By Michael/Cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 12:19 pm:

I may again be asking a question that has already been covered on this wonderful forum. However, I was wondering what the members of Motown's white rock/soul band Rare Earth are doing these days. I believe the original members were Ray Monette, Peter Rivera, Gil Bridges, John Persh, Mark Olson, and Ed Guzman. Do they still perform together in any combination of these gentlemen?

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 01:06 pm:

Michael,
Peter Rivera is with the Rock and Roll All Stars, a band made up of various bands of the 60's and 70's. Gil Bridges still heads Rare Earth and Ray Monette is still in the band. Eddie Guzman, John Persh and Mark Olson have unfortunately passed away.

By Michael/Cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 01:34 pm:

Ralph:

Thanks Ralph for the information. I am sorry to hear so many in the band passed away.

By Kim (68.47.158.113) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 06:53 pm:

Ralph,
Do you know if Ray Monette has ever posted to this forum? He was once my guitar teacher. Do you ever talk to him?
Thanks,
Kim

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 07:57 pm:

Kim,
As of yet Ray has not posted. For that matter neither has Gil although I know he looks in from time to time. I'll send Gil an e-mail and see what I can stir up.

By Kim (68.47.158.114) on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 08:33 am:

Ralph,
Thanks! My memory of Ray is that he was a great guitar player and, moreover, a great guy. He once made arrangements for me to see Rare Earth at CMU. And, I went to the concert with his sister. She was very nice too. I had a good time!
Kim

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 10:09 am:

Kim,
Ray is a great player. Before he joined Rare Earth I used him on many sessions. One particular Stoney and Meatloaf session always sticks in my mind. I was sick with the flu and just trying to make it through the session.I wanted to put a guitar solo on a particular song but was too sick to really tell Ray what I was looking for. I just told him to play it " sad ". He blew everybody away that night.

By Gil B (172.138.96.108) on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 06:33 pm:

Hello to whomever is interested.Im Gil Bridges from The Sunliners and eventually Rare Earth. To Michael yes Rare Earth is alive and kikkin and giggin.We have a web site just up and under construction.rareearth.com if you care to look.Our schedule will be appearing shortly.The only thing close right now is the Motor City Casino June 12,13,and 14.Ive clued Ray Monette about this site so he might be joining in soon. Thanks Ralph for letting me know about this.Gil

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 07:01 pm:

Gil,
Good to see you here. Thanks for coming. It blows my mind to think how many years we go back Gil. For those that have read the Tera Shirma webisode, you may remember it was Gil's 56 Ford Sunliner that we took the name of the band from. He would later on own a 59 Plymouth Fury Golden Commando that was HOT.
Not to mention an array of boats, airplanes and motorcycles. Gil Liked things that went fast.

By Ray Monette (207.191.236.221) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 12:12 pm:

Hello to all:
Kim, thanks for the kind words.Hope all is well with you.I just got my first PC last Oct.(one of the last holdouts) Gil told me about this amazing sight.Really brings back the memories. Ralph, we had some great times at Tera Shirma,Motown and the whole Detroit scene!! Gil filled you in on wassup with Rare Earth. Everybody come on down to the Motor City in June and say hi. Ray

By LTLFTC (12.210.76.205) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 12:29 pm:

Ray;
It's great to have you on the forum. If you get the time, could you list some of the sessions you played on in the era we dwell on here (basically '66-'72, roughly - yeah, I know there must have been hundreds) and any anecdotes you care to share will be eagerly devoured.

By the way, I understand you played on the 1st Funkadelic lp on Westbound. Do you remember any tracks or details of that ? The credits on that album have been in dispute for years.

Thanks
Steve K.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 12:57 pm:

Ray,
It has been way too many years since we last talked. Yes, we had some great times in Detroit. So good to see you here on the forum.
Thanks for coming. You and Gil have many fans here and we appreciate you guys taking the time to come here.

By Kim (207.30.97.4) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 02:07 pm:

Ray,
I still have the sunburst J 45 that you sold me. It's still a great guitar. You were very kind to me when I was a kid and I still appreciate it!
Thanks!!
Kim

kimk@cyberisle.com

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 02:08 pm:

Welcome to Gil Bridges. Remember this evening at the Clawson in April 2002?

He still looks great Ralph!

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 02:17 pm:

That he does David, that he does. Thanks for the picture.

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 02:22 pm:

Another big welcome, this time to Ray Monette who is responsible for some cracking songs.

Not least "I'll be right there" by the Hesitations which he co-wrote for Pied Piper Productions.

He also gave us "Soul Superman" from their fantastic album on the Kapp label.

I also enjoyed the Michael & Raymond material plus Danny Woods "90 Days in the county jail".

Ray, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put me out of my misery and tell me where the Hesitations album was recorded. It is truly epic. Pic courtesy of Goldmine Records CD booklet.

By Michael/Cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 04:03 pm:

Gil:

It is great to know that the band is still kicking it and around. I thought you guys were an extremely underrated band. I loved the vocals and the sheer power of your music. All the best to you.

By Ray Monette (207.191.236.161) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:31 pm:

Steve...We used to do 3 or4 sessions in a day back then,so it's hard to remember them all.I'll try to give you the highlights.My first session was Cool Jerk ,and still one of the most memorable.The group was actually there singing the song as we ran it down.It seemed to inspire everyone to really create some magic. After that the Dramatics-Fantastic Four-Dennis Coffey,Evolution-Stoney&Meatloaf,of which Ralph mentioned the solo on Kiss Me Again-Mavis Staples-Carla Thomas-both Ruth Copeland albums-P Funk-Jackson 5,I want you back-Temps,Cloud Nine,Ball of Confusion,Psych.Shack-War-and most of the H.D.H. songs at Tower,Band of Gold,Give me just a little more time,100 Proof,Flaming Embers,and Honeycomb to name some. I played on a few things for George and P Funk over the years,but the one that sticks out is I got a thang.George was always a wild man and he could put you in that frame too.He was a lot of fun to work for.
David...Great website!! To the best of memory, most of the Pied Piper Prods. were recorded at United Sound ,including the Hesitations.The final word on that would have to come from Jack Ashford,who of course headed Piper.Michael&Raymond was myself and Mike Campbell,later to become Scorpion with Bob Babbitt and Andrew Smith.Also Mike a/k/a Michael Champion went on to acting/commercials/tv/movies,including Total Recall.
Ray

By MEL&THENSOME (195.219.7.90) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:41 pm:

Great stuff,
fantastic info(andthensome).
mel.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:46 pm:

I would say that Ray has some credentials. Thanks for reminding me of the Stoney and Meatloaf title. I'll never forget that night Ray.You made me unaware how sick I was. That solo still gives me goose bumps.

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 02:56 pm:

Hi Ray

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. Jack's playing his cards close to his chest pending the book which is due soon.

The album is such a beautiful recording, especially "I'll be right there".

I'll be playing it at our event in May and if you're still in the Detroit area I hope you can come along and hear it.

Mr Ralph will be there too

By Caleb (64.157.79.16) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 04:55 pm:

Ralph,how about setting up a thread for Ray Monette.He played on alot of stuff out of Detroit.He's probably got a ton of great stories to share,loads of history.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 04:58 pm:

OK Caleb. Good Idea.

By stephanie (64.63.221.13) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 06:35 pm:

Good to have another member of Rare Earth speaking up!!! Welcome Sir Ray another one of the mighty greats of Motown and music...
Stephanie

By Greg C. (207.103.134.218) on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 09:17 pm:

Just stumbled onto this and I have to address it. Pete Rivera has written a phenomenal autobiography of Rare Earth entitled "Born To Wander". It's a serious page turner. It describes their whole Motown experience, the politics that prevailed within the band, the drugs, the pain, the deaths, and the life lessons. I've read it and I recommend it highly. Log onto www.rareearth.com
to contact Pete and order this provocative book.

By Greg C. (207.103.134.224) on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 10:31 pm:

ADDENDUM: To order Peter Rivera's book, "Born To Wander" and read up on his views of the Rare Earth experience check out www.peterrivera.com

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 11:13 am:

Greg,
I have spoken with Peter about coming on the forum. He has promised to do so but so far has not appeared. Maybe I'll give him another call. I agree, the book is absolutely fascinating.

By john c (12.2.233.107) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 09:33 pm:

Ralph,

Almost a year ago Peter posted to correct a mis-statement that Bob Babbitt had played the bass solo on Get Ready; that it was indeed John Persh. So he must check in from time to time.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 09:36 pm:

John,
Really? I wasn't aware of that. Well I'll have to lean on him a little more than.

By john c (12.2.233.107) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 10:26 pm:

Ralph,

Hvae you heard from Mike Urso? I've been looking forward to hearing from him.

John

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 10:15 am:

John,
Yes I heard from Mike Urso. He stopped into town on his way back home. His one time girlfriend that he visits, and where he intended posting on the forum, was having computer problems at the time. Mike doesn't have a home computer so I suppose we won't be hearing from him. Perhaps some time in the future.

By Peterivera (152.163.252.68) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 11:31 am:

Hey Ralph: I just stopped by the site and got your note about not writting lately. I'm not sure that this is the right place to do it, but here goes. I've been reading all the stuff that Ray has been writing and it is very cool to hear from him. Ray was quite a guy around Detroit. I knew of some of the sessions he did. I can tell you that back when he was being considered for Rare Earth he came with the highest of recomendations from everyone in the "scene". He didn't dissapoint us. I just loved playing with him. He had a feel for a groove that I don't think I have ever felt with another guitar player since. I really miss that. We were so fortunate to have him. Right now I'm sitting at my laptop in Lewiston Idaho getting ready to go to The NAIA college world series where my son plays baseball. It's draft time in the pros and he's hoping to get called. I just left my other son who plays for the Dodgers and I have been doing shows with "The Classic Rock All Stars and going to games at my daughers College. I haven't been home for 11 weeks. Talk about being on the road.. I promise I'll stay tuned to the Forum and I will be happy to contribute any thing I can. This is a great site and the Forum is fun...

By Peterivera (152.163.252.68) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 11:37 am:

Hey Ralph: I just was in contact with Rod Richards who told me he has a new album project that he seem pretty proud of. If you are interested I'll write to him and let him know of the Forum. Maybe the folks would like to hear from him... He is excited about this new project that he wrote and produced... Peter

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 11:58 am:

Hey Pete,
You showed up! Welcome old friend, it is so good to see you here. Glad to hear all is well with the family. Pete, I'm sure the questions will start rolling in so if you can look in from time to time we sure would appreciate it. Sorry I missed you in L.A. last month. Are you playing Santa Cruz this Summer? Also, tell Rod hello for me and it would be great to see him post here. HEY EVERBODY...PETER RIVERA IS OFFICIALLY IN THE HOUSE.

By the count (65.60.201.174) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 05:22 pm:

HEY PETE,good to see ya here,as it was in the Ruth Hardy park in P.S. Cal.Didn't get a chance to chat much with you then but I sure would love to see ROD COX come on the forum also.Please do whatever you can to get him here and I'd love to see him again,I get out to Calif. quite a bit each year and other left coast states,so I'am sure I would be in the proper territory at some point.Tell ROD to get the ol mans brand new CADILLAC ready for DETROIT DRAYWAY,he'll know what I mean,at lease I hope he'll remember.
Kool to see ya PETE,take care and good luck with the all stars.
"COUNT"