Rich-I am a little in the dark here. What does best not released mean? And what is it that some have heard? Wasn't Tight and Hot an LP from the band that had a very limeted release in Canada by RCA in the early eighties? Is there some type of revival of this material recorded by the present membership in the works for future release-Or perhaps a re-release of the original LP in a remastered cd format, or something in that nature? I would love to know if you or anyone else has any information on this. Thanks.JockoD
I have the single "Howz About Some Love" taken from the album Tight And Hot and its not the worst thing I have ever heard. A track from the album called King Of The Mountain is supposed to be a great track, I think it was written by Pete Rivera, he talks about it in his book. As for a reissue on cd I cant see it but life is strange so you never know.
TIGHT AND HOT WAS AN ALBUM WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY DINO FEKARIS,EXCEPT FOR "KING OF THE MOUNTAIN",WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY PETER AND MYSELF.
WE WERE EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROJECT WHEN IT BEGAN.DINO WAS CO-WRITER ON "I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE" SO IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA.
WE LAYED DOWN THE TRACKS,AND SOME OF THE SONGS SOUNDED PRETTY GOOD.WE WENT OUT ON THE ROAD,AND WHEN WE CAME BACK,DINO HAD PUT STRINGS AND HORNS ON THE SONGS.THEY SOUNDED COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!
HE HANDED THE FINISHED ALBUM TO RCA,AND THEY SAID THAT IT DIDN'T SOUND ANYTHING LIKE RARE EARTH. THAT PRETTY MUCH SHUT DOWN THE PROJECT.
LATER....THEY GAVE IT A LIMITED RELEASE IN CANADA.
Hello Ray,i've heard you play howz about some loven...you play such a funky guitar riffs ..like no other i ever heard.Keep scratching that Stratocaster
Ray-I caught one of the shows when the band was on the road after the tighter and hot sessions. It was at a rock club in New Jersey about 1982. Needless to say the show was awesome and I believe the band played some of this new material in the set. My friends and I all thought the new songs were excellent and blended in really well with the more familiar tunes. After the gig Gil invited our party backstage (Which was actually a storage room in the basement) to meet the band. We all sat down and had a beer or two and while doing so we listened to some more new material on a cassette tape player. We heard from the band about the new deal with RCA and at the time all in my party thought the new material was excellent and had some really good potential. I must say it was a night I will never forget and we were all very excited about a new LP and a comeback for one of rock's greatest bands. I was on the lookout for that LP for quite some time and very dissapointed when it didn't come out. After reading your post I can't help but think to myself-What if the strings weren't added and the LP was released the way the band had intended it to be. I guess we will never know. JockoD
Well...first if all: Give a great big Thank You to fellow forum member Ray Monette for sharing this with all of us. Once I wrap this project up, you'll all be able to hear this album :)
As far as Tight and Hot was concerned, did you guys loose contorl of the master tapes at the point you gave them to RCA? Did you ever think of just re-recording the songs and re-shopping them around to other record companies? I know this sounds easier said than done and I'm not trying to make light of all the heart and soul and time you guys must have put into the project and the subsequent disappointment at the results you heard. I assume you guys probably just wanted to move on and get that chapter behind you. I remember seeing you RE perform how'z about some love and sexy babe live in 82 and 83. I remember talking to Gil and him saying he thought how'z about some love would make a great video.
RCA PAID FOR AND OWNED THE ALBUM.THE WHOLE THING WAS NOT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE,AND WE JUST WANTED TO MOVE ON.PERSONALLY,I FELT LIKE I WAS BACK AS A STUDIO MUSICIAN DOING A MOTOWN SESSION.NOTHING ABOUT A BAND IN THAT PROJECT.
WE WERE HOPING FOR A WHOLE NEW START AFTER LEAVING MOTOWN AND GOING WITH RCA.I HATE TO SAY IT.........BUT DINO SHUT THAT IDEA DOWN.
AS FOR THE SONGS??? YOU WILL ALL HEAR THEM SOON. YOU CAN BE THE JUDGE.
I have now heard the Tight & Hot album although I will digest and think about it some more before offering my thoughts ( sounds like a couple of toons in there). The guys are all correct regarding the Dino Fekaris production HOWEVER...........
"KING OF THE MOUNTAIN" is explosive, Pete is singing like he has dynamite in his lungs and the band are doing the business. Ray's guitar has some power and this track for me is a lost classic. One killer cut!
Thanks MIKE AND RAY, hahah I have heard that duo somewhere before.
John, I have not yet received my copy of "Tight and Hot" and I'm really looking forward to hearing this lost treasure. However, you have answered one question for me which I had originally been afraid to ask of Mike or Ray.
Back in 1982 I had heard some of the material from "Tight and Hot" performed live and "King Of The Mountain" totally blew me away. Your description of Pete singing like he had dynamite in his lungs is so true as to what unfolded that night The entire band was truly on fire and each member played their hearts and souls out on all the material, both old and new.
After the live set was over we were invited backstage to meet the band. While visiting with the band we listened to an audio cassette on a boombox and heard some more new tracks.
When I read about Ray locating the audio cassette tape I immediately thought to myself. "Was this the very tape we listened to that night back in 1982"r was this a cassette copy of the finished project after Dino's dirty work had been completed.
Now that I know the answer I can truly say I am no less excited about this truly unique find and I'm still looking forward to hearing this material.
Thank you so very much John and Richard for this beloved forum. And thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Ray and Peter for sharing with us. And least we not forget Mike. Thank you Mike for all your efforts, professionalism, generosity and friendship to all of us here on the forum.
THANK-YOU JOCK D FOR SAYING WHAT NEEDED TO BE SAID...I HAVE GAINED FRIENDS HERE AS WELL AND IF IT WAS NOT THE FORUM I WOULD NOT HAVE MET SUCH GOOD PEOPLE...
Ok here goes: A long time ago I was called to come over to a house in Hollywood to work on a track demo that Mike Volvano had in his stash. He had no lyrics. We worked for a few hours and came up with a song called Shame. I guess Mike didn't feel great about it but anyway that was it. Months went by maybe a couple of years. Rare Earth was on the road and one night we went to someone's little studio to jam. It was there that we came up with the groove for King of the Mountain. Lyrics (like Ray said) came later. We walked around with this tune for a while until we decided to try to make a 4 song demo to try to get a deal. I contacted Dino and asked if he would be interested in working with us. We saved $10k and figured $2500 per song we would do 4 tunes. We played KIng for Dino and he liked it. We even got word that Quincy had heard the demo and liked it. So now we cut 4 more (Dino songs) and the offer goes into RCA. We're told that RCA likes the material so much that they offer us budget for the album. We're told that it's because of Dino that we got the deal. In to the studio we go and begin the process. We lay down the King groove and it starts to get changed. The raw gutsy feel is gone. It becomes very polished and slick. Then we do eight other tracks, all of which are Dino songs. During the sessions, we have to go on the road for a few shows. When we come back, every song has overdubs of strings, other drummers, guitars.....just everything you could imagine. Not wanting to rock the boat with RCA. We keep out mouths shut and continue. On every track there is a vocal of Dino singing. He tells me that he wants me to sing it exactly like he demoed it. Well it was the worst experience of my life in the studio. After questioning the overdubs, I was told that I should concentrate on singing because at best, I was an almost drummer. How the album ever got completed is beyond me. We all kept our mouths shut for fear of having the budget dumped if we showed differences with our producer. After completion we were told that RCA wasn't going to get behind the project because they thought we (Rare Earth) had dropped the ball but that they loved the Dino songs. That did it for me. I went into RCA myself and asked why and the first thing that was said to me was "Pete, what happened in there? I asked what he meant and I was told that one of the main reasons we got the deal was because of this one song called "King of the Mountain" and I was told that they didn't feel that the rest of the material was on a level with that song. ...............End of Story... You have to remember that Dino was very sucessful with Freddy Perrin and had hits and he was just doing what he thought was the way...... We we going our direction. I think we both wanted it to work but the direction of how to capture RE on record was not something Dino had a handle on..... Life goes on.......It's all good..... Peter
Peter, Thank you so much for sharing with us. From something that began with such high expectations the "Tight and Hot" experience no doubt took it's toll on the band especially after the guys gave this project their total all.
As for Dino's comments I also recall you mentioning them in your book and once again I find them to be totally absurd. When it comes to singers and drummers make no mistake about it. There are none better out there than Peter Hoorelbeke AKA Rivera. I don't have to say any more on this subject because nobody here needs any convincing but I'll leave the door open for Steve.
There weren't many bands who could sound as good onstage as they did in the studio-And Rare Earth was one of them. I've heard it said many times that Rare Earth even out did their studio work onstage. People wouldn't still be talking about these legendary performances thirty to forty years later if any of the above wasn't true. As a matter of fact, If any of this wasn't true this forum wouldn't even be here so you wouldn't even be reading this. I rest my case.
I think we can all read between Peter's lines. It seems like Dino's head got too big for his shoulders.
Smothering Rare Earth with strings and additional overdubs just takes away the very things thast made them unique. I felt a little bit that way about Band Together and Grand Slam in that John Ryan's production tended to add female backing vocals and other overdubs we weren't used to. Don't get me wrong, I love those albums and they sound VERY polished. Its just that the more overdubbing that takes place, the less we get to hear Gil's sax, Ray's guitar, Mark's keys and Peter's voice. In my opinion the only backdrop that RE ever needed was Eddie's wonderful percussion!!
John ran away with it too. We did 2 albums in less time than it usually takes to do one. There was a lot of pressure on bringing in other players and singers.... One night we walked in the studio to track a song and there was another Bass player there from the Gap Band. It's like we had nothing to say about it. The Hudson Brothers came in to sing....Geezzzzz it was such a mess......
That's a great story Jocko. I wish I could go back in time and meet the band and see them in the glory days...71-74 would be great. But I've been blessed enough to talk with Pete on the phone, chat with Ray face to face and receive letters from Ken Folcik & Mike Urso (the letters are long since lost). I could kick myself in the ass for misplacing those letters . But that was in my college days and those were some crazy times.
A big thank you to Richard & John for this forum. This forum rekindled my love and passion for all things Rare Earth. I hadn't played the music for several years. I also rediscovered the 1980 Harpo's gig that I had/have in my collection. I had forgotten all about that cd. And I soon found out that, after coming here, I had something unique and I felt I HAD to share it. I also came up with the idea to transfer some RE stuff from vinyl to cd for personal listening. I then came to realize how unfair it's been for us fans that there's barely any RE stuff in print on cd. I then thought "why not get everything that's bene ofifically released on LP and 45 onto cd"? It's been a long project, wedged in between work and family. And you have all been a BIG help in one way or another:
Ray Monette (for the locating and sharing of Tight & Hot and those great pictures) Jocko (the use of specific LP's as mine didn't sound good enough...I'm a perfectionist) UK Dave (HUB LP's and Dreams/Answers) Mark M. (HUB LP's) Peter Rivera aka Hoorelbeke (for finding the 1974 Get Ready performance) And someone else I can't recall who sent me the 1985 Harpo's gig.
Thank you for sharing that story Peter, as bittersweet as it must've been.
After having rediscovered all of the RE stuff this past year while doing my vinyl transfers I can safely say this: Rare Earth did it's best work with Tom Baird. The Beatles had George Martin. Rare Earth had Tom Baird. He was the 7th member of the band, in my humble opinion. Not that any of the other RE album sare anything to sneeze at. But it sounds like something clicked and did it ever work! Ecology, One World and Willie Remembers (my fave RE album)...doesn't get any better. Ray told me that Tom was great at helping the band with harmonies. And Willie Remembers is chock full of 'em.
As for Tight & Hot...it has it's moments. King Of The Mountain...a lost RE classic imo. The album itself lacks the fire and edge that RE was known for. It lacks guitar too. It just doesn't GROOVE like it should. Not the band's fault.
I'm sure all fo the guys wanted to speak out during those sessions. Like Pete said, they were concerned RCA might pull the plug and the budget for recording. I doubt they wanted to risk losing a chance at a comeback. I can't imagine being in a biz like the music biz and having to sometimes go with a current instead of swimming against it.
Dino Fekaris, before becoming the King of Disco with songs like "I Will Survive" and "Reunited" and dozens more, was a Motown staff writer teamed with Nick Zesses. It's not just a matter of him having co-written "I Just Want to Celebrate". The Nick Zesses/Dino Fekaris team was a highly talented team that wrote for many Motown artists including Diana Ross and the Supremes, Four Tops, The Temptations, Riot and more. But their biggest success was with Rare Earth for whom they wrote: "I Just Want To Celebrate" "Hey Big Brother" "Every Now and The We Get To Go On Down To Miami" "Generations (Light Up the Sky)"
It doesn't get any better than those songs. Imagine Rare Earth's catalog without them. The match of Zesses/Fekaris with Rare Earth was pure magic. The desire to reunite this talented band with those talented writers was inevitable and a very good idea, at least in theory.
Now, I read that the album was a reunion with BOTH Zesses and Fekaris, not just Fekaris. If it was only Fekaris then if you look at the slick and zillion-selling disco records he'd been making with Freddie Perren, it's clear that Dino had moved to another place, and his head had clearly swelled if he thought he knew better than Rare Earth how a Rare Earth record should sound.
Can anyone tell me if Zesses was on "Tight and Hot" at all? Also can anyone tell me how I could hear some of these tracks from the impossible-to-find album?
Fekaris deserved the blasting he got here, but I did want to point out that without him and Nick Zesses, this forum might have less members, and Rare Earth might have had a shorter career and a few less fans.
I Just Want ToCelebrate and Hey Big Brother were very important hits but lets not forget they had other high profile songs including their signature tune Get Ready, (I Know) I'm Losing You and Tom Baird's Born To Wander.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking Zesses/Fekaris as writers and I don't think anyone else on here has done so, including Ray Monette or Peter Rivera. Dino's production skills might be the best in the world for all I know but his judgement was questioned for the production of Tight and Hot by members of the band itself. Like most of us on this forum I'm not in a position to comment as, like you, I haven't heard the album.
I'm guessing that Nick Zesses was not working with Dino by that time and therefore not involved with the album, but this is just a guess and I stand to be corrected. Maybe Mike has read the sleeve notes and can comment?
I believe Zesses had bailed from the music business before this project evolved. He was tired of being away from his family for long periods of time and wnated to make some changes in his life. I always liked Nick and Dino in the early years but I think Dino's success in the Disco field kind of went to his head and he was no longer the humble writer he once was.
I'LL NEVER FOR GET THAT MAGICAL NIGHT THAT NICK AND DINO CAME DOWN TO STUDIO B WITH A NEW SONG FOR US.IT WAS SO FRESH,THAT THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A TAPE DEMO OF IT.NICK PLAYED IT ON THE GRAND,AND DINO SANG IT.THE SONG WAS "I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE".WE ALL LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND JUST SMILED.I THINK WE ALL KNEW THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE A GREAT RECORD FOR US.
WE TRIED RECORDING IT ,AND WERE HAVING A HARD TIME WITH A COUPLE OF SECTIONS,WHEN TOM BAIRD CAME IN,AND HELPED PULL IT ALL TOGETHER.
WHEN WE DID "TIGHT AND HOT",IT WAS JUST DINO.WE WERE NOT HAPPY WITH THE WAY THINGS WERE GOING,BUT RCA WAS EVEN LESS HAPPY!
NONE OF THIS REFLECTS ON THE GREAT THINGS THAT NICK AND DINO DID FOR US.
I don't know if I'd say Dino Fekaris "deserves" being blasted. But from what I've read and what Pete and Ray have said, the blame seems to rest with Dino. Ya know, I enjoy Tight & Hot. I dig it more than Band Together & Grand Slam overall. Just a matter of personal taste.
Another one I enjoy is the 1977 album, even if it is a little too polished. I don't know if that's because of producer James Carmichael (known for his work with The Commodores) or then-current trends in music but it's still a good album. It does miss 2 things: Ray & Mark. . But that story has already been told elsewhere...water under the bridge. No offense to Dan Ferguson & Ron Fransen either. What the heck...if it's R.E. then I'll listen anytime.
I don't know if I'd say Dino Fekaris "deserves" being blasted.
I thought about that quite a bit after I posted it. I didn't like it. I wish I'd written "Perhaps Dino Fekaris deserves the blasting he got here..." I personally don't know if he does or doesn't. Please remember that my post was a passionate defense of Mr. Fekaris as far as his work with Nick Zesses. I didn't like seeing someone who contributed such great and important material to Rare Earth being treated so critically and harshly. I just wanted to inform anyone who didn't know who he is about his role in the history of Rare Earth, and also to remind everyone who DID know who he is.
Ray, thanks for the great story of the magical moment you and the rest of the band first heard "I Just Want To Celebrate". Zesses and Fekaris must have been really excited about the song to have skipped making a demo to just rush to play it for you live. And now I know something I've always wondered - Zesses was a musician, so it was one of those writing teams where both do lyrics and music. Anyway, it's great to know that you haven't forgotten or underappreciated the role of these two in Rare Earth's history.
Peter hasn't either - a nice chunk of his short essay for the liner notes of The Very Best of Rare Earth acknowledges their contributions.
Since this is a UK-based site, many here may not know that for the past two months, a television ad in the US has been running that prominently features "I Just Want To Celebrate", and it's the original version by Rare Earth. I can't even remember what the product is... I just get so excited when I hear the song. As far as what UK Dave said about the other high-profile songs: I think the ones that really seem to be immortal, since you hear them now about as much as when they were out, are "Get Ready" and "I Just Want To Celebrate." If Rare Earth had stuck to being a cover band they would've gone the way of Vanilla Fudge - RE needed those originals to prove that they were a lot more than an excellent cover band.
Thanks to Ralph for the answer to my question about Nick Zesses.
And Mike, I just listened to the 1977 Rarearth LP this morning, and I like it very much. It even had horns and strings - imagine THAT on a Rare Earth album!
BTW, my name is Glenn and I will shortly join this forum so I can post properly. I love this site and these boards.
There's no need to be concerned about what you said in defending Dino. If nothing else you pointed out that Dino and Nick wrote the brilliant Every Now and Then We Get To Go On Down To Miami. I was unconvinced and thought pretty much every Willie track was band written apart from Tom Baird's Good Time Sally.
So I dived rather carelessly into the cupboard to locate my vinyl copy and in doing so managed to cut my finger on one of the sleeve edges Your statement was correct of course and I discovered that Nick and Dino were responsible for yet another RE gem.
Its a good job I only slightly cut my finger though. I'm very organised with my RE collection and they are stacked in chronological order. That means the LP next to it is Ma. I don't think that white front sleeve would look too good if I'd ended up getting blood stains on it
HELLO GLENN.. WELCOME TO THE FORUM...WE ARE ALL FRIENDS HERE AND I SPEAK FOR A LOT OF US.. WE APPREIATE YOUR COMMENTS....THE AD THAT YOU ARE REFERING TO IS BUD LIGHT...AND THERE WAS A TV SHOW ON NBC THAT INTROED CELEBRATE AS WELL..CAN'T REMEMBER THE SHOW..LOL!!
Its a good job I only slightly cut my finger though. I'm very organised with my RE collection and they are stacked in chronological order. That means the LP next to it is Ma. I don't think that white front sleeve would look too good if I'd ended up getting blood stains on it
I DISAGREE DAVE, STRATEGICALLY PLACED,BLOODSTAINS COULD IMPROVE THAT COVER DRAMATICALLY!! LOL.
There's no need to be concerned about what you said in defending Dino. If nothing else you pointed out that Dino and Nick wrote the brilliant Every Now and Then We Get To Go On Down To Miami. I was unconvinced and thought pretty much every Willie track was band written apart from Tom Baird's Good Time Sally.
UK Dave wrote:
Hi Glenn
There's no need to be concerned about what you said in defending Dino. If nothing else you pointed out that Dino and Nick wrote the brilliant Every Now and Then We Get To Go On Down To Miami. I was unconvinced and thought pretty much every Willie track was band written apart from Tom Baird's Good Time Sally.
Sorry to hear about your finger, Dave. See, you should have just believed me! Seriously, though, now that you know, you'll recognize that "Miami" echoes the other Zesses/Fekaris Rare Earth songs stylistically.
And here's what Peter said in The Very Best of Rare Earth essay:
In the summer of '72 the band decided to go back to Tom Baird for the Willie Remembers album. His "Good Time Sally" was a fun sort of song and we had a great time making that record. We were also excited about "Every Now And Then We Get To Go On Down To Miami" from Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris, who had given us "Celebrate" and "Hey Big Brother. "Miami" really hit home with us. Even though it didn't get picked as a single it still gets requests. Peter Rivera 1998By the way, Dave, considering your moniker and that this site is based in the UK, my very simple question is - HUH? Rare Earth not only never had a hit in the UK, they never even charted a single there - not once! Don't get me wrong - I'm absolutely delighted that Rare Earth has a significant number of fans there! It's just - how did you hear of them, or hear them at all?Glenn
Rare Earth had good radio airplay, thats how we got to hear them in the UK. All the albums and singles were available with no problem, so why wouldnot we hear of Rare Earth. They would have hit the right spot with more fans if they had come over to show their faces. They were due to play The Royal Albert Hall and Manchester Apollo at the end of 1971 but it never happened, bear in mind that these places are premier venues.
Chart positions do not always show the popularity of a band, I first saw Alice Cooper before they had a chart hit in the UK and the band filled Wembley Arena then known as the Wembley Empire Pool. I would say Rare Earth had healthy sales even though the band themselves may not have seen the evidence in money terms
I was a Motown fan and was on holiday visiting relatives in Ireland around 1970. The local town was quite remote and had only one shop that sold records. I spotted a box of 45s hidden in a corner containing ex or non-hits. Scouring it for anything Motown, I spotted Get Ready by Rare Earth. "Who? Never Heard of 'em". That got me curious and I bought it. Even if I didn't like it I knew a collector who would kill for anything rare on Tamla Motown (that was the UK label name). The fact that I could see it was written by Smokey Robinson confirmed it was a cover of the Temptations song which I liked anyway, so it was a safe bet.
My Grandparents' farm where we were staying, didn't have electricity (or water, gas, toilets etc, but that's another matter) so I had to wait about 10 days before I could get home to England to play it. When I did, I loved it. Pete's precise drumming and snare sound had me hooked. I loved the B side too. It wasn't till weeks later that I saw the album and discovered they were white guys . I think the first foot in the water albumwise was One World which I loved. However Rare Earth In Concert completely blew me away. Its still my favourite album even now. After that I bought everything albumwise, buying imports by mail order if necessary (Back To Earth). Its a real shame they didn't get to play here, even though Ray explained they did come to London once but there was a problem with papers. That's why its really pleasing that old footage is located by you guys and shared on YouTube.
Unlike John I can't remember ever hearing Rare Earth on the radio. I think I once heard Good Time Sally but that's about all.
John
Tony Blackburn was the DJ who flew the flag for Motown in the UK. Can you ever recall him playing any Rare Earth on his shows?
I first heard I Just Want To Celebrate being played on Radio Luxembourg, they had it as a 208 powerplay. 208 stands for the wavelength they broadcast on and their audience figures were around the 8 milion mark in 1971. Only one powerplay was aired per week, the record would be played on the hour every hour, every day for a whole week. Radio Luxembourg was Europe wide so many countries probably got their first taste of Rare Earth through this medium.
It was also being played on a regular basis on the Emporer Rosko show on Radio One, this station had the largest audience figures of the time at around 15 million. Emporer Rosko was an almost clone of Wolfman Jack and he went on to play heavily Hey Big Brother and Good Time Sally when they came out.
Radio Caroline started broadcasting again from a ship in the north sea in 1972 after being towed away in 1968. They were a pop station in the 60's but became an album station throughout the 1970's with an audience of around 8 million. Once again Rare Earth were featured all the way in this decade. I heard everything from Get Ready which seemed to be played every week by one dj or another through to Band Together. The station made the Rareearth 1977 LP, it's album of the week and I got to hear every track before I bought it. When I first I heard Love Has Lifted Me I nearly fell off my chair when I realised that Pete Rivera had returned, this made me feel good but I could never grasp the missing name of Ray Monette when I got my hands on what I consider a great album.
Tony Blackburn and Simon Bates on Radio One both had Warm Ride as their records of the week, to be played every day. Bates played Dreamer and tried to convince the listeners that Pete's singing was like Soloman Burke. Warm Ride is interesting with airplay in the UK as it was on virtually every commercial stations playlist for a two week period. Mind you, it still never charted lol.
Ray mentioned London but that was in 1989, Richard can tell you about that one. I mentioned the Albert Hall gig from 1971 as that is one of the best venues in the UK. The other group to appear along side Rare Earth that evening would have been C.C.S
Yes..I'd forgotten about Warm Ride. Yes, that one did get airplay. Emperor Rosko...those were the days! Saturday on Radio One 247 Medium Wave. Stewpot, Stuart Henry, Dave Lee Travis (the Hairy Cornflake), Rosko and not forgetting Alan (Fluff) Freeman in the afternoon. Then a live concert in the early evening with "Radio One In Concert". How great it would have been to hear Rare Eaerth doing that slot!!!
I used to like C.C.S. I have the CD of their hits, and of course they had the theme tune for Top of the Pops with their version of Zep's "Whole Lotta Love"
Rarearth was another LP I had to buy on import. In Peter's book I seem to recall that Ray and Mark were due to be re-united but there were some problems agreeing contractual issues. Its actually a very enjoyable album!!
THIS IS VERY INTERESTING HEARING WHAT WAS GOING ON ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POND GUYS.VERY COOL!!
LOOKING BACK,IT WAS A BIG MISTAKE NOT GOING TO EUROPE.I DON'T WANT TO PUT THE BLAME ON HIM TOTALLY,BUT OUR MANAGER PRETTY MUCH SHUT DOWN THE IDEA OF COMING OVER.HE DID SO MANY GOOD THINGS FOR US THAT IT'S HARD TO BLAME HIM FOR THAT ONE.
ALSO......ON THE "RAREEARTHRAREEARTH" ALBUM,MARK AND I WERE TOTALLY INVOLVED IN THAT ONE.WE REHEARSED THE SONGS,AND HAD MANY OF THEM RECORDED BEFORE WE QUIT.THERE WAS A BAD SET OF POLITICS GOING ON AT THE TIME,THAT NEITHER MARK NOR I COULD PUT UP WITH,SO WE WALKED OUT.
I was always under the impression you & Mark were not hip to some politics that were taking place and didn't even start work on the album. Bear in mind I'm not trying to hit a sore spot. I'd imagine the 1974 breakup still was a wound not fully healed within the band in 1977. I have to wonder if there's an early version of the album with you & Mark on it.
After the release of 1977's Rarearth LP I checked out many concert listings but I didn't see any listings for Rare Earth anywhere. The same thing happened after Band Together and Grand Slam were released in 1978. That same year I traveled cross country from New York to California and then back to NY but I still didn't see any listings for the band. Perhaps I was just in the wrong places at the wrong times but I didn't catch up with Rare Earth again until 1980.
John ran away with it too. We did 2 albums in less time than it usually takes to do one. There was a lot of pressure on bringing in other players and singers.... One night we walked in the studio to track a song and there was another Bass player there from the Gap Band. It's like we had nothing to say about it. The Hudson Brothers came in to sing....Geezzzzz it was such a mess......
Peter,
May I make a comment - "Warm Ride" brought Rare Earth back into the Top 40 after five years without a chart hit. Very few bands can accomplish this. At the time it came out the Bee Gees ruled the world, and many many artists would have given their right arm to have the Gibbs give them an exclusive song. Unfortunately, perhaps, one of the elements required to do their songs the way they were intended was to have that distinctive falsetto vocal sound in at least some part of the song. I think you'd agree that no one in Rare Earth could have accomplished this kind of singing. The Hudson Brothers did a very good job of imitating that Bee Gees sound, and the contrast of them on the high "I know you need me there can be no doubt" part with your deep voice on "You've got me held inside your love/And I can't get out" provides one of the record's most magnetic hooks.
My reaction when I first heard "Warm Ride", besides loving it, was "Wow! Rare Earth can do anything!!" It made me realize that disco was just another kind of R&B music, and being that Rare Earth had always been an R&B-based band, why shouldn't they sound good doing disco? Also amazing about "Warm Ride" was that your vocal was just as unrestrained and powerful as it had always been, you weren't holding back, and your phrasing was as imaginative as ever. I could never have imagined that you would sound so comfortable and so right on anything in that era of lightweight fluff, but you and the rest of the band pulled it off. And kept it funky and rockin'.
In short, "Warm Ride" was something of an unlikely miracle, putting all these elements together that shouldn't have worked together, and getting a hit to boot! I know very little about John Ryan, but I know what a producer does, and John has to be a good part responsible for the success of that record.
The conditions you described of recording two albums at once had to be awful, I know. Having no say in what was happening and having other musicians and singers parading in and out of your record couldn't have been great for your self-esteem. Overall an experience that must not have been fun for you guys. But at least one good thing did come out of it. And John and the Hudsons helped.
Interesting. I'd never really thought about Warm Ride and who did those high pitch vocals. In fact, come to think of it, Warm Ride doesn't get discussed that much on here, probably because of the time separation from the earlier hits.
Did the band ever perform it live? I can't recall anyone mentioning it appearing in the setlist. Presumably if they didn't, there would be reasons, one being those important high pitch backing vocals?
I like Band Together, much underated. It was of it's time and is the stronger material from those John Ryan sessions that spawned Grand Slam as well. Ryan has a good pedigree with rock acts. He produced about four Styx albums and some Climax Blues Band which also included session work from Mark Olson.
I like the harmonies on Love Do Me Right and Warm Ride and Pete's singing is on top form. Love Music has some good guitar as does Mota Molata.
I tihink if you took the best cuts from both Ryan produced albums you'd have a really good album. I have to make mention of "I Wish It Would Rain" from Grand Slam. Pete sings this one particularly well. I think David Ruffin would be proud.
Mark Olson played sessions on one of the Climax albums? Wow, I never knew that. Climax Blues Band are from Stafford in the UK which is not that far from me. They still tour quite a bit plus they have a couple of splinter bands that play covers.
I never saw them when Peter Hay**** was guitarist unfortunately. They played a college gig in 1975 which I was looking forward to. Then I went and broke my ankle playing football and that meant I couldn't go.
Naturally if it had been Rare Earth I'd have crawled there on my hands and knees :)
Dave There is another R.E. conection with the Climax Blues Band, Gabriel Katona does the string arrangements on a couple of tracks on their 1980 album Flying The Flag. I have seen C.B.B 20+ times live and they were always brilliant. Funny thing is I was only playing their Blues From The Attic (recorded live in Stafford) the other night.
Glenn: That was a nice thing you said. I really didn't mean to rain on anything the band or John did. It's just that Rare Earth was the kind of band that worked out things that were needed on the songs. Through the help of Tom Baird we would figure out an approach to making the songs complete from within ourselves, and I think that what Rare Earth became was because of the way we approached the sessions. After some time without a hit somebody decided that we needed to do a song from the Bee Gee's. That in itself was great. The Bee Gee's were certainly a great group,. I had a problem in that we didn't approach the song with more of a Rare Earth taste. Mark Hudson is a good friend of mine and it was fun having him and the brothers involved. The fact of the matter was, Warm Ride was charted through political favors. If you noticed it came on somewhere around # 30 and didn't go anywhere else. It's my opinion that John Ryan, while I believed he thought a lot of Rare Earth, didn't capture what Rare Earth was really all about. The fact that we couldn't sing like the Hudson Bros was good with me. I never wanted to try to sing like anyone else anyway. I loved the fact that we shaped our songs from within our own abilities and attitudes. After Willie, the Ma album began to take us farther and farther away from who we were as a group. Panic had set in and everyone was grabbin at anything they could to find us a way back into the scene. Once that happened it was only a matter of time before we bacame something other than Rare Earth..... this is just my opinion... I'm sure there's others........Peter
Peter Rivera wrote:After Willie, the Ma album began to take us farther and farther away from who we were as a group. Panic had set in and everyone was grabbin at anything they could to find us a way back into the scene. Once that happened it was only a matter of time before we bacame something other than Rare Earth..... this is just my opinion... I'm sure there's others........Peter I'd have to agree with that Peter. I firmly believe that Rare Earth did it's best work with Tom Baird. All one had to do is listen to Ecology, One World and Willie Remembers and you'll hear the sound and spirit of Rare Earth. It seems like the powers @ Motown didn't want their acts to have creative control and didn't seem to promote Willie because of almost everything being done by Tom Baird @ Rare Earth. I have to wonder if they weren't defensive in that respect. In my opinion, Willie had 2 possible hit singles (Good Time Sally & We're Gonna Have A Good Time) but without proper promotion, they went nowhere. By 1972, Marvin Gaye & Stevie Wonder had creative control of their music. A shame others @ Motown couldn't see that. All due respect to Norman Whitfield, but "Ma" is an egotistical album from the standpoint of songwriting, inner sleeve picture and production. Maybe Norman knew it all. Ma, from a musicianship standpoint, is just fine. Everyone plays great.
I like to imagine what a finished album from the 1974 Frank Wilson sessions might've sounded like. Chained & Fun House have great production and sound more like Rare Earth than aything from Ma. And I enjoy Ma.
Peter, do you recall how much was cut/completed during the 1974 sessions? I know that Chained, Fun House and Fresh From The Can (a remixed section of "Thoughts" w/Urso dubbing a bass line) were mixed. I seem to recall mention of a song called "Bring Me Together" and a song of Mark's.
Thanks for your response, your insights, and for sharing your personal point of view.
I totally understand where you're coming from. I, and I'm sure all of us, would've loved to hear how "Warm Ride" would've turned out if Rare Earth, in collaboration with the producer, had worked it out the way Rare Earth would've worked it out. Besides being true to the band, it might even have been a more commericially viable record -- or less -- we'll never know.
I hope you understand that I wasn't being critical when I said that Rare Earth themselves couldn't have reproduced the Bee Gees vocal sound. I hope I made very clear in my comment that I am a big fan of your voice and your singing - I would certainly never want you to sound like anybody else, ever. My point was that the artists that were benefitting from the Bee Gees' Midas touch weren't doing so just because they were recording songs written by the Bee Gees, it was also because they were incorporating that Bee Gees vocal sound into at least part of their records. I'm sure none of those artists could've sung like the Bees Gees -- those backing vocals were in most cases provided by one or more of the Bee Gees themselves. (In a little-known bizarre extreme example of this, the lead vocal on the chorus of Samantha Sang's "Emotion" wasn't even sung by Samantha Sang - it was sung by Barry Gibb!) Since for whatever reason the Bee Gees weren't going to sing on your session, John Ryan did the next best thing by finding someone who could imitate them. Given what was happening in music at that time, it was a commercial no-brainer. Had that record brought you back big the way it should've, perhaps you guys could've written your own ticket from then on and done things your way. I don't know. Knowing Motown, probably not.
I remember when I first learned that a record company could literally buy a record a position on the charts. I remember it because I've been depressed ever since. Now that you've revealed that "Warm Ride" was an artificial hit, I'm more depressed than ever.
Don't worry, I'll be okay.
Anyway, even if "Warm Ride" wasn't as big a hit as I thought, and here's one of those "other" opinions you talked about, I think it was a very good record. And continuing in that "other" opinion, I think it really sounded like Rare Earth, had Rare Earth tried to make a disco record without completely losing their identity. One thing for sure - it was better than 99% of the other disco records out there, most of which I hated.
It's certainly been on every Rare Earth "best of" collection, and in fact is the lead-off song, in its even-better 12" version, on Earth Tones - The Essential Rare Earth. It's not on these collections because it was a hit, since it wasn't, but because it qualifies as one of your best, and a lot of people like it. And I'm sure it will be on all your future "best of" collections, which Motown will continue to issue with new covers, new titles, and slightly different song selections at the rate of one every six months till the the end of time.
Was Warm Ride followed up with further singles from Band Together and Grand Slam? I wasn't a massive fan of Warm Ride when it came out, but its definitely grown on me over time.
I think there were other songs that might arguably have stood a better chance of charting, but of course they didn't come with the Gibb Brothers credentials
Was Warm Ride followed up with further singles from Band Together and Grand Slam? I wasn't a massive fan of Warm Ride when it came out, but its definitely grown on me over time.
I think there were other songs that might arguably have stood a better chance of charting, but of course they didn't come with the Gibb Brothers credentials
Hi Dave,
Prodigal 643.....I Can Feel My Love Risin/SOS Stop Her On Sight.....1978
That's the last single by the band on Motown/Prodigal. I have a soft spot for I Can Feel My Love Risin' from Grand Slam. Dreamer from Band Together is a real gem. I also like the cover of I Wish It Would Rain on Grand Slam. I'm a big Temptations fan and think their version is one of David Ruffin's best ever vocals so I gravitate towards the R.E. version as well.
Problem w/WR was that,as a muscian friend said....they lost their soul.....Ray has alluded to this;STOP bashin Norman,least he tried to put RE back on track,on the soul train;I think Pete is partial to Baird,thats fine,he was a talent;Look @ the #s,MA was 1 of the biggest soul lps of 73;WR went gold i think but the charts dont look good;At times durin WR,RE sounds like the Oak Ridge Boys,RE were a bunch of white boys w/ deep soul,rivera was a great soul singer,half of the songs Norman produced 4 him r classics;Btw,Ruffin covered Celebrate via Norman,sounds like NW had more respect 4 Pete,than vice-versa;U still alright w/me dude;remember I tried to hip SS to your kids;
The problem with Warm Ride was that, as a muscian friend said...they lost thier soul...Ray has alluded to this. STOP bashing Norman. At least he tried to put Rare Earth back on track, on the Soul Train. I think Pete is partial to Tom Baird and that's fine. He was a talent. Look at the numbers...MA was one of the biggest soul LP's of 1973. Warm Ride went gold I think, but the charts don't look Kosher! At times during Warm Ride, Rare Earth sounds like the Oak Ridge Boys. Rare Earth were a bunch of white boys with deep soul. Rivera was a great soul singer. Half the songs Norman produced for him are classics. By the way, Ruffin covered Celebrate via Norman. Sounds like Norman Whitfield had more respect for Pete than vice-versa. You are still alright with me dude. Remember I tried to hip SS (?) to your kids.
Willie Remembers vs Ma? RICH seems to prefer Ma where I prefer Willie Remembers. Different opinions. For me its not a question of Norman Whitfield vs Tom Baird. If Norman under achieved on the Ma album I would put it down to time constraints. I think the lyrics to Hum Alongand Dance says it all.
I've said it before that, for me, two songs let the Ma album down. With only two chords, the title track isn't interesting enough to make a 20+ minute jam and the moaning or howling on Come With Me lowers the tone. Sorry, but the buck stops with Norman for that.
I've got scores of Norman Whitfield songs and productions in my record and CD collection that I love to bits. I'm not a Norman Basher but I doubt even he would include his work on Ma in the achievements section of his CV.
I don't know how the sales of these two albums compared with each other but I was always under the impression that Willie sold more. I think the respective advertising budgets need to be written into the equation too.
I do understand what RICH is saying about Norman steering the music back towards white soul. The idea was there but not the product unfortunately, Big John being an exception. Willie is a stronger album in my opinion. The band stretched themselves as writers and vocalists. Ma on the other hand, looked like an attempt at a quick fix for something that wasn't yet broken.
The bottom line is that I still enjoyed both albums by Rare Earth in their prime, and you'd never get me to part with either of them.
I think you've mis-interpreted. I'm thinking that the WR that RICH refers to is "Willie Remembers" rather than "Warm Ride". If so, his post makes a lot more sense.
Problem w/WR was that,as a muscian friend said....they lost their soul.....Ray has alluded to this;STOP bashin Norman,least he tried to put RE back on track,on the soul train;I think Pete is partial to Baird,thats fine,he was a talent;Look @ the #s,MA was 1 of the biggest soul lps of 73;WR went gold i think but the charts dont look good;At times durin WR,RE sounds like the Oak Ridge Boys,RE were a bunch of white boys w/ deep soul,rivera was a great soul singer,half of the songs Norman produced 4 him r classics;Btw,Ruffin covered Celebrate via Norman,sounds like NW had more respect 4 Pete,than vice-versa;U still alright w/me dude;remember I tried to hip SS to your kids;
No need to get defensive. Nobody is bashing Norman. :)
If you re-read my earlier posts, I said "with all due respect to Norman". I've also mentioned that I am a Temptatiosn fan too. I'm not bashing Norman at all. He did some of his best work with The Temps. But his control on the Ma album did NOT help the band get back on the charts that way Motown said it would.
It's just that Rare Earth did their best work with Tom. Tom knew how to get the best out of the band.
Ma wasn't one of the biggest soul LP's of 1973. Far from it actually. It didn't chart very high at all...only in the mid 70's on the charts. Willie charted in the 50's but it did go gold without the aid of the label or a hit single. A major soul LP from 1973 was "Let's Get It On"...biggest selling Motown album that year...HUGE! 3 + 3 by The Isley Brothers, Diana & Marvin, Touch Me in the Morning by Diana Ross, Masterpiece by The Temps (which incl. a cover of Ma!).
And besides, what's wrong with The Oak Ridge Boys? I like all kinds of stuff.
SS=Stuart Sternberg,owner of the TB Devil Rays,personal friend;WR=Willie Remembers;SORRY,MA scored very high on Billboards soul LPs for 73;Actually WR is OK;
I can't believe I'm actually typing this much. I just wanted to say that the dynamics at Motown were very interesting. Berry was the owner. Norman was the most sucessful producer. One got the feeling that because of his sucess he always got his way with Berry. He always let us all know how sucessful he was. That was OK , but we felt a little shut down. We had just finished Willie and were feeling pretty good in that we did some of our material. Tom Baird was a great arranger. Working with Tom was a great experience in that he took the time to work with us to develop music using our talents and having patience with us in learning how to become musicians who could actually deliver performances that turned into good records. I was partial to Tom because he spent the time with us to work out the rough edges until we could deliver. He was like a member of the group. When it came to working with Norman (which was a fun experience for Losin You) it was a different scene. We jammed, he recorded it and then he edited and edited and added other musicians until he had what he wanted. During the "MA" project, I never got the feeling that we had any say in the matter. When we got to the point of doing Willie, we again asked Tom to help out and he did. The day the album was finished, Susanne DePasse looked up and said OK now we will do a real album. They went after Norman to come in and "save the day". Norman was so sucessful that he named his own ticket. He came in to do the MA album. We didn't have any say on the album. We weren't even asked. We were supposed to do what ever we were told. I personally think that Norman was one of the best producers ever. I loved Tom too. Each was a different cut of meat. I look back on the whole experience with love for both.
Nice words Pete,I hear Norm was a real pain in the ass,from Harlem,but u know he tried;I use to feel u had somethin against him.........u a cool guy;U wouldve killed the material on Midnight Lady;Lacroix did an ok job......by then RE was almost history;Norm is not doin well....drop him a line;
Only joking. Great to see you posting again. I always wondered what Suzanne DePasse was like. Pick up any Motown related book and her name is always prominent in the index. Did she get involved with the Rare Earth label artists Ralph, or was that totally your baby? Maybe its time I read your book again. I'm very forgetful these days.
Rich Are you saying Norman is unwell? I haven't heard of him for a long time.
Dave, Thanks for the smile. You may get the idea that Suzanne was not a favorite of mine. And you are right. Before the company move to L.A. I assisted Harry Balk in the running and building of the Rare Earth lable. It wasn't until after the move and Harry's unfortunate dismissal that DePasse took over. Huge mistake there.
Yes, Norman has been ill lately. We have a thread on the Soulful Detroit forum dedicated to this. From what I've read, Norman was in the hospital and had a Pacemaker installed and is now home and doing better. I wish the best for this extremely talented guy.
I think you've mis-interpreted. I'm thinking that the WR that RICH refers to is "Willie Remembers" rather than "Warm Ride". If so, his post makes a lot more sense.
No idea what SS is all about though.
Hey Uk Dave,
Yes you were right. It's just that that post came of the heels of the discussion of Warm Ride. And you know what happens when one assumes...
I thought it referred to Warm Ride myself but then realised it didn't seem to make sense. Actually it was me (unintentionally) posting as Anonymous with the request for a translation. No offence meant to RICH of course. I just didn't understand some of his post at first. SMS language?
Talking of posting as Anonymous, until recently the Name field was blank and required a manual entry. Now, with Anonymous as default, its too easy to go straight to the subject matter, say your piece and post. In doing so, we forget to go back and alter the name field. It's a pain and I think this needs taking up with the web designer. It happens regularly and lots of us have fallen victim, even our celebrity posters!
Personally I don't think anyone here needs to post as anonymous. I reckon we're a polite and tolerant bunch PS I detest that verification entry thing at the end. Sometimes letters or numbers are superimposed and impossible to read. So you make a guess and get it wrong. Trouble is, once you get it wrong, you're asked to go back and try again. You then discover you've lost the text you wrote. Infuriating!
John, I know you are stuck in the middle, but the "anonymous" postings aren't deliberate most of the time. Maybe you can talk to the website people and revert back to a required manual entry?
A good idea for not getting caught in the anonymous trap is to sign your post after you finish which I always try to do. Also what I sometimes do is "copy" what I write and then in case I loose it I can post again and just "paste" it.
It's no big deal it is just nice to see who is posting. We can not alter the settings for it as the controllers do not allow for this type of modification. It can be changed but it would mean everyone having to sign in etc etc and we want to keep this forum as free from red tape as it can be. Pretty much like poor old Joe ****er and Peter Hay****, we are stuck with what we have lol. As for the verification, well that is needed otherwise we would be spammed beyond belief with all kinds of sex related material and then the profanity filters would probably explode. And we don't want the forum cluttered with trash like that anyway. If you saw what comes through on email you would get the picture.
I shall inform the owners of these forums about these small problems, you never know they may respond.
Its ok John, I wasn't complaining. I understand that the reasons for them being there. As for the dodgy spam, yes I would understand. I got them all the time with my last ISP so I changed.
Stuart I sometimes copy just in case I lose my post so I can paste it back. I hadn't thought of signing at the end though. That makes total sense!!
The verification thing is annoying every now and then because sometimes the charachters overlap and you have to try and guess.
Hi, I am from Russia. Sorry for my bad english. In Russia tracks from "Tight andthough" are not availablein any format.Pleaselet me know-whereit can be downloaded?
So I got a copy of Tight and Hot, but no track names or cover art. It used to be on the RareEarthWorld website, but I forgot tp grab that before the site went away.
Can anyone provide me the 8 tune track list or cover art? I recall the cover art was a sexy lady a purple cover I believe.
They all say that and then you find it spread all over the web and people being charged money for it. Wait until it gets an official release to stop bootleggers making money from a product they have nothing to do with. There are too many Rare Earth CD rip off bootlegs already on the market that seem to originate from Russia and are dire quality.
When the album is released officially I certainly will buy it in proper quality, but till now I just want to listen tracks in bad quality. I just ask to share tracks without charge here, becaues I dont want to pay anyone except Rare Earth Band.
I can even provide my personal id, social web page, passport data in email to penalize me if spreading Tight and Hot tracks. I swear it is only for me. I bought all available Rare Earth LPs legally when i was in USA and fan of the band for 6 years. I never harm authority rights of favourite band
I saw Rare Earth perform songs from this album (3 that I can remember) and they were fantastic! I remember at the time (I think this was in the 80's) thinking that this is the music I had been waiting for them to do because it fit them so well. Pete, at the start of the show mentioned they had a new album coming out and the audience went wild. At this time they were doing smaller venues but there had to be about 300 very enthusiastic people in attendance by my estimation. The recording I made with a cheap tape-recorder is so bad and distorted that I only keep it for the memory. When I heard a a few of the recorded songs from Tight and Hot I was extremely dismayed because I heard the potential these songs had live and could only imagine what the original tracks sounded like before they were remixed or whatever you want to call it. I would love to hear an original live recording of these songs during this time period. Pete told me after the show that the Motown executives were really excited about the album and from what I've heard live I would have to agree, besides, I do not believe that there were too many shows left with Mark, Eddie,and Pete. Sorry for the long post. Dave R
Yep. Sounds good. Very good. At least the late Dino Fekaris was giving Rare Earth perfect Rare Earth material. Somehow lost his way the strings and horns and remixing. What a fantastic find! Thank you for posting this ultra-rare and precious diamond.
Just heard/saw a 2018 show from the Pete Rivera trio and was blown away! Pete not only still has every atom of energy, voice and talent intact but he's expanding on it, changing it up and adding to it! Don't miss the YouTube video at the Saloon Studio from 2018. New Pete Rivera songs right in the groove and worthy additions to the canon.
I'm the Glenn who wrote back in 2008 about the Zesses/Fekaris contributions to the Rare Earth legacy. I'm also the Glenn who wrote enthusiastically and unapologetically about my love for "Warm Ride". It may not be a widel-shared opinion on this board but I know I'm not alone in this One World, and hey it got a response from Peter himself, (thank you so much Pete!), so I have nothing to be ashamed of.
r was this a cassette copy of the finished project after Dino's dirty work had been completed. 
...
. But that was in my college days and those were some crazy times. 
As far as what UK Dave said about the other high-profile songs: I think the ones that really seem to be immortal, since you hear them now about as much as when they were out, are "Get Ready" and "I Just Want To Celebrate." If Rare Earth had stuck to being a cover band they would've gone the way of Vanilla Fudge - RE needed those originals to prove that they were a lot more than an excellent cover band.
Your statement was correct of course and I discovered that Nick and Dino were responsible for yet another RE gem.
THE SHOW..LOL!!
And you know what happens when one assumes...
