Rob Grill

Robert Frank Grill (November 30, 1943 – July 11, 2011)[1] was an American lead singer, songwriter and bass guitarist, best known as a member of the rock and roll group The Grass Roots.

Rob Grill
The Grass Roots in 1969 Left to Right: Dennis Provisor, Warren Entner, Rob Grill & Rick Coonce
Background information
Birth name	Robert Frank Grill
Born	(1943-11-30)November 30, 1943 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 11, 2011(2011-07-11) (aged 67) Mount Dora, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Rock, folk, pop
Instruments	Bass guitar, vocals
Years active	1966–2011
Labels	Dunhill, ABC, Haven, MCA, Gusto, Mercury Records, RFG, Cleopatra
Website	The-GrassRoots.com

Career

Grill was a native of Hollywood, California, where he attended Hollywood High School. Soon after graduation, he began working at American Recording Studios with musician friends Cory Wells and John Kay (who later formed Three Dog Night and Steppenwolf, respectively).

Grill was asked to join The Grass Roots, which grew out of a project originating from Dunhill Records owned by Lou Adler. Writers/producers P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri (The Mamas & the Papas, Tommy Roe, Four Tops and Dusty Springfield) were asked by Dunhill to write songs that would capitalize on the growing interest in the folk-rock movement. After their song “Where Were You When I Needed You” — recorded as a demo with P.F. Sloan as lead singer — was released under the name “The Grass Roots” and received airplay in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dunhill searched for a band to become The Grass Roots. After the first group they chose departed, a Los Angeles band composed of Creed Bratton, Rick Coonce, Warren Entner, and Kenny Fukomoto was recruited to become The Grass Roots.

When Fukumoto was drafted into the army, Grill was brought in as his replacement. With Grill as lead singer, they recorded another version of "Where Were You When I Needed You" and he became the band’s longest serving member, appearing with them for more than four decades. Grill went on to produce and manage the band and became owner of The Grass Roots name.[2]

Classic rock festivals

The Grass Roots played at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival on Sunday, June 11, 1967, in the "summer of love" as their top ten hit "Let's Live For Today" was hitting the airwaves. This music festival is important because it occurred before the Monterey Pop Festival but did not have a movie to document it for the ages (see List of electronic music festivals). On Sunday, October 27, 1968, they played at the San Francisco Pop Festival and then played at the Los Angeles Pop Festival and Miami Pop Festival in December of that year as their top ten hit "Midnight Confessions" was hitting the airwaves.

The Grass Roots played at Newport Pop Festival 1969 at Devonshire Downs which was a racetrack at the time but now is part of the North Campus for California State University at Northridge. They played on Sunday June 22 which was the final day of the festival as their top twenty hit "Wait A Million Years" was hitting the airwaves. In Canada, they played at the Vancouver Pop Festival at the Paradise Valley Resort in British Columbia in August 1969 (see List of electronic music festivals).

Solo career & 60's nostalgia

Grill launched a solo career in 1979, assisted on his solo album by several members of Fleetwood Mac. Responding to '60s nostalgia, Grill then led The Grass Roots (billed "The Grass Roots Starring Rob Grill") and toured the United States until his death in 2011. While in the arms of his wife Nancy, Grill died July 11, 2011 in an Orlando, Florida hospital from complications after a stroke.[1][3]

Compositions and musical release performance

Grill composed sixteen songs for The Grass Roots and his solo album. One of these, "Come On and Say It", appeared as a single "A" side. His other fifteen compositions appeared on single "B" sides and albums. He wrote frequently with Warren Entner and they were considered a songwriting team. Grill played with The Grass Roots on sixteen albums, seven of which charted. He took part in thirty-two Grass Roots singles released, twenty-one of which charted.[4]

Death

Grill died from complications of a head injury sustained in a fall in June 2011. After suffering two strokes following the fall, each located in different parts of his brain, he fell into a coma.[5]

Discography

Singles

Release date	Title	Flip side	Record Label	Chart Positions
				US Billboard	US Cashbox	UK
1967	Let's Live for Today	Depressed Feeling	Dunhill	8	5
	Things I Should Have Said	Tip Of My Tongue	Dunhill	23	36
	Wake Up, Wake Up	No Exit	Dunhill	68	61
1968	Melody For You	Hey Friend	Dunhill	123
	Feelings	Here's Where You Belong	Dunhill
	Midnight Confessions +	Who Will You Be Tomorrow	Dunhill	5	5
1969	Bella Linda	Hot Bright Lights	Dunhill	28	20
	Melody For You	All Good Things Come To An End	Dunhill
	Lovin' Things	You And Love Are The Same	Dunhill	49	35
	River Is Wide, The	(You Gotta) Live For Love	Dunhill	31	16
	I'd Wait A Million Years	Fly Me To Havana	Dunhill	15	12
	Heaven Knows	Don't Remind Me	Dunhill	24	13
1970	Walking Through The Country	Truck Drivin' Man	Dunhill	44	30
	Baby Hold On	Get It Together	Dunhill	35	25
	Come On And Say It	Something's Comin' Over Me	Dunhill	61	39
	Temptation Eyes	Keepin' Me Down	Dunhill	15	16
1971	Sooner Or Later	I Can Turn Off The Rain	Dunhill	9	12
	Two Divided By Love	Let It Go	Dunhill	16	8
1972	Glory Bound	Only One	Dunhill	34	22
	Runway, The	Move Along	Dunhill	39	29
	Anyway The Wind Blows	Monday Love	Dunhill	107
1973	Love Is What You Make It	Someone To Love	Dunhill	55
	Where There's Smoke There's Fire	Look But Don't Touch	Dunhill
	We Can't Dance To Your Music	Look But Don't Touch	Dunhill
	Stealin' Love (In The Night)	We Almost Made It Together	Dunhill
1975	Mamacita	Last Time Around, The	Haven	71
	Naked Man	Nothing Good Comes Easy	Haven
1976	Out In The Open	Optical Illusion	Haven
1979	Rock Sugar	Have Mercy	Mercury
1982	Here Comes That Feeling Again	Temptation Eye	MCA
	She Don't Know Me	Keep On Burning	MCA
	Powers Of The Night	Powers Of The Night	MCA

+ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification

Albums

(All albums are with the Grass Roots, unless otherwise noted)

Release date	Title	Record Label	Chart Positions
			US Billboard	US Cashbox	UK
1967	Let's Live for Today	Dunhill	75
1968	Feelings	Dunhill
	Golden Grass +	Dunhill	25
1969	Lovin' Things	Dunhill	73
	Leaving It All Behind	Dunhill	36
1970	More Golden Grass	Dunhill	152
1971	Their 16 Greatest Hits +	Dunhill	58
1972	Move Along	Dunhill	86
1973	Alotta' Mileage	Dunhill
1976	The ABC Collection	ABC
1978	14 Greatest	Gusto
1979	Uprooted (solo album)	Mercury
1982	Powers Of The Night	MCA
2000	Live At Last	RFG
2001	Symphonic Hits	Cleopatra
2008	Live Gold	RFG

+ - Gold Record - RIAA Certification

References

1. Riedel, David (12 July 2011). "Rob Grill of the Grass Roots dead at 67". CBS News. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
2. Rob Grill Biography
3. Moser, John J. (12 July 2011). "Grass Roots singer Rob Grill dies hours before SteelStacks show; group plays tribute set". The Morning Call (Lehigh Valley, PA). Retrieved 12 July 2011.
4. "Rob Grill Songs". Retrieved 2016-12-01.
5. Perpetua, Matthews (July 13, 2011). "Grass Roots Frontman Rob Grill Dead at 67". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 October 2019.

External links

• The-GrassRoots.com — Official Site