Dennis Provisor
| Dennis Provisor | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Denny Provisor |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California United States |
| Genres | Rock, Pop music, Soul music, R&B, Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Keyboards, vocals |
| Years active | 1964 – present |
| Labels | 20th Century Fox Records – Valiant Records – Uni Records – Dunhill – ABC – MCA – Haven – Gusto – Mercury Records |
| Associated acts | The Grass Roots – The Hook – Rob Grill |
| Website | The-GrassRoots.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Keyboards | |
Dennis Provisor (born November 9, 1943) 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.
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 (a future Grass Roots guitarist) 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.
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" (which Provisor also co-wrote, with Barri, Price, and Walsh). On "Sooner or Later" and "Two Divided By Love", Provisor shares lead vocals with Grill.
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