Warren Entner

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Warren Entner
Warren Entner(cropped).png
Entner in 1969
Background information
Born (1944-07-08) July 8, 1944 (age 79)
Genres Rock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer, songwriter, music manager
Instrument(s)Guitar, keyboards, vocals
Years active1967–present
Formerly of The Grass Roots
Website the-grassroots.com

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

Contents

Overview

Entner is best known for his vocal contributions on some of The Grass Roots' biggest hits, most notably the memorable "1-2-3-4" count-in to the chorus, as well as lead vocal on the chorus, of Let's Live for Today and the Middle 8 of the song Midnight Confessions.

Entner and his group 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 ten hit "Midnight Confessions" was hitting the airwaves. [1]

Entner and his group 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). [1]

Entner had the opportunity to network with many famous groups and musicians playing these large festivals. This helped him fine tune his skills as a group manager. It was with The Grass Roots that Entner practiced his first efforts as band manager that he would fine tune to become a professional manager for other groups after 1974. Entner identified several songs written by other composers that proved successful when The Grass Roots covered them. He was instrumental in identifying "Let's Live For Today", "Midnight Confessions" and "Lovin' Things" (written by Artie Schroeck) to name a few. [1]

In 1970, he married the Welsh actress, model and beauty queen, Miss World 1961, Rosemarie Frankland. In 1976, she gave birth to their only child together, a daughter, Jessica. The couple divorced in 1981. He was married again on May 25, 1985, to Stacey Elizabeth Babbitt, who gave birth to his second child, Lauren, in 1986. [2]

Compositions and musical release performance

Entner composed twenty one songs for The Grass Roots. Two of these, "Feelings" and "Come On And Say It", appeared as single "A" sides. His other nineteen compositions appeared on single "B" sides and albums. He wrote frequently with Rob Grill and they were considered a songwriting team. Entner played with the group on their first nine albums – seven of which charted. He took part in the first twenty five singles released, twenty of which charted. [3]

Group management

After departing from The Grass Roots in the mid 70s, Entner went behind the scenes of the music business and became a successful manager. Owning his own firm Warren Entner Management, Entner managed a number of successful hard rock artists including Angel, Quiet Riot, Faith No More, [4] Rage Against the Machine, Deftones, as well as other acts such as The Grays, Failure and Nada Surf. He currently manages Biffy Clyro in the US.

Discography

Singles

Release dateTitleFlip sideRecord LabelChart Positions
US Billboard US Cashbox UK
1967 Let's Live for Today Depressed FeelingDunhill85
Things I Should Have SaidTip of My TongueDunhill2336
Wake Up, Wake UpNo ExitDunhill6861
1968Melody For YouHey FriendDunhill123
FeelingsHere's Where You BelongDunhill
Midnight Confessions ++Who Will You Be TomorrowDunhill55
1969Bella Linda+++Hot Bright LightsDunhill2820
Melody For YouAll Good Things Come to an EndDunhill
Lovin' ThingsYou And Love Are The SameDunhill4935
River Is Wide, The(You Gotta) Live For LoveDunhill3116
I'd Wait A Million YearsFly Me To HavanaDunhill1512
Heaven KnowsDon't Remind MeDunhill2413
1970Walking Through The CountryTruck Drivin' ManDunhill4430
Baby Hold OnGet It TogetherDunhill3525
Come On And Say ItSomething's Comin' Over MeDunhill6139
Temptation Eyes Keepin' Me DownDunhill1516
1971Sooner Or LaterI Can Turn Off The RainDunhill912
Two Divided By LoveLet It GoDunhill168
1972Glory BoundOnly OneDunhill3422
Runway, TheMove AlongDunhill3929
Anyway The Wind BlowsMonday LoveDunhill107
1973Love Is What You Make ItSomeone To LoveDunhill55
Where There's Smoke There's FireLook But Don't TouchDunhill
We Can't Dance To Your MusicLook But Don't TouchDunhill
Stealin' Love (In The Night)We Almost Made It TogetherDunhill

++ – Gold Record – RIAA Certification

+++ – Composed by Italian superstar Lucio Battisti)

Albums

Release dateTitleRecord LabelChart Positions
US Billboard US Cashbox UK
1967 Let's Live for Today Dunhill75
1968 Feelings Dunhill
Golden Grass ++Dunhill25
1969 Lovin' Things Dunhill73
Leaving It All Behind Dunhill36
1970 More Golden Grass Dunhill152
1971 Their 16 Greatest Hits ++Dunhill58
1972Move AlongDunhill86
1973Alotta' MileageDunhill

++ – Gold Record – RIAA Certification

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Move Along is the sixth studio album by the American rock group the Grass Roots. The album was released in 1972 and charted at No. 86. It was the last of the group's albums to chart on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. The album marked the departures of longtime drummer Rick Coonce and keyboardist Dennis Provisor from the group, though Provisor still contributed to the album both as a performer (uncredited) and as a composer. The A- and B-side singles released were "Two Divided by Love", "Glory Bound" b/w "Only One", "The Runway" b/w "Move Along", and "Anyway the Wind Blows" b/w "Monday Love". Later, the song "Someone to Love" was released as the B side to the song "Love Is What You Make It", which appeared on the band's following album, Alotta Mileage.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Grass Roots Bio" . Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  2. "Lifelines | Marriages". Billboard. June 15, 1985. p. 72. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  3. "Warren Entner Songs" . Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  4. Goldstein, Patrick (February 3, 1991). "Warner Records Stays Faithful to Mike Patton's Bungle Los Angeles Times PATRICK GOLDSTEIN Feb 3, 1991" . Retrieved December 16, 2010.