Saturday 18 September 2010

Rare Earth, Motown's blue-eyed group

Three Rare Earth albums in my collection of records. This group was one of the very few white groups signed by Motown Records to have ever made an impression anywhere. I was very excited with their sound. In those days, I liked rock groups that featured some horns and Rare Earth was one of them. I remember listening to these records in the mid-1970s and was going "wow" inside.

Side One: Good Time Sally, Every Now & Then We Get To Go On Down To Miami, Think Of The Children, Gotta Get Myself Back Home, Come With Your Lady Side Two: Would You Like To Come Along, We're Gonna Have A Good Time, I Couldn't Believe What Happened Last Night


This album is called simply Ma. In the United States, the album's cover featured a drawing of a grotesquely fat woman on a rocking chair.

My copy of this album, printed in England, sported a different cover and almost completely different songs too. The American version had a 17-minute version of the title track, Ma, while on my record, Ma had been whittled down to a mere 5:24 minutes. Apart from two other songs common to both albums, the remaining tracks on the British album were culled from Rare Earth's much earlier albums in the United States. It became almost a compilation album.

Side One: Ma, Big John Is My Name, Satisfaction Guaranteed (from "Ecology"), Hey Big Brother (from a 45rpm record), I Just Want To Celebrate (from "One World"), Hum Along And Dance
Side Two: Good Time Sally (from "Willie Remembers"), Get Ready (from "Get Ready")

Side One: I Just Want To Celebrate, Hey Big Brother, Born to Wander
Side Two: Get Ready
Side Three: What'd I Say, Thoughts
Side Four: (I Know) I'm Losing You, Nice to Be with You

1 comment:

stephen said...

Not my cup of tea.Songs that don't leave an impression on you neither do they make you sit up or try to learn the lyrics.
Don't have any of their albums.Reckon thats why theres so many diverse music around to suit the many varied tastes.