Hey folks. Grin is not a household name but you vinyl record aficionados ought to seek it out.
It’s a band fronted by Nils Lofgren in the 1970s. Nils is not exactly a household name either but after his youthful foray in Grin, he became a member of bands formed by some major household names: Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band and Neil y Young’s Crazy Horse. Not bad. Two of the best rock singer-songwriters of our era. (Actually Grin happened while he was in Crazy Horse.)
Lofgren is an excellent guitarist. But don’t come to Grin expecting life-changing music, like you might have found when you first heard Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen.
I think those two saw a musicality from Lofgren that covered a lot of ground. I think they also must have seen some bright rock and roll fun spirit in his music. Lofgren is a classically trained musician (classical accordion, according to his Wikipedia page –is that a joke?). Glad he ventured into rock and roll as I doubt I would ever be blessed with his music if he was 2nd chair accordion in the Los Angeles symphony.
Anyway Grin is a fun garage band styled group from Lofgren’s early life. The album covers are wild and they alone may be worth the $10 or so you may have to pay for a used copy.
In these blogs, I wrote a little earlier about the Grateful Dead.
Short take: I really never have understood the ulra-passionate appeal for a band whose songs, at least half, sound like sleepy Americana tunes, a genre that didn’t exist — at least in name — in the Dead’s heyday. Or it could also be described as Ronnie Lane music, only without the deep English musical accent that British musician layered on vocals and music.
I did promise further research into the Dead, noting that the only vinyl album I had was ‘Terrapin Station.’ So since that time I found some Dead I’d had digitally, namely the albums ‘Workingman’s Dead’ and ‘American Beauty.’
Of course like many listening to music in the 1970s, I knew ‘Casey Jones’ and the classic band on the road song, ‘Truckin’ ‘ which blesses us with one of the shrewdest summation lines of these years: “What a long strange trip it’s been.”
So this little additional homework has left me with two observations.
The Dead are certainly good (in a down home sloppy sort of way). Listening to more of their music, I had my needle pushed above half a tank. I could listen to Ripple, Box of Rain, and Brokedown Palace on the porch with the sun shining all day.
But I still don’t get how they are in the conversation of best rock band ever. But that’s the rhetoric I’d hear in some circles (California especially.) Jerry Garcia would probably agree that’s a strawman argument.
ALBUMS: Their 16 Greatest Hits (1971); Golden Grass, The Grass Roots (1970);
MVC Ratings: 16 Greatest 4.0/$$$; Golden 3.5/$$$
This is a case where I knew the artist and bought a couple of greatest hits albums that I probably wouldn’t have ordinarily have bought. Well, maybe in my youth I might have pitched a few bucks for them.
I was always partial to Top 40 hit machines and man, Rob Grill and gang put together a string of hits that have squeezed out chart spaces alongside rock legends like the Beatles, Aretha Franklin and Rolling Stones.
I knew Grill while I worked in Florida, the 1990s. Rob and his wife, Nancy, were part of a neighborhood of young families in aptly named Lake County. We’d gather at someone’s house and grill out or whatever. After we moved to California we lot touch.
Even though I was having cookouts in the backyard, I didn’t know who Rob Grill was at these dinners until someone, after months, told me. I didn’t know Rob Grill from Adam but as soon as I started humming the Grass Roots songs, I was surprised at how many were rolling around in my head.
Fun fact: They started out the Grassroots (one word) then changed it to two. You can see it on the two album covers I have published with this story.
He never really talked about his music, maybe a little bit. I told him I had a cover version of Midnight Confessions by the Blake Babies that was interestingly odd. Rob kind of smiled and said something about whether he or the band got any residuals from that.
I remembered the Grass Roots from their songs, Midnight Confessions, Let’s Live for Today, Soon or Later. and Temptation Eyes. So while Grill helped sell millions of records worldwide, he had no trouble fitting in with his boat and fishing pole. That’s the reason Grill, a native Californian, came to wind up in Lake County: fishing, and Nancy, who was disc jockey in the Orlando area when they met.
Rob retired at a relatively early age, married Nancy and picked a county outside Orlando known for its fishing (maybe not in that order.)
Rob died following complications from a stroke in 2011. RIP Rob. He was reportedly listening to Live for Today on headphones as he died.
About the music? The well-honed British influenced pop, was their bread and butter and the Top 40 was where they focused.. But at times, you’ll hear some soul and jazz.. Midnight Confession, their biggest hit, had some swinging horns on it.
The Grass Roots have had singles on the Billboard 100 21 times. They have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.
