by François Couture
Frank Zappa loved '50s doo wop music. He grew up with it, collected it, and it was the first kind of pop music he wrote (like &Memories of El Monte,& recorded by the Penguins in 1962). Cruising With Ruben & the Jets, the Mothers of Invention's fourth LP, is a collection of such music, all Zappa originals (some co-written with MOI singer Ray Collins). To the unexperienced, songs like &Cheap Thrills,& &Deseri,& and &Jelly Roll Gum Drop& can sound like an average doo wop song. A closer look reveals unusual chord sequences, Stravinsky quotes, and hilariously moronic lyrics -- all that wrapped in four-way harmony vocals and linear piano triplets. A handful of songs from the group's 1966 debut, Freak Out, were rearranged (&How Could I Be Such a Fool& and &Anyway the Wind Blows& give the weirdest results), old material predating the Mothers was recycled (&Fountain of Love&), &Love of My Life,& and &You Didn't Try to Call Me& became live staples. [For the album's first CD reissue in 1985, Zappa had bassist Scott Thunes and drummer Chad Wackerman re-recording rhythm tracks for all but one song. Since then, all reissues have followed the 1985 mix, leaving &Stuff up the Cracks& the only surviving example of what Cruising With Ruben & the Jets really sounded like. Unless listeners are particularly fond of Doo Wopl music, this album is definitely not the best place to start in Zappa's catalog.]