Rob Grill
Encyclopedia
Robert Frank "Rob" Grill (November 30, 1943 – July 11, 2011) was an American
lead singer, songwriter and bass guitarist of the rock and roll
band, The Grass Roots
.
. Soon after graduation, Rob began working at American Recording Studios with musician friends Cory Wells
and John Kay
(who later formed Three Dog Night
and Steppenwolf
, respectively). Inspired to become a member of a successful band, Grill eventually was asked to join The Grass Roots
.
The Grass Roots grew out of a project originating from Dunhill Records
. Writer/producers P. F. Sloan
and Steve Barri
(The Mamas & the Papas
, Tommy Roe
, Four Tops
and Dusty Springfield
) were asked by Dunhill to write songs that would capitalize on the growing interest in the folk-rock movement.
When their song “Where Were You When I Needed You”, recorded as a demo with P.F. Sloan as lead singer and released under the name “The Grass Roots” started to get airplay in San Francisco Bay area
, they searched for an existing band to become The Grass Roots. They enlisted a San Francisco group, "The Bedouins", who recorded the first Grass Roots album, titled “Where Were You When I Needed You” with Willie Fulton singing lead on a re-recorded version of the title song. After several months, the Bedouins’ partnership with Sloan and Barri broke up as the band was more interested in performing their own more blues rock-oriented material (which Sloan and Barri were not willing to allow them to do).
Subsequently, a Los Angeles band, The 13th Floor (not to be confused with the 13th Floor Elevators
), composed of Creed Bratton
, Rick Coonce
, Warren Entner
, and Kenny Fukomoto, was recruited to become the new Grass Roots. When Kenny Fukumoto was drafted into the army, Rob Grill was brought in as his replacement. With Grill as lead singer, they recorded a third version of "Where Were You When I Needed You." Grill became the band’s longest serving member, appearing with them for more than four decades. The Grass Roots went on to chart twenty nine singles, thirteen of which went gold followed by two gold albums and two platinum albums.
The Grass Roots played at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Sunday June 11, 1967 in the "summer of love" as their top ten hit "Let's Live For Today" was hitting the airwaves. This music festival is important because it occurred before the Monterey Pop Festival
but did not have a movie to document it for the ages (see List of electronic music festivals). On Sunday October 27, 1968 they played at the San Francisco Pop Festival
and then played at the Los Angeles Pop Festival
and Miami Pop Festival
in December of that year as their top ten hit "Midnight Confessions" was hitting the airwaves.
The Grass Roots 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 at Northridge. They played on Sunday June 22 which was the final day of the festival as their top twenty hit "Wait A Million Years" was hitting the airwaves. In Canada, they played at the Vancouver Pop Festival
at the Paradise Valley Resort in British Columbia in August 1969 (see List of electronic music festivals).
Grill launched a solo career in 1979, assisted on his solo album by several members of Fleetwood Mac
. Responding to 60s nostalgia, Grill then reformed The Grass Roots (billed "The Grass Roots Starring Rob Grill") and had toured the United States with the reunited outfit since the 1980s.
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 back in the early 1970s.
In 2008, The Grass Roots Starring Rob Grill released a live album chronicling their 14 top forty Billboard hits titled Live Gold.
and they were considered a songwriting team. Grill played with The Grass Roots on sixteen albums, seven of which charted. He took part in thirty two Grass Roots singles released, twenty one of which charted.
++ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification
+++ - Composed by Italian
superstar Lucio Battisti
)
++ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lead singer, songwriter and bass guitarist of the rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band, The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...
.
Career
Rob was a native of Hollywood, California where he attended Hollywood High SchoolHollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...
. Soon after graduation, Rob began working at American Recording Studios with musician friends Cory Wells
Cory Wells
Cory Wells is an American singer, best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the band Three Dog Night.-Life and career:...
and John Kay
John Kay (musician)
John Kay is a German-Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf...
(who later formed Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band best known for their music from 1968 to 1975. During that time the band charted 21 Billboard top 40 hits in America, three of which reached Number One...
and Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
, respectively). Inspired to become a member of a successful band, Grill eventually was asked to join The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...
.
The Grass Roots grew out of a project originating from Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...
. Writer/producers P. F. Sloan
P. F. Sloan
P.F. Sloan is an American pop-rock singer and songwriter. He was very successful during the mid-1960s, writing, performing and producing Billboard top 20 hits for artists such as Barry McGuire, Jan & Dean, Herman's Hermits, Johnny Rivers, The Grass Roots and the Mamas and the Papas...
and Steve Barri
Steve Barri
Steve Barri is an American songwriter and record producer.Early in his career Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He frequently collaborated with P.F. Sloan, and the partners were responsible for the success of The Grass Roots and contributed largely to the band's first album...
(The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
, Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
, Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...
and Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
) were asked by Dunhill to write songs that would capitalize on the growing interest in the folk-rock movement.
When their song “Where Were You When I Needed You”, recorded as a demo with P.F. Sloan as lead singer and released under the name “The Grass Roots” started to get airplay in San Francisco Bay area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, they searched for an existing band to become The Grass Roots. They enlisted a San Francisco group, "The Bedouins", who recorded the first Grass Roots album, titled “Where Were You When I Needed You” with Willie Fulton singing lead on a re-recorded version of the title song. After several months, the Bedouins’ partnership with Sloan and Barri broke up as the band was more interested in performing their own more blues rock-oriented material (which Sloan and Barri were not willing to allow them to do).
Subsequently, a Los Angeles band, The 13th Floor (not to be confused with the 13th Floor Elevators
13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969...
), composed of Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton is an American actor and musician, a former member of The Grass Roots...
, Rick Coonce
Rick Coonce
Erik Michael Coonce , better known as Rick Coonce, was the drummer for The Grass Roots, a successful rock group that received heavy airplay on the radio from 1967 to 1972. Due to renewed interest in classic bands, The Grass Roots and Coonce's driving drum beats are popular even into the new...
, Warren Entner
Warren Entner
Warren Entner was an American singer, songwriter, organist and guitarist for the rock and roll band, The Grass Roots...
, and Kenny Fukomoto, was recruited to become the new Grass Roots. When Kenny Fukumoto was drafted into the army, Rob Grill was brought in as his replacement. With Grill as lead singer, they recorded a third version of "Where Were You When I Needed You." Grill became the band’s longest serving member, appearing with them for more than four decades. The Grass Roots went on to chart twenty nine singles, thirteen of which went gold followed by two gold albums and two platinum albums.
The Grass Roots played at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Sunday June 11, 1967 in the "summer of love" as their top ten hit "Let's Live For Today" was hitting the airwaves. This music festival is important because it occurred before the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
but did not have a movie to document it for the ages (see List of electronic music festivals). On Sunday October 27, 1968 they played at the San Francisco Pop Festival
San Francisco Pop Festival
The San Francisco Pop Festival was held at Alameda County Fairgrounds. The dates of the festival were Saturday October 26 & Sunday October 27, 1968...
and then played at the Los Angeles Pop Festival
Los Angeles Pop Festival
The Los Angeles Pop Festival was held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in California. The dates of the festival were December 22 and 23, 1968. It was also called a "Christmas Happening"...
and Miami Pop Festival
Miami Pop Festival
The Miami Pop Festival was the name of two different music festivals that took place in 1968 at Gulfstream Park, a horse racing track in Hallandale, Florida , just north of Miami....
in December of that year as their top ten hit "Midnight Confessions" was hitting the airwaves.
The Grass Roots played at Newport Pop Festival
Newport Pop Festival
The Newport Pop Festival, held in Costa Mesa, California, August 3–4, 1968, was the first music concert ever to have more than 100,000 paid attendees....
1969 at Devonshire Downs which was a racetrack at the time but now is part of the North Campus for California State University at Northridge. They played on Sunday June 22 which was the final day of the festival as their top twenty hit "Wait A Million Years" was hitting the airwaves. In Canada, they played at the Vancouver Pop Festival
Vancouver Pop Festival
The Vancouver Pop Festival was held at Paradise Valley Resort in Squamish, BC Canada. The dates of the festival were August 22, 23 and 24, 1969. It was produced by Candi Promotions...
at the Paradise Valley Resort in British Columbia in August 1969 (see List of electronic music festivals).
Grill launched a solo career in 1979, assisted on his solo album by several members of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
. Responding to 60s nostalgia, Grill then reformed The Grass Roots (billed "The Grass Roots Starring Rob Grill") and had toured the United States with the reunited outfit since the 1980s.
In 2006, former manager Marty Angelo
Marty Angelo
Marty Angelo worked in the entertainment business from 1965 to 1980 as a television producer , record promoter, restaurant/nightclub owner and personal manager for rock 'n' roll bands ....
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 back in the early 1970s.
In 2008, The Grass Roots Starring Rob Grill released a live album chronicling their 14 top forty Billboard hits titled Live Gold.
Compositions and musical release performance
Grill composed sixteen songs for The Grass Roots and his solo album. One of these appeared as a single "A" side. It is "Come On And Say It". His other fifteen compositions appeared on single "B" sides and albums. He wrote frequently with Warren EntnerWarren Entner
Warren Entner was an American singer, songwriter, organist and guitarist for the rock and roll band, The Grass Roots...
and they were considered a songwriting team. Grill played with The Grass Roots on sixteen albums, seven of which charted. He took part in thirty two Grass Roots singles released, twenty one of which charted.
Death
Grill died July 11, 2011 in an Orlando, Florida hospital. He had been in a coma since sustaining a head injury several weeks earlier when he fell after suffering a stroke in Lake County, FL. He was 67.Singles
| Release date | Title | Flip side | Record Label | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Cashbox | UK | ||||
| 1967 | Let's Live for Today Let's Live for Today (song) "Let's Live for Today" is a song written by David Shapiro, Ivan Mogull, and Michael Julian, and initially recorded by the English band the Rokes in 1966. The song was later popularized by the American rock band The Grass Roots, who released it as a single on May 13, 1967... |
Depressed Feeling | Dunhill | 8 | 5 | |
| Things I Should Have Said | Tip Of My Tongue | Dunhill | 23 | 36 | ||
| Wake Up, Wake Up | No Exit | Dunhill | 68 | 61 | ||
| 1968 | Melody For You | Hey Friend | Dunhill | 123 | ||
| Feelings | Here's Where You Belong | Dunhill | ||||
| Midnight Confessions Midnight Confessions "Midnight Confessions" is a song written by Lou T. Josie and originally performed by the Evergreen Blues Band. It was later made famous by American rock band The Grass Roots, who released the song as a single in 1968... ++ |
Who Will You Be Tomorrow | Dunhill | 5 | 5 | ||
| 1969 | Bella Linda+++ | Hot Bright Lights | Dunhill | 28 | 20 | |
| Melody For You | All Good Things Come To An End | Dunhill | ||||
| Lovin' Things | You And Love Are The Same | Dunhill | 49 | 35 | ||
| River Is Wide, The | (You Gotta) Live For Love | Dunhill | 31 | 16 | ||
| I'd Wait A Million Years | Fly Me To Havana | Dunhill | 15 | 12 | ||
| Heaven Knows | Don't Remind Me | Dunhill | 24 | 13 | ||
| 1970 | Walking Through The Country | Truck Drivin' Man | Dunhill | 44 | 30 | |
| Baby Hold On | Get It Together | Dunhill | 35 | 25 | ||
| Come On And Say It | Something's Comin' Over Me | Dunhill | 61 | 39 | ||
| Temptation Eyes | Keepin' Me Down | Dunhill | 15 | 16 | ||
| 1971 | Sooner Or Later | I Can Turn Off The Rain | Dunhill | 9 | 12 | |
| Two Divided By Love | Let It Go | Dunhill | 16 | 8 | ||
| 1972 | Glory Bound | Only One | Dunhill | 34 | 22 | |
| Runway, The | Move Along | Dunhill | 39 | 29 | ||
| Anyway The Wind Blows | Monday Love | Dunhill | 107 | |||
| 1973 | Love Is What You Make It | Someone To Love | Dunhill | 55 | ||
| Where There's Smoke There's Fire | Look But Don't Touch | Dunhill | ||||
| We Can't Dance To Your Music | Look But Don't Touch | Dunhill | ||||
| Stealin' Love (In The Night) | We Almost Made It Together | Dunhill | ||||
| 1975 | Mamacita | Last Time Around, The | Haven | 71 | ||
| Naked Man | Nothing Good Comes Easy | Haven | ||||
| 1976 | Out In The Open | Optical Illusion | Haven | |||
| 1979 | Rock Sugar | Have Mercy | Mercury | |||
| 1982 | Here Comes That Feeling Again | Temptation Eye | MCA | |||
| She Don't Know Me She Don't Know Me "She Don't Know Me" is the second single from American rock band Bon Jovi's debut album, Bon Jovi. It was written by Mark Avsec and charted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100.... |
Keep On Burning | MCA | ||||
| Powers Of The Night | Powers Of The Night | MCA | ||||
++ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
+++ - Composed by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
superstar Lucio Battisti
Lucio Battisti
Lucio Battisti was an Italian singer-songwriter . He is considered to be one of the best-known and most influential musicians and authors in Italian pop/rock music history....
)
Albums
(All albums are with the Grass Roots, unless otherwise noted)| Release date | Title | Record Label | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Cashbox | UK | |||
| 1967 | Let's Live for Today Let's Live for Today Let's Live for Today is the second studio album by The Grass Roots. Released in 1967, it features their first top-ten hit by the same name, "Let's Live for Today".-Track listing:All songs written by P.F... |
Dunhill | 75 | ||
| 1968 | Feelings | Dunhill | |||
| Golden Grass ++ | Dunhill | 25 | |||
| 1969 | Lovin' Things | Dunhill | 73 | ||
| Leavin' It All Behind | Dunhill | 36 | |||
| 1970 | More Golden Grass | Dunhill | 152 | ||
| 1971 | Their 16 Greatest Hits Their 16 Greatest Hits Their 16 Greatest Hits is a greatest hits collection by American pop group The Grass Roots. The album was originally released by Dunhill Records in September 1971, shortly after the success of "Sooner or Later" earlier in the year... ++ |
Dunhill | 58 | ||
| 1972 | Move Along | Dunhill | 86 | ||
| 1973 | Alotta' Mileage | Dunhill | |||
| 1976 | The ABC Collection | ABC | |||
| 1978 | 14 Greatest | Gusto | |||
| 1979 | Uprooted (solo album) | Mercury | |||
| 1982 | Powers Of The Night | MCA | |||
| 2000 | Live At Last | RFG | |||
| 2001 | Symphonic Hits | Cleopatra | |||
| 2008 | Live Gold | RFG | |||
++ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...