Rare Earth - Get Ready (1969)

Rare Earth are an American rock band.

In 1969 Rare Earth were signed to a new Motown subisdiary designed for white rock acts such as themselves - Motown had still to give the new label a surprise, and to the band's surprise they decided to name it Rare Earth. Their second album came out in 1969, consisting of some solid, hard-driving R&B-flavoured rock with the focus on lots of lengthy solos from all band members. It featured covers of John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road", Traffic's "Feelin' Alright", Savoy Brown's "Train To Nowhere" and The Temptations' "Get Ready", the last of which was drawn out into a 20 minute jam.

A radio edit of the "Get Ready" jam was released as a single a became a surprise hit, charting at #4 (better than The Tempations' original had done in 1964). The song effectively launched the band's career, and the album itself charted at #12.

Dreams / Answers (1968) <|> Ecology (1970)
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Rare Earth - Dreams / Answers (1968)

Rare Earth are an American rock band.

The band that was to become Rare Earth formed in the early 60s, at that time calling themselves The Sunliners. They spent most of the decade playing R&B in Detroit clubs, but in 1968 they managed to get themselves signed to Verve Records, and this is when they changed their name to Rare Earth. By this point the band consisted of Gil Bridges (sax/vocals), Rod Richards (guitar/vocals), Kenny James (keyboards), John Persh (bass/trombone/vocals) and Peter Hoorelbeke (drums/vocals). Their debut album came out that same year. Dreams/Answers mixed their R&B roots with psychedelia, resulting in a satisfying rock/soul style with plenty of excellent vocals and instrumental work. It included covers of The Coasters' "Searchin'", The Temptations' "Get Ready" and Wilson Pickett's "634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)". It was ultimately unsuccessul and didn't get anywhere on the charts, though good things were just around the corner for the band....

|> Get Ready (1969)
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