Grootna -

Grootna was an American psych-rock/soul band from Berkeley that released a 1971 self-titled album on Columbia.

Members: Kelly Bryan (bass), Slim Chance [Austin De Leon] (guitar, vocals), Greg Dewey [Dewey Dagreaze] (drums, vocals), Anna Rizzo (vocals), Vic Smith (guitar, vocals), Richard Sussman (piano)

Formation

Grootna blossomed from a shared housing situation between guitarist Slim Chance, bassist Vic Smith, and Vic’s then-girlfriend: singer Anna Rizzo. Smith and Rizzo hailed from the Masked Marauders, a comedy folk act that issued a 1969 eponymous album on self-press Deity.

During 1970, Smith did session work for singer/songwriter Alice Stuart and pop duo Janey & Dennis. The following year, he interacted with drummer Greg Dewey and ex-Elephant’s Memory pianist Richard Sussman on Hold On, It’s Coming, a solo album by Monterey Pop legend Country Joe McDonald.

Dewey originated in acid rockers Mad River, which released two albums on Capitol in 1968/69. In the interim, he did sessions with Don McLean and ex-Youngblood Jerry Corbitt. On the sessions for Corbitt’s second solo album, Dewey worked with bassist Kelly Bryan, a sideman of jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. Bryan’s presence allowed Smith to focus on lead and bottleneck slide guitar.

The new six-piece named itself Grootna. (Groot, the Dutch world for “large,” is the name of a sentient tree-like alien first introduced by Marvel Comics in Tales to Astonish #13 in November 1960).

Grootna cut demos on the four-track recorder in the basement of the house owed by Jefferson Airplane on 2400 Fulton St., where they befriended Airplane’s former co-singer Marty Balin. Bay Area promoter Bill Graham took Grootna under his wing and secured them high-profile opening slots at the Fillmore East and West. As label interest bloomed, Clive Davis signed Grootna to Columbia Records.

Grootna

Grootna released their sole album in December 1971 on Columbia (C 31033). Co-produced with ex-Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin, the set blends syncopated soul, barroom blues rock, and occasional funk inflections with elaborate horn and reed parts.

Vocal duties rotate between drummer Greg Dewey, guitarist Vic Smith, and frontwoman Anna Rizzo, whose biting, sandpaper phrasing dominates Side A. The band includes keyboardist Richard Sussman, saxophonist Jack Bonus, trombonist Michael Lafferty, and string players Carol Garrett and Terry Adams.

Side A has one Dewy/Smith original (“Road Fever”) and three songs submitted by Austin De Lone and Allen Silverman, an outside team that collaborated with Smith on “That’s What You Get.” De Lone wrote the closing two-part number with a third outside collaborator, David Henry.

Side B includes covers of blues legend Bessie Smith (“Young Woman’s Blue”), singer/songwriter Alice Stuart (a pre-record Mothers of Invention member, “Full Time Woman”), and folk scenester Bob Neuwirth (“Customs (Is It All Over)”).

A1. “I’m Funky” (5:27) – Loose, mid-tempo strut with rubbery bass lines, brief spotlight solos, and tight horn punctuation under group refrains.
A2. “Road Fever” (5:18) – Barrelhouse rhythm track sung by Dewey and Smith, intercut with bottleneck guitar passages and rolling piano clusters.
A3. “Going to Canada” (4:17) – Downshifted, minor-key lament with gospelized vocal flourishes, clanking upright piano, and descending slide runs.
A4. “Waitin’ for My Ship” (5:06) – Measured brass-backed torch ballad marked by long vocal sustains and a swelling, two-chord vamp.

B1. “That’s What You Get” (4:26) – Stomping soul-rock with clipped guitar rhythms, hand percussion, and tandem vocals that alternate tension and release.
B2. “Full Time Woman” (4:28) – Sparse, slow-burn Stuart cover with piano filigree, brushed drums, and suspended vocal phrases stretched across wide intervals.
B3. “Young Woman’s Blues” (3:35) – Ragtime-infused remake with sharp piano accents, bump-and-stop horn lines, and low-register vocal growls.
B4. “Customs (Is It All Over)” (3:45) – Minor-key narrative framed with downward electric arpeggios, flat-sung verses, and a subdued vocal blend.
B5. “Your Grandmother Loves You / I She It” (5:40) – Split-form closer with funk-leaning horns, off-center vocal tradeoffs, and rhythm guitar runs that shift from clipped to stretched across the final minutes.

Grootna recorded the album at Columbia’s California studios with Balin and engineer Doc Storch.

The cover features the band’s distorted-typography logo centered inside a sliced melon against a bright yellow field. The back contains a black text and a single-file group photo saturated in hot pink.

Columbia issued two singles: “Full Time Woman” (b/w “Is It All Over”) in 1971 and “Waitin’ for My Ship” (b/w “That’s What You Get”) in 1972. Neither made impact, and the group folded shortly after. Dewey and Smith rejoined Balin in Bodacious DF.

Discography: