Before he was under the wing of
Neil Young and before he made a series of underappreciated solo albums, guitarist
Nils Lofgren formed
Grin, a trio that was devoted to simple, basic rock & roll, in 1969. None of
Grin's albums were commercially successful -- they only received good reviews, not sales -- but each showed a promising, dynamic group. Unfortunately, the group never fulfilled its potential, but the finest of its albums featured some terse, brilliant guitar from
Lofgren that ranks with the best of his later work, highlights later collected on the 1999 retrospective
The Very Best of Grin Featuring Nils Lofgren. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine