Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-The Grass Roots

Artist:The Grass Roots

Song:Sooner Or Later

Album:All Time Greatest Hits

The Grass Roots were a very popular pop group from the late 60s. They had 13 gold singles and 1971's Sooner Or Later was their final top ten hit. But they weren't really a band at first. The idea for The Grass Roots came from Dunhill Records house producers Steve Barri (born Steven Lipkin Feb. 23, 1942 in Brooklyn, NY) & P.F. Sloan (born Philip Schlein Sept. 18, 1945 in New York City). Dunhill had asked the two to come up with some songs to take advantage of the burgeoning folk rock movement of 1965. So they came up with a song called Where Were You When I Needed You sung by Sloan and it was sent to a Los Angeles radio station under the name The Grass Roots. So now they had to find a group to go with the name. Sloan recruited a San Francisco group called The Bedouins because he liked the lead singer Bill Fulton. Fulton recorded some vocals over the already recorded tracks but the group didn't like the music and with the exception of drummer Joel Larson, they left. Sloan & Barri still had to find a group for The Grass Roots name. They found a Los Angeles band called The 13th Floor and they gave them the choice of recording under their own name or they could take advantage of The Grass Roots track record. They chose the latter and Rob Grill (born Nov. 30, 1943 in Los Angeles) became the lead singer. There were different members over the years but Grill has been the constant presence. Their first single Let's Live For Today was a top ten hit in 1967. Sloan left to try and launch his own solo career but Barri continued to produce the group and let them write their own songs too. They had a lot of success and Sooner Or Later was their final top ten single in 1971. This budget comp is pretty good. Rob Grill continues to lead a version of The Grass Roots today. P.F. Sloan never had much success as a solo artist mainly due to health problems. Steve Barri continued to have great success as a producer through the 70s and is currently Senior Vice President of Gold Circle Entertainment. So The Grass Roots were manufactured in the recording studio but turned out to be an entertaining group. Here's The Grass Roots performing Sooner Or Later on the Kenny Rogers & The First Edition show in 1971. The girl is First Edition member Mary Arnold.