A Good day for Music

A big hit cover song during the last part of May 1970.

Rare Earth

Get Ready

This week, we’re featuring a cover song that was written by Motown recording artist Smokey Robinson for The Temptations in 1966.

A different version was released four years later by a Detroit rock band after many negotiations with Motown records, even though Rare Earth had been signed to an off-shoot record company to Motown. They were all part of the same company.

The Motown rock band would use the song for the end of their concerts where each member of Rare Earth would provide a solo which resulted in a 20 minute ‘Thank you’ for audiences before saying ‘goodnight and thanks for coming to the show’ and then walking off stage.

The single had to be edited down to three minutes for radio stations but the un-edited version was released on their album that took up one whole side.

When the dust cleared, the new version topped the pop chart at number four which was far better than the original version. ‘Get Ready’ also became a Top 20 on the R&B chart as well as an international hit.