''Golden Grass'' is the first

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Grass Roots The Grass Roots are an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums, two ...

, released in November 1968 by

Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distributed b ...

. The LP's release in the fall of 1968 followed the success of the group's highest charting single, "

Midnight Confessions "Midnight Confessions" is a song written by Lou T. Josie and originally performed by the Ever-Green Blues. American rock band The Grass Roots later made it famous when they released it as a single in 1968. Though never released on any of the group ...

". It featured a song written by

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

and Toni Stern titled "Lady Pleasure", which was previously unreleased by the group, as well as a new single, "Bella Linda", which was originally written (in Italian, as " Balla Linda") by the Italian songwriting duo of

Lucio Battisti Lucio Battisti (5 March 1943 – 9 September 1998) was an influential Italian singer-songwriter and composer. He is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting. Battisti released 18 studio albums ...

and Mogol. The Grass Roots' version of the song, which was given English lyrics by Barry Gross and

Steve Barri Steve Barri (born Steven Barry Lipkin in Brooklyn, New York on February 23, 1942) is an American songwriter and record producer. Career Early in his career, Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He produced such huge hits as " Dizzy" ...

, charted at #28. ''Golden Grass'' is the highest charting Grass Roots album at #25, and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in 1970.

Songs

Some of the songs included on ''Golden Grass'' feature unique touches by arranger

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman, November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely Da ...

. The album showcases The Grass Roots' first two top ten singles, " Let's Live for Today" and "Midnight Confessions", both of which feature trade-off vocals by primary vocalists

Warren Entner Warren Entner (born 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, organist and guitarist for the rock and roll band, The Grass Roots. He then became a manager for several successful heavy metal/rock groups. Overview Entner is best known for his vo ...

and Rob Grill. The rest of the songs, save for "Bella Linda" and the previously unreleased "Lady Pleasure", are drawn from the group's previous two albums, ''Let's Live for Today'' and ''Feelings''. Among these are two original songs by the band's members. This album concludes the group's psychedelic period and phases them into their soulful transition shown on their following album, '' Lovin' Things''. "Bella Linda," "Midnight Confessions," and "Lady Pleasure" are previously unreleased on a Grass Roots album.

Artwork, packaging

The original release of ''Golden Grass'' is on Dunhill ABC in stereo.

Graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

and art direction by Philip Schwartz.

Track listing

All songs produced by

. (*) produced with

P. F. Sloan Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein; September 18, 1945 – November 15, 2015), known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many Billboard H ...

Side one

#" Bella Linda" (Mogol, Battisti, Barri, Gross) – 2:47 #"Things I Should Have Said" (*) (Sloan, Barri) (From ''Let's Live for Today'') – 2:30 #"Melody for You" (Sloan) (From ''Feelings'') – 2:45 #"

" (Josie) – 2:42 #"Here's Where You Belong" (Sloan, Barri) (From ''Feelings'') – 3:10 #"Feelings" ( Coonce, Entner, Fukomoto) (From ''Feelings'') – 2:50

Side two

#"Lady Pleasure" (King, Stern) – 2:47 #"Where Were You When I Needed You" (*) (Sloan, Barri) (From ''Where Were You When I Needed You'') – 2:59 #"Wake Up, Wake Up" (*) (Sloan, Barri) (From ''Let's Live for Today'') – 2:50 #"Hot Bright Lights" (Entner, Grill, Bratton) (from ''Feelings'') – 5:07 #" Let's Live for Today" (*) (Magol, Shapiro,

Julien Julien may refer to: People * Julien (given name) * Julien (surname) Music * Julien (opera), ''Julien'' (opera), a 1913 poème lyrique by Gustave Charpentier * Julien (album), ''Julien'' (album), by Dalida, 1973 * Julien (song), "Julien" (so ...

) (From ''Let's Live for Today'') – 2:35

References

{{The Grass Roots 1968 compilation albums The Grass Roots albums Dunhill Records compilation albums Albums arranged by Jimmie Haskell Albums produced by Steve Barri Albums produced by P. F. Sloan