group's setlist at the Desert Daze festival in California on October 12, 2019.
Background
The album is dedicated to comedian John Candy, who died while Ween was putting the album together. "A Tear for Eddie" was dedicated to the funk/psychedelic guitar pioneer Eddie Hazel, who died December 23, 1992. In a 2011 interview, Gene Ween credited a Spanish lesson on Sesame Street with inspiring "Buenas Tardes Amigo". The album's title is phonetically similar to the British saying "chalk and cheese".
Album cover
Ween originally wanted the cover to have a "gay sailor theme" but the studio thought this was inappropriate, opting instead for a woman's body on the cover. The band say that they never got to meet the cover model, Ashley Savage. Additionally, the cover pays homage to The Commodores' 1982 album All the Great Hits, which features a boxer with a championship belt around his waist that has the band's name on it, but on the album cover, it has "WEEN" decorated on the belt. The cover was shot by John Kuczala.
Related releases
"I Can't Put My Finger on It" is an EP released by Elektra Records in 1994, and including the tracks "I Can't Put My Finger on It", "A Tear for Eddie", "Now I'm Freaking Out" and "Bakersfield". "Voodoo Lady EP" was released by Flying Nun Records and White Records in 1994, and included the tracks "Buenas Tardes Amigo", "There's a Pig", and "Vallejo". The EP's title track can be heard in the films Road Trip and Dude, Where's My Car?, as well as the original version of "In The Bathroom," a skit from the sketch comedy showThe State, while the album track "Buenas Tardes Amigo" was featured in the German films Lammbock and Herr Lehmann. "Freedom of '76" is an EP released by Flying Nun Records in 1995, and included two versions of the title track plus "Now I'm Freaking Out" and "Pollo Asado". CKY guitarist Chad Ginsburg appeared in the "Freedom of '76" promo video as an extra shouting at Gene and Dean after they stole the Liberty Bell. According to Chad, he was screaming, "You stole my song!", referring to the similarities of his song and Ween's "Spinal Meningitis". Original Vinyl Pressings: On top of the Elektra Records release, it was pressed and distributed by Grand Royal Records in the USA in 1994 with a 2 LP non-gatefold version. Flying Nun Records from New Zealand released two different versions in 1994, one of which came with a bonus 7" single and. Note that there is a catalog number for the vinyl issue by Elektra Records, but there is no confirmation it was pressed on vinyl at this time, possibly only in promo edition. Cover versions:
"Roses Are Free" has been covered by the bandPhish 48 times between 12-11-1997 and 7-12-2019. Official releases of their version appear on Phish's live concert albums Hampton Comes Alive and Live Phish 04.03.98. The 2000 documentary Bittersweet Motel features the band learning the track backstage at the Rochester War Memorial in Rochester, NY and then transitions into their first onstage interpretation. In an interview from 2015, Melchiondo observed that Ween began playing "Roses Are Free" regularly in concert after Phish began covering it, and credited Phish for boosting the song's popularity. Phish's guitarist, Trey Anastasio, commented to the crowd after their 8-7-2015 cover, suggesting that Mickey and Aaron should play together again, which was followed by Ween's first comeback show at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, CO on 2-12-2016 where the song was played among 32 others.
Ash recorded a version of "What Deaner Was Talkin' About", released as a B-side on their 1997 single "A Life Less Ordinary". This track also features on their limited editionlive album, Live at the Wireless.
Amos Lee performed "Buenas Tardes Amigo" on an iTunes exclusive live album entitled "iTunes Live From SoHo".
Jon Auer covered "Baby Bitch" on his solo EP "6 1/2."
