| Get Ready | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original die-cut cover. Later versions have the image on a white background. | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 30, 1969 | |||
| Recorded | July 3–17, 1969 | |||
| Length | 43:25 | |||
| Label | Rare Earth | |||
| Producer | Rare Earth | |||
| Rare Earth chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Get Ready | ||||
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Get Ready is the RIAA Platinum-certified second studio album by American rock band Rare Earth. Released on September 30, 1969, it was one of five albums that launched the Motown subsidiary Rare Earth Records, named after the band. [1]
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Although Motown is best remembered as an African American label due to specializing in soul and R&B music, it did sign a number of white acts, to mixed success. [1] Berry Gordy intended to change this statistic by launching a Motown subsidiary that would specifically focus on white rock artists. [1] The acts Motown signed for the new subsidiary, including Rare Earth, for whom the new label was named, explored blues-oriented and progressive rock styles. [2]
The title track had been recorded by the Temptations previously, whose version had been a hit on the R&B charts, but not the pop charts, and was not considered a success by the Temptations' standards. [3] When Rare Earth was still performing under the name the Sunliners, "Get Ready" was a regular — and popular — part of the band's live set, and was subsequently recorded for their 1968 Verve debut album, Dreams/Answers, but after signing with Motown, executive Barney Ales wanted Rare Earth to re-record it for their debut on Motown's rock subsidiary. [3] After an initial version recorded for the new album was scrapped, the band themselves set up their own recording equipment and recorded a 21 minute version, which later had audience applause dubbed in. [3]
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To announce the formation of Motown's rock label, Rare Earth Records released Rare Earth's Get Ready album in a promotional box set alongside four other albums which included Pretty Things' S. F. Sorrow , as well as albums by Love Sculpture, Rustix and the Messengers. [1] The new recording of "Get Ready" was edited down to 2:46 for a single, which was given a Tamla Motown release in the UK, the only release by the band to appear on Motown itself, and unlike the Temptations' version, Rare Earth's recording was a success on the pop chart. [3] The single peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970. [4]
In 1971, Rare Earth became the first recording group to sue suspected pirates, naming the Lear Jet Corp., Muntz Stereo City, Pan American Distributing Co., Universal Tape Outlet, Stereo City and Harmony House in a suit filed by the band and Rare Earth Records which charged the Lear Jet Corp. with supplying blank tapes to Pan American Distributing Co. which were used to pirate material that appeared on Get Ready and Ecology , the suit contending that in addition to the contractual violation, the pirated tapes were detrimental to the band's professionalism, as the pirated tapes were of a much lower sound quality than the band's official releases. [5]
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
AllMusic wrote that "Rare Earth's Motown debut is as well-oiled as a new V-8". [6]
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Rare Earth's recording of the song "Get Ready" would later be used in hip hop performances by DJ Kool Herc, who used Rare Earth's breakbeats as part of his turntablism routine. [7] Pioneering hip hop journalist Steven Hager wrote that Rare Earth's recording "was a favorite in the Bronx because it lasted over twenty-one minutes, which was long enough for the serious dancers to get into the beat. They loved to wait for the song's two-minute drum solo to show their most spectacular moves." [8]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Magic Key" | Gil Bridges, Kenny Folcik | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Tobacco Road" | John D. Loudermilk | 7:11 |
| 3. | "Feelin' Alright" | Dave Mason | 5:03 |
| 4. | "In Bed" | Lynn Henderson, Tom Baird, Wes Henderson | 3:01 |
| 5. | "Train to Nowhere" | Kim Simmonds, Chris Youlden | 3:23 |
| Total length: | 23:05 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Get Ready" | William "Smokey" Robinson | 21:30 |
| Total length: | 21:30 | ||
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
Rare Earth is an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan. According to Louder, "Rare Earth's music straddles genres and defies categorisation, slipping seamlessly between the two seemingly disparate worlds of classic rock and R&B." The band was signed to Motown's subsidiary label Rare Earth. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first successful act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members.
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
"My Girl" is a soul music song recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) record label. Written and produced by the Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, it became the Temptations' first U.S. number 1 single, and is currently their signature song. Robinson's inspiration for writing "My Girl" was his wife, Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson. The song was included on the Temptations 1965 album The Temptations Sing Smokey. In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
"Get Ready" is a Motown song written by Smokey Robinson, which resulted in two hit records for the label: a U.S. No. 29 version by The Temptations in 1966, and a U.S. No. 4 version by Rare Earth in 1970. It is significant for being the last song Robinson wrote and produced for the Temptations, due to a deal Berry Gordy made with Norman Whitfield, that if "Get Ready" did not meet with the expected degree of success, then Whitfield's song, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", would get the next release, which resulted in Whitfield more or less replacing Robinson as the group's producer.
"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is a 1966 song and hit single by The Temptations for Motown Records' Gordy label, produced by Norman Whitfield and written by Whitfield and Edward Holland Jr. The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Chart, and was a number-one hit on the Billboard R&B charts for eight non-consecutive weeks. The song's success, in the wake of the relative underperformance of the previous Temptations' single, "Get Ready", resulted in Norman Whitfield replacing Smokey Robinson, producer of "Get Ready", as The Temptations' main producer. In 2004 it finished number 94 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs poll thanks to its inclusion in The Big Chill soundtrack.
"Psychedelic Shack" is a 1969 single for the Motown label performed by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield. It became a hit single in 1970.
Psychedelic Shack is the twelfth studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1970. Completely written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and produced by Whitfield, Psychedelic Shack almost completely abandoned the "Motown Sound" formula, instead delving fully into psychedelia. Along with the hit title track, the album also features the group's original version of "War", which became a major hit for Edwin Starr later in 1970.
"Hum Along and Dance" is a soul song written for the Motown label by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Originally recorded by the Temptations, the song was later covered by Motown acts Rare Earth and the Jackson 5. The song is essentially an instrumental piece and a vehicle for scatting and improvisational vocals, since, as the chorus states, "ain't no words to this song/you just dance and hum along". All three versions of the song were produced by Whitfield.
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's 25th year. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's reunion with the Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was co-written by de Passe with Ruth Adkins Robinson, who would go on to write shows with de Passe for the next 25 years, including the follow-up label tributes—through "Motown 40", Buz Kohan was the head writer.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is a Motown song written by Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Janie Bradford. The song was first recorded by The Temptations as a track on their 1966 album Gettin' Ready. Eddie Kendricks sings lead on the recording, which was produced by Whitfield. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded a version with The Temptations providing background vocals in 1966. It remained unreleased until 1997.
"(I Know) I'm Losing You" is a 1966 hit single recorded by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, written by Cornelius Grant, Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Norman Whitfield.
Masterpiece is a 1973 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced and written by Norman Whitfield.
Phoenix Rising is a 1998 studio album by American vocal group The Temptations. It was released on the Motown label on August 18, 1998. Featuring the debut of new Temptations members Barrington "Bo" Henderson, Terry Weeks, and Harry McGilberry, following the departure of Ali-Ollie Woodson, who ended his tenure with the group ; as well as the final Temptations album for Theo Peoples, who Henderson replaced.
The song "You're My Everything" is a 1967 single recorded by The Temptations for Berry Gordy's Motown record label. It is the first of three singles, and four songs to be co-written for the group by Motown songwriter Rodger Penzabene. It reached number three on the U.S. R&B chart and number six on the U.S. Pop chart. It is the third single from the group's 1967 album The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul.
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Brenda Holloway on the Tamla label. The song was later a huge hit for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1969, and became a Gold record.
"I'll Try Something New" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and originally released in 1962 by The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. Their version was a Billboard Top 40 hit, peaking at #39, and just missed the Top 10 of its R&B chart, peaking at #11. The song was released later as a joint single by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, also becoming a charting version on the Billboard 100 pop singles chart, peaking for two weeks in April 1969 at number 25.
Ecology is the third studio album by American rock band Rare Earth. It was released in 1970 on Rare Earth Records.
"Say You" is a 1965 soul song, written by Robert Dobyne, Robert Staunton and Charles Jones, and recorded by both The Monitors, who had a charting R&B Hit with the song, and The Temptations.
Many of Rare Earth's groups, including a popular band called Rare Earth, explored heavy blues-oriented and progressive rock styles.
