I've got a big Rare Earth gap on my iPod where some of the albums haven't been released on CD or i've not bought the 2 on 1s or the Fill Your Head compilation. I bought a USB turntable about a year back and only just found time to dust it down and use it. I've now filled the RE gaps in my mp3 player.
Anyway, it turned out to be quite interesting wading through from Dreams / Answers to Grand Slam in no particular order. Two things stood out. Firstly, I really felt RE lost their identity on Back to Earth. Gil is prominent on sax and flute and Ray's guitar and Eddie's congas can be heard but overall this doesn't feel like a Rare Earth album. I'm not saying it's bad, because it isn't. It's just different. I suppose it's to be expected with having 5 new members and a new producer. The sound and song style returns for the Rarearth album. The songs seem to have a spring in their step whereas Midnight Lady and Back To Earth seem to lack a little something (apart from Peter).
Secondly, the John Ryan produced albums. The production is so wonderfully lush that RE sound lost in the mix. All that use of brass and strings and particularly the background vocal harmony group makes me wonder just how much was added after the guys did their parts. Peter's lead vocal sounds outstanding and the songs are good. If I was to ask Ray i would expect him to say that, for him, this felt more like one of his many session jobs. There are parts where he springs out, such as the intro to Love Do Me Right, but the two albums seem short on solo contributions by Ray and Gil. Absolutely no complaints about the overall result though. I find the two albums very listenable even if Grand Slam has a slight feel of being a case of using up the studio leftovers.
I wasn't able to needledrop Tight and Hot as I don't have a copy, but those in the know, particularly peter in his book and Ray, have said that this one really suffered from additions and changes being made after the band had laid down the basic tracks.
I included Dreams / Answers in my mp3ing project. Now that WAS different lol. Very 60s. I love John Persh's Sidewalk Cafe. He took Smokey's Get Ready riff and played with it very slightly (and I mean VERY) to come up with a new song. Well, Holland - Dozier - Holland used to do it regularly with their own songs.
