I think most of us know the famous story of Rare Earth's first gig in Chicago after they broke big with "Get Ready" - "ladies and gentlemen, Motown recording artists RARE EARTH", and the curtain went up... and the band and the audience just stared at each other dumbfounded. The audience was completely black, a real shock for the band who were scoring big on the pop charts and pulling in white fans with their rockin' approach to soul.
But the bigger shock was for the audience, who had heard Rare Earth on the radio, knew they were on Motown, and completely expected them to be a black group.
That historic moment of shocked silence has been written about in most biographies of the band. It's quite ironic. And white or not, Rare Earth retained their considerable and avid black following, one of very few white groups in history to accomplish this.
So how about you? Can you recall the first time you heard Rare Earth on the radio? Did you think they were black or white?
I'll speak for myself: the very first time I heard Rare Earth was the first time I heard "Get Ready" on the radio, and the moment I first heard Peter Rivera singing the first line of the song, I didn't even think for a fraction of a second that he was black. It never even crossed my mind that he was anything but white, and same for the rest of the group. To this day I don't get the "black" thing at all - I don't hear it. I pictured a big white guy with the lungs to drive that powerful deep voice, and that's exactly what he turned out to be. In some cases - like the Box Tops, for instance, I can understand people thinking they were black. But Rare Earth? No, I still can't hear it and I still can't understand why so many black people thought they were black. To me they sound as white as snow. That's not to take anything away from their soulfulness, but you can be soulful without actually sounding like a black recording artist.
I also never thought the RE were black. But I certainly thought the Doobie Brothers were. I thought for sure Listen to the Music, Long Train Running and China Grove were sung by a black group when I heard them on the AM radio all those years ago.
before I ever saw an album cover of CCR, I used to think the lead singer (John Fogerty) was black. Hey, I was only 8. Even if John was, it wouldn't change my opinion of the music...CCR is great.
I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I THOUGHT R.E. WAS BLACK...I REMEMBER ASKING MY DAD WHEN I PICKED UP THE GET READY ALBUM AND SAID "WHERE IS THE BLACK GUY THAT IS SINGING DAD?" AND MY DAD LAUGHED OF COURSE AND SAID THEY KINDA SOUND BLACK DON'T THEY?....I ALSO REMEMBER THINKING THAT VAN MORRISON WAS BLACK TOO!! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GROOVE MAN!! MARK M
For me, growing up here in Michigan it seemed that everyone was a Soul/R&B/Blues, Rock singer. It's just how we sing I guess. Look at Mark Farner, Don Brewer, Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder.. In my opinion, they all have something in common with Pete.. They grew up and learned the Craft and Art of singing around the early Soul/R&B movement.
All the singing I did in clubs was based on these cats, and Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, The Rev. Al Green, Betty Wright,Etta James,Aretha Franklin and so on.. I think most rock singers around the world were copping this stuff. Sir Paul is an example.
In Michigan though, it just seemed like it was unavoidable. There really is a sound here that was invented by the African American Music Movement .. From the earliest field singing that crawled up the delta to the temps and Chicago Blues..Memphis, and all the great Jazz. In my opinion, these cats invented rock and roll as we know it today.. Thank God for that..
In a way, it can be argued that these great singers, {those listed above and many others} saved my life.. No kidding!!
I listened to the black radio stations when I was growing up (WVON in particular). Yes, I thought RE was black. I thought Flaming Ember was black too. But indeed, it's all about the groove!
