Post by Rob Durkee on Jul 12, 2011 21:50:33 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Rob Grill, the lead singer and bassist for the 1960's-70's group the Grass Roots, died on Monday , July 11, 2011, according to writer Martin E. Comas of the Orlando Sentinel. Grill died at a hospice facility in Mount Dora, which is part of the Orlando area, from complications of a head injury due to a fall along with two recent strokes.
Not long after his passing, Rob's wife, Nancy, posted this message online:
My dear husband Robert Frank Grill, 67, of Mt Dora, Fl passed away peacefully in my arms at 11:37 a.m. (EST), while listening to one of his favorite songs…”Let’s Live for Today.” He loved his fans and he loved The Grass Roots! Thank you for all of your prayers, love and support during this time.
Nancy Grill
Sources differ as to Grill's age. One said he was born on November 30, 1944 while still another claimed his date of birth was November 5, 1944. However, the correct date of birth for Rob Grill is believed to be the one listed on his web site, which is November 30, 1943. Thus, he was 67 at the time of his passing.
However, not all the information on the Grass Roots' web sites is to be believed. One Grass Roots web site claimed the group set an all-time record for spending the most consecutive weeks on one prominent magazine's pop chart with 307 from 1967-72. This so-called feat is not only false, but preposterous. In no time at all, this writer noticed that the Grass Roots had no singles on the third overall chart of the 1970's. Plus, the Grass Roots spent 207 total weeks on that magazine's chart with all its charted singles. So, how can the group's site claim a record was set for most consecutive weeks on a pop chart with 307 weeks when the total weeks spent on that chart is 100 weeks less? CBS Radio News fell for this bogus fact and mentioned it on its newscasts. The Grass Roots' total weeks on the Cash Box pop chart was 214. It's believed the all-time leader for most weeks on the pop chart is Pat Boone with about 220 straight weeks set in the mid- to late 1950's.
The Grass Roots' bogus claim certainly isn't meant to take away the group's incredible string of hits with 18 top 40 hits from 1966-73. The Grass Roots rank with Chicago, the Outsiders and Blood, Sweat And Tears as the top groups of the time who had a unique brass-driven sound. However, they didn't start that way. That's because the group was originally known as the Grassroots, spelled as one word. Producers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri formed this initial group from of musicians from San Francisco. However, after "Where Were You When I Needed You" reached #33 on the Cash Box pop chart in 1966, the Bay area group demanded more creative freedom. Dunhill Records denied the request and sent the group packing in what Sloan described as "absolute craziness, dictatorial madness."
Forced to start from scratch again, Sloan and Barri would coax members of a group called the 13th Floor to eventually become the Grass Roots, with the group name spelled with the conventional two words. Eventually, lead guitarist Creed Bratton, rhythm guitarist Warren Entner and drummer Rick Coonce would join Grill to form the core of the Grass Roots. The new group's breakthrough hit would not only become Grill's favorite song, but an anthem for Vietnam War era veterans. "Let's Live For Today" was originally an Italian song done first by a group known as the Rokes.
"We changed it dramatically," Grill told writer Parke Puterbaugh, who wrote the liner notes for the group's two-CD Greatest Hits set. "Theirs (the Rokes) was much more uptempo, more like a little pop ditty. We slowed it down and put our style on it. And it became our first million seller. Vietnam era vets tell me that, because of the lyrics, that was the song that meant the most to them when they were in the foxholes."
"Let's Live For Today" reached #5 on the Cash Box pop chart in the "Summer Of Love" in 1967. The group would have two subsequent minor releases in 1967 before posting their jackpot hit in the fall of 1968. "Things I Should Have Said" barely cracked the top 40, reaching #36, and "Wake Up, Wake Up" fizzled at #64 to end 1967 for the Grass Roots. At that point, Barri felt the group needed to change its direction. "Midnight Confessions," which was originally recorded by a group called the Evergreen Blues Band, changed everything for the Grass Roots, who'd suddenly become a brass-driven group.
However, not everyone in the group wanted to record and release "Midnight Confessions." Grill explained, "Half the band wanted to do it and half the band didn't, because we were a folk-rock band. Some guys said, 'We can't do that because it's got all those horns on it.' That was a big dilemma for us, but we did record it and it became the biggest hit we ever had." Another 14 top 40 hits would follow, including "I'd Wait A Million Years" (#12) and "Heaven Knows" (#13) in 1969. "Temptations Eyes" was a #16 hit in 1970 while 1971 netted "Sooner Or Later" (#12) and "Two Divided by Love" (#8).
Grill is the second of the Grass Roots' four principle members to pass away this year. Coonce died on February 25, 2011.
Grill's death came a matter of hours before the current Grass Roots lineup was scheduled to take the stage at a nightclub in the Allentown, Pa., area. Writer John J. Moser of the Allentown Morning Call reported that Mark Dawson, the current group bassist, announced to the crowd Grill's passing. Dawson reportedly said, "We may have lost one great friend, but heaven gained an exceptional singer. We say 'God bless you'...and Rob says the show must go on."
Rob Grill, the lead singer and bassist for the 1960's-70's group the Grass Roots, died on Monday , July 11, 2011, according to writer Martin E. Comas of the Orlando Sentinel. Grill died at a hospice facility in Mount Dora, which is part of the Orlando area, from complications of a head injury due to a fall along with two recent strokes.
Not long after his passing, Rob's wife, Nancy, posted this message online:
My dear husband Robert Frank Grill, 67, of Mt Dora, Fl passed away peacefully in my arms at 11:37 a.m. (EST), while listening to one of his favorite songs…”Let’s Live for Today.” He loved his fans and he loved The Grass Roots! Thank you for all of your prayers, love and support during this time.
Nancy Grill
Sources differ as to Grill's age. One said he was born on November 30, 1944 while still another claimed his date of birth was November 5, 1944. However, the correct date of birth for Rob Grill is believed to be the one listed on his web site, which is November 30, 1943. Thus, he was 67 at the time of his passing.
However, not all the information on the Grass Roots' web sites is to be believed. One Grass Roots web site claimed the group set an all-time record for spending the most consecutive weeks on one prominent magazine's pop chart with 307 from 1967-72. This so-called feat is not only false, but preposterous. In no time at all, this writer noticed that the Grass Roots had no singles on the third overall chart of the 1970's. Plus, the Grass Roots spent 207 total weeks on that magazine's chart with all its charted singles. So, how can the group's site claim a record was set for most consecutive weeks on a pop chart with 307 weeks when the total weeks spent on that chart is 100 weeks less? CBS Radio News fell for this bogus fact and mentioned it on its newscasts. The Grass Roots' total weeks on the Cash Box pop chart was 214. It's believed the all-time leader for most weeks on the pop chart is Pat Boone with about 220 straight weeks set in the mid- to late 1950's.
The Grass Roots' bogus claim certainly isn't meant to take away the group's incredible string of hits with 18 top 40 hits from 1966-73. The Grass Roots rank with Chicago, the Outsiders and Blood, Sweat And Tears as the top groups of the time who had a unique brass-driven sound. However, they didn't start that way. That's because the group was originally known as the Grassroots, spelled as one word. Producers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri formed this initial group from of musicians from San Francisco. However, after "Where Were You When I Needed You" reached #33 on the Cash Box pop chart in 1966, the Bay area group demanded more creative freedom. Dunhill Records denied the request and sent the group packing in what Sloan described as "absolute craziness, dictatorial madness."
Forced to start from scratch again, Sloan and Barri would coax members of a group called the 13th Floor to eventually become the Grass Roots, with the group name spelled with the conventional two words. Eventually, lead guitarist Creed Bratton, rhythm guitarist Warren Entner and drummer Rick Coonce would join Grill to form the core of the Grass Roots. The new group's breakthrough hit would not only become Grill's favorite song, but an anthem for Vietnam War era veterans. "Let's Live For Today" was originally an Italian song done first by a group known as the Rokes.
"We changed it dramatically," Grill told writer Parke Puterbaugh, who wrote the liner notes for the group's two-CD Greatest Hits set. "Theirs (the Rokes) was much more uptempo, more like a little pop ditty. We slowed it down and put our style on it. And it became our first million seller. Vietnam era vets tell me that, because of the lyrics, that was the song that meant the most to them when they were in the foxholes."
"Let's Live For Today" reached #5 on the Cash Box pop chart in the "Summer Of Love" in 1967. The group would have two subsequent minor releases in 1967 before posting their jackpot hit in the fall of 1968. "Things I Should Have Said" barely cracked the top 40, reaching #36, and "Wake Up, Wake Up" fizzled at #64 to end 1967 for the Grass Roots. At that point, Barri felt the group needed to change its direction. "Midnight Confessions," which was originally recorded by a group called the Evergreen Blues Band, changed everything for the Grass Roots, who'd suddenly become a brass-driven group.
However, not everyone in the group wanted to record and release "Midnight Confessions." Grill explained, "Half the band wanted to do it and half the band didn't, because we were a folk-rock band. Some guys said, 'We can't do that because it's got all those horns on it.' That was a big dilemma for us, but we did record it and it became the biggest hit we ever had." Another 14 top 40 hits would follow, including "I'd Wait A Million Years" (#12) and "Heaven Knows" (#13) in 1969. "Temptations Eyes" was a #16 hit in 1970 while 1971 netted "Sooner Or Later" (#12) and "Two Divided by Love" (#8).
Grill is the second of the Grass Roots' four principle members to pass away this year. Coonce died on February 25, 2011.
Grill's death came a matter of hours before the current Grass Roots lineup was scheduled to take the stage at a nightclub in the Allentown, Pa., area. Writer John J. Moser of the Allentown Morning Call reported that Mark Dawson, the current group bassist, announced to the crowd Grill's passing. Dawson reportedly said, "We may have lost one great friend, but heaven gained an exceptional singer. We say 'God bless you'...and Rob says the show must go on."
