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Artist Bios
Grass Roots Bio
The Grass Roots were a
real band, but even the liner notes of the several CD compilations
that exist for the Grass Roots tend to dismiss them as a studio
creation. They'll tell you that an already-formed band called the
13th Floor assumed the name of The Grass Roots. They'll tell you
that the Grass Roots were a "faceless" band with an ever-rotating
membership, with the one consistent "element" being the voice of Rob
Grill who led them on all of their hit singles. But don't believe
everything they tell you.
The fact is that both Rob Grill and Warren Entner were the lead
singers on many of the group's biggest hits, often switching leads
between verse and chorus ("Midnight Confessions", "Wait A Million
Years", "Let's Live For Today", "The River Is Wide") and sometimes
even mid-verse! ("The Runway"). Both Rob and Warren were in the
group for their entire 1966-1973 hit making years. Another hugely
important member on the vocals was Dennis Provisor, who not only
sang the entire lead for one of their hits ("Walking Through the
Country") but sang lead parts on other songs, also switching with
Rob, and of course provided the dynamic soul-shouting on hits like
"Sooner or Later" and "Two Divided By Love" that gave the group that
edge in their sound that kept them solidly in the rock/soul/pop
genre. Rob, Warren and Dennis also had remarkably similar voices, so
much so that it was sometimes difficult to tell when the lead vocals
switched. But each had their own individual color and tone to their
voices, and it was those differences combined with the similarities
that made the group such a vocal powerhouse. (Similar voices with
different hues have been the secret of many successful acts in
creating vocal dynamics and exhilarating harmonies - Bread, the Bee
Gees, Sonny and Cher, Three Dog Night, and Chicago are just a few of
the groups that come to mind that used subtle vocal-switching to
make hugely effective dynamics in their songs, and the gift of
similar but distinctive voices singing together to create incredible
harmonies.) But these important contributions to the group's "sound"
seem to be overlooked in almost everything written about them.
Still, Rob was the primary lead singer and had the best voice (one
of the best in rock history) and a totally unique styling that could
set you to shivering within moments of hearing it. And still
sounding and looking great, as if he hasn't aged a day, it is Rob
that leads the current version of the Grass Roots on their very
active touring schedule.
From "Golden
Grass" -- The Grass Roots Fan Page
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