Gavin Report, March 25, 1988

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Gavin Report

US music magazines

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Rubén Blades

Are we ready for the truth?

Kent Zimmerman

Though Ruben Bladés had already released Buscando America and Escenas on a major label, it was in his first movie, Crossover Dreams, that he first astonished English-speaking audiences with his commanding presence. Rubén portrayed a Latin singer who hungered for Anglo acceptance, only to be devoured by the music industry and left devoid of his musical freedom and sense of community. While the movie contained few autobiographical parallels, Rubén's experiences with Willie Colon and Fania Records provided him with authentic life experiences to flesh out his character.

Rubén's appearance at this year's Gavin Seminar revealed the man behind that role — a mixture of steadfast idealism regarding music and politics and healthy self- mockery. Ruefully, he described how an offhand remark led 60 Minutes to bill him as the self-proclaimed "future president of Panama." Nevertheless, the Harvard law graduate left no doubt about his political engagement, affirming that his future is in his native land, and not just as a musician.

As with his public statements, the music on Nothing But The Truth is a open window to his soul. He pulls no punches while he stubbornly and constantly questions authority.

Nothing But The Truth is a collection of solo efforts and collaborations with artists like Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and Sting — each of them contributing vital material and ideas. Unlike standard songwriting sessions, each Rubén Blades collaboration is the result of deep soul searching. It was easy to get Rubén to go into emphatic detail on a few of the album's many highlights.

Juggling a successful musical reputation and an exploding acting career (he opens this week in Robert Redford's film adaptation of John Nichols' Milagro Beanfield Wars), Rubén Blades appears to be enjoying his time in the sun. Yet, as his homeland is racked by turmoil, this could also be Ruben's "calm before the storm."


From the first listen, it's obvious that Nothing But The Truth isn't just an English-language remake of your last three albums. It is truly a departure for you.

Yes. I wanted to have the freedom to explore different styles and situations, not rehash old songs. Nor am I in any way trying to patronize a new audience. I've never done that. I consider audiences intelligent enough to like or dislike something on their own without me having to load the dice.

Who is your audience these days?

People who understand I am writing about life — about situations they are familiar with, that they know exist. I don't follow the easy road of cliche or repetitive formula. The people who like my work stay with me throughout my career. I don't have a fleeting fame situation. The true followers will read and listen to what I am saying, and they judge whether my integrity is intact.

And that's what they'll do no matter what language I write in. They will not accept a lie from me. Nor will I attempt to lie to them in order to sell a record.

The album seems to examine a potpourri of emotions.

If you really think about it, this whole album explores violence and love — violence that comes as a result of our incapacity to resolve problems in a way compatible with the needs we have and the way we expect others to deal with those needs. You have the violence of "The Hit." You have the violence of "In Salvador." And then there is the intellectual violence of "Ollie's Doo-Wop." You have the uncertainty of love in getting involved in a relationship in "Hopes On Hold." There is the tremendous difficulty of admitting love in "Shamed Into Love." Then there is the admission of affections without any reservations in "The Letter."

"The Letter" deals with AIDS. How did that song come about?

If you consider the fact that AIDS is not only testing our immunological systems, but testing character and our capacity to have compassion, you will find that the problem that this disease presents is twofold. On the one hand it can kill the body, on the other hand it can poison the spirit. You cannot approach the problem of AIDS thinking, 'Well, the people that get it deserve it because of their lifestyle" When you make that type of judgment, you are not being compassionate. You are not understanding the human and emotional level of the problem. Ifyou make a judgment at the expense of the compassion that we should have for all human beings, then how can you show emotional concem for the people that you care about? I mention AIDS because it illustrates something that is happening right now. It really could have been anything.

"Letters To The Vatican" attacks another tough problem — the homeless.

You have the issue of love when those people in that bar know they can't resolve Rosie's problem, but on the other hand, they don't abandon her. And that's what we see here with the homeless. We are not going to resolve the problem of the homeless by giving someone a dollar on the street or looking the other way, pretending they don't exist. There is a big lesson in "Letters To The Vatican" These people who are also down and out did not abandon one of their own, although they knewthey could never resolve the problem that her madness presented. They held her until she stopped shaking. They were showing her the compassion that we seem to lack today for the people around us. That's what the whole record continues to stress.

What about in "The Hit," where you sing about "Papo the Hitman, Sweet Tyrone and the Perez Boys"?

Those guys go out and kill somebody because that person betrayed them. We tend to look at things like that very objectively by saying, "A gangland murder occurred at such-and-such..." Look at the source of the problem: the inability to trust, love and share. In a way, we kill other people every day with our indifference — or at least we condemn them with our indifference. That fact that we are not pulling the trigger doesn't make us any less responsible.

And "The Calm Before The Storm"?

Again, another example. We look at the things that no longer exist, such as the value of concepts. What does honor mean today? What does integrity mean today? What about honesty?

"Hopes On Hold," your collaboration with Lou Reed, is surprisingly tender.

If you listen to Lou Reed's later albums, you're going to find that Lou has become much more comfortable admitting his own vulnerability and recognizing the value of being able to say, "I love you" He wrote that beautiful song where he's singing about being on the rooftop and he sees a light. He thinks about his love — his girl — and then he rushes down to tell her, only to find out that the light was something else. The song was `fell It To Your Heart." That's a beautiful love song!

"Chameleon" is the most Latin-flavored track.

I figured that if people like to dance, let them dance to this. Let them dance and think a little bit.

Is that possible?

We do it in Latin America. This is a world controlled by the mediocre who try to shove down our throats preconceived notions of what we want and/or what they think we deserve. It tends to happen in cycles. The pendulum swings, and all of a sudden we find ourselves staring at the truth, a truth that, no matter how painful the results, we helped to create. That's why I ask in the song, "What color are you wearing today? What is your excuse today? Are you thinking with your stomach all of the time, even when you don't have to? What channel is your heart tuning into today, or are you disconnected? Are you on hold or are you on?

You and Elvis Costello tackle stereotypes in "The Miranda Syndrome."

We tried to show that people who are entertained and distracted by stereotypes become the victims as well. While you are busy being entertained by stereotypes created by people who are in control and want to remain in control, you lose control of the truth. That loss of control is then utilized by the people in the room without windows" to extract reactions that will benefit theirview and their control. "Rooms without windows" can be the government agencies or anything that acts to advance special interests that don't necessarily correspond with the general interest. That's why we used the line, "Why don't you speak the way she spoke? There is obviously a lack of understanding over what is a stereotype and what is reality. So you lose control of your own life. If you don't use your brain, somebody else is going to use it for you. If you cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality, although you may be distracted by the fantasy, you also become a victim of the fantasy. Eventually, those in control are questioned. You think you're John Wayne? Where are your spurs? You won't buy a mutt, so you bought a police dog? Where is its police badge? This is the land of rich and honey. Where is your oil well, pal?

Was "The Miranda Syndrome" born out of a serious discussion between you and Elvis Costello?

Yes! To be a good songwriter, you have to be a well-informed person. So we discussed! And out of the discussion, points of view arose. Usually songs are written when something goes number one, you get the record and copy it. "Let's use the lick that worked in 'Every Breath You Take.' Let's sing like so and so. Let's get the number one producer that has the Top Forty hit of the moment and let's cut a record!"

When you and Lou Reed wrote "Hopes On Hold," another very deep discussion must have taken place.

I came out with a melody and the root of the song. Both of us feel that when you address the subject of love, you must address all the angles and complexities of affection. It is very honest to say, "I don't know if I should get into this relationship. On the other hand, if I don't, my feelings are going to die. What is more important, my fear, my feelings or my need for affection? Now you have an interesting and very seldom presented aspect of the mystery of love, instead of singing, "OH BABY, COME WITH ME AND I'M GONNA SHOW YOU WHAT LOVE IS!!! WITHOUT YOU, BABY, I'LL DIE!" You won't die! You won't even have a fucking headache! C'mon! There are nine million insincere love songs out there. Who needs another?

So we're talking about a bottom-line emotional reality.

In a way were dealing with the conflict of the appearance of love, which is very real. But because it's real and not a cliche, people tend to want to write a song not dealing with that question. A song that says, "I'M IN CONTROL! HEY BITCH, YOU HURT ME AND I'M GONNA SHOW YOU." All those things are part of points of view of love, but what about the doubt? Very few people deal with that.

So the collaborations were an essential center focus for this album.

Yes they were. We were learning things about ourselves. We didn't casually sit down, sip champagne and off-handedly resort to stereotypical ways of writing a song. We had discussions about all kinds of things. I would like, someday, to write with someone like Paul Simon. Paul was willing, but he could not due to his own commitments. Maybe we could sing a duet. But I didn't want to record a duet on this album because that seemed like a traditional formula move: "Let's have a duet! Let's put so-and-so with so-and-so." I didn't want that.

How did Sting's song end up on this album?

I was supposed to get together with him and write, but he's very busy doing movies, records, and it's very difficult for him. I didn't hear back from him until almost a year after the letters were sent to people asking if they would consider collaborating on this record. To Sting's credit, he answered, sending a song he'd written and saying, "Re-write it if you want. Write additional passages if you want. I would be honored if you did that" But I heard the song and didn't feel there was anything for me to touch. I wasn't going to force myself to write something for the sake of saying, '0h, yeah, Sting and I wrote a song." If we ever write together — and I hope we someday will — I'd like to do it with him, as I did with Lou and EMs.

You sound shockingly like Elvis Costello when you begin singing "Shamed Into Love."

(laughs) I think it has to do with the fact that it's very definitely an Elvis Costello melody. He thinks I have a better voice than he does. But he was influential in the final shape of "The Miranda Syndrome" and "Shamed Into Love." In retrospect, I should have made EMs the producer of those two songs, as I did with the other people I wrote with. Maybe next time. But he was very instrumental in defining the shape of the arrangements. Please make note of that.

You sound like a different singer when you sing in English.

I should imagine that it comes from the different manifestation of emotion, using a different language. Remember, when you record with someone, you are both a beneficiary and victim of influences. Working with Elvis Costello, at one point, I heard myself talking a little British, eh? (speaks in a Panamanian/English accent). That happens when you live five days with one guy, and that's all you hear. You unconsciously begin to sound like the other person, especially if you have a musical ear or if you tend to agree with what that other person is saying. It's almost a way of becoming one. Aside from that, there are lots of influences from listening to lots of English music.

On your third Elektra album, Aqua de Luna, you worked with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Mexican poet who won the Nobel Prize for literature.

We got along very well. Although we come from different countries, and although there is a difference in age, we both live in the same emotional continent where age is not important, and background is all that matters. I told him I was going to make some "dancing literature" and hoped that people would start reading him more, especially those who don't know of him in both the Latin and English-speaking communities. He liked the album immensely. He was singing bits and pieces to me the last time I saw him.

Do you think your music had any impact on his writing?

I doubt it. He has had all the influences he needs. Perhaps, though, at some level, we all nurture each other's ideas. I'm sure that Gabriel's humility and his character would permit him to be influenced by what he sees around him, no matter where it comes from. But I'm not going to be as arrogant as to say that I actually influenced him.

Yet I felt your musical interpretations of his writing evoked the same odd mix of psychedelic mythology and street reality.

What happens is that we are born in surrealism. We am not afraid of the absurd. Not only do we understand the absurd, but also, it doesn't frighten us.

I found it ironic that the character you portrayed in Crossover Dreams was almost the antithesis of Ruben Blades.

The problems the character in the film had — I would never in my life have made any of those mistakes. In terms of character, I had an emotional background that he lacked. (Director) Leon Ischaso wanted to do a film capitalizing on my music and on the fact that I could carry a movie. He was interested in the Latin scene. That's how it all happened. For me, it was very good because it showed that I could "carry a movie." At the time, I didn't even know what they meant by that.

Still, you have a hard-line philosophy regarding radio crossover.

I don't believe in that crossing-over nonsense. I refuse to accept the official differences that have been established by prejudice disguised as commercialism. I'm not going to accept this nonsense that in order to be played on a certain radio station, I have to play music that is identified by race or cultural background. Some people may think, "This is not entirely a rock album, so we can't play this record." Without even hearing it? Without considering whether it's good or not? Without considering that some of it might be worthwhile for people to listen to? I'm not going to accept that.

Top Forty seems to judge things solely on whether a song is good.

Then its about time! But you still have all those formats in radio. What's the next thing — a radio with a white person instead of a dial number? Then a black person, then a Latino, so on and so forth, instead of numbers on the dial? Is that what we're coming down to now?

Above and beyond Top Forty and maybe A/C or Alternative, I guess the answer is yes.

Well, I'm not gonna go for that shit. I'm going to continue to do albums the way each song should be dealt with. Who are these people to determine value and what it is that the audience wants to hear? Who gave them that right? How do we know they're right? Who questions them? I think it's the most offensive thing in this country that you have race dials. If that's not another extension of racism, I don't know what is.

I understand that Bruce Lundvall, who's now with EMI-Manhattan, signed you to Elektra.

Yes, and I'm very proud to be on that label. If I ever in my life leave that company for whatever reasons, let it be on the record that I think that they are an example of what a label should be. I was the first Latin artist signed by WEA in a long time, certainly the first on Elektra. They treated my albums in Spanish with respect. They gave them the same media distribution as their English-speaking artists. Even though they entered a market with distributing that they didn't understand, they tried. And when it came to this English album, nobody from the company — neither Bob Krasnow or anybody — ever told me what to record. Not once! In today's situation where artists are being packaged as if they were a jar of mayonnaise, I find it a tremendous privilege to be involved with such a company, in the company of people and artists that they have.

So while most artists find that when they sign with a major label, it's time to climb into the mayonnaise jar, you feel your experience is different.

It's not what j, think! Go look at it! Look at the heavy metal bands. Tell a heavy metal band to record something that is not expected of them. Everybody has this expectation that they have to look one way or sound one way. My feeling is that a lot of artiste don't have the freedom because the company has commercial expectations. That is, unfortunately, a consequence of the existence of formats on radio. If a song is too white, it's not going to get played on black radio, and if it's too black, it will not get played on white radio.

Your last few songs have been recorded digitally. That's a financial and technological commitment that not a lot of artists have been getting for the past three years.

I'm very disciplined. When I walk into a studio, I know what I'm doing. I only know one other artist firsthand who does that, and that's Joe Jackson. I have the utmost respect for Joe and his integrity.

Any trouble finding quality movie roles?

I haven't found it that hard. I feel terrible saying that, knowing how many people find it so hard even getting into a damn agent's office. I turn down a lot of roles because I may not like the attitude of the company that I was dealing with, or the role was one-dimensional and offensive in terms of my background.

You must get a lot of crappy scripts.

In a way, it's our own fault. I've been in Los Angeles for almost two years, and one thing that I've learned is that we Latinos must write our own screenplays. So I'm beginning to write my own screenplay.

You've already finished a Spanish album with your band as well.

Yes. And I went back to the trombones. It's called AntecedentsAntecedent in English. I'm going back to the horns for this one album only. The next one, I might use a group from India. (laughs) I don't know. I'm not going to get painted into a comer. I'm not going to get into a number that has marked the end of many an artist.

I guess after people read this, they'll understand why the album is called Nothing But The Truth. You don't hold back.

I wasn't trying to be arrogant or pompous. I'm not saying I know the truth, and you don't. That's not what I mean at all. This is the way I see things. I'm not bullshitting you. I'm not trying to patronize you. I'm not trying to be insincere to sell a record. This is the way I look at life. You be the judge.

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The Gavin Report, March 25, 1988


EC in mentioned in Kent Zimmerman's interview with Rubén Blades.

Images

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Cover.

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