~☮ Get Ready is a Motown song written by Smokey Robinson, which resulted in two hit records for the label: a U.S. #29 version by The Temptations in 1966, and a U.S. #4 version by ( Rare Earth ) in 1970. It is significant for being the last song Smokey Robinson wrote and produced for the Temptations, due to a deal Berry Gordy made with Norman Whitfield, that if Get Ready did not meet with the expected degree of success, then Whitfields song, Aint Too Proud To Beg, would get the next release, which resulted in Whitfield more or less replacing Robinson as the groups producer. Rare Earth Version In 1970, Motowns rock band Rare Earth released a cover version of the song as a single. Rare Earths version of Get Ready was the bands 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 US 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. It has been debated on whether the actual recording for the album was really recorded at a concert. It has been noted that the audience sounds throughout the song are repetitive and canned. This has been done before with The Kingsmens version of Louie Louie released on an album with party crowd noise dubbed in. The band wanted to release Get Ready as a single, but Motown declined at first, issuing the unsuccessful Generation, Light Up the Sky as the bands first single. Finally deferring to the bands wishes in February 1970, Motown released a three-minute edit of the song as a single, which became a hit. Get Ready peaked at #4 on the U.S. pop charts, a better performance than the original, and took up the entire second side of their first Motown album, also named Get Ready. The Rare Earth version of the song also peaked at number twenty on the R&B chart. Today, Get Ready is among the most familiar of both the Temptations and Rare Earths recordings. The B-side of the single of Get Ready is Magic Key, which is found on the same album as Get Ready. Magic Key has a fast tempo, and uses a mixolydian chord progression with a key change on the chorus. ☮~
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:42:22 +0000
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