At age twelve, Coonce switched from guitar to drums, and he was given a used drum kit by his mother. He then gave lessons at sixteen at a music store, whose owner provided him a new drum set in exchange for monthly payments. He joined a Mexican-American group called The Beethovens, with Freddie Trujillo on lead guitar, John Sepulvada on bass, Mike Vasquez on sax and Ruben Arvizo on rhythm guitar. The band was affectionately called "four beans and a tortilla". They covered several
Beatles songs, with an emphasis on achieving the harmonies of Lennon and McCartney. Coonce was strongly influenced by Mexican folk music and rock legend
Ritchie Valens, with whom Coonce's older brother had been a high school classmate. In 1966, The Beethovens played at a Battle of the Bands in
Hollywood and took second place. A future bandmate,
Rob Grill was a singer in one of the other competing bands that night. They actually did better than The Beethovens but were disqualified because one of their band members was a professional musician, so Coonce's group moved up in rank.
Creed Bratton and
Warren Entner were in the audience that night and saw Coonce play. They called him later and asked him to join their band, The 13th Floor. Kenny Fukomoto played bass and sang in the group. Through Coonce's relationship with music store owner Herb Wall, the struggling new group was allowed access to the store's equipment. The 13th Floor played wherever they could. Eventually they put together a demo tape and sent it to
Dunhill Records.
P.F. Sloan and
Steve Barri heard the demos and liked them. The 13th Floor were on their way to a recording contract but met an obstacle when Kenny Fukomoto was drafted into the army. The group lacked a bass player and singer so they visited the Musician Union #69 in Hollywood. There they saw a posting for Rob Grill. Rob tried out for the open slot and was dynamite. In 1967, the group changed their name to The Grass Roots to take advantage of prior name recognition and recorded "
Let's Live For Today". The iconic song peaked at #8 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Capturing the mood of the era, "Let's Live For Today" kicked the group into stardom. With the help of producers like
Steve Barri and pushed forward by Coonce's energetic drumming, which often emphasized the bass beat, the band evolved a unique sound. Some of the hits that continue to get airplay are "
Midnight Confessions", "I'd Wait A Million Years", and "
Temptation Eyes". Coonce appeared with the group on many
television programs such as
American Bandstand and
The Ed Sullivan Show. The Grass Roots appeared in a major motion picture starring
Doris Day called
With Six You Get Eggroll. Coonce also composed songs with The Grass Roots, co-authoring "Feelings" and "Get it Together" (a theme song for the ABC television show) and self composing "Truck Drivin' Man". Coonce was able to work with drummer legend
Hal Blaine, who was an important influence. Coonce left the band in 1972 and moved to
Vancouver Island,
Canada, where he played in many local groups and recorded music in his home studio. Coonce died of heart failure on February 25, 2011. He was 64 years old. == Discography ==