Customer Reviews

Anthology 1965-75

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Grass Roots are one of the finest and most prolific pop recording acts of the late 60s and early 70s. Despite this, most know little of the band's extensive body of work beyond, perhaps, a few top ten hit singles which they frequently hear on oldies radio stations. This lack of exposure is difficult to comprehend and has done the band a great disservice. What this double CD does is offer 36 of their finest recordings, including not only all 21 of their Billboard Hot 100 hits...but also some fabulous album tracks, more obscure singles and B-sides. Although one of their best ("I Can Turn Off the Rain") is not included (this is on their 16 Greatest Hits album), these selections still capture the essence of the band, which evolved and grew out of several structural and personnel changes throughout its life. The listener can hear the band's gradual evolution from its "grassroots" rebellious folk-rock of the mid and late 60s with tunes like "Where Were You When I Needed You", "Lollipop Train" and "Let's Live For Today" to its late 60s/early 70s exciting, brassy adult-styled pop-rock beginning with "Midnight Confessions", and culminating with such powerful gems as "Lovin' Things", "I'd Wait A Million Years", "Baby Hold On" and the "Runway". The Grass Roots' tremendous versatility is further demonstrated with the lovely slow ballad "I Can't Help But Wonder, Elisabeth". Fine song writing coupled with great vocals and group harmonizing helped to create the powerful, climactic sound that is all their own. The Grassroots (as their name was originally spelled) obviously had some influence on other popular high-quality artists (like Chicago). Although much of their material was written by others, they made it their own in how they arranged, played and sang it. The music remains timeless...still as fresh and exciting as when it was new. You certainly get your money's worth with this CD collection as there isn't a song on it that isn't great! Having not heard all of the Grass Roots' music, one gets the strong impression that they are one of those very rare bands that never recorded a bad song. They continue to be my second all-time favorite pop group, behind only The Beatles! My only wish is that all of the Grass Roots' original LP releases would be reissued. This double CD is a "must-have" collection for both young listeners learning about the music from this era, and for those wanting to recapture the exciting and powerful dynamic sounds of the Grass Roots.

The GRASS ROOTS have always been one of my favoirite bands of the 60's. I have seen them live many times going back to the late 60's. I have all their vinyl albums and an almost complete set of singles.(Complete as far as I know). When their stuff came out on CD in the 80's I bought the DUNHILL Records CD's :Greatest Hits Volume one and Volume two. They were very good (At least I thought so at the time.)This set is much much better. Not only is it much more inclusive but the sound quality is far better. More open sounding, cleaner.
I looked in my BILLBOARD book of top 40 hits. The Grass Roots hit the top 40 fouteen times, and all the hits are here.I recommend this set to any Grass Roots fan or anyone who really wants to hear what 60's pop beyond the Beatles was all about.

This set is very comprehensive, very enjoyable and very good.

I never knew that The Grass Roots were so prolific! Every time there was a new song, I said "Hey! I know that song!", with a great big smile on my face.

The titles are foolers. Most people are familiar with "TempTation Eyes" and "Sooner Or Later"- but songs like "The River Is Wide" and "Wait A Million years"- I didn't know I knew them intil I heard them again. Very hook-heavy! I sang myself hoarse singing along with this compilation!

This stuff is great. A little bit folk, a little bit rock, a little bit pop.

The anthology is worth the price just for the inclusion of "Mamacita"- one song I HADN'T heard vefore, but haven't stopped playing since.

This is the most played compilation in my collection!

I don't think The Grass Roots get the credit or respect for being a very good pop band. They turned out hits and respectable album tracks for nearly a decade.
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

The grass roots are timeless. they had some of the neatest songs of the 60's era. Plus the fact that they were also seriously underated as musicians. Rob Grill and Warren Entner had super voices and made the music that still sounds fresh over 30 years later. A great buy.

Listening to the oldies stations, my wife has commented "The Grass Roots sure seem to be more popular now than I ever remember them being." She should know--she was there. But this is all to the good; despite their unsung status in the rock pantheon, these guys really were one of the most consistent hitmaking groups during the late 60s and early 70s. There's plenty of material for a double CD anthology, and Rhino, as usual has come up with an excellent compilation. All the hits are here (with the exception of the previously mentioned "I Can Turn Off the Rain"), the early stuff with P.F. Sloan & Steve Barri is touched upon, and there are bonus tracks from some of the albums--this is where they could have done better, in my opinion. Although most of the Grass Roots' hits were written from outside the group, Warren Entner, Rob Grill, and Dennis Provisor were all decent songwriters and really should be represented (they got a lot of the "B" sides on the singles)--where's "You Gotta Live For Love", "Who Will You Be Tomorrow", "Don't Remind Me", or even just for a lark, Ricky Coonce's "Truck Drivin' Man" or their late-career Randy Newman remake "Naked Man", just for curiosity's sake? Still, you can't complain too much when there's this much good AM radio gold sounding so good. One last note--somebody PLEASE reissue their album "Feelings" (represented by three tracks on the compilation)--it's definitely their finest album with the best set of hook-bearing songs and very novel arrangements--pure pleasure.

If you were growing up in the late 60s & early 70s, the Grass Roots and 3 Dog Night were two fo the classiest sounding bands on the radio...far and away 3 Dog Night's "Celebrate" double CD package is the definite collection of their hit making years (kudos to MCA for using all the single versions of the hits), and this one here is the all-inclusive Grass Roots collection
...the guys at Rhino did an almost perfect job, only leaving out "I Can Turn Off the Rain" but that's a VERY minor quibble if you, like many other Grass Roots fans, bought their "16 Greatest Hits" LP back in 1972. Every Grass Roots hit is on this collection, including later favorites "GLory Bound", "The Runway", "Love is What You Make It"...even "Mamacita" from the tail end of their tenure. This is prime stuff...Rob Grill's got one of the best voices in rock & roll and the material was just super...this collection and "Celebrate" from Three Dog Night are two of the best from two of the best...end of story! Worth every penny!

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.F. 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 protégés 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]

I remember when I first saw this collection for sale in a store. I couldn't believe my eyes. 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.

The last time a Review on this was typed on Amazon is dated October 21st 2009 so now is a good time to Type a new Review on this Outstanding Collection.....After anxiously waiting to purchase this at a decent price I finally decided to buy it in Cassette Format SO.....This Review is on "Rhino's: The Grass Roots Anthology 1965-1975: Double Cassette Compilation" & not "Rhino's: Double CD Compilation". Although the Misleading Amazon Song Samples on the date of this Review show 36 Songs on both: There are actually only 30 Songs on the Two Cassettes. The 6 that are missing on the Two Cassettes are ,Is It Any Wonder, Out Of This World, Lady Pleasure, City Women, I Can't Help But Wonder Elizabeth & Walking Through The Country, but this is still Awesome! Especially if you still own a Home Audio Cassette Player (Like I Do) or an older Vehicle that still has the Factory Cassette Player in it (Like I Do). Both The Cassette Set & The CD Set are "Out Of Print" but for the Price Difference on the date of this Review: The Two Cassettes are definitely worth it.....That Is: If you still own a Good Cassette Player.
The Grass Roots were one of my All-Time Favorite Bands & I Will List Their Songs I consider to be Easily 5 Stars Each & They Are: Only When Your Lonely, Where Were You When I Needed You, (And The Version Of, Where Were You When I Needed You, Is Even Better On Their "Feelings/Let's Live For Today" CD) Things I Should Have Said, Let's Live For Today, Wake Up Wake Up, Melody For You, Here's Where You Belong, Midnight Confessions, Bella Linda, Lovin' Things, The River Is Wide, I'd Wait A Million Years, Heaven Knows, Baby Hold On, Come On And Say It, Temptation Eyes, Sooner Or Later, Two Divided By Love, Glory Bound, & The Runway, And All of their Tunes I have listed as 5 Stars are on my 2 Cassettes & most of their Tunes on my Cassettes that I did not list as 5 Star are also Good. I guess what I'm trying to say is: you can't go wrong purchasing this Out-Of-Print Rhino Package in CD Format Or Cassette Format. The Sound Quality is Great!! My Cassettes sound as good as most CDs I have ever listened to. There are also some Nice Liner Notes that come with this Double Cassette Package.
This Band is from an Era Long Gone but through our memories: They Can & Will Play On......RIP Rob Grill