[.ca] 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The ...

rooting:
If you like songs from the heart, you'll like this. Every song is well writen, no wasted tracks.

Rob Grill, You Always Could Throw A Party:
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to rock's version of the senior tour!" shouted Grass Roots frontman Rob Grill. He was met by a few hundred fans gathered at a Fort Myers' block party, backed by a group faceless yet competent as any drifting blades of the Grass Roots he fronted over the band's 38-year history. Grill limped and squinted and told stoner jokes and feted the audience's Vietnam veterans. All along, he sang the heart out of his group's fondly remembered hits, most found on this compact but effective 20th Century collectors' set. The Grass Roots paralleled the ABC-Dunhill label they recorded for, following California quasi-protest folk-rock ("Where Were You When I Needed You," "Let's Live For Today") with energetic pop with R & B and bubblegum touches ("Midnight Confessions," "Heaven Knows," "Temptation Eyes"). The group charted an exceptional dozen hits between 1966-75 without dominating any year or era the way the Beatles did 1964 or the Monkees 1967. Instead, they fit nicely: "Sooner or Later" could as easily have floated through Greg Brady's speakers as as it did your transistor radio late in 1971. These same songs ("Two Divided By Love" being a bit gimmicky) retain some of their freshness, and always provide a solid second set of hits to any oldies show or bill. (The Grass Roots wowed a younger crowd, including yours truly, awaiting the headliner Monkees on their celebrated 1986 reunion tour.) Most of all, they provide a nostalgic ride sweet and sturdy as Grill and his songs were that mild Fort Myers winter night on the midway. Recommended.

Nice Set of Some Fine 1960's Tunes By A Semi-Forgotten Band!:
The best songs here still hold up well. They are "Where Were You When I Needed You", and "Let's Live For Today. Both have some nice melodies and harmonies ,and lyrics that have some meaning even 35 years or so later! This is a fine Series that includes some of the "second tier" musical acts of 25-40 years ago, plus some really top acts of the time, like the Moody Blues and Supremes, and it's fine hearing some of these releases brought back to life! The Grassroots had a few top 40 hits, some of the best of the day too! So this is your chance to catch some of these fine releases that are otherwise somewhat hard to come by today!

Great music!:
The Grass Roots were never the sort of band to win a Grammy, or to be recognized for their singing (which is still good, but no Mamas and the Papas). However, they are one of my favorite groups from the era. I purchased this album for "Midnight Confession" and "Sooner or Later", and was suprised by how much of this music was so great, and yet never played on my radio stations. "Temptation Eyes" and "Heaven Knows" are some of my favorites by the Grass Roots now. I wouldn't trade this collection for the world.

"Live for Today" is one of the quintessential Sixties songs:
The rap against the Grass Roots is that they were essentially a studio band, but that does not take away from the fact that they produced one of the quintessential songs of the Sixties in "Let's Live For Today (Sha-la-la-la-la-la)." The song only made it to #8 on the "Billboard" charts, but has always symbolized for me what Sixties music was all about. You could not point to a quintessential song by the Beatles since the changes from the early period to all the periods that followed showed such changes and growth, but "Let's Live For Today" captures a lot of Sixties musical sensibilities. Just do not ask me to defend my position in a well-reasoned musical argument because I am sure it will fall apart. But I do know that when the Grass Roots moved into the Seventies with their music the results are not as good as what they did in the previous decade. When I get to the point that a song by the Grass Roots no longer reminds me of "Let's Live For Today" then my argument is that they have gone too far in evolving as a group. All of the dozen songs collected on "20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Grass Roots" cracked the "Billboard" Top 40, with the other pair of Top 10 hits being "Midnight Confession" (#5) and "Sooner or Later" (#9), a pair of songs that evidence the range of the type of songs the Grass Roots recorded. One of the interesting things about the Grass Roots is that you will find that where these songs ended up on the pop charts pretty much reflects how good they are. The best of the bunch after those three is "Wait a Million Years" (#15), and then there is a discernable drop off to "Things I Should Have Said" (#23), "Heaven Knows" (#24) and "Where Were You When I Needed You" (#28). For most listeners these twelve songs will include all of the Grass Roots songs they need to own and probably get to the point where they find songs to skip when they play the CD. In other words, owning this hits collection will make the vast majority of people happy with no need to go on to a larger hits collection.

• Where Were You When I Needed You
• Let's Live for Today
• Things I Should Have Said
• Midnight Confessions
• Bella Linda
• River Is Wide
• I'd Wait a Million Years
• Heaven Knows
• Baby Hold On
• Temptation Eyes
• Sooner or Later
• Two Divided by Love