Customer Reviews

Let's Live for Today / Feelings

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love big, beautiful produced mid 60s baroque folk pop with great singing, then you will like this. I also recommend P.F. Sloan's Anthology (the producer of this album and writer of many Grass Roots songs).

This is a beautiful CD representing most of their best work. More depth than their fame suggests for sure, and lots of fun. The melodies and the harmonies are sublime for the most part. Please bear in mind that my main interests are psychedelia and the 60's frisco scene!!

Not only does this double-record CD have great hits like "Things I Should Have Said To Her", "Let's Live For Today" and "Midnight Confessions" (a bonus track), but it is also chock full of period pop-psych material which benefited from excellent studio treatment (see "Out Of Touch"). Also, the "Feelings" LP may be devoid of top 10 hits, but some of the misses are pretty good ("Melody For You" and "Feelings" in particular). I must say that I always considered the Grass Roots a lightweight, manufactured pop group that produced a handful of classics. This collection certainly changed my mind.

I have the two albums, "Let's Live for Today" and "Feelings," on separate LPs bought back in the '60s. But putting them together here is a bonus for the buyer for one big reason: These recordings showed the band, and their songwriters and backup musicians on the periphery, at their creative heights.
They were all young and hungry then, and given the time, 1967-68, it was a zenith for creativity and taking chances, unlike the early '70s as these recordings came before the Grass Roots, with key lineup changes, sold out to mainstream pop and ultimately fizzled like spent soda.
There are the two album title hits (and other add-ons that weren't on the two original albums) as well as updated versions of "Where Were You When I Needed You" and "Tip of My Tongue" minus P.F. Sloan's original voice. But pay particular attention to the more obscure tracks, notably "You and Love are the Same," which was later the flipside of the 1969 "Lovin' Things" single. The Rob Grill/Warren Entner harmonies are moving. Truly a collective treat for the ears. And rarely have I heard a drummer have as much fun and pound as much passion as Rick Coonce did. I always looked to "Mr. Rhythm" as he was called, as the soul of the group.
What you have here, buyer, is definitely money well spent.

Whoever helped splash "Midnight Confessions" and "Live For Today" over AM radio knew potential when they saw it. Grass Roots had great singers, the greatest session bands of the era, and great writting. They were pop, but never maudlin. They had it all over Bobby Goldsboro and Gary Pucket.

What you may not know is that Grass Roots were not always a slick middle of the road hit machine. Listen to Feelings, and you hear pretty stripped down primitive folk rock. Not bad by any strech, but certianly not the dynamic hitmaking to come the following year.

These were the days of hit factories: take a decent band, add some juice and shine up the sound. You had entire staffs on a label making big coin for this. Listening to Feelings, and it is obvious this is what happened to Grass Roots.

This music does not quite have the pop dynamics of a Jimmy Webb or the FM growl I so love, but for what it is, it is quite enjoyable.

Perhaps the best two Grass Root'LP in one CD.
Classic pop from USA !
Strongly recommended !

The Grass Roots' 60s records had amazing drum sound.....but this is OFF THE CHARTS!
Compared to my near-mint LP of LLFT, the drums and bass on this CD jump out of the speakers, and grab me by the throat! The guitars have much more presence, too. "Things I Should Have Said," and the Vietnam-era anthem "Let's Live For Today" are especially stunning.

The difference on the Feelings album, LP to CD is less dramatic, but the clarity of the acoustic guitars is impressive. In fact, I am enjoying very subtle guitar and keyboard fills I never noticed.

ps the mediocre liner notes are a little off: Sloan and Barri did NOT write the bonus track "Midnight Confessions", Lou Josie did.
This CD is highly recommended.

I never thought of The Grass Roots as lightweight. On The Contrary.....I always thought of them as a fantastic Heavyweight 60s American band during The British Invasion & with this being a CD by Repertoire I already knew it was Great even before I bought it!! I already own a few Repertoire CD's of 60s Bands & they are all Great!! The Sound Quality is Stellar!! Personally: I believe there are at least Three songs here that should have been huge hits and they are Wake Up Wake Up, Here's Where You Belong & Melody For You. I listened to all three many times as well as their more popular Tunes when they were all new. This CD is a pretty good companion to their "All Time Greatest Hits" CD with only Five Duplicates between them & one of them (Where Were You When I Needed You) is a different version anyway. I like the version on this Disc better & besides this version is the one I was used to hearing all those Decades ago!! Between this CD & their "All Time Greatest Hits" CD: They make a good pair. Last but not least: My CD came in a Standard Jewel Case with some nice Liner Notes in the Foldout.

I was watching the Doris Day flick "With Six You Get Eggroll," and "Feelings" provided the music for a party scene. So groovy! With some internet investigation I discovered that The Grassroots was behind this trippy tune.

I will take a different track than the other reviewers. If you love the Grass Roots-to me that was Rick, Warren, Rob and Creed-than you need to pick this up. I loved the way Rob and Warren traded off vocals-and "Rick, "Mr. Rhythm", has one of the most unique -and underrated-drum stylings around. Add to that Rob's voice and you have reason enough to own this. Keep in mind that these were the days before "Sgt. Pepper" when the underground and FM radio were emerging and the industry standard was put out product-especially "hits"- the reigning king-45 rpm single. Album quality was improving-but the single was still king. Keep things in perspective,please. It was common practice in that day to have studio pros crank out the albums. Studios were guided by a stringent set of rules and practices during that time.

No Grass Roots lp was a Beatle lp-by that I mean all killer-no filler. My own personal favorite GR albums were "Loving Things" and "Leaving It All Behind" and the very organic sounding "Golden Grass"(the first Greatest Hits album that showcased Midnight Confessions in stereo!!). The studio innovations with strings, horns, and harpsichords(!)were interesting-as was "Feelings" with it's middle eastern scales.

Refer back to paragraph one- reason enough to own this one!!