Rare Earth – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1970)

It’s all over your face

Someone’s taken my place

Ooh baby, I’m losing you

[Welcome to the big leagues, Rare Earth!  Your cover of “(I Know) I'm Losing You”is so good that I've decided to promote it from the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME to the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  I saw Rare Earth perform at the high-school football stadium in my hometown of Joplin, Missouri on July 2, 1973.  I'll have more to say about that in a future 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME post – until then, the original March 3, 2023 2 or 3 lines post about today’s featured record will have to suffice.]

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Rare Earth – which began life as the Sunliners in Detroit in 1960 – wasn’t the first all-white group signed to a record contract by Motown.

But they were the first all-white band signed to a record contract by Motown to have a hit.

Both of Rare Earth’s first two hit singles – “Get Ready” and “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – were covers of Temptations hit.  And both charted higher than the originals.

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We could argue until we’re blue in thew face whether the Rare Earth or Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” is better.

But life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.  So let’s just agree they’re both great, and leave it at that. 

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Click here to listen to the album version of Rare Earth’s cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

Click here to listen to the single version, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Click here to view a rather bizarre video of the group performing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Click here to buy the album version of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” from Amazon. 

Rare Earth – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1970)

It’s all over your face

Someone’s taken my place

Ooh baby, I’m losing you

February is in the rear-view mirror, but I’m not ready to say sayonara to the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME just yet.

*     *     *     *     *

Rare Earth – which began life as the Sunliners in Detroit in 1960 – wasn’t the first all-white group signed to a record contract by Motown.

But they were the first all-white band signed to a record contract by Motown to have a hit.

Both of Rare Earth’s first two hit singles – “Get Ready” and “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – were covers of Temptations hit.  And both charted higher than the originals.

*     *     *     *     *

We could argue until we’re blue in thew face whether the Rare Earth or Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” is better.

But life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.  So let’s just agree they’re both great, and leave it at that. 

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to the album version of Rare Earth’s cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

Click here to listen to the single version, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Click here to view a rather bizarre video of the group performing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Click here to buy the album version of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” from Amazon. 

Sugarloaf – "Green-Eyed Lady" (1970)

Green-eyed lady feels life I never see

Setting suns and lonely lovers free

(Say what?)

In a recent 2 or 3 lines, I noted that there are a lot of songs about blue eyes but only a few about green eyes – which are the kind that yours truly has.

An old friend of mine promptly took me to task for overlooking what is without a doubt the greatest of all green-eyed songs – to wit, Sugarloaf’s 1970 hit single, “Green-Eyed Lady.”

I can’t imagine how I could have forgotten “Green-Eyed Lady” – it was released the same month I started college, and I vividly remember hearing it many times on the radio that fall.

The other two songs I associate with the first days of college are Free’s “All Right now,” and Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” both of which have been featured on 2 or 3 lines.

Now it’s Sugarloaf’s turn to have its day in the 2 or 3 lines sun.

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In 1968, keyboardist Jerry Corbetta and guitarist Bob Webber formed a band called Chocolate Hair.  Just before the release of their first album, the suits at their record label asked them to choose a new name – they were afraid that Chocolate Hair might be interpreted as racist.

I don’t know if the name Chocolate Hair is racist, but I do know that it is BY FAR the worst name for a band I’ve ever heard.

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Sugarloaf was (briefly) kind of a big deal after “Green-Eyed Lady” made it all the way to #3 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”  

Sugarloaf’s eponymous debut album 

The group opened for the Who, Deep Purple, and Eric Burdon & War (among others) in 1970-71.  In March 1971, they performed at the Grammy Awards “after” party along with Aretha Franklin and Three Dog Night.

But the band’s second album failed to make the crack the top 100, and the two singles from that album flopped.  

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After everyone except Jerry Corbetta bailed on Sugarloaf, he cobbled together a bunch of hirelings and went on tour.  The reconfigured Sugarloaf opened for Rare Earth on July 2, 1973, in my hometown – Joplin, Missouri.  (The truly awful Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show – best known for  “Sylvia’s Mother” and “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” – was also on the bill.)

Rare Earth – which was the first successful all-white band that Motown Records signed – had three top ten hits between 1969 and 1971, but was on its way down by the time the band played in Joplin . . . which explains why it played in Joplin.

The concert was held outdoors at Joplin’s 1934-vintage Junge Stadium, which seated about 3500 people.  (I saw many high school football games there.)

Junge Stadium

But rather than shelling out the $4.50 ticket price, my friends and I stood outside and listened to the concert from behind the chain-link fence that circled the stadium.

Sure, we were a long way from the stage, so we couldn’t see a lot.  Also, we were positioned at a 90-degree angle to the direction the speakers were pointing, so we couldn’t hear much either.  But $4.50 would pay for a whole week’s worth of 3.2% beer at the bars in Galena, Kansas, where it was legal for 18-year-olds to drink.  (Beer went for 25 or 35 cents a quart in Galena in 1973.)

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Click here to listen to the album version of “Green-Eyed Lady” – I love it to death, despite the incoherent lyrics.

Click here to buy “Green-Eyed Lady” from Amazon.