The Long Beach Island Tape
| The Long Beach Island Tape | |
|---|---|
| Bootleg album by | |
| Recorded | likely around 1999–2000 |
| Length | 28:27 |
The Long Beach Island Tape is the unofficial name of a bootleg tape of unreleased Ween songs. The track listing consists of demos and outtakes from the White Pepper era. The bootleg tracks first appeared on Napster in 2000 after a tape was stolen from the band’s property, and were then circulated by some fans against the explicit wishes of the band. For this reason, the trading of these songs has been a subject of some controversy.
Background[edit | edit source]
The original tape was stolen from Gene Ween's house by an unknown party.[1][2] Information about when the tape itself was produced is scarce, but it's assumed to have been recorded between 1999 and 2000, the time period in which White Pepper was being recorded. Evidence of the tracks appearing online can be traced back at least as far as April 2000, with someone referencing the title "Put Your Boobs On" in a post on the alt.music.ween newsgroup.[3]
In response to the leak, both Dean and Gene expressed their disapproval and requested fans to stop the circulation (see 'Quotes' section, below). Years later, the tape would end up as one of the two things on Browntracker's blocklist, the other being Synthetic Socks.[4]
However, since then, tracks from the tape have been uploaded to YouTube and have stayed up for more than a decade, and the band teased "Put Your Boobs On" during their November 2, 2017 show[5], suggesting their feelings towards the tape's circulation have softened in recent years.
Quotes[edit | edit source]
- Messages from Gene Ween to FTP traders after discovering the Long Beach Island Tape in their files:
"That Cdr. you have was stolen from my house and bootlegged without my knowledge. It's too late to stop it from being circulated but I'd appreciate
it if you wouldn't copy it or trade it on. Those songs were from a tape of outtakes that weren't on the record for a reason....So, enjoy what you have
but remember the Boognish is breathing poopy air down the back of your neck every time you hit "play". Peace mang. -Gener"[6]
"This is exactly what I'd like you to do with the 'White Pepper outtakes'. These songs were hoisted from my house and copied without my permission. Ween does not support trading of these song. I'd appreciate removal immediately. Also, If you could spread the word about this REALLY not being cool you'd make me very happy. Thanks dude, Gene Ween."[7]
- Quotes from Dean Ween regarding the situation:
"the long beach island demos is a really sorry example of our work tapes getting out there. i heard about it once before and felt really
betrayed, but i guess that's the price we pay for encouraging people to circulate our music. it's hard to draw a line between when it's uncool or
not."[8]
"We had a tape stolen of demos from our last record and it ended up online three weeks later. It’s kind of disturbing actually. That’s on the bad side of it. If we want people to hear it, we’ll make it available."[9]
Track listing[edit | edit source]
| 1 | Bananas and Blow |
| 2 | Put Your Boobs On |
| 3 | Long Beach Island |
| 4 | Wash Me Down |
| 5 | Back to Basom |
| 6 | The Grobe |
| 7 | Baroque Jam 3 |
| 8 | The Belvedine |
| 9 | Be My Wife |
| 10 | For So Long |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.ween/c/y1qo16YXsVE/m/OV7AL5fIdgEJ
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.ween/c/j-9uLuCJdmQ/m/fQhroy4dhGIJ
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.ween/c/MvchOeyxVCM/m/nfMt15SFm7QJ
- ↑ source?
- ↑ https://brownbase.org/setlist.php?band=Ween&show_id=1269
- ↑ Quoted in alt.music.ween, Jan 11 2001 https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.ween/c/y1qo16YXsVE/m/OV7AL5fIdgEJ
- ↑ Quoted in alt.music.ween, Jun 21 2001 https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.ween/c/j-9uLuCJdmQ/m/fQhroy4dhGIJ
- ↑ Quoted in alt.music.ween, Sep 7 2000 https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.ween/c/evwDGYTkAK0/m/wM7WMFWvmOcJ
- ↑ Interview with gavin.com, Jan 10 2001 https://web.archive.org/web/20010208131446/https://www.gavin.com/music/0101/ween.shtml/