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Anthology: 1965-1975

The Grass Roots - Anthology: 1965-1975 Audio CD

A fair review of the The Grass Roots "Anthology: 1965-1975" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Grass Roots reviews here, or go back to the The Grass Roots tabs.

Band: The Grass Roots
Title: Anthology: 1965-1975
Rating:

Release Date: 1991-07-02
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mr. Jones (Ballad of a Thin Man) 2: You're a Lonely Girl 3: Where Were You When I Needed You 4: Only When You're Lonely 5: This Is What I Was Made For 6: Lollipop Train (You Never Had It So Good) 7: Tip of My Tongue 8: Let's Live for Today 9: Things I Should Have Said 10: Out of Touch 11: Is It Any Wonder [*] 12: Wake Up, Wake Up 13: Melody for You 14: Feelings 15: Here's Where You Belong 16: Midnight Confessions 17: Bella Linda 18: Lady Pleasure [*] 19: Lovin' Things 20: River Is Wide 21: City Women [*] 22: I Can't Help But Wonder, Elisabeth [*] 23: I'd Wait a Million Years 24: Heaven Knows 25: Out of This World [*] 26: Walking Through the Country [*] 27: Baby Hold On 28: Come on and Say It 29: Temptation Eyes 30: Sooner or Later 31: Two Divided by Love 32: Glory Bound 33: Runway 34: Any Way the Wind Blows 35: Love Is What You Make It 36: Mamacita

grass review
I would gladly recommend this cd to anyone that likes this type of music. One of the best oldies greatest hits albums ever. Thanks John S. .

Great but not complete
Buy this one along with Feelings/Lets Live For Today,and you will get the whole story. Great Cd,but it does not include all the songs that made up Golden Grass,one of the best greatest hits albums of it's time.

Three bands in one: folk-rock morphs into pop-soul in the 60s
F. Like a few other bands of the '60s, the name "The Grass Roots" was in large part an umbrella for the songwriting and production of its producers, in this case P. Sloan and Steve Barri. Though a somewhat steady lineup would record the group's best known hits ("Let's Live for Today," "Midnight Confessions," and "I'd Wait a Million Years"), even these players had been drafted into the fold, and only then after two other editions of the band had turned out several singles and an album.

Enter Grass Roots #1: The story begins with Sloan and Barri as staff writers for Dunhill Records. They'd been recording surf and drag singles (most notably as The Fantastic Baggys), but began moving in a folk-rock direction with Sloan penning Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" and The Turtles' "Let Me Be. " Together Sloan and Barri wrote and recorded a demo of "Where Were You When I Needed You" and released it under the Grass Roots moniker. With a potential hit on their hands, they needed a band to push it on tour.

Enter Grass Roots #2. Sloan and Barri transported the San Francisco garage-blues band The Bedouins to Los Angeles, where they played clubs and began recording the Grass Roots' first LP. Tracks 1-6 represent this initial era, with Bedouins vocalist Bill Fulton having re-recorded the vocal for "Where Were You," as well as a superb, petulant version of Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man," and several more excellent Sloan-Barri originals. But tensions about artistic control surfaced between the band and the writer-producers, and Grass Roots #2 went to seed. Sloan and Barri filled out the album themselves, and the result is one of the little-known treasures of mid-60s garage folk-rock, tuneful as The Turtles, but with the edge of The Leaves.

Enter Grass Roots #3. Finding themselves once again without an actual group to perform live, Sloan and Barri recruited yet another band to play the part. This time it was the Los Angeles based 13th Floor who jumped at the chance to leap-frog the crowds of unsigned bands by adopting the Grass Roots name. It didn't hurt that the group's recent arrival, vocalist/bassist Rob Grill sang with a passing resemblance to writer-producer Steve Barri. This is the aggregation that would become familiar to radio listeners all over the world, starting with the title single of their first album, "Let's Live For Today. "

Heard back-to-back, one can differentiate Rob Grill's vocals from Bill Fulton's and Steve Barri's, but with Sloan-Barri's songs and production underneath, there's a surprising continuity of group identity between the band's editions. "Let's Live for Today" has a more soulful edge than was heard on the group's first album, and the lyrics show a deeper social conscience. Ironically, the song was not a Sloan-Barri original, but a cover of an obscure Italian hit by UK group The Rokes. The third edition of the band provided more polished harmonies (though it's unclear if that's the new group members or Sloan and Barri's evolving sense of arrangement), and the psych sounds of 1967 entered in the guitar and organ of songs like "Out of Touch. "

For their third album, Sloan and Barri allowed the band to write the majority of the songs, a decision that led to a commercial slump. The third edition of the band was tighter than the previous Bedouins-staffed version, but their songs were often indistinct and unmemorable, and such the third album. Regrouping with their producers, the title track single of their fourth LP, "Midnight Confessions," restored the Grass Roots to the charts. Adding a horn section, the band reached back to the soul inflections of "Let's Live for Today," and added a punchy Motown beat to this top-5 hit. Ironically, the hit was once again drawn from an outside songwriter, this time the manager of the otherwise unknown Evergreen Blues Band.

The producers added Jimmie Haskell arranged strings to the chamber pop "Bella Linda," and soaring harmonies surround Rob Grill's vocal for the sunshine chamber pop of "Lady Pleasure. " 1969's "Lovin' Things" LP tightened the horns-and-strings sound even more, with the band's earthier folk-rock origins quickly vanished. Even when they slowed down for Sloan's bluesy "City Woman," the chorus relieves the song's tension with its commercial production touches.

Writing and recording to radio's tastes was a conscious choice for the band and its producers, figuring to ride the light-soul horn sound that'd struck gold with "Midnight Confessions. " The band found itself relegated back to the role for which they'd been hired, recording songs that were written or found by their producers, in a style that was expected to crack top-40 radio. Increasingly the songs (particularly the hits) were from outside writers, and personnel changes within the band only intensified the feelings of prefabrication.

The band continued to score with "I'd Wait a Million Years," "Temptation Eyes," "Sooner or Later," and "Two Divided By Love," all of which were saved from monotonous repetition by Rob Grill's vocals and the catchiness of the songs themselves. The same can be said for the album tracks, but without the song power needed to catch a hit. The Latin piano figures of the should've-been-a-hit "Mamacita" close out this collection with a selection from the band's eponymous 1975 swansong LP.

Across two CDs the band's legacy unfolds from producer's dream to unruly folk-rock prot�g�s to polished folk-rock to a light rock-and-soul hit-making machine. The tension between the producers and the band on the early sides (more fully explored on the CD reissue of "Where Were You When I Needed You") induce a youthful vitality that was absent in the band's middle- and late periods. These latter chapters, with the third-generation band more amenable and the producers more plugged in to radio's needs, generated the well-known hits. Fans of the band's hits may enjoy the bulk of this collection, though a single disc hits collection will likely suffice. Fans of sunshine folk-garage-pop should check out the reissue of the group's debut. [�2007 hyperbolium dot com].

Really Good Collection
I couldn't believe my eyes. I remember when I first saw this collection for sale in a store. Here was (almost) everything I ever wanted in a Grass Roots collection. It follows the band from the very early days (before Rob Grill) to the last album in 1975 (when Grill and Dennis Provisor were the only ones left from the band's commercial heyday).
This is certainly a fairly complete run down of the Grass Root's career including choice album cuts as well as the big radio hits. I have always felt the band was much better than they were given credit for. In concert they were terrific and on record they were pop perfection. I do believe the prices asked for this are a bit much. There's even one seller wanting over a THOUSAND DOLLARS for it. That's crazy. Maybe it should be re- released and pull the rug out from under these people. Also needed for re-release are the great early seventies Grass Roots albums MOVE ALONG and ALLOTA MILEAGE. Excellent late Grass Roots albums. .

A Superior Anthology
They turned out hits and respectable album tracks for nearly a decade. I don't think The Grass Roots get the credit or respect for being a very good pop band.
They survived the Beatles, The Summer of Love, Altamont, and The time of 'the TV-Bands' (Archies, Partridges, et. al. ).
Yes, their time finally did fade but this pricey 2 CD Rhino set is worth the money. I still keep it around for long trips.
The wife enjoys it because she recalls their hits.

There are 2 booklets with this set; one covering early Roots history and the second telling later Roots history in the nicest way possible. [Each booklet has the same cover. Don't think one is an extra. The 2nd booklet is a keeper for the track listings. ]
The Grass Roots had 3 lead guitarists and a few keyboard players in their time. Rob Grill is the lone constant.

In The 2nd Booklet there is an informative track listing/history of each song.
The set is chronological. Disc 1 is 1965-1968. Disc 2 is 1969-1975.

The music speaks for itself. All the hits are here and if you don't recognize a song title don't worry---you will recall that song eventually.
Go back to 1968 or 1972. Enjoy.

You can see a complete list of all The Grass Roots discography, or go back to the The Grass Roots tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.