WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOUThe Grass Roots

Where Were You When I Needed You was written in the studio by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, who subsequently recorded it as The Grass Roots. They had earlier recorded surf music as the Fantastic Baggys. When it became evident that the song was going to be a hit, Barri and Sloan hired the Los Angeles band The 13th Floor to become The Grass Roots for touring and subsequent records. Sloan and Barri first hired a San Francisco band called The Bedouins to be the "face" of their project. They were the first "real" Grass Roots. Willie Fulton sang on the release of Where Were You When I Needed You. Other band members were Denny Ellis, David Stensen, and Joel Larson. They ended up leaving because they wanted to do their own material, while Sloan and Barri wanted artistic control. Drummer Joel Larson rejoined the group in 1971. The song peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1966.