The Grass Roots - All Time Greatest Hits

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Artists: The Grass Roots.

Lowest new price: $4.87.

Lowest used price: $5.21.

48 customer reviews.  4.5 out of 5 stars.

This low-priced disc is far & away the best single-CD compilation ever issued of the Grass Roots' work, 16 chart singles covering every phase of their history, from 1966's 'Where Were You When I Needed You' (in its actual hit version) thru 'Let's Live for Today' & 'Midnight Confessions' to their last hit, 1972's 'The Runway.' Originally released in 1996. MCA.

As a band the Grass Roots were always a shadowy bunch, a front for studio musicians and professional songwriters looking to get their songs on the radio. They scored 14 top 40 hits during their reign in the late '60s/early '70s and their hits were among the catchiest and most enjoyable of the AM radio era. "Let's Live for Today," "Midnight Confessions," "Bella Linda," "Two Divided by Love," and a slew of others are shameless pop made brilliant by multilayered harmonies and arrangements that liberally borrowed from folk-rock and R&B. The Grass Roots may have been product, but what great product. --Rob O'Connor

i have always had fond memories of this group and recently, while surfing, saw this item at a great price so i could not resist.

i have purchased many items from the: [20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection] and have been happy with all.

If you were a fan of the Grass Roots and want a really good comprehensive collection of their hits, this is a good one. Everything that I remember hearing at the time is here. A couple of the songs seemed to have the lead vocal mixed a little quieter compared to the instrumental tracks but I like this CD. All of my favorites are here, and these guys still sound great! They got a lot of airplay back then, but you don't hear them as much as I would like on stations that play 60's music these days. I think they should be a part of any late 60's mix. When I listen to 60's music, I want to hear what I remember was being played at the time. Whether it's FM or XM satellite radio stations, they all seem to skew towards certain types of music etc.. great CD!

I agree completely with the reviewer who suggests that MCA could have been a bit more generous and expanded this to include the missing hits he mentions, along with one he overlooked - Only When You're Lonely, their second charter for Dunhill in fact, and a # 96 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in September 1966.

There is a nice fold-out insert containing three pages of liner notes written by Todd Everett in May 1996, a discography of the contents, and reproductions of their LP covers Let's Live For Today, The Grass Roots Lovin' Things, and Golden Grass: The Grass Roots. The sound quality is excellent.

This group underwent many changes through the years after being formed as The Bedouins in 1964 in San Francisco by drummer Joel Larson and lead Bill Fulton. Their initial releases in 1966 [Where Were You When I Needed You and Only When You're Lonely] were written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In 1967 the group consisted of bassist/lead Rob Grill, guitarists Creed Bratton and Warren Etner, and drummer Rick Coonce. In 1971 further changes included guitarists Reed Kaling and Virgil Webber and original drummer Joel Larson.

Not exactly The Beatles in terms of group continuity, but they did put out some of the most marketable hits of their era, including Let's Live For Today (# 8 Hot 100 in summer 1967) which was based upon a hit in Italy by a group known as The Rokes. All in all a pretty good choice for the price asked - which could have been even better with just a little more MCA generosity.

This will certainly take you back in time. The Grassroots had so many hits and they are all here and are the original versions that you heard on the radio! My personal favorite is "The River Is Wide", which gets very little airplay on oldies radio stations. If you are a Grassroots fan, you will not be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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