Cruising with Ruben & the Jets

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Cruising With Ruben And The Jets
Studio album by The Mothers of Invention
Released	November 1968
Recorded	Apostolic Studios, NYC December 1967 - February 1968
Genre	Doo-wop, comedy rock
Length	40:34
Label	Verve/Bizarre
Producer	Frank Zappa
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Frank Zappa chronology
Lumpy Gravy (1968) Cruising With Ruben And The Jets (1968) Mothermania (1969)

Cruising With Ruben & The Jets is an album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1968 (see 1968 in music), and controversially reissued in an alternate mix with newly recorded bass and percussion in 1984.

The album is meant to be a simultaneous parody of and tribute to the doo-wop music Frank and many of the Mothers grew up with and worked on. It's also meant to parody how the doo-wop bands of the day acted, as referenced in the "Story of Ruben and the Jets" insert, with a beardless/more clean cut Frank Zappa's high school picture, posing as "Ruben". In many ways, it's a collision of high and low art, as Stravinsky-style chord changes and unusual tempos are applied to purposely trite and banal teenage pop love songs.^[1]

Since the artist name "The Mothers of Invention" only appeared in a small talk balloon on the sublime Cal Schenkel album cover, Cruising With Ruben & the Jets occasionally got some airtime in the United States by radio DJs who announced the songs as being recorded by "Ruben & the Jets." When DJs learned that the album was actually recorded by Frank Zappa, some immediately took the album off the air.^{[citation needed]}

The album touched off a sort of mini revival of 1950's rock music. Soon after it came out the group Sha-Na-Na formed in New York City to play their own brand of 1950's style doo-wop. Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley relaunched their careers not long after the album was released. Bo Diddley announced "I'm back and I'm feelin' fine" in his comeback single Bo Diddley 1969.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney sent Frank Zappa a letter telling him how much they loved the album and that it inspired them to return to the early Beatles "rock" sound. In January 1969 The Beatles began working on the Get Back single and Get Back album which would eventually be released as Let It Be. Before the name of the album was changed Get Back was intended to help The Beatles rediscover to their 1950's roots by playing a simpler form of rock music.

In 1973, a real doo-wop band, consisting of Ruben Guevara, Tony Duran, Robert "Frog" Camarena, Johhny Martinez, Robert "Buffalo" Roberts, Bill Wild, and Bob Zamora approached Zappa to ask him if they could use the name "Ruben and the Jets" for their band. Zappa not only approved of the name, he produced the band's first album, which was titled For Real!, a direct reference to the 1968 Mothers album with the "fake Ruben & The Jets."

In 1984, Zappa, unhappy with the sound quality of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, enlisted Arthur Barrow and Chad Wackerman to re-record the original bass and drum parts (although they were not credited) for the Old Masters Box One re-issue of the album. In addition to the new drums and bass, Zappa added several vocal overdubs and heavily remixed the album, nearly making it sound like a completely different album. Like Zappa's remix of We're Only in It for the Money, which was prepared at around the same time, it is very controversial among fans.

The 1984 remix of the album has become the standard, and all post-1984 reissues of the album have featured this mix.^[1] The 1968 version of the album with the original bass and drum parts has not been officially rereleased on CD, although bootlegs have surfaced.

A mono version of the album was released in England 1969 (Verve VLP. 9237) together with the original stereo, but since MGM at about that time decided to halt their distribution of Verve in the UK, very few copies found their way to the shops. This mono edition was a reduction of the stereo mix rather than a special mono mix.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side one 1.2 Side two 2 Personnel 3 Production 4 Charts 5 References

[edit] Track listing

LP [edit] Side one "Cheap Thrills" (Zappa) - (2:20) "Love Of My Life" (Zappa) - (3:17) "How Could I Be Such A Fool" (Zappa) - (3:33) "Deseri" (Buff, Collins) - (2:04) "I'm Not Satisfied" (Zappa) - (3:59) "Jelly Roll Gum Drop" (Collins) - (2:17) "Anything" (Collins,Zappa) - (3:00) [edit] Side two "Later That Night" (Zappa) - (3:04) "You Didn't Try To Call Me" (Zappa) - (3:53) "Fountain Of Love" (Zappa) - (2:57) "No. No. No." (Zappa) - (2:27) "Anyway The Wind Blows" (Zappa) - (2:26) "Stuff Up The Cracks" (Zappa) - (4:29) CD "Cheap Thrills" (Zappa) – 2:39 "Love of My Life" (Zappa) – 3:08 "How Could I Be Such a Fool?" (Zappa) – 3:34 "Deseri" (Buff, Collins) – 2:08 "I'm Not Satisfied" (Zappa) – 4:08 "Jelly Roll Gum Drop" (Zappa) – 2:24 "Anything" (Collins) – 3:05 "Later That Night" (Zappa) – 3:00 "You Didn't Try to Call Me" (Zappa) – 3:57 "Fountain of Love" (Collins, Zappa) – 3:22 "No. No. No." (Zappa) – 2:15 "Any Way the Wind Blows" (Zappa) – 3:01 "Stuff Up the Cracks" (Zappa) – 4:36 [edit] Personnel Frank Zappa – guitar, keyboards, sound effects, vocals, voices Jimmy Carl Black – guitar, percussion, drums, rhythm guitar Ray Collins – guitar, vocals Roy Estrada – bass, electric bass, sound effects, vocals, voices Bunk Gardner – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone Don Preston – bass, piano, keyboards Jim Sherwood – guitar, vocals, wind Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood – baritone saxophone, tambourine Art Tripp – guitar, rhythm guitar Ian Underwood – guitar, piano, keyboards, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, wind Arthur Barrow – bass on Old Masters and compact disc versions (uncredited on CD) Chad Wackerman – drums on Old Masters and compact disc version (uncredited on CD) Jay Anderson - string bass on Old Masters and compact disc version (uncredited) [edit] Production Producer: Frank Zappa Engineer: Dick Kunc Cover Art: Cal Schenkel Cover Design: Cal Schenkel Artwork: Cal Schenkel Repackaging: Ferenc Dobronyi [edit] Charts Album - Billboard (North America) Year Chart Position 1969 Pop Albums 110 [edit] References ^ a b Couture, François. Review of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-11-02. v • d • e Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention Main albums Freak Out! • Absolutely Free • We're Only in It for the Money • Lumpy Gravy • Cruising with Ruben & the Jets • Uncle Meat • Hot Rats • Burnt Weeny Sandwich • Weasels Ripped My Flesh • Chunga's Revenge • Fillmore East - June 1971 • 200 Motels • Just Another Band from L.A. • Waka/Jawaka • The Grand Wazoo • Over-Nite Sensation • Apostrophe (') • Roxy & Elsewhere • One Size Fits All • Bongo Fury • Zoot Allures • Zappa in New York • Studio Tan • Sleep Dirt • Sheik Yerbouti • Orchestral Favorites • Joe's Garage • Tinseltown Rebellion • Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar • You Are What You Is • Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch • The Man from Utopia • Baby Snakes • London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1 • Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger • Them or Us • Thing-Fish • Francesco Zappa • Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention • Does Humor Belong in Music? • Jazz from Hell • London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2 • Guitar • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 • Broadway the Hard Way • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 • The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 • Make a Jazz Noise Here • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 • Playground Psychotics • Ahead of Their Time • The Yellow Shark Posthumous albums Civilization Phaze III • The Lost Episodes • Läther • Mystery Disc • Everything Is Healing Nicely • FZ:OZ • Halloween • Joe's Corsage • Joe's Domage • Joe's XMASage • Imaginary Diseases • Trance-Fusion • Buffalo • The Dub Room Special • Wazoo Compilations Mothermania • The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa • Strictly Commercial • Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute • Have I Offended Someone? • Strictly Genteel • QuAUDIOPHILIAc • The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle Box sets The Old Masters Box One • The Old Masters Box Two • The Old Masters Box Three • Beat the Boots • Beat the Boots II • The MOFO Project/Object Films and videos 200 Motels • Baby Snakes • The Dub Room Special • Video from Hell • Does Humor Belong in Music? • The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels • The Amazing Mr. Bickford • Uncle Meat Related articles Cultural references to Frank Zappa • Frank Zappa discography • The Real Frank Zappa Book • The Rage and the Fury • Dance Me This • Zappa Plays Zappa