Joel Larson

Joel Larson is a rock drummer and percussionist from California, who first became known as a member of The Grass Roots, a group he performed with from 1965 to 1966 and during the 1970s.

Early years

Larson was born on April 29, 1947 in San Francisco.^[1] He lived near Lincoln Park until he was 12 years old, the age at which he took up drumming; he moved near Avalon Park, where he lived until 1964, when he was 17.

Career

Grass Roots are founded

In 1965, Larson joined a band called The Bedouins,^[1] and helped them win a Battle of the Bands in San Mateo.^{[citation needed]} In early 1966, the band was asked to audition at the San Francisco Whisky a Go Go. They performed for Lou Adler, the head of the new label Dunhill Records in Los Angeles. All of The Grass Roots were under the age of 18 so their parents had to sign their recording contracts.^{[citation needed]}

Larson was chosen to become part of the original Grass Roots, a folk rock group created by songwriters P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The original Grass Roots were Denny Ellis on rhythm guitar, Willie Fulton on vocals and lead guitar, Larson on drums and Dave Stensen on bass. They moved to Los Angeles in 1966, took part in recording sessions and began performing locally. They were one of the first house bands for The Trip on the Sunset Strip.^{[citation needed]}

They also performed as a TV back up band for The Mamas & the Papas and Johnny Rivers.^{[citation needed]} They appeared on the first color broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show.^{[citation needed]} They worked with Barry McGuire.^{[citation needed]} After about a year of live performances and networking in the LA rock music scene, the group wanted to have more creative control and input on the selection of songs to perform and record. Dunhill Records had a formula for the group already in mind and did not want to vary from it. The group minus Larson returned to San Francisco and continued to perform until Dunhill Records decided to replace them.^{[citation needed]}

Other bands

Larson was offered the chance to continue with new group members but decided to play with Gene Clark of The Byrds fame.^{[citation needed]} He then met Emitt Rhodes and formed The Merry-Go-Round that same year.^{[citation needed]}

The Merry-Go-Round performed at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival in 1967 on both days of the music festival. They closed the show on Saturday June 10 and were the second to the show closer on Sunday June 11.^{[citation needed]}

He also played with The Turtles in the late 1960s.^{[citation needed]} Starting in 1970,^{[citation needed]} he played with Lee Michaels;^[1] he helped produce the hit single "Do You Know What I Mean" (later featured on Time-Life's Sounds of the Seventies.

Return to the Grass Roots

In 1971, he rejoined a new lineup of The Grass Roots, a group that been formed from ex-members of a band called the 13th Floor;^[1] Larson played with them through the end of their heyday in 1975. From 1975 on, he continued to perform their hits until the mid-1980s.^{[citation needed]}

Subsequent career

During the New Wave music era, he worked as a "dance night promoter" [sic?] in Los Angeles with live broadcasts through radio. He then entered into property management and real estate investment while continuing as a musician in Los Angeles, playing with members of The Buckinghams and Paul Revere & the Raiders.^{[citation needed]}

Starting in 2000, Larson began working as a crew member for film and television productions, as a driver and production coordinator.^[2] He has built a long list of credits which include major motion pictures such as Mission: Impossible III (2006), The Bucket List (2007), Iron Man (2008), I Love You, Man (2009), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Thor (2011).

In 2009, Larson was playing and recording with The Merry-Go-Round co-founder and solo artist Emitt Rhodes and Counting Crows co-founder Matt Malley.^{[citation needed]}

On May 29, 2010, Larson took part in the US Premiere screening for "Emitt Rhodes - The One Man Beatles" film at the Rhino Records Pop Up Store in Westwood, California.^{[citation needed]}

On April 29, 2011, former Gene Clark Group members Chip Douglas, Bill Rinehart and Larson took part in the High Moon Records label launch party at the Roxy in Los Angeles. They celebrated the release of Gene Clark's "Two Sides To Every Story" and Love's "Black Beauty". There was a musical tribute to Gene Clark and Arthur Lee.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Singles

(All singles are with The Grass Roots except as noted)

Albums

(All albums are with The Grass Roots except as noted)

References

External links

• Joel-Larson.com
• Joel Larson at the Internet Movie Database
• The-GrassRoots.com — Official site