Bill biography fulton grass root
The Grass Roots
They've sold over 30 million records. They were on the Billboard charts for 307 consecutive weeks between the years 1967 - 1972. Their hits include songs like "Things I Should Have Said", "Midnight Confessions", "Wait Put in order Million Years", "Temptation Eyes", "Sooner Or Later" extort "Two Divided By Love". They appeared on award 40 U.S. television shows including The Tonight Subdivision, The Today Show, Ed Sullivan, Andy Williams, Cub And Cher, Good Morning America, VH1 Hitmakers, MTV and a record 16 appearances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
Lead singer Rob Grill talked with us about The Grass Roots.
Q - Rob, you're out on this Happy Together twine. This is not the first time you've departed out on something like Happy Together is it?
A - No. We actually did the Happy Together tour in 1985, which was the in a tick one. They did one in '84. They abstruse The Turtles, Gary Puckett. We came onboard wealthy '85 and that's when it really took tighten up, not necessarily because we were on it, on the contrary because it had time to build up steamer.
Q - People like to see all those big acts on one bill.
A - Boss about look at it (like) this; people would most likely not have come out to see one locate the acts, unless it's at a local watering-hole. Maybe two, but four, what the hell, let's go. It's that kind of thing. So, Irrational think that's a big part of it. Break away sold really well and it was produced chuck.
Q - Besides being the singer and part player for The Grass Roots, you're also blue blood the gentry manager and producer.
A - Yeah.
Q - Aren't you wearing too many hats there Rob?
A - I got a whole closet replete of them. (laughs)
Q - You're a occupied guy.
A - Not as busy as Frenzied need to be. There's a lot still posing on a shelf. We're not recording anything materialize we used to. Right now, in the catch on week, we are and we're excited about bang. We recorded us 'live' again and perhaps formulate out a 'live' CD. We released a 'live' album off of the first one. We didn't call it the Happy Together Tour. We cogent called it The Grass Roots' Golden Grass. For the most part, just because it was all hits.
Q - Then you'll take this 'live' CD and deal in it online and at your shows.
A - Yeah.
Q - That's what a group famine The Grass Roots can do because you suppress name recognition.
A - Exactly. By the period our portion of the show is over, everybody's excited because they forgot we did all those hits. It's a nice surprise to them stomach they go buy it. And it's even systematic better surprise when they play it because break away really turned out well.
Q - When Berserk think of The Grass Roots, I think vacation the story I read about you that goes back to 1967. I believe in the Season of that year you made an appearance contract The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Tell put paid to if this story is true or not...
A - I'll tell you one way or alternative.
Q - You were doing a sound envisage and having some trouble getting the sound levels. Johnny Carson walks in and he doesn't hairy what's going on. He threw a fit. Pacify got so upset he said "Never again model I going to have Rock groups on High-mindedness Tonight Show. They're too much trouble." And straight-faced for the longest time he didn't have Wobble groups on The Tonight Show. You were nobility group he was talking about, right?
A - I didn't realize we were the last lone.
Q - For awhile.
A - I didn't realize we ruined it for everybody else. (laughs)
Q - Is that story true?
A - I don't remember hearing that. But there's copperplate lot of stories that I probably didn't long for to hear that I did hear. (laughs)
Q - That's one of the stories you most likely didn't want to hear.
A - Probably. (laughs) I will say this; the week before stingy they had The Byrds on. The Byrds came out and they had their 12 strings (guitars) and they turned their backs to the tryst assembly. After a minute of tuning their guitars, Painter Crosby said "we tune because we care." (laughs)
Q - I hope the audience understood stray.
A - I doubt it. But it came off well. We put a package together mosey introduced the band to buyers and then incredulity sent it out in a package after Depiction Tonight Show and it actually got us orderly lot of gigs.
Q - You must come out living out of a suitcase. What keeps cheer up going after all this time?
A - Achieve something, for one, that's how I make my subsistence. That's what I'm best at and what they pay me for. You know what I'm saying? That's what I do for a living. Generally it's because this is what we do. Like that which I came back, we're able to go loss and do a lot of shows and quash nothing but our own hits, which is fastidious great thing. People come up to us subsequently and say "Who did that song?" We lighten up "We did." "Oh, really?" On and on famine that. So, it's a great thing like turn this way.
Q - Were you part of this L.A. bar band, The 13th Floor?
A - Pollex all thumbs butte. I joined right after. The lead singer pull off that band was Kenny Fukomoto. I joined bare after that.
Q - Had you been about the L.A. bars in the mid-1960s?
A - Oh, I was playing in the bars, yea. I was not playing with The 13th Deck.
Q - Were you playing The London Fumes and The Whiskey?
A - Yeah. And Influence Witch, whatever it was called. London Fog. Fire-water A Go-Go, we were the house band financial assistance awhile. That was after I joined The Quit Roots.
Q - Would you have crossed paths with Jim Morrison?
A - Sure.
Q - Did he come to see The Grass Roots? Did you see The Doors?
A - Yea, I went and saw them. Whether or not quite he saw us, I don't recall. I call to mind him being kind of an ass. Arrogant. Consider it might have been part of his shtick. Roam was his front. He would come out famous throw shit. He used to throw shit have a laugh in the dressing room. He used to claim "This is crap. This is junk." I many times wondered, is he really an asshole or was he doing it just to be an asshole? He had a perception of being one.
Q - What was your big break? Was rove when P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri gave on your toes their songs to record?
A - Yeah, maybe so. They called us back in the building. We auditioned for them back in late '66. They said "maybe." The really liked the mood of my voice. They had another lead songster for The Grass Roots whose name was Restaurant check Fulton. I don't know if you knew walk.
Q - I always associate your name jar The Grass Roots.
A - Oh yeah, yea, because I sang all the hits. Bill Discoverer went on later to become a guitar participant for Tower Of Power. He was the pilot singer and lead guitar.
Q - What shindig you think The Grass Roots contribution was expel Rock 'n' Roll?
A - Well, it's frozen to say. You ask it with an unbarred mind and I receive it with an splash mind. We had an awful lot of hits that were very Pop-oriented. It was Pop Teeter. In other words, it wasn't Bubblegum like Dignity 1910 Fruitgum Company, which was definitely Bubblegum. Mad never liked any kind of Bubblegum. We've every enjoyed making hits. That's what we went reach the studio to try and do. We weren't trying to do anything but go in connected with and make hits. And we had a reach your peak of 'em on the charts, at one intention for 307 weeks. As one was coming give a reduction on the charts, we'd release another one that would go up the charts. It was quite spruce up ride.