PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Rob Grill
Rob Grill
	Rob Grill as part of The Grass Roots in 1969
Background information
Birth name	Robert Frank Grill
Born	November 30, 1943; Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 11, 2011 (aged 67); Tavares, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Rock, folk, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar, vocals
Years active	1966–2011
Labels	Dunhill, ABC, Haven, MCA, Gusto, Mercury Records, RFG, Cleopatra

Robert Frank Grill (November 30, 1943 – July 11, 2011)^[1] was an American musician and songwriter, best known as lead singer and bassist of the rock and roll group The Grass Roots. Though not a founding member, Grill was the longest-serving member of the band prior to his death in 2011.

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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 10 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 and 1960s nostalgia

Grill launched a solo career in 1979, assisted on his solo album by several members of Fleetwood Mac. Responding to 1960s nostalgia, Grill then led The Grass Roots (billed "The Grass Roots Starring Rob Grill") and toured the United States until his death in 2011.

Compositions and musical release performance

Grill composed 16 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 15 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 16 albums, seven of which charted. He took part in 32 Grass Roots singles released, 21 of which charted.^[4]

Death

Grill sustained a head injury 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] With his wife Nancy by his side, Grill died on July 11, 2011, in a hospital in Tavares, Florida, from complications after a stroke.^[2]^[6]

Discography

Singles

Release date	Title	Flip side	Record Label	Chart Positions
Release date	Title	Flip side	Record Label	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
1971	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
1975	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
Release date	Title	Record Label	US Billboard	US Cashbox	UK
1967	Let's Live for Today	Dunhill	75
1968	Feelings	Dunhill
1968	Golden Grass +	Dunhill	25
1969	Lovin' Things	Dunhill	73
1969	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

^ Riedel, David (July 12, 2011). "Rob Grill of the Grass Roots dead at 67". CBS News. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Fox, Margalit (December 5, 2023). "Rob Grill, Lead Singer of the Grass Roots, Dies at 67 - The New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
^ "Rob Grill Biography". The-grassroots.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
^ "Rob Grill Songs". Grassroots.com. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
^ Perpetua, Matthews (July 13, 2011). "Grass Roots Frontman Rob Grill Dead at 67". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
^ Moser, John J. (July 12, 2011). "Grass Roots singer Rob Grill dies hours before SteelStacks show; group plays tribute set". The Morning Call (Lehigh Valley, PA). Retrieved July 12, 2011.