The Grass Roots

The name "Grass Roots" (originally spelled as one word "Grassroots") originated in mid-1965 as the name of a band project by the Los Angeles songwriter and producer duo of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. Sloan and Barri had written several songs in an attempt by their record company, Dunhill Records (owned by Lou Adler), to cash in on the budding folk rock movement. One of these songs was "Where Were You When I Needed You," which was recorded by Sloan and Barri. Sloan provided the lead vocals and played guitar, Larry Knechtel played keyboards, Joe Osborn played the bass and Bones Howe was on drums.[7] The song was released under "The Grass Roots" name and sent, as a demo, to several radio stations of the San Francisco Bay area.

When moderate interest in this new band arose, Sloan and Barri went to look for a group that could incorporate the Grass Roots name. They found one, The Bedouins, in a San Francisco band that won a Battle of the Bands at a Teenage Fair in San Mateo, California.[6] A new version of "Where Were You When I Needed You" with that band's lead vocalist, Willie Fulton (later, an early member of Tower of Power) was recorded.

In late 1965, the Grass Roots got their first official airplay on Southern California radio stations, such as KGB (AM) in San Diego and KHJ in Los Angeles, with a version of the Bob Dylan song "Mr. Jones (Ballad of a Thin Man)". Dylan granted Sloan the opportunity to cover the song after Sloan showed appreciation for his first listen to Dylan's demo acetate of the song.[6]

For some months, the group appeared as the first "real" Grass Roots. They were utilized by Dunhill to back up The Mamas & the Papas and Barry McGuire and became a house band at The Trip nightclub in Hollywood. The partnership with Sloan and Barri broke up when the band demanded more space for their own more blues rock-oriented material (which Dunhill was not willing to give them). Willie Fulton (lead vocals, guitar), Denny Ellis (guitar, backing vocals), and David Stensen (bass, backing vocals) went back to San Francisco, with drummer Joel Larson being the only one who remained in Los Angeles (he later returned to the group in 1971). Fulton, Ellis and Stensen continued to appear as the Grass Roots, with original Bedouins drummer Bill Shoppe, until Dunhill ordered them to cease since they decided to start all over again with another group they would groom to be the Grass Roots. In the meantime, the second version of "Where Were You When I Needed You" peaked in the Top 40 in mid-1966, while an album of the same name sold poorly.[6]

Still looking for a group to record their material and promote it with live dates, in 1966 Sloan and Barri offered Wisconsin-based band The Robbs (for whom they produced some early material) a chance to assume the identity of the Grass Roots, but the group declined.

The group's third – and by far most successful – incarnation was finally found in a Los Angeles band called The 13th Floor (not to be confused with the 13th Floor Elevators). This band consisted of Creed Bratton (vocals, guitar), Rick Coonce (drums, percussion), Warren Entner (vocals, guitar, keyboards), and Kenny Fukomoto (vocals, bass) and had formed only a year earlier. Entner, who had been attending film school at UCLA alongside future Doors members Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek, was drifting through Europe in the summer of 1965 singing and playing on street corners, when he met fellow busker and American Creed Bratton in Israel, where an Israeli businessman expressed interest in managing and promoting them. But the duo moved on individually and ended up back in LA by 1966, where they formed the 13th Floor and submitted a demo tape to Dunhill Records.[8] After Fukomoto was drafted into the army, the group went through two replacements before finding singer/bassist Rob Grill. In 1967 the band was offered the choice to go with their own name or choose to adopt a name that had already been heard of nationwide.

In the beginning, they were one of many U.S. guitar pop/rock bands, but with the help of Barri and their other producers, they developed a unique sound for which they drew as heavily on British beat as on soul music, rhythm and blues and folk rock. Many of their recordings featured a brass section, which was a novelty in those days among American rock bands, with groups like Chicago just developing.

The bulk of the band's material continued to be written by Dunhill Records staff (not only Sloan and Barri) and the LA studio-musicians who were part of what became known as the Wrecking Crew played the music on most, if not all, of their hits.[7] The Grass Roots also recorded songs written by the group's musicians, which appeared on their albums and the B-sides of many hit singles.

As the Grass Roots, they had their first Top 10 hit in the summer of 1967 with "Let's Live for Today", an English-language cover version of "Piangi con me", a 1966 hit for the Anglo-Italian quartet The Rokes. "Let's Live for Today" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[9] With Rob Grill as lead singer, they recorded a third version of "Where Were You When I Needed You." The band continued in a similar hit-making vein for the next five years (1967–1972).

The Grass Roots played at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Sunday, June 11, 1967, in the "Summer of Love" as "Let's Live for Today" was at #15 and climbing.

In late 1967, the band recorded the album Feelings, which featured much heavier input in the songwriting and playing by the group members themselves. But its failure to sell prompted Barri to take full hold of the reins again as he began to move the band in a more R&B, horn punctuated, direction. By this time, Sloan had phased out of his involvement with the band and relocated to New York City to pursue a solo career.

On Sunday, October 27, 1968, the Grass Roots played at the San Francisco Pop Festival as their hit "Midnight Confessions" (their first record to feature horns, and with Carol Kaye playing the opening bass-line[7]) was peaking at #5, and then played at the Los Angeles Pop Festival and Miami Pop Festival in December 1968.

Creed Bratton became frustrated by Dunhill's refusal to allow the band to write its own songs and play the instruments on its records (although the members did play alone at concerts). After a disastrous appearance at the Fillmore West in April 1969, a "slightly inebriated" Bratton was asked to leave the band.[7] He was replaced by Dennis Provisor on keyboards and vocals, and lead guitarist Terry Furlong (1970–1971) was brought in the following year to form a quintet.[10] This was the first of many line-up changes for this version of the band.

The Grass Roots, with their new members, played at Newport Pop Festival 1969 at Devonshire Downs, which was a racetrack at the time but now is part of the North Campus for California State University, Northridge. The group played on Sunday June 22, 1969, a week before their hit "I'd Wait A Million Years" reached the Hot 100. In Canada they played at the Vancouver Pop Festival at the Paradise Valley Resort in British Columbia in August 1969.

By 1971 Furlong had stopped touring with the group to pursue a solo career but would continue to contribute on the records during the rest of their time on Dunhill. His touring replacement was Brian Naughton, who left in 1972. Drummer Rick Coonce was gone as well by the beginning of 1972 and new members Joe Pollard (drums, percussion) and another guitarist named Terry (last name unknown) joined up. Terry was soon replaced by Reed Kailing (vocals, guitars). However, drummer Pollard and keyboardist Dennis Provisor left soon after to go out as a duo (although Provisor was featured on the band's 1972 Move Along album) and were replaced by a returning Rick Coonce and keyboard man Virgil Weber (ex-Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds and Climax). Coonce was back for only a short period before he was gone again, turning the drum throne over to original member Joel Larson. Singers Rob Grill and Warren Entner remained the point of focus during these years.

The group's songs during 1967–1972 include: "Let's Live for Today", a cover of an Italian hit by The Rokes, "Piangi con me" (U.S. #8) and "Things I Should Have Said" (U.S. #23) (1967); "Midnight Confessions" (U.S. #5, their biggest hit) (1968); "Bella Linda" (a cover of an Italian hit by Lucio Battisti, "Balla Linda") (U.S. #28), "Lovin' Things" (a cover of a UK hit by Marmalade the previous year) (U.S. #49), "The River Is Wide" (U.S. #31), "I'd Wait a Million Years" (U.S. #15), and "Heaven Knows" (U.S. #24) (1969); "Walking Through the Country" (U.S. #44), and "Baby Hold On" (U.S. #35) (1970); "Temptation Eyes" (#15), "Sooner or Later" (U.S. #9), and "Two Divided by Love" (U.S. #16) (1971); "Glory Bound" (U.S. #34) and "The Runway" (U.S. #39) (1972).

By early 1974, the Grass Roots had left Dunhill (now ABC Records) and Kailing, Weber and longtime member Entner (later a successful manager with groups such as Rage Against the Machine and Quiet Riot) moved on, while former members Terry Furlong and Dennis Provisor returned to the fold. Furlong left permanently by mid-1974 to be succeeded by Gene Barkin, then by Reggie Knighton. The resulting group was Grill, Larson, Provisor and Knighton. Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, who had penned the group's 1971 hit "Two Divided By Love" and many others, invited the band to join their Haven label, where they released an eponymous album in 1975, The Grass Roots, containing the single "Mamacita", which charted at #71 on the Billboard Hot 100. Follow-up singles failed to chart.

Current

• Mark Dawson — lead vocals, bass guitar (2008–present)
• Dusty Hanvey — lead guitar, backing vocals (1984–present)
• Larry Nelson — keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (1984–present)
• Joe Dougherty — drums, percussion (1989–present)

Former members

• Steve Barri – backing vocals, various instruments, songwriter, producer (1965–73)
• P. F. Sloan – lead vocals, guitar, songwriter, producer (1965–67; died 2015)
• Joel Larson – drums (1965–66, 1972–79, 1981)
• Denny Ellis – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1965–66)
• Willie Fulton – lead guitar, vocals (1965–66)
• David Stensen – bass, backing vocals (1965–66)
• Bill Shoppe - drums (1966)
• Rob Grill – lead vocals, bass, songwriter (1967–77, 1980–2011; died 2011)
• Warren Entner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, songwriter (1967–74)
• Rick Coonce – drums, percussion, songwriter (1967–71, 1972; died 2011)
• Creed Bratton – lead guitar, lead vocals, songwriter (1967–69)
• Dennis Provisor – lead vocals, keyboards, songwriter (1969–72, 1974–77, 1980–82)
• Terry Furlong – lead guitar (1970–71, 1974)
• Brian Naughton – lead guitar (1971–72)
• Virgil Weber – keyboards (1972–74)
• Reed Kailing – lead guitar, vocals, songwriter (1972–74)
• Joe Pollard – drums, percussion (1972)
• Terry – guitar (1972)
• Gene Barkin – guitar (1974)
• Reggie Knighton – lead guitar, backing vocals (1974–76)
• Alan Deane – lead guitar, backing vocals (1976–77)
• Glen Shulfer – guitar, backing vocals (1977, 1980–82)
• Brian Carlyss – bass, backing vocals (1977–78, 1979–80; died 2007)
• Mark Miller – lead guitar, lead vocals (1977–78, 1981)
• Lonnie Price – keyboards, lead vocals (1977–78)
• Randy Ruff – organ, backing vocals (1977–78)
• Scott Hoyt – lead vocals, lead guitar (1978–80)
• Gene Wall – keyboards, backing vocals (1978–80)
• Dave Nagy – bass, lead vocals (1978–79)
• Reagan McKinley – drums, percussion (1979–80)
• Steve Berendt – bass (1980–82)
• Luke Meurett – drums, percussion (1980–82)
• Terry Oubre – lead guitar, backing vocals (1982–84)
• Ralph Gilmore – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1982–84)
• Charles Judge – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (1982–84)
• Bob Luna – keyboards, backing vocals (fill in-1982)
• Coy Fuller – drums, percussion (1984)
• George Spellman – guitar, backing vocals (1984)
• Dave Rodgers – keyboards, backing vocals (1984)
• David Page – drums, percussion (1984–90)
• Terry Danauer – bass (1987–92)
• Richard Fanning – trumpet (on occasion, 1987–88)
• Kevin Osborne – trombone (on occasion, 1987–88)
• Robbie Barker – keyboards (1987)
• Michael Lewis – keyboards (1987)
• Mark Tamorsky – guitar, backing vocals (1987)
• Michael Stec– bass, backing vocals (1992–93)
• Scott Sechman – guitar, backing vocals (fill in-1998)
• Chris Merrell – (died from cancer) lead guitar, backing vocals (fill in—2000–03, 2006)
• Hal Ratliff – keyboards, backing vocals (fill in 2000–present)
• Sonny Geraci – lead vocals (fill in for Grill-2002; died 2017[19])

Timeline

• The name Grass Roots was used sporadically by Arthur Lee of Love, in the Los Angeles area. Dunhill Records secured the legal use of the name by releasing a record, which Lee never did.
• The song "Let's Live for Today" has the identical Italian melody and virtually the same arrangement that was used in an earlier song called "Be Mine Again"; although this song includes the "One, Two, Three, Four" and "Sha-La-La-La-La" as in the Grass Roots hit, the lyrics are otherwise different. The version by Dutch band The Skope that was released in 1966 is included on the Pebbles, Volume 15 LP.
• The band was seen in the Doris Day film With Six You Get Eggroll. They play the song "Feelings" at a crowded dance party.
• The Grass Roots have appeared on over 50 national television shows including, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Ed Sullivan, Andy Williams, Sonny & Cher, Good Morning America, VH1 Hit-Makers, MTV, and a record 16 times on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
• The 1975 The Grass Roots LP is seen in the film FM. The back cover appears in a long DJ broadcast room scene with characters played by Cleavon Little and Martin Mull.
• The band is mentioned by John Candy's character in the film Uncle Buck. He comments about the music while navigating a teenage party looking for his missing niece.
• Guitarist Creed Bratton played a character also named Creed Bratton, a fictional version of himself, in the US version of the television show The Office. In a scene that never aired from the episode "Booze Cruise", Bratton's boss, Michael, borrowed the guitar from a cruise ship's band and poorly plays a version of "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. Bratton then takes the guitar from Michael and proceeds to surprise the rest of the passengers with his excellent playing. The scene then cuts to a confessional, where Bratton talks of his time with the Grass Roots, complete with pictures of the actual band and references to actual tours. In another deleted scene from the episode "Product Recall", a fictional Scranton Times writer notices Bratton was a member of the Grass Roots. He also sang one of his own songs titled "Spinnin' N Reelin'" in the episode "A Benihana Christmas". In the series finale, it is revealed in the actual episode that Creed was a member of the Grass Roots. Creed performs his own song "All the Faces" to close out the episode.
• The band was mentioned frequently on the nationally syndicated Don and Mike radio show. Don Geronimo sat in with the band several times at performances in the Washington, D.C. area.
• The Grass Roots version of the Bob Dylan song "Ballad of a Thin Man" was featured in the 1987 Robin Williams film Good Morning, Vietnam.
• The Grass Roots song "Midnight Confessions" was featured in the 1997 film Jackie Brown.
• In 2006 former manager Marty Angelo published a book entitled Once Life Matters: A New Beginning, which has numerous stories about his life on the road with Rob Grill and the Grass Roots in the early 1970s.

• Official website
• The Grass Roots at AllMusic