Ten Songs You Might Not Know Were Covers (Vol. 5): Get Ready (#9)

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Hey, it's a Motown Monday! That's right, two covers for the price of one from Hitsville USA. In this case, however, you may not know that the hit you're familiar with was a cover. Let's take a look at this one. #9: Get Ready Rare Earth was indeed rare: the first Caucasian band signed to Motown (historically an R&B label) who had any success. And, oh, did they have success with this song! "Get Ready" remains an FM rock classic. The album version takes up all of side two (ha, you thought Pink Floyd started that!), but it was edited down to a "radio-friendly" three minutes (back then only the "underground FM" stations were playing things like "D.O.A." and "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" in their entirety). As a result, it became a big hit for Rare Earth. But that wasn't the first time it was a hit out of Detroit. In 1965 the Temptations recorded the Smokey Robinson-penned tune and had moderate (top 30) pop and #1 soul hit with the song. As a result, there are two distinct versions of this classic tune for the world: the R&B classic and Rare Earth's hard rocking FM staple. Get Ready Written by William "Smokey" Robinson Originally recorded by the Temptations, 1965 Famously covered by Rare Earth, 1970 You're outta sight: