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Descriptive Summary
Title:
Ruben Guevara Records and Papers, [ca. 1970-2004]
Collection number:
29
Creator:
Ruben
Guevara
Abstract:
Rubén Funkahuátl Guevara is a singer,
songwriter, producer, writer, poet, performance artist, and impresario. He made
his mark in music with his 1970s band Ruben & the Jets, who recorded two
albums on the Mercury Record label, the first produced by the legendary Frank
Zappa. In the early eighties, and again in the mid-nineties, he ran Zyanya
Records, a subsidiary of Rhino Records. At Zyanya, he compiled and released
three albums in the 1980s and two in the 1990s, which featured Chicano rock
artists, as well as rock en Español groups from Latin America and Europe.
He has composed a rock gospel cantata, created art videos and performance art
pieces, provided music composition and coordination for movies and television,
and put together shows featuring music and dance. He has been aptly called a
culture sculptor.
Rubén Guevara grew up in the Mexican barrio of Santa Monica, moved to
Cathedral City, then settled in the racially mixed Pico Union district of Los
Angeles, just west of Central Avenue. His father was a
singer/songwriter/musician, who was a member of a major trio from Mexico called
Los Porteños. (The legendary Miguel Aceves Mejia was also in the group.)
Rubén Guevara Sr. came to Los Angeles to perform with Los Porteños
at an International Folk Festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum for Cinco de Mayo
in 1941. At a performance during the same trip at the Million Dollar Theater in
downtown L.A., Rubén Guevara's future mother and father met backstage.
Rubén Sr. left the trio and stayed in L.A. to pursue the relationship.
Rubén says his father was his first music teacher. At age nine,
Rubén took up the trumpet in school and succeeded in playing in the
California All Youth Symphony. At Berendo Jr. High School he began to be
interested in rock & roll and rhythm and blues. By the time he was in high
school he was singing in a doo wop group. In 1958, Rubén and Pablo
Amarillas formed the Apollo Brothers, who were influenced by Don & Dewey and
the Carlos Brothers. They performed at the El Monte Legion Stadium, Alan Freed's
Record Hop at Jordan High in Watts, Pacific Ocean Park, and various local
television shows. They recorded for Cleveland Records and were the first Chicano
duo to be played as a VIP platter on KGFJ, a Los Angeles rhythm and blues
station. At the time Rubén's influences were: In doo wop (besides the two
previously mentioned); Robert & Johnny, Vernon Green & the Medallions,
The Penguins, The Jaguars (South Central L.A.), The Flamingos, Don & Juan,
Ritchie Valens, and Lil' Julian Herrera. In jump blues; Little Richard, Don
& Dewey, Joe Houston, and The Masked Phantom Band. In r&b; James Brown
and Bobby Blue Bland.
In 1965, Rubén performed solo on the hit national television show,
Shindig. He was on the bill with Bo Diddley, Tina Turner, and Jackie DeShannon.
Rubén opened the show in a medley with cast, sang a solo spot, and closed
the show with Bo Diddley. Rubén's rendition of Bobby Blue Bland's "Don't
Cry No More" went over so well, the producers wanted him to replace singer P.J.
Proby, who had left the show. They also wanted him to change his name to J.P.
Moby and did so reluctantly. The show went off the air soon after so the name
change became a moot point. A highlight of the experience for Rubén was
Tina Turner complimenting him on his singing. In the late 60s, Rubén went
to Los Angeles City College and studied music composition and modern composers
for two years. This education was of help when he worked with Lalo Schiffrin on
the soundtrack for Clint Eastwood's "Coogan's Bluff," in 1968, and his later
work with Frank Zappa.
In 1969, Rubén went to a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert
at the Shrine Auditorium. Zappa had just put out a parody doo wop record called
"Cruisin' with Ruben & the Jets." Rubén got backstage and thanked
Zappa for bringing back that kind of music and told him that his name happened
to be Rubén and that he sang in that style. Two years later, Rubén
went to Zappa's house with a friend, keyboardist Bob Harris, who had toured with
Frank. After spending hours listening to records and talking about music, Zappa
and Rubén found that they liked much of the same music, rhythm &
blues and doo wop, as well as modern composers such as, Varese, Bartok,
Stravinsky, and Cage. Zappa asked Rubén if he'd be interested in forming
a real Ruben & the Jets. Rubén put the band together and auditioned
for Zappa, who wound up producing their debut album on Mercury Records called
"For Real." The album is classic doo wop and rhythm & blues. They did covers
of Chuck Berry's "Almost Grown," Joe Houston's "All Nite Long," a soulful
version of "Dedicated To the One I Love," which features a great guitar solo by
Frank Zappa, and "Charlena," which was later also covered by Los Lobos.
Rubén wrote two of the songs, "Mah Man Flash" (co-arranged with Zappa),
and "Santa Kari" and co-wrote two others, "Sparkie" and "Spider Woman." Other
band members wrote all the remaining songs with the exception of a Zappa song
called "If I Could Only Be Your Love Again." The lead singing, harmonies and
playing on the album are excellent and true to the style. The members of Ruben
& the Jets on this album were: Rubén Guevara- vocals and keyboards;
Tony Duran- lead guitar, vocals and keyboards; Robert "Frog" Camarena- rhythm
guitar and vocals; Johnny Martinez- keyboards and vocals; Robert "Buffalo"
Roberts- tenor sax; Bill Wild- bass and vocals; Bob Zamora- drums; and Jim
"Motorhead" Sherwood- baritone sax. (Original member, alto sax player Clarence
Matsui, left the band before recording began). Guest musicians included George
Duke and Ainsley Dunbar (formerly a member of the English band, The Ainsley
Dunbar Retaliation). Rubén sang most of the lead vocals, but Tony, Robert
and Johnny also sang lead on this record. Ruben & the Jets did a west coast
tour with Frank Zappa in late 1972 and went on a national tour after the release
of "For Real" in '73. On a second tour that year they appeared on the bill with
Three Dog Night, T Rex, and West, Bruce and Lang. Rubén fondly remembers
a particular concert at U.C. San Diego where Ruben & the Jets were on a
powerhouse bill with Malo, Azteca, Tower of Power, and Cheech & Chong.
Ruben & the Jets recorded a second Mercury album called "Con Safos,"
produced by Denny Randell, who had previously worked with The Four Seasons and
The Toys. "Con Safos," which featured the same musicians, minus Jim Sherwood,
was recorded in 1973 and released in 1974. Covers on this collection included,
Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" in a medley with the doo wop classic "A Thousand Miles
Away," Bill Dogget's "Honky Tonk," and Elmore James' "Dust My Blues."
Rubén's contribution to the album as a writer was "Cruisin' Down
Broadway." After his experience with Ruben & the Jets, Rubén had a
deal to record a solo album produced by Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the MGs
but the deal fell through. In 1975, Rubén traveled to Mexico to explore
his roots, which had a profound impact on his future musical and artistic
direction. In 1976, for the U.S. bicentennial, he recorded a doo wop version of
the "Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful" (with ex Jet, Johnny
Martinez) for Rhino Records' first single release. The following year,
Rubén appeared in Cheech & Chong's first movie, "Up In Smoke," as a
member of the band playing the trumpet. (A closing line in the movie honored the
band when Cheech says to Chong," we're gonna be bigger than Ruben & the
Jets"). This began a long association with Cheech Marin, which included writing
the title song and doing music coordination for another Cheech & Chong
movie, "Nice Dreams" and a cameo appearance and the music coordination for
Cheech's "Born In East L.A.."
In 1983, Rubén recorded C/S (Con Safos), a narrative piece he had written
in 1975, after his Mexican roots pilgrimage), also for Rhino Records. In the
same year, he headed Rhino's new subsidiary, Zyanya Records. (Zyanya is a
Nahuatl word meaning always or forever). Three albums were released: "History of
Latino Rock: 1956-65," "The Best of Thee Midniters," and a compilation of early
80s Eastside bands, "Los Angelinos: The Eastside Renaissance." To celebrate and
promote these albums, co-produced "The Eastside Revue" (1983), with Brendan
Mullen (founder of L.A.'s punk mecca, The Masque) at the Club Lingerie in
Hollywood. The concert featured Cannibal & the Headhunters, Los Lobos, Ruben
& the Jets, and Con Safos, with comedian Paul Rodriguez as MC. A second show
('84), which I attended, featured Thee Midniters, Thee Royal Gents, Con Safos,
and Los Perros. In 1980, Rubén formed the band Con Safos, who were
introduced by Cheech Marin for their debut at the Whiskey in Hollywood. The
members included guitarist Danny Dias, formerly of The Village Callers, Hector
Gonzalez, bass, formerly of The Eastside Connection, John DeLuna, formerly of El
Chicano, Mel Steinberg, alto sax, and a sax player from New Orleans, Jerome
Jumonville. Rubén's association with Rhino/Zyanya surfaced again in the
mid-nineties when he produced two CD compilations, "Reconquista, The Latin Rock
Invasion," (4 stars Rolling Stone), and "Ay Califas! Raza Rock of the 70s and
80s." "Reconquista" contained recordings by the leading bands in the alternative
rock en Español movement, including from Mexico; Maldita Vecindad,
Caifanes, Tijuana No!, Santa Sabina, Cuca, and La Castaneda, from Argentina;
Divididos, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, from Spain; Mano Negra and Seguridad Social;
and Negu Gorriak from Pais Vasco. "Ay Califas" was a compilation of California
Chicano rock artists including Santana, Azteca, Sapo, Malo, Tierra, El Chicano,
Cheech & Chong, Los Lobos Del Este De Los Angeles, Los Illegals, Yaqui, The
Plugz, Cruzados, Ruben & the Jets, and Con Safos, Cold Blood, and Daniel
Valdez.
In the early eighties, Rubén began to write poetry for later performance
art projects. In 1989, he put together the Modern Mesoamerican Ensemble, wrote,
produced, and directed the performance art piece, "La Quemada," which debuted at
Highways Performance Space in 1990. The same year, Rubén traveled to
France with a solo piece, "Aztlán, Babylon, Rhythm & Blues," which
covered 500 years of Mexican/Chicano history as part of a touring Chicano art
show, "Le Demon des Anges." Also on the tour were artists Gilbert "Magu" Lujan
and Patssi Valdez. It was from this show that Ruben came up with the name
Funkahuátl, who was the unknown Aztec god of funk in the "Aztlán
Babylon" piece. He began to use the name as a middle name for himself because it
reflected his love of funk/r&b and his heritage and because he needed more
humor in his life. It first appeared professionally in 1996 as a compilation
producer credit for "Reconquista!" and "Ay Califas!." In 1989, Rubén was
the musical director and MC for an HBO music special called "Caliente Y
Picante," which featured Santana, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Linda Ronstadt, Ruben
Blades, and Jerry Garcia. In the early nineties at the age of 50, Rubén
returned to school and got a bachelor's degree in World Arts and Cultures from
U.C.L.A. This provided additional building blocks of knowledge and inspiration
for his multicultural arts odyssey. For his work building bridges between
Chicanos and Mexicanos, in 2000 Rubén received a Rockefeller U.S./Mexico
Fund for Culture award to produce "Mexamerica" (Angelino Records), a
collaborative CD with musical, visual, and spoken word artists from Mexico City,
Tijuana, and East L.A. His writings include, "View From the Sixth Street Bridge:
A History of Chicano Rock" (Parthenon, 1984), which was part of a collection of
writings on U.S. popular culture compiled and edited by Dave Marsh, called "The
Real World of Rock & Roll." Rubén's jukebox installation "Chicanos
Rock California: A History (2001)" is currently in Cheech Marin's traveling art
show "Chicano Visions/Now" at the Smithsonian Institution (2002) and currently
at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico (2003).
Accents and diacritics have been included in this collection.
To report omissions or errors please contact the CSRC Archive at
mstoneic@ucla.edu
Physical location:
Currently located at the Chicano Studies
Archive, 180 Haines Hall, UCLA. In the future the collection will be stored at
the Southern Regional Library Facility, UCLA.
Collection materials in
English
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