“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. Rare Earth’s version of “Get Ready” was the band’s first recording for Motown, and was based upon a version of the song it performed as the closing numbers to their live performances. Their 45 RPM single version sold in excess of a million U.S. copies, earning a Gold certification from the RIAA. In the live show, each member of the band performed a solo, resulting in a twenty-one-minute rendition of the song. “Get Ready” took up the entire second side of their Platinum-selling Motown album, also titled Get Ready. It has been debated on whether the recording for the album was really recorded at a concert. Today, “Get Ready” is among the most familiar of both the Temptations’ and Rare Earth’s recordings. (More from Wikipedia)
But not all of the bands and artists signed by Motown Records were African-American. Not long after I got to college, the cover of the Smokey Robinson song “Get Ready” by a band called Rare Earth was released. While they were not the first white band signed by Motown, they were the first to have a hit. Originally called the Sunliners, Rare Earth had previously released an album on Verve Records called Dreams/Answers in 1968. When they were signed by Motown Records, the company was starting a new label for white acts. The band jokingly suggested Rare Earth Records, and to their surprise, that is what Motown named the label.
“Get Ready” (which was evidently recorded live) was a million-selling record by Rare Earth that was certified gold; the extended version of this song was also one side of an album called Get Ready (1969). The other side features among its tracks two oft-covered songs on 1960’s albums, “Feeling Alright” and “Tobacco Road”.
(April 2015/1)
