FRANK ZAPPA CRUISING WITH THE RUBEN & JETS RARE ORIG.MONO'68 VERVE UK Pressing

	£		15
	$		20

FRANK ZAPPA & the MOTHERS of INVENTION :
Cruising with RUBEN & the JETS  

VERVE RECORDS VLP 9237 - 1968
UK FIRST MONO PRESSING

Matrices - V 5055 A-1 & V 5055 B-1
Condition:
Sleeve - V Good   w/ sl. edge-wear & minor creasing (see pics)

Vinyl - V Good to VG+ 

Great v playable copy of this rare early UK Mono pressing
Frank Zappa & the Mothers' 4th & final classic LP for Verve


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Online info:

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 Arthur Barrow 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.

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY FRANCOIS COUTURE, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

Releasing an album of '50s-style doo wop and R&B in 1968 at the height of psychedelia was (and may still be) viewed as a joke, but this album is no joke. Some of the lyrics may parody the lyrical and social conventions of the '50s, but Zappa loved this music and it shows. According to Frank ("Serious Fan Mail"), promo copies were sent out to oldies radio stations at the time (with no mention of the Mothers) and they were very well received...until word got out. Some of these songs may be funny, but "Anything" is as beautiful as any song in the genre (Ray Collins' lead vocal is pure gold). Since the tunes are fairly simple, it's Frank's arranging skills that are really on display. Four tunes from Freak Out! are totally rearranged for Ruben, and all the doo wop vocal parts are wonderful. But there are also some cool things going on below the surface, too, like some of the rhythmic accents from the drums or the backing vocals on "Fountain of Love" singing the opening melody from Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY SEAN WESTERGAARD, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

This is Zappa & The Mothers' fourth (and final album for VERVE, his first label) - wonderfully quirky, as all his works are - 'acapella' album, emulating vocal and doo-wop group harmonies of the 50's --- but with a Zappaean twist, of course. You didn't think you would hear Zappa humming to "Twilight Time" or "Since I don't have you", did you? Rare in any form, but particularly hard to find as original VERVE lp in a very nice condition, such as the copy we proudly present here.