MOTOR CITY FLASHBACKS III
RARE EARTH
A Rare Opportunity
by Terry Stafford

If there ever was a time in Detroit’s history that needed some healing it was in 1967 and 68. I know a lot of you that visit this site were not born yet, but those of us that lived through those troubled times remember a civil disturbance of incredible proportions.

It was a time of racial tensions, fires and riots, but Detroit was also a city known for producing some of the greatest musical groups ever thanks to the Motown Record Corporation. The music and bands coming out of Detroit during those times helped heal itself from all its problems. The aftermath of these civil disorders showed real attempts at bringing the community together.

During the summer in 1968, the Detroit Tigers helped heal some wounds where black and whites together cheered Al Kaline and Willie Horton to a World Championship and a very popular white band with an R & B sound was discovered and eventually signed to the exclusively black Motown record label.

Rare Earth started as The Sunliners in 1959 headed by Gil Bridges and Peter Rivera (Hoorelbeke). The Sunliners first prestigious gig was a trip to New York in 1961 to play the world famous Peppermint Lounge, the club that Joey Dee and the Starlighters made famous with their hit “The Peppermint Twist”. After returning to Detroit, the Sunliners, now a truly professional band, had their popularity grew even more when they started playing a large hot nightclub in East Lansing near Michigan State University called The Dells. The Dells was not just any nightclub, it seated 500 people and drew crowds from Detroit to Chicago playing to capacity audiences four nights a week from 1965 to 1967.

The Sunliners changed their name to Rare Earth because they felt they needed something fresh. Rare Earth attracted so much attention, that Motown Records sent a representative and were amazed that these were white musicians covering some of their hits with such feel.

Motown offered the band a recording contract that they turned down the first time. They did so because contrary to popular belief, Motown already had two white bands signed to the label but were being ignored in favor of their more famous black groups such as the Temptation and the Four Tops. Barney Ales a white co-founder of Motown Records wouldn’t take no for an answer and went to see the band a second time. But this time they were offered their own Rare Earth label under the Motown family at which time they accepted and began a prestigious recording career. During this same time, Berry Gordy signed a then a relatively unknown band by the name of the Jackson 5. Immediately there was competition between Ales and Gordy that carried over between Rare Earth and the Jacksons.

In 1968 their first album Get Ready was recorded at the famous Hittsville Studio on W.Grand Boulevard and released immediately where it broke the top ten and sold millions. Gil Bridges told me that he was stunned when his first royalty check was for $28,000, which at the time was a staggering sum. The album included the title song that covered an entire side showing the band’s artistic skills, but was a radical departure for AM artists. It was well established that if a song went longer than three minutes it wouldn’t get any air play, but things were changing and FM radio stations were popping up all over. Get Ready was edited down for AM play, but with the new FM format, longer and deeper album cuts became the industry standard for rock musicians.

In many ways, Rare Earth went contrary to all established methods of recording at Motown. They played all their own instruments and recorded their musical tracks together where Motown was more methodical in their approach by scheduling specific studio times for drum, rhythm, keys and vocal tracks etc. Rare Earth, in an incredible agreement with their parent company, was only charged $100. for each song they recorded with the stipulation that they record from midnight to dawn. Not only did this include recording and studio times, but also mix down and post production.

When Rare Earth hit the road, many fans were shocked to find that they were white. It was assumed that because they were Motown recording artists, playing R & B and Motown hits, that they were black. Many artists have played on the cusp of musical styles, Gospel/R&B, Country/Rock, Jazz/Pop for example, but very few artists can completely cross over musical styles that can satisfy both. Their songs charted on both the Pop and R & B charts thanks to Gil Bridges and Peter Rivera who laid the groundwork for this band when they took a song like “(I Know) I’m Losing You” and “Get Ready” to it’s ultimate conclusion some twenty minutes later. They followed it up with three very big hits, “Born to Wander”, “I Just Want to Celebrate” and “Hey Big Brother”. Each a monster hit that stayed the course.

Rare Earth was an exceptional band in many ways, but even they could not avoid their bad times. Shortly after the album “Get Ready” went gold, many things happened that ultimately led to the break up of Bridges and Rivera. Rivera made it known that he wanted to be the only singer in the band. This led to the departure of guitarist Rod Richards (Cox) and keyboardist Ken Folcik that left shortly thereafter. Then the business side of music reared its ugly head with the addition of an attorney, accountant and a manager that caused further dissension that led Bridges, Rivera and percussionist Ed Guzman to a New York courtroom to determine whom could retain the name Rare Earth.

The court and jury found that Bridges and Guzman owning 2/3 of the remaining corporate stock would retain the name. This case set precedence and is in college law books if anyone cares to look it up. To some this might be a trivial concern, but for a national recording group with millions in record sales, a fortune was at stake along with the future of the band itself. The trial ended but at a cost of a few hundred thousand dollars and the loss of a long partnership. But musicians from our era are survivors.



How many of today’s musicians can continue to play and entertain into their fifties and even later? Look at the Stones, the Who, Aerosmith and many others that still are creating and enjoying what must be a great time in their lives. It’s difficult for a twenty year old musician to even contemplate life in a rock group after thirty, but bands like Rare Earth still play over 100 dates a year with European swings and a new release every year or so. Check out their “Live in Switzerland” album. It tells volumes of what they are capable of and how they still generate excitement with their live shows and how audiences love the old hits.

I recently went to visit my friend Gil Bridges at the Motor City Casino where they played to standing room only crowds for three straight days. My wife and I watched five guys really enjoying themselves playing to a very mixed crowd who cheered after each and every song. What a tribute to a local band that started in 1959 and can still kick ass.

Something that keeps me wondering is how many of today’s musicians will be still playing in the year 2030. It staggers the imagination to even think that far out, but some will be there playing and I hope to be around to cheer them on. I jump onto music web sites every now and then and some of the comments I find are quite hilarious, but what seems to be a common thread, is that there seems to be more of younger and newer bands than I had expected. I hope that these groups support each other because we will always be stronger as a whole. In the older days, even though competition played a part, we shared stages, road crews, ideas and many drinks with other bands to become lifelong friends and sometimes band mates.

I feel very good about these older bands. It’s a tribute to them and to all of us that support Rock n Roll in it’s many forms.



The SUNLINERS – 1960’s

Gil Bridges – sax

Pete Rivera – drums

John Parish – bass

Rod Richards – guitar

Kenny James - keys



RARE EARTH – 2001

Gil Bridges – sax/vocals

Randy Burghdoff – bass/vocals

Mike Bruner – keys

Ray Monette – guitar/vocals (since 1971)

Floyd Stokes Jr. – drums/vocals



DISCOGRAPHY (albums only)

1968 – Dream Answers

1969 – Get Ready

1970 – Ecology

1971 – Rare Earth in Concert (live)

1971 – One World

1972 – Willie Remembers

1973 – Ma

1975 – Back to Earth

1976 – Midnight Lady

1977 – Rare Earth

1978 – Grand Slam

1978 – Band Together

1989 – Made In Switzerland

1989 – In Concert

1991 - Ecology

1993 – Different World



COMPILATIONS

1976 – Disque Do’r

1981 – Motown Superstar Series Vol 16

1988 – Get Ready / Ecology

1991 – Greatest Hits & Rare Classics

1994 – Earth Tones: Essential

1995 – Anthology: The Best of Rare Earth

1998 – The Very Best of Rare Earth

2001 – 20th Century Masters – The Millennium



RARE EARTH LABEL (Major Artists)

Dave Edmunds and Love Sculpture

The Pretty things

The Easybeats

UFO

The Sunday Funnies

Meatloaf
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As always, comments and stories are always welcome and best of luck RARE EARTH.

Terry Stafford