The Complete Original Dunhill/ABC Hit Singles

The Grass Roots

Real Gone Music, 2014

http://the-grassroots.com

REVIEW BY: David Bowling

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/22/2014

The Grass Roots, along with such groups as the Association, Turtles, Three Dog Night, Lovin’ Spoonful, Young Rascals, and a number of others may have sold millions of albums, but it was their singles that cemented their reputations as they dominated the AM radio airwaves during the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s.

The Grass Roots many times tend to fly under the radar, but such hit singles as “Where Were You When I Needed You,” “Let’s Live For Today,” “Things I Should Have Said,” “The River Is Wide,” “Wait A Million Years,”  “Temptation Eyes,”  “Sooner Or Later,” and “Midnight Confessions” were some of the catchiest of their era. The band’s ability to create tight harmonies and smooth melodies were consistently excellent.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Real Gone Music has now released The Complete Original Dunhill/ABC Hit Singles album, which gathers most of their A side single releases for the label. They are presented in their original and glorious mono sound. The sound is crystal clear and the enclosed booklet presents a complete history of the band. The word complete is not exactly correct, however, as there are four singles missing: “Feelings,” “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire,” “”We Can Dance To The Music,” and “Stealin’ Love In The Night” may not have been among their best known releases, but their omission prevents the collection from being absolutely complete.

P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri, who were songwriters, performers and producers, were responsible for the band’s first hit “Where Were You When I Need You,” but it was bassist/vocalist Rob Grill who would become synonymous with the band’s sound. He would continue to perform with the group until his death in 2011.

The good news about this release is when you assemble the best of the Grass Roots material in one place, it ends up being an excellent release – when they were good, they were very good. Many of their albums have never been released on CD, but this is the only one you’ll need. This is a must release for any fan of the era.

Rating: B+

User Rating: B+


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