PETER RIVERA of RARE EARTH THE KUDZOO INTERVIEW
By Michael Buffalo Smith It’s amazing who you meet on Face-
book. I happened across one of the greatest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singers of all time on there one day, and soon I was requesting the honor of an interview. Peter Hoorelbeke (aka: Peter Rivera) was the original lead singer and drummer for the band Rare Earth from their formation in 1960-1974 and again from 1976-1983. It is his voice and drums you hear on the massive hits “I Just Want to Cele- brate,” “Get Ready,” “I Know I’m Losing You,” “Born to Wander,” and “Hey Big Brother.” As a personal note, I wore out multiple copies of their excellent In Concert double album as well as the album Ma. What follows is our personal interview with the man, the myth, the legend, Peter Rivera.
Peter, where were you born and raised? I was born in Detroit and grew up there for 28 years. Started playing drums when I was ten years old. I didn’t take any lessons, I just played along with records like Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” and Little Richard – I played along with a lot of my Dad’s 78’s of big band music. Then in High School, in the 9th grade, I met two guys. Both of them were gui- tar players, and we started a band called the Sultans. We did that for about 2-3 years. Then I was seen playing drums at a church social by a group called the Sunlighters, and they asked me to join them. I did, and we re- mained the Sunlighters for a few years. I was about 18. They were all older than me. Later
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we changed our name to Rare Earth when we were talking to Motown. In 1969, we did a record for Motown called “Get Ready.” No- body played it. Then, about six months later, a disc jockey in Washington played it, and then in Atlanta and Miami. And from there it spread out all over the country and sold mil- lions. So, we were on our way.
I know Motown is known as the home of predominately black acts. How did your white band end up on that label? Well, you know, Motown was in Detroit. And we had a guy that wanted to be our manager, and we had a firm with this manager/partner. And the firm had a hair salon, and they used
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