Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Release: 1968
Runtime: 40:34
Rating: 4/5
»Crusising with Ruben & the Jets«, one of the ‘lighter’ entries from the early years of legendary American composer, guitarist, singer, producer, director and social satirist Frank Zappa and his backing band The Mothers of Invention, hides an interesting conceptual backstory behind its relatively simple musical face. The album started out as a musical tribute to the doo-wop and rock’n’roll groups Frank listened to in his youth, back in the mid-fifties, and it was actually part of a sprawling project called ‘No Commercial Potential’, which, besides »Cruising With Ruben & The Jets«, also ties together the albums »We Are Only In It For the Money« (1968), »Lumpy Gravy« (1968) and »Uncle Meat« (1969).
Much like The Beatles classic »Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band« (1967), which, according to Paul McCartney, was their answer to The Mothers of Invention debut »Freak Out!« (1966), the concept revolves around a fictional band, Ruben & the Jets. A teenage doo-wop band led by the made-up boss Ruben Sano (for his look they simply used a black-and-white photo of young Frank), whose members are Mexican Americans, is suddenly turned into anthropomorphic, barking, yelping dog-men with long snouts and absurd hairdos. To survive, the band members then have to play syrupy love songs for a select audience until the end of their days. The idea of the dog-headed people pictured on the album cover came to Frank because he’d always been a devoted comic book reader, especially of the ones with anthropomorphic animals typical of Disney and Looney Tunes cartoons, which he later used again and again to satirize America’s morally decaying capitalist society.
Frank’s poetry on »Cruising with Ruben & the Jets« is deliberately infantile and over-the-top sappy. Zappa had always despised love lyrics, especially within rock music, so he wanted to poke some fun at typical doo-wop words, which is particularly obvious on the tracks »Love of My Life«, »How Could I Be Such a Fool«, »You Didn’t Try to Call Me« and »Anyway the Wind Blows«. Over bouncy rhythms, these just melt away in the sugary sweetness and naivety typical of the optimistic fifties, while some of the vocal harmonies are almost annoyingly ‘syrupy’. To pull it off, Frank once again brought in original The Mothers of Invention singer Ray Collins as lead vocalist, for whom this was one of the last collaborations with Frank before he went his own way in 1969. His high falsetto was simply perfect for the deliberately saccharine, over-the-top approach of this record, which successfully rips on some of the biggest clichés of early rock’n’roll and fifties doo-wop.
Even though most of the material on »Cruising with Ruben & the Jets« has by far the simplest structure compared to Frank’s other work from this period, you can still catch some complex arrangements, sudden tempo shifts and rhythmic twists typical of the original version of The Mothers of Invention. Among fans of Frank’s legacy, the best-known track on the album is definitely »Cheap Thrills« which also gave its name to two ‘best of’ compilations released in the late nineties. The horn arrangements by Bunk Gardner and Motorhead Sherwood deserve a special mention too, while keyboardist Don Preston and third reed player Ian Underwood played more peripheral roles on piano this time. Some songs, like »Deseri«, ironically saw less commercial success because radio hosts wrongly assumed they were the work of a ‘lost’ doo-wop group called Ruben & the Jets. The moment they found out the truth, their noses drooped to the floor, and in their usual style they started accusing Frank from all sides of having pulled a fast one on them, which he of course denied right away. Frank poked fun at this on the cover, where the leader of the dog band asks ‘isn’t this the last attempt by The Mothers of Invention, who want to get their crappy music played on the radio under another name’. Even stranger than the farce with the radio ‘high-and-mighty crowd’ was the birth of an actual, real Ruben & the Jets band, which came about precisely because of this album. Frank even produced their debut, but the band broke up after only their second record.
The original mix of the concept doo-wop burlesque »Cruising with Ruben & the Jets« is still one of the most interesting albums from Frank’s early period, even if artistically it doesn’t reach the adventurous, provocative masterpieces like »We’re Only In It For the Money«, »Uncle Meat« or »Hot Rats« (1969). The version recorded later, though, was a complete misfire and caused plenty of bad blood for no reason. In 1984 Frank made the rather absurd decision to reissue »Cruising with Ruben & the Jets« with re-done bass and drums played by the members of his band at the time, namely Arthur Barrow and Chad Wackerman, in place of Roy Estrada and Jimmy Carl Black. The two of them, together with Bunk Gardner, even filed a lawsuit against Frank over the move, but with no success. Frank’s ‘tinkering’ with the remixes of »Cruising with Ruben & the Jets« and »We’re Only In It For the Money«, which he probably regretted later, was one of the few unwise decisions in his incredibly rich musical career. Even the best sometimes ‘miss the mark’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy2RSQzBzTA
Lineup
Frank Zappa – lead guitar, bass guitar, piano, drums, backing vocals, producer
Ray Collins – lead vocals
Don Preston – piano
Ian Underwood- piano tenor and alto saxophone
Bunk Gardner – tenor and alto saxophone
Motorhead Sherwood – baritone saxophone, tambourine
Roy Estrada – bass guitar, backing vocals
Art Tripp – drums, percussion
Jimmy Carl Black – drums, percussion
Production
Frank Zappa
Tracklist
1. Cheap Thrills (2:39)
2. Love of My Life (3:08)
3. How Could I Be Such a Fool (3:34)
4. Deseri (2:08)
5. I’m Not Satisfied (4:08)
6. Jelly Roll Gum Drop (2:24)
7. Anything (3:05)
8. Later That Night (3:00)
9. You Didn’t Try to Call Me (3:57)
10. Fountain of Love (3:22)
11. No. No. No. (2:15)
12. Any Way the Wind Blows (3:01)
13. Stuff Up the Cracks (4:36)
