Customer Reviews

Let's Live for Today

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

 

 

Although I am thrilled to see that two top ten reviewers have reviewed Let's Live For Today, it is my opinion that neither of the gentlemen entirely hit the mark. While the title track is without compare, there is much to recommend the album. In fact, I have come to believe that Let's Live For Today is one of the finest overlooked folk-rock records of the 60's.

Originally, I picked this CD out of a used pile almost four years ago and had almost no idea of what to expect. The Grass Roots had many a hit single, and I didn't see too many of them on this record. Also, I never strongly associated the Grass Roots with folk-rock, so it was interesting to note how folk-rock influenced the album was upon hearing it. Considering how big of a hit the title track was, it's a surprise today to note that the album made only a disappointing #75 on the charts. Therefore, the album was not (as stated by another reviewer) one of the best selling albums of the decade.

Aside from the title cut, the material is made up of seven Sloan/Barri compositions, and four group originals that stand up well alongside the professional team's efforts. As for the professional team, it is NOT clear that they were better as producers than songwriters. Their production skills are evident in all of the material here, but we cannot forget their past history as songwriters. The duo was responsible for writing and producing some Turtles hits, as well as Johnny Rivers' signature tune "Secret Agent Man." Also, their composition "A Must to Avoid" was recorded for a hit by Herman's Hermits. In addition, P.F. Sloan had a good amount of success by himself as a writer, having penned (among other songs) Barry McGuire's #1 hit "Eve of Destruction," and "Take Me For What I'm Worth," a top 20 UK hit for the Searchers. To this day, Sloan is a highly regarded figure in 60's folk-rock.

There are no weak cuts to be found on this album. Two of the Sloan/Barri songs on Let's Live For Today reached the top thirty, "Things I Should Have Said"(#23) and "Where Were You When I Needed You."(#28) "Things" was a well executed pop/rock effort, while "Where Were You" had musical similarity to Sloan's "Eve of Destruction." Some of the tunes, such as "Tip of My Tongue" and "Out of Touch," traversed garage rock territory to an extent, though they were far more intricately produced and recorded than typical garage rock. "Wake Up, Wake Up" had definite psychedelic influence, and "This Precious Time" was a fine commercial LA folk-rock production of a song that had been recorded previously by Barry McGuire. "Is It Any Wonder" was an effective pop song that might have had hit potential if it was released as a single. The group originals were strong as well, and the snarling fuzz of Creed Bratton's "House of Stone" was a welcome surprise. "House of Stone" is an excellent garage rock effort that few to this day know about.

Overall, Let's Live For Today is a fine album that deserves to be heard beyond the admittedly top-notch title track. The album was reissued in 2002 on Repertoire as a twofer with the second album Feelings, and that is probably the best way to acquire this music if you are buying it on CD for the first time, though this CD is a great deal cheaper than the twofer.

Let's take a trip back in time! This is a CD of the Grass Roots' second album, and their first album for Dunhill (the record label they were to stay at for most of their hitmaking). This album captures the band at their freshest. Although it's only their second album, their pop craftsmanship matches any of their contemporaries. This CD is a symbol of the idealistic era it stems from and can take credit for contributing toward this era's rock n roll legacy. Not only does it contain "Let's Live for Today" (which was later covered by The Damned) but their earlier hit, as well (which was later covered by The Bangles), "Where Were You When I Needed You." What's amazing is that just about every other song on the album could've just as likely been hit singles had they'd been individually released--ranging from the folk rock kickoff of "Things I Could Have Said" to the fuzz-entrenched finale of "House of Stone." Despite the individual worth of each track, however, this factor doesn't lessen the sense that this effort, as a whole, is no less than an all-encompassing experience. I should also mention (since the CD's artwork isn't featured here) MCA has also been respectful enough to retain the original LP's psychedelic album jacket. Now if only the 'Root's "Feelings" and "Lovin' Thing" LPs can also be released on CD. Then we of the present generation can "live for today" in the same sense it's been lived for in the past. Groovily!

Don't waste your money on this one. Have been a Grass Roots fan my whole life and these are "not" the original hits. They re-recordings that are very mediocre at best compared to original. The only valid collection currently out is 20th century masters...

The magic behind both the single and the album propelled into the stratosphere in the late 1960s is best explained by recognizing the lyrics for what they really are; an anthem and a call to action for the boomer generation, a counter-cultural coda railing against the materialism and calculated future orientation of the mainstream society. And although there are a number of other good songs on this album, performed by what was more an eclectic studio group than a group in reality, the individuals involved rose to the occasion and made the most of the situation. With songs such as "Things I should Have Said", "Wake Up, Wake Up", and "Out Of Touch", what is most amazing is the success of the album (which clearly rode the coat-tails of the single) to become one of the best selling albums of the decade.

This is an interesting album, one that clearly shows that the makeup of the group was a constantly evolving collection of individuals who showed up for individual recording sessions and then eventually went their own way. Still, the group did survive, and went on to tour and record a number of other interesting and quite popular songs. A better choice for their work is their Greatest Hits album, which unlike this one, features all that other work s well. This is an interesting album, however, but is one more for us old-timers who see collecting it as a chance to grab another copy of what we played so much on vinyl it eventually self-destructed. Enjoy!

Let's Live for Today is 32 minutes and 36 seconds long and released in 1967. Let's Live for Today reached #75 U.S Billboard 200 Album Chart. Four of the songs from the album charted, with the title song reaching #8. This was The Grass Roots second studio album. The music on the album is excellent. It has a least one cover song, Is It Any Wonder. They get an A+ from me.

Side One
Things I Should Have Said
#23 U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
Wake Up, Wake Up
#68 U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
Tip of my Tongue
Is It Any Wonder
Let's Live For Today
#8 U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
Beatin' Round the Bush

Side Two
Out Of Touch
Won't You See Me
Where Were You When I Needed You
#28 U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
No Exit
This Precious Time
House of Stone

When the Grass Roots put out their second album in 1967 the folk-rock movement had basically died out, which makes "Let's Live for Today" a tad outdated in a world where rock music was submerged in psychedelia. However, the title track is one of the quintessential songs from the 1960s and while the rest of the album pales in comparison, "Let's Live for Today" is simply one of those songs you have to have in your music library. The title track was written by Michael Julien, Ivan Mogull and David Shapiro, who were part of a British group called the Rokes who were recording in Italy; the song was originally called "Piangi Con Me." Somehow it made its way in an altered version across the Atlantic and ended up being recorded by the Grass Roots with Rob Grill doing the effective vocals that made this song something special. "Let's Live for Today" became a Top 10 hit, selling two million copies as a single, and ended up being a very special song for the American troops serving in Vietnam (listen to the lyrics from their perspective and the affinity is patently obvious). Sometimes I think this is my favorite song form the 1960s and other times I do not, but it is never not on my personal Top 10 list for that extraordinary musical decade.

Most of the songs on the album are written by the songwriting and producing team of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. Best described as folk-rock with a bit of an edge, these are decent enough examples of the form, especially "Things I Should Have Said" and "Is It Any Wonder." I think it is clear that Sloan and Barri were strongers as producers than they were as songwriters. There are even a couple of decent tracks from the band's members with Creed Bratton's "House of Stone" and Bratton and Warren Enter's "Beatin' Round the Bush." This is ironic because there were so many different lineups for the Grass Roots that you never think of any of its members doing anything more than showing up to record someone else's songs (I bet most people cannot name a single group member; I had to look them up). The result is that "Let's Live for Today" (the album) is not simply folk rock, but pretty solid commercial folk rock that will be of interest primarily to fans of that genre. But the bottom line remains that you have to have the single.

I was still in junior high when the Grass Roots first came out, and most of my record purchases were still 45s. Of course, even then I knew that wasn't ideal. I was already aware that ALBUMS were the thing, all of a sudden and if a group was any good at all, you wanted to check out their full length offerings to see what they were really all about. Even before SGT. PEPPER, word was out that rock musicians were serious ARTISTES, that the music was getting better and better, and that the days of albums consisting of two hit singles and ten filler tracks were long over.

Of course, I was on a junior high budget back then, so I couldn't check out everything. It was a big deal to buy a Beatles album back then. I got into the Byrds early on and started doing extra chores around the house and my dad's place of business to earn enough to get all their albums. But for pretty much everybody else--including the other folk rock acts I was curious about--I pretty much had to content myself with the singles. In the Grass Roots' case, that'd be the bitter "Where Were You When I Needed You," and "Let's Live for Today," both of which got pretty heavy rotation on my turntable.

I do remember though that--just of the basis of the "b sides" of those singles, I started to get a bit skeptical--at least as skeptical as a 14 year old is going to get. Back in the mid-60s, it seemed everybody was trying to be Bob Dylan all of a sudden. They were struggling to write meaningful lyrics, adopt fresh perspectives, try new and exotic instruments. You kinda knew some would be able to pull it off, while others wouldn't.

Listening to this entire record some 40 plus years after the fact, I am reminded of just how strained some of those efforts to write a Bobby Dylan could, in fact, be. Yes, "Live for Today" remains something of a 60s anthem--although even then I had my doubts about that notion as a working philosophy. "Where Were You.." remains as fine a put-down song as you could ever hope for, the bitterness in the lead vocal almost palpable--as edgy as any protest song of the era, but actually "protesting" a bummer relationship. Hey, you could carry righteous indignation into all spheres of your life, it seemed. Good news for sullen adolescents everywhere.

Good as those tunes were, however, the rest of this record is fair to middlin' at best. And I think that at least part of the problem is the evident struggle both by the songwriting group members and the professional songwriting team of Sloan and Barri (who were "supporting" them) were feeling the pressure (common enough at the time) to make a GRAND STATEMENT with every song.

You could say they were just giving in to the demands of the era. And there's something almost touching about the sincere effort they were making to go beyond the limits of conventional pop. Of course, what they probably didn't realize was that the strained lyrics, the exotic instrumentation (remember when every other song--all of a sudden--had a harpsichord accompaniment?) were becoming the NEW pop conventions and that they would wear out their welcome rather quickly.

The Grass Roots, in their various permutations, would go on to produce a number of pretty good pop hits. They got through this "self-concious adolescent" stage and met with continued commercial success through much of the 70s. This record is an interesting look at a particular stage in their development, one you won't get if you limit yourself to the various greatest hits packages. On the other hand, you won't find all that much that is truly great or memorable, no matter how much the group and its producers wanted it to be.

Not every songwriter could be Bob Dylan. And not every group could be the Byrds.