The Rubinoos by Jonathan Richman

09.05.2019
06:26 am
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Music
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Jonathan Richman
Rubinoos

This is a guest post from the great Jonathan Richman.

I met them in a recording studio in Berkeley, California in 1974. I was recording for a small record company at their invitation, and Tommy Dunbar, Greg Keranen and Donn Spindt were assigned to be my backing band. Jon Rubin might have also been there as a singer. And boy, were they good. Greg Keranen, the bass player, became a lifelong musical partner. I still work with Tommy and Donno to from time to time.

I got along well with them from that time onwards. I lived out in Berkeley (by sleeping on the couch of the record company office-house) half the year recording and I’d hang around with them. I’d watch them rehearse and they would take me along when they played bars and clubs. I wanted to see California and we’d go to places like Fremont, Santa Cruz, Fairfield, Cotati and all.

One time, I walked into one of these bars just as they were starting a set. They started with Curtis Mayfield‘s “It’s Alright.” Tommy Dunbar started it off on guitar and I can still hear that sound in my head now! Then, in came the drums and bass and they were so relaxed and so solid. This didn’t happen every day! I had seen lots of bands and players ten years older than these 17-year-olds who could not do that. And then, Jon Rubin started singing, and something else happened: Melody! I mean, the lad could really sing!

Then… The other three came in with their singing parts and you learned they all could sing.

Jonathan with Tommy, Donn and Dave

They were new to the club scene still at this point. They were playing in an era when the audience wanted to hear a band play… Oh… The Eagles, Allman Brothers, Sly and the Family Stone… But not the Archies and not the Osmond Brothers. The Rubinoos didn’t care. The hostile reactions of some audiences were surprising sometimes in their intensity but they were having fun playing the songs they liked.

Of course they played them 40 times better than the originals. They didn’t waste notes. They were not about to lose the beat either. And the singers on the originals could not sing them like Jon Rubin could. Not many bands had the nerve to sing Sam Cooke songs. I think that went for black bands as well as white, too. But you should have heard Jon Rubin saying “Wonderful World.” No, it didn’t sound like Sam. He didn’t try to. He just did it with his own way, without missing a note of the original one.

So, what did the audience do?

Oh well… Royce replaced Greg a year or two later and he was a very good singer and player. And Al Chan eventually replaced Royce. Al, with his warm rich voice and feel on the bass, has been with them ever since. Al brought another thing as well: a confident, friendly, outgoing personality… A love vibration, I would say.

One time I got to hear The Rubinoos singing “The Wind Keeps Blowing Our Way“ when it was a brand new song. It was twilight at Tilden Park and they were just singing with no instruments for themselves and for us two or three other people. There was a breeze maybe in the twilight and the voices with no instruments brought out the unusual melody. This short performance is still one of my favorite experiences in hearing music.

So, don’t miss the Rubinoos if you get a chance. They’re nice kids, and they can only improve with time. I foresee a long career in music for these Rubinoos.

—Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman and the Rubinoos’ Jon Rubin, Al Chan and Tommy Dunbar (L-R) in 2005

The Rubinoos on tour:

November 1 - The Chapel - San Francisco, CA
November 3 - Harlow’s - Sacramento, CA
November 17 - Bootleg Bar - Los Angeles, CA
December 9 - White Eagle - Portland, OR
December 11 - Sunset Tavern - Seattle, WA

From Home, the new album from the Rubinoos is out now on Yep Roc Records. It reunites the original lineup of the band and was recorded in the same studio where they recorded their first single for Beserkley Records nearly half a century ago.