Dennis Provisor
Dennis Provisor is an American musician and songwriter. He recorded on several different labels, including 20th Century Fox and Valiant, under the name of Denny Provisor. He released some soulful singles as a solo artist. He later joined the groups The Hook, Blue Rose, and The Grass Roots. Provisor is a lead singer, keyboard player and songwriter.
Overview
Provisor is a Los Angeles native who began playing piano at a very early age. He expanded to electric organ and other keyboard instruments as he joined several R&B or rock and roll cover bands while still in high school. He landed a recording contract with 20th Century Fox Records while he was a teenager and worked with producer Tommy Oliver. About two years later, Provisor signed with the Valiant label and released a couple more singles, including some songs he wrote himself. In 1968, he joined The Hook featuring ex-Leaves fuzz guitarist Bobby Arlin. He wrote a song called "Go" that appears on their Hooked album. He also sang lead on this song. He was in a band called Blue Rose when he auditioned for The Grass Roots. Terry Furlong was in the band. The Grass Roots actually came to check out Furlong for the open position but after seeing Provisor's musical abilities, they decided on him instead.The Grass Roots
Provisor's first album with The Grass Roots titled Leaving It All Behind immediately proved the wisdom of their choice. Besides writing several songs for the album, Provisor's powerful voice, both on lead and harmony vocals, added an energetic, soulful tone to The Grass Roots sound. The group scored their first hit single which was written by a member of the group, Provisor's melodic "Walking Through The Country", on which he also sang lead. The first concert in which Provisor played with The Grass Roots was a double bill with Creedence Clearwater Revival. Provisor played his first music festival with The Grass Roots at Newport Pop Festival in 1969 at the Devonshire Downs racetrack in California. They played on Sunday June 22 which was the final day of the festival as their top twenty hit "I'd Wait A Million Years" was hitting the airwaves. Jimi Hendrix, who played at this festival, asked Provisor to play with him but The Grass Roots manager wouldn't allow it. In Canada, The Grass Roots played at the Vancouver Pop Festival at the Paradise Valley Resort in British Columbia in August 1969.Provisor and the group went on The Ed Sullivan Show. He and the group had many appearances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. The Grass Roots were all set to have their own variety show. The show called "Get It Together" was produced by Dick Clark. The group wrote and performed the show's theme song. The group taped several skits with their first guest Eric Burdon, but the show was never picked up. The record company Dunhill, was constantly releasing hit singles. Many of them had a Provisor composition on the "B" side helping him to gain some writing royalties. The group set a record of 307 weeks on the billboard singles charts. The next Grass Roots album titled More Golden Grass included some Provisor originals including "I Can Turn Off The Rain". Also, "Come On And Say It" became the second hit for The Grass Roots that the group members had written themselves. It was composed by Grill, Entner, and Provisor. It was also the first single to showcase Provisor's soulful vocals set against the main melody at the end of the song. This would become a trademark of the group's sound on subsequent hit songs like "Sooner Or Later", "Two Divided by Love", and "Glory Bound". On "Sooner or Later" and "Two Divided By Love", Provisor shares lead vocals with Grill.
Provisor officially left the group in 1972, shortly after drummer Coonce left the band. Provisor signed a recording contract with record producer Clive Davis as a solo artist. He began to record a solo album. Unfortunately, Davis was fired and Provisor's album was never completed. He was left without a contract or a label. Although Provisor's picture does not appear on The Grass Roots 1972 album Move Along, his stamp is most certainly all over the album. This album contains five songs that he wrote or co-wrote. He also sings lead on two of them. Two other Provisor originals, "Monday Love" and the title cut "Move Along" are on the album and set the tone for the other songs included on it. In South America, Dunhill released the Move Along LP in Columbia with a white cover and photo of Coonce, Entner, Grill, and Provisor. This shows the dichotomy of this release, as it was produced as old group members were leaving and new ones were joining The Grass Roots during 1971–2.
After leaving The Grass Roots, Provisor continued to write songs. One of his songs was recorded by Rare Earth. Then in 1974, he re-joined The Grass Roots when they signed to Haven Records. Provisor's return re-energized the group. Once again trading off lead vocals with Grill, Provisor helped turn two of the Haven album's cuts, "Something About You" and "It's A Cryin' Shame", into instant classics. He wrote a final Grass Roots song appropriately titled "The Last Time Around". Provisor continued to tour with The Grass Roots for many more years, including a highly successful tour of Japan. He also worked on the 14 Greatest album released by Gusto Records with Grill. When Grill decided to produce a solo album titled Uprooted, Provisor was right there to help him and he wrote four songs for the album including the single "Rock Sugar".