Customer Reviews

The Grass Roots - All Time Greatest Hits

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The Grass Roots may not have been the hippest band to come out of the Sixties, but they produced a string of memorable singles from 1966 to 1972. Songs like "Let's Live for Today," "Midnight Confessions" and "I'd Wait a Million Years" are part of the soundtack of my high school years. This is the best single-disc collection of this uderrated band's work. All 14 of their Top 40 singles are here along with two lesser hits: 1969's "Lovin' Things" (No. 49) and 1970's "Come On and Say It" (No. 61), the latter co-written by lead singer Rob Grill. The only disappointment is that with a running time of only 45 minutes, MCA could easily have included the band's three other Hot 100 singles: 1967's "Wake Up, Wake Up" (No. 68), 1970's "Walking Through the Country" (No. 44) and 1973's "Love Is What You Make It" (No. 55). If you really need those other three singles, you'll have to spring for Rhino's two-disc Anthology, which also includes the band's last single, "Mamacita" (No. 71) from 1975 which they recorded for the Haven label after leaving Dunhill. But for most fans, this single disc collection has all the essentials. RECOMMENDED

Although the Amazon reviewer contends this was not a "real' band with consistent membership, those of us that saw them in various venues on tour in the late sixties and early seventies were sure fooled! I bumped into them in an airport restaurant sitting with one-time megastar Dion in the early seventies when they were still touring. Wonder where the reviewer was back then? My guess is that he was still busy stealing marbles from his older brother. This is a great collection by one of the most successful groups in the mid to late 1960s, and they were best known for a series of counterculture songs with provocative lyrics, especially in their monster hit, "Let's Live For Today". Perhaps no other single song so well epitomizes the sixties notion rejecting mainstream convention as does this song. It, along with Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" and Scott MacKenzie's "San Francisco" became an anthem for the youth culture that sprang up in opposition to the stultifying conformity of older Americans. Many of their other songs like "Where Were You When I Needed You", "My Midnight Confessions", and "Temptation Eyes" were more conventional love songs. This is a great compilation of their music, and provides the listener with a terrific sampling of just why they were as popular and as successful as they became in the boiling cauldron of sixties music as they did. Enjoy!

Let's Live For Today Was one of my first purchased singles. A few years later, Midnight Confessions went to number 1. Then the formula kept clicking out the hits with songs such as "Lovin' Things", "I'd Wait A Million Years" , "Baby Hold On", "Heaven Knows". If you are a 60's or 70's DJ, and Temptation Eyes is not on your list- SHAME ON YOU! This is a MUST item for a serious colletor of music from this period. THE GRASS ROOTS had to many top 20 hits to continue and be ignored by oldies shows which only play the top #1's and ignore the rest of the top 40. A good bargain compilation. MUCH CHEAPER THAN A PREVIOUS MULTI-CD SET.

Evidently the 2-disc Rhino "Anthology" is out of print, so this is the Grass Roots "hits" CD to get. As other reviewers have said, this one has all the essentials. Plus, the sound (remastering) is very good. As one who was in his teens when most of these songs graced the airwaves, I'm admittedly prejudiced when I say they still sound remarkably tight and wonderfully energetic, not to mention cool. But then, maybe that's my nostalgia kicking in. The group underwent numerous personnel changes during its run. Pictured on the cover of this 16-track collection is the lineup responsible for such Top 40 radio classics as "Let's Live For Today" and "Midnight Confessions." Lead guitarist Creed Bratton (lower right on this cover shot) later went into acting and snared bit parts in several major films such as Heart Like A Wheel and Mask. Singer and rhythm guitarist/keyboard player Warren Entner (pictured standing in back) later managed hard-rock acts in the 1980s. Pictured at lower left is Rob Grill, lead singer and bassist. He put together a new Grass Roots lineup a few years back and hit the road. (In fact, I caught a glimpse of them on a TV show a couple of years ago. Man, he STILL sounded good.) Pictured between Entner and Bratton is drummer and singer Rick Coonce; alas, I'm not sure what became of him after he left the group in the early 1970s. By the way, my fellow diehards, one of the group's better original albums and the first one with new member Dennis Provisor, "Leaving It All Behind," is available from Hip-O Select (which is different from simply Hip-O Records, whose catalogue items Amazon carries). With shipping it'll cost you about $21. It's of course a CD but it's presented in a small, facsimile cardboard album jacket with all the original artwork - front, back and inside - which means the gatefold jacket is square and slightly taller than a standard plastic jewel case or a Digipak. The remastering is great. Hip-O made just 5,000 individually numbered copies. I just received mine in the mail, and it's close to #1,200. In the meantime, until some benevolent company decides to release a more thorough anthology that mimics or surpasses Rhino's 1991 2-disc masterwork, this single-disc CD, All-Time Greatest Hits, is your best choice for a Grass Roots compilation.

This is a great collection from one of the best pop bands of the late 60's and early 70's. The songs are all remastered and there is not one I can think of that was left out - Truly a greatest hits package ! Should be a definate addition to your library ... It will take you on a virtual tour of your childhood ...

The songs are the quintessential Grass Roots classic hits, but what struck me most about this collection is the excellent re-mastering job. I swear its one of the best! Enjoy

I asked my wife once, if she remembered when we attended a Grass Roots concert in 1972. She was quick to point out it wasn't her I was with. Oops! We attended a concert recently in Savannah, Georgia, where I got to hear The Grass Roots sing all their greatest hits, again, 27 years later. They were absolutely fantastic. I'd forgotten just how great they used to be. And, man, did the memories come rushing back! That's why I bought this cd. This is the ultimate collection of The Grass Roots original recordings. It's an absolutely fantastic cd, and a must for every Grass Roots fan. Now, when my wife and I are listening to the cd, and I ask if she remembers when we attended the Grass Roots concert, she just looks at me and smiles. Ain't love grand!

The Grass Roots began as a platform for P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, a pair of songwriters, to record their music. The Grass Roots soon became a band for real and eventually began recording more of their own music than the music of Sloan and Barri. The Grass Roots regularly churned out catchy pop tunes that placed well on the charts, though missing out on the top spot.

This collection features nearly all the singles that the Grass Roots released that made it into the top 40, with the addition of "Lovin' Things," which reached #49, and "Come On and Say It," which reached #61. These songs are surprisingly memorable if you are young enough to remember the late 60's and early 70's. On the other hand, since most of these songs were top 40 and AM radio was still king, these songs would have been played frequently in that era.

The songs that are likely the best known are "Let's Live for Today," which reached #8, "Midnight Confessions," which reached #5, "Bella Linda," which reached #28, though it seems to me to have been played more than its chart position would indicate, "Wait a Million Years," which reached #15, "Heaven Knows," which reached #24 on the charts, "Temptation Eyes," which reached #15 on the charts, and "Two Divided by Love," which reached #16 on the charts. However, several of the other songs were likely favorites of others in the era from 1966 to 1972, which is when all these songs were released.

Many of the groups in the late 60's and early 70's were album-driven groups. The Grass Roots were exactly opposite. Though the Grass Roots released eight albums from the mid-1960's to the mid-1970's, their albums were collections of songs and the singles are generally the standout songs by the group. Thus, most casual fans will find all the songs they desire in this collection.

The Grass Roots were an above-average group with a number of excellent songs during one of the most creative periods in rock music history. This collection is a marvelous one to have for fans of classic rock and for fans of the Grass Roots.

Enjoy!

THE GRASS ROOTS-ALL TIME GREATEST HITS: The Grass Roots created some of the best doggone music on AM radio in its heyday. From the mid 60's through the early 70's, the faceless L.A. act managed a consistent string of hit singles chock-full of near perfect pure pop nirvana. The bouncy MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS, SOONER OR LATER, and TEMPTATION EYES still have the power to inspire spontaneous sing-a-longs, while the mellower strains of LET'S LIVE FOR TODAY and WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU are introspective delights. Unlike several earlier compilations that were stretched out over two discs, this sixteen track sampler collects everything important in one place, save the controversial MAMACITA, their final chart single. Plant this one in your CD player and watch it take root.

RATING: FOUR BLADES

With vocals sometimes reminiscent of Three Dog Night and a horn section that could have rivaled The Ides of March and even Chicago or Lighthouse on a good night, The Grass Roots found a niche with their brand of fussion pop. From classics such as "Sooner or Later, Midnight Confessions and Temptation Eyes" to the later hits like "Two Divided by Love, Glory Bound " and the surprisingly included " The Runway" (all from the "Move Along" album,) this collection is a solid representation of The Grass Roots glory days. A piece of trivia; in the 1968 movie "With Six You Get Eggroll" Doris Day walks into a bar and on a very small stage are the Grass Roots singing a familiar tune. You'll have to see the movie to find out which song that they are playing. The movie also features Brian Keith and a young George Carlin.