Rare Earth

Emerging from Detroit, Rare Earth drew upon the Motor City’s parallel traditions of hard-driving rock and soul music. Their most prominent successes came through reinterpretations of earlier Motown material, yet the group’s style occupied a space between muscular rhythm & blues and gritty bar-band rock & roll. That contrast was underscored by their status as Motown Records’ only white act to maintain steady chart momentum, while their disciplined ensemble work permitted extended improvisations that frequently stretched “Get Ready” to roughly thirty minutes onstage. The 1969 album Get Ready crystallized this identity and became their biggest commercial triumph; Ma, released in 1973, was written and produced by Motown’s renowned behind-the-scenes architect Norman Whitfield; and Grand Slam in 1978 steered the band toward funk and disco.

Rare Earth began as the Sunliners, a Detroit-area ensemble formed in 1960. Its original members were Pete Rivera (also known as Peter Hoorelbeke) handling drums and lead vocals, Rod Richards on guitar and vocals, John Persh covering bass, trombone, and vocals, Gil Bridges on sax, flute, and vocals, and Kenny James on keyboards. For several years the musicians performed local club engagements without widespread recognition, steadily sharpening their craft. In 1968 they sought a fresher image and adopted the more contemporary name Rare Earth. The new moniker helped attract notice, leading Verve Records to offer a contract. Motown session guitarist Dennis Coffey contributed production and arrangements to their first album, Dreams/Answers, issued in 1968; although it failed to connect with listeners and prompted a swift release from the label, the record enabled broader touring, and their rendition of the Temptations’ “Get Ready,” already captured on Dreams/Answers, evolved into a lengthy concert closer that could extend to half an hour. At the same time Motown, Detroit’s dominant label, enjoyed enormous success with soul and R&B releases yet struggled to penetrate the rock market, which remained largely the domain of white performers. Founder Berry Gordy therefore established a subsidiary devoted to rock groups and sought a suitable act to anchor it. Rare Earth’s fusion of rock and R&B appealed to him, resulting in a contract; when Gordy invited suggestions for the imprint’s name, the band half-jokingly proposed Rare Earth, and Gordy accepted the idea.

Rare Earth’s second album, Get Ready, appeared in September 1969 and devoted its entire second side to an extended version of the title track. Sales started modestly until a radio edit climbed to number four on the singles chart in early 1970, lifting the LP to eventual platinum status. Their third release preceded any proper follow-up when the group supplied the score for the generation-gap film Generation (later retitled A Time for Giving) and issued the soundtrack late in 1969. After the movie underperformed commercially, the album was soon withdrawn. By then percussionist Eddie Guzman had expanded the lineup to six members. Ecology, their fourth studio set, reached stores in June 1970 and yielded the hit cover “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” while “Born to Wander” gained notable Midwest airplay. Further personnel shifts followed: Rod Richards and Kenny James departed, Ray Monette assumed guitar duties, and Mark Olson joined on keyboards. One World, released in 1971, delivered another Top Ten single, “I Just Want to Celebrate,” which peaked at number seven. The year closed with the live collection Rare Earth in Concert, showcasing both hit material and the band’s penchant for extended soloing.

Willie Remembers, the 1972 studio album, introduced bassist Mike Urso and signaled a new direction. Earlier releases had relied heavily on outside material, yet this LP featured only original songs for the first time. (The group had also relocated to California following Motown’s headquarters move westward.) While One World had reached number 28 on the album charts, Willie Remembers climbed only to number 90 before fading. Ma in 1973 marked another shift; Norman Whitfield, celebrated for his work with the Temptations, produced the sessions and wrote all five tracks, two of them with Barrett Strong. The album achieved better sales but no hit singles, prompting Pete Rivera, Mike Urso, and Mark Olson to exit. With Jerry La Croix taking lead vocals, Reggie McBride on bass, Gabriel Katona on keyboards, Paul Warren on rhythm guitar, and Barry Frost on drums alongside Gil Bridges, Ray Monette, and Eddie Guzman, the reconfigured band recorded 1975’s moderately charting Back to Earth. Whitfield returned as producer and chief songwriter for Midnight Lady in 1976, by which point Paul Warren had left; the album missed the charts and concluded their tenure on the Rare Earth imprint. Former Motown executive Barney Ales, who had previously worked with the group, later headed the Prodigal subsidiary and brought Rare Earth aboard. Although Ales hoped to reassemble the Willie Remembers and Ma lineup, Ray Monette and Mark Olson declined, so Rivera, Bridges, Urso, and Guzman were augmented by session musicians Dan Ferguson on guitar and Ron Fransen on keyboards for 1977’s Rarearth. Monette and Olson rejoined for Grand Slam in 1978, which infused funk and disco elements; the sessions produced enough material for a second album, Band Together, issued later that year. After disappointing sales of both releases, Prodigal ended its association with the band, severing Rare Earth’s ties to the Motown organization for the first time since 1969.

Four years passed before another album appeared; Tight and Hot, recorded by the same configuration responsible for Grand Slam and Band Together, surfaced exclusively in Canada in 1982. Thereafter a rotating cast of musicians moved through the group, which maintained an active touring schedule despite infrequent recordings. Between 1981 and 2004, Gil Bridges and Ray Monette remained the only consistent members. Different World was released through Koch International in 1993, followed by a self-released, self-titled album in 2005. Ray Monette departed in 2004 and did not appear on A Brand New World in 2008, though he rejoined in 2009 and continued touring until 2017. The last surviving original member, Gil Bridges, died in Detroit on December 8, 2021, at age 80 from complications related to COVID-19.