Rare Earth

Rare Earth came out of Detroit and pulled off something no one else had at Motown: they were the first act made up only of white musicians to have real success on the company's books, and they did it on a Motown offshoot called, fittingly enough, Rare Earth. They weren't the first white band Motown signed, but they were the first to make it stick.

Their trick was to take Motor City soul and stretch it until it went psychedelic. Get Ready, from 1969, is the sound of a rock band head over heels for R&B: the title track rides a greasy, percussive groove, with Peter Rivera singing lead from behind the drum kit, Gil Bridges blowing sax and flute over the top, John Parrish on bass and trombone, Rod Richards on guitar, Ken Folcik on keyboards and Eddie Guzman's percussion keeping the whole thing on the boil. Ecology followed in 1970 with "I Know I'm Losing You", funk rock with a bluesy snarl and plenty of room to jam.

Mark Olson and Ray Monette came aboard as the lineup shifted, and in the end Bridges was the only one who stayed through the whole run, which lasted until his death in December 2021. Keyboardist Mike Bruner, in the band since 1998, then put together a new Rare Earth with the blessing of Bridges' wife, bringing back former member Wayne Baraks.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.