* - That is, as far as the Late 1970's era is concerned.
The best-and apparently the *only*-LP to chart on Motown's "Prodigal" subsidiary..
Lots has been said about "Warm Ride" (The ONLY 45 single to score a top 40 hit for Prodigal)..but let's delve into the other gems here.
"You" needs no explaination...as Pete once said their audeinces declared their work "sounded better than the original records"..and this is no exception. Darn well *shoulda* been the followup single from Band Together.
"Love Is What You Get (If Love Is What You Give Me)" a very cool FM airplay jam, written by Don Dunn, Chuck Smith, & Bob Siller..who were a aprt of the Michel Rubini production camp at Motown (circa 1975-1978) working behind Diana Ross (It's Chuck Smith himself providing the 'phantom' vocals on "Baby It's Me" ), Thelma Houston, Junior Walker, Kathe Green, Tata Vega, and The Fifth Dimension amongst others...
"Love (Do Me Right)" furnished by Lenny Macaluso...not bad at all...though where did Macaluso come from (i.e. what productions was he involved in prior to Rare Earth?) and where is he now?
"Dreamer", originally done by Bobby "Blu" Bland in 1974...it's yet another masterpiece that, like "You", sounds made-to-order for Pete & Co.
"Maybe The Magic" & "Love Music"...pas mal. Liked the former...*loved* the latter!
The final two jams harken back to "traditional" Rare Earth (It could hardly be anything else...as they're both co-composed by Pete, Ray, & Mark...with producer John Ryan pitiching in):
"Rock N' Roll Man" woulda been comfortably at home on "One World" or even "Willie Remembers"
"Mota Molata" (Play it NO LOWER than Volume 10!) seems so 'signature-ish' for the boys...that it serves as the *ultimate* ending for a **sterling**---and *very* underrated LP. (By the way, how many of you think the way Pete's booming, rverberating drums on the John Ryan sessions...are sooooooooooooooo appropriately complementary to the overall Rare Earth sound?)
Too bad that it couldn't've been Rare Earth's 'swan song' at Motown, instead of "Grand Slam", IMHO..
Once you get past the slick production (and strings), Band Together and it's sibling Grand Slam have some great stuff within the grooves. Get rid of those strings and turn up the guitar in the mix.
It sure as hell can't rival the glory days of 1969-1974 but that's moot.
Dreamer is a real highlight for me. Mark's opening notes on the electric piano really sparkle. And Pete really shows off his softer side vocally. This is one song where the strings add to things. Otherwise, they over-egg the pudding. I'd love to be able to remix this song without the horns and strings.
Warm Ride, despite it being very much in the Bee Gees vein is a solid song. Let's not forget the Hudson Brothers on the album as well. Rare Earth did it better than The Bee Gees did.
Um...IMHO...*some* of the songs were rather worthwhile & enhanced *with* the orchestrations: "Dreamer", "Maybe The Magic", and "You".
Not forgetting that, in addition to The Hudson Brothers, The Waters Sisters (Julia Tillman Waters & Maxine Willard Waters) helped out on "Love Music", "Rock And Roll Man", and "Dreamer".
I did not know the Bee Gees did their own version of "Warm Ride"..I thought that The Brothers Gibb wrote it expressly for Pete & Co.; Pete's attorney at the time also was in charge of The Bee Gees' finances as well..
"Grand Slam" had its moments...it had to kinda grow on me...and, to this day, I've still not been able to cotton to it as much as its predecessor; It's almost like the "meat" of the three-week recording project was all put on "Band Together"..and the scraps (for want of a more charitable word) were relegated to "Grand Slam".
Thanks for posting the link Mike. I reckon Rare Earth's version is far superior to the Bee Gees' version. It says that Andy Gibb also recorded it and it was originally written for the Grease album but didn't make the final list. The Andy Gibb version is on You Tube too and its similar to their older brothers' version. There's also a version by ex Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet. It's better but I don't think I'm being biased by saying that Rare Earth beats all three of them. Pete's lead vocal is far more powerful and expressive and Producer John Ryan must take the credit for the fuller sound.
I'm slightly surprised that there aren't any comments on the You Tube postings referring to Rare Earth having recorded it.
Thanks for posting the link Mike. I reckon Rare Earth's version is far superior to the Bee Gees' version. It says that Andy Gibb also recorded it and it was originally written for the Grease album but didn't make the final list. The Andy Gibb version is on You Tube too and its similar to their older brothers' version. There's also a version by ex Rainbow singer Graham Bonnet. It's better but I don't think I'm being biased by saying that Rare Earth beats all three of them. Pete's lead vocal is far more powerful and expressive and Producer John Ryan must take the credit for the fuller sound.
I'm slightly surprised that there aren't any comments on the You Tube postings referring to Rare Earth having recorded it.
Rare Earth's version of "Warm Ride" **did** get screened on YouTube...and was taken down...**twice!!**
Wonder if both removals were/are on the part of Universal Music Group??
In regards to John Ryan and the 'fuller sound' observation UK Dave, I suppose that also explains the deep, booming drums on the 2 Ryan-produced LP's..
As for The Bee Gees' version...suffice it to say that I much, *much*, **MUCH** preferred them when they did ballads & such in the 1960's-early 1970's...*before* they sold out and went Mirror Balls and Elephant Bell Bottoms...
Never owned any Bee Gees stuff myself but Jive Talking was probably the song I liked most. I also liked some of their early stuff like Lonely Days and the one which is named after a place in America which I've no chance of spelling correctly
Their later stuff still sounds good today when played by DJs at parties.
I don't need your sympathy. As I said, I never liked them anywhere near enough to even consider buying any of their records. There have been plenty of times when their falsetto tones have totally irritated me but you won't find me knocking them for lacking talent because that's not the case.
Oops, looking back I didn't actually say "I never liked them anywhere near enough to even consider buying any of their records", but I'm saying it now.
Band together is a underrated classic by the group . My 2 most favorite songs on the album are "Love Music " and the always played on 11 "Mota Molata" Ray's guitar kicks ass on this track!
