Insights into … the Grass Roots
[21 Billboard Hot 100 singles, 1966–75, including one RIAA-certified gold single]
Dunhill Records partner Lou Adler established the
Grass Roots in 1965 as a band to record the songs of P. F. Sloan and Steve
Barri, who were staff writers for the label’s Trousdale Music subsidiary. “Lou’s
idea was to try to find a band that could do a group version of what Bob Dylan
was doing,” Barri explained to us.
Sloan had in mind a name for a band to fulfill
Adler’s vision – the Grassroots. But at Bido Lito’s, a small club in Hollywood,
he saw Arthur Lee fronting a group previously known as the American Four that
recently had begun billing itself as the Grass Roots. But Lou Adler liked the
name and, correctly assuming that Lee had not registered it, figured it was his
for the plucking. (Lee’s group subsequently changed their name to Love.)
Adler sent Sloan and Barri, along with session
musicians, into the studio in the spring of 1965 to record some demo tracks.
With Sloan singing lead, they recorded a demo of their composition “Where Were
You When I Needed You.” Creation of the Grass Roots band was the next step. He
found his band in San Francisco: a group called the Bedouins (pronounced
BED-o-wins), consisting of rhythm guitarist Denny Ellis, bassist Dave Stensen,
drummer Joel Larson, and guitar-playing lead singer Bill Fulton. They were
designated the house band at The Trip, an L.A. club that Elmer Valentine and
Lou Adler had opened on Sunset Boulevard. But seeking in 1966 to record their
own material, the four musicians rebelled, so Adler severed their relationship
with the label and recruited an L.A. band called the Thirteenth Floor to become
the second-generation Grass Roots.
The new Roots consisted of rhythm guitarist and
keyboard player Warren Entner, lead guitarist Creed Bratton, drummer Rick
Coonce, and bass player and singer Rob Grill, who became the Grass Roots’ lead
vocalist. After Bratton departed in 1969, keyboard player Dennis Provisor
joined the band. When Coonce left the band in 1971, original Roots drummer Joel
Larson returned to the band to replace him.
Over time, the band and its sound evolved
substantially, far beyond Adler’s original folk-rock vision. Between 1965 and
1973, Dunhill Records released 29 Grass Roots singles, 21 of which made the
national charts and 14 of which rose to the top 40, including three top-10
hits. More personnel changes followed and the band went dormant in 1977, but
five years later resumed touring for appreciative audiences.
Performing at the Trip while living nearby
“We would literally get our guitars and walk up the
hill [from our apartment] to The Trip. The steady club gig kept us in rent and
food money.”
— David Stensen
bass player
How perspective changes with aging
“I had a pretty singular focus while I was in the
Grass Roots. We lived music 24 hours a day. I realized there was a lot to learn
in the world and a lot of things to see and experience beyond music. Friends
advised me that I’d be better off learning a skill or craft.”
— Denny Ellis
rhythm guitarist and custom cabinet maker
“I get up, I meditate, I do my yoga, I exercise and
stay in really good shape, and I don’t judge anybody else. I work on me. All
these preachers and most people would want you to be like them. I think people
should show by example and just shut up. If I were to have a religion, it would
probably be something like Buddhism because it doesn’t seem to judge. I think
people think too much.”
— Creed Bratton
lead guitarist
Why Barri, Sloan and Adler recruited Rob Grill
“When we [first] heard Rob’s voice, we felt he really
had the sound that we were looking for as a vehicle for our song writing.
Selfishly, we were looking for an outlet for our songs.”
— Steve Barri
composer and producer
Mutual respect
“The other guys were very, very talented and they had
good production with Steve Barri, and they had very good engineers and good
studios. We had people picking just killer material for us. All I had to do was
to count to four and not fall over.”
— Rick Coonce
drummer
Life on the road
“I was out there still keeping it alive when Rob
[Grill] wanted to fish and Warren [Entner] wanted to do something else. I was
tired and I didn’t want to play ‘Midnight Confessions’ one more time. But I
guess time makes the heart grow fonder, and now I want to do it again.”
— Joel Larson
drummer (now a film studio driver)
Life reassessment before changing careers
“I was 40 years old. Other than becoming a
millionaire, which was never my goal to start out with, I had done pretty much
everything I had ever wanted to do in music, and then some. I had toured the
world. I had met most of my idols and had a chance to play with them, made hit
records, had a chance to be on TV. I had a pretty great run for a moderate
amount of talent.”
— Bill Fulton
guitarist and singer
“I don’t think anyone of us in the Grass Roots felt
that we accomplished what we wanted to do musically. We performed pretty
well-crafted pop stuff, and even though I enjoyed touring a lot, I felt at a
certain point that there was more to life that just doing that. And I didn’t
think I was really qualified to do that for another 5, 10, or 15 years. Once
I recognized that the band wasn’t going to grow, I put a time limit on my
involvement. I wanted to try other things.”
— Warren Entner
rhythm guitarist and keyboard player
Choosing your own destiny
“I believe in trying to do your honest best, and
putting your heart into whatever you enjoy. It’s a matter of believing in your
dreams and your imagination and pursuing them. My kids are so talented. I think
they’ll be fine.”
— Dennis Provisor
keyboard player
Rob had no intention to retire
“We always used to think that our newest hit would be
our last one. We thought there’s no way we could ever get another one. No way
that I can keep doing this when I’m 30. No way can I keep doing this when I’m
40, or 50. Now I know I’m going to be working well into my 60s.”
— Rob Grill
lead singer and bassist
(died in 2011 at 67 years of age)
The narrative and quotations in this article are excerpted from the book Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? — Volume 2, by Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March. This material is copyrighted © 2012 by EditPros LLC and may not be reproduced or redistributed without written permission.
Order your copy here: https://www.editpros.com/WHATPSG_Vol_2.html
One of the things that I really like about Jeff and Marti's profile of The Grass Roots is that they bring in commentary from ALL of the members.
For SO long, Rob Grill really became the focal point, as he was the one who kept the band going - always out on tour, headlining with other '60's acts or on the bill as part of The Happy Together Tour ... but the band consisted of several other key players who helped give The Grass Roots their unique sound.
(Creed Bratton became a household name thanks to his eight year stint on "The Office" .... but someone like Warren Entner, the other lead voice of the band who played so well off of Rob Grill's vocals, is barely a footnote in the annals of rock and roll history. Likewise guys like Joel Larson and Rick Coonce ... Bill Fulton and Dennis Provisor ... not to mention the original vision of Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan ... and Producer Lou Adler for that matter!)
They are ALL represented in Jeff March's and Marti Smiley-Child's Grass Roots profile, which can be found in "Where Have All The Pop Stars Gone - Volume 2" via the link above. (kk)
THE GRASS ROOTS HIT LIST:
Top 50 National Hits
(as determined by Billboard, Cash Box and Record World Magazine)
1966 - Where Were You When I Needed You (#26)
1967 - Let's Live For Today (#5)
1967 - Things I Should Have Said (#23)
1967 - Wake Up, Wake Up (#43)
1968 - Midnight Confessions (#3)
1968 - Bella Linda (#19)
1969 - Lovin' Thing (#30)
1969 - The River Is Wide (#16)
1969 - I'd Wait A Million Years (#11)
1969 - Heaven Knows (12)
1970 - Walking Through The Country (#27)
1970 - Baby Hold On (#25)
1970 - Come On And Say It (#37)
1971 - Temptation Eyes (#11)
1971 - Sooner Or Later (#9)
1971 - Two Divided By Love (#8)
1972 Glory Bound (#22)
1972 - The Runaway (#29)
1973 - Love Is What You Make It (#27)
When a group records THIS many great songs, it's hard to get airplay for all of them ...
So, in the spirit of Forgotten Hits, here are a few that DEFINITELY deserve an extra spin every now and again ...
