Description
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 and 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 and 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
research center at www.chicano.ucla.edu