Archive for the ‘Ruben & The Jets’ Category

The Valadiers

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

Listen: I Found A Girl / The Valadiers
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Seems I’ve heard the first white act of Motown claim many times. History dictates though that The Valadiers indeed take home that honor, if you can call it that. You’d have to look pretty hard to find a more hated release amongst the diehards that follow all things Motown.

One of their biggest gripes focuses on the single’s UK release via Oriole, Britain’s first ever record company, which by the mid 60′s was the Detroit label’s exclusive outlet. Seems there were many terribly more deserving records that didn’t luck into a UK release, and given the dated doo woo pop of ‘I Found A Girl’, this just drove the devoted bonkers. The hate still spews on some hard corp Motown blogs.

I always kind of liked this though. Never did experience doo woo first time through, way too young if even born, and have never been interested enough to figure that out. Closest I come is Ruben & The Jets first album, where Frank Zappa, as on several songs by The Mothers Of Invention, does a spotless send up. So quite possibly my references for comparison are titled terribly in the wrong direction. Whatever.

Hard to disagree that ‘I Found A Girl’ certainly sits okay next to some same period releases by The Marvelettes and The Miracles. As with those Oriole issued copies and in fact, all nineteen released during their partnership, they are amongst the most valuable English Motown pressings ever.

Ruben & The Jets

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Jelly Roll Gum Drop / Ruben & The Jets

Listen: Jelly Roll Gum Drop (Mono) / Ruben & The Jets
Jelly

Proof positive that those mono mixes back in the 60′s were approached very differently than their stereo counterparts. Word has it the importance of the 7″ single, and early indifference towards albums, many times resulted in leaving the stereo mix to one of the studio engineers, while the band and producer focused only on mono. Might explain the radical difference in mono/stereo versions of The Pink Floyd’s PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN and A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS. Not to mention The Pretty Things S. F. SORROW or The Small Faces OGDEN’S NUT GONE FLAKE. If you’re lucky enough to have both versions, a/b them sometime. You’ll hear different vocal takes and even additional instruments throughout.

No exception is this mono version of ‘Jelly Roll Gum Drop’. Like other early mono releases by The Mothers Of Invention, who were one in the same with Ruben & The Jets, this too is radically different, and therefore much desirable in it’s mono 7″ issue.