Rare Earth plays the
Motown covers as they record on that label's
Prodigal imprint. What made
"Get Ready" and
"(I Know) I'm Losing You" so brilliant was their total reinvention by a creative
blue-eyed soul band rocking out. Seven to eight years after that success, the group is resorting to walking through versions of
"I Wish It Would Rain" and
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" that sound as if they were recorded on a weekend while the band was performing at a wedding gig. The conclusion of
"Grapevine" almost gets it, the fade showing sparks of creativity. This is, after all, the song that
Gladys Knight pioneered, which
Marvin Gaye sent through the roof, and which got what
Rare Earth needed to give it from
Creedence Clearwater. The late
Jimmy Miller produced a tremendous
Vanilla Fudge-like version with ex-members of
Elephant's Memory in the early '80s, so the song still had some life; it just proves how pedestrian this once lively bunch of guys got by this point in time. The shift from the earthy machine-like
rock band which turned
soul tunes into radio-friendly '70s
pop to a cover act attempting to be a true
soul group is what is going on here.
"Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)" is the group emulating
the Four Tops doing
"Ill Turn to Stone," or even
the Isley Brothers'
"This Old Heart of Mine," while
"Mighty Good Love" cops the popular Philly sound with some of the group's earlier trademark riffs thrown in for good measure.
"My Eyes Only" is a band trying to borrow
the Spinners' vibe on
"It's a Shame," while
"When a Man Loves a Woman" is just a total embarrassment.
John Ryan's production is actually quite sad. While
the Four Tops would move on to
ABC/Dunhill and
Arista but stay true to their mission,
Rare Earth takes themselves much too seriously here. The highlight is a
Barry Gibb/
Albhy Galuten tune,
"Save Me, Save Me," which serves as a precursor to the hit later this same year, 1978, on the immediate follow-up, the
Band Together album, with
the Bee Gees-penned
"Warm Ride," which barely bubbled over the Top 40. Nothing on here comes close to the fun of their first five hits. At least
Merry Clayton,
Venetta Fields, and their friends got some session fees. ~ Joe Viglione
![Wendy & Lisa [Special Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5013929431980_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Wendy & Lisa [Special Edition]")
