The group's history is fairly complicated, because there were at least three different bands involved in the making of the songs identified as being by "the Grass Roots." The Grass Roots was originated by the writer/producer team of P.F Sloan and Steve Barri as a pseudonym under which they would release a body of The Byrds-style folk rock with pop influences. Sloan and Barri were contracted songwriters for Trousdale Music, the publishing arm of Dunhill Records, which wanted to cash in on the folk-rock boom hitting its stride in 1965.
Dunhill asked Sloan and Barri to come up with this material as well as a phony group alias under which they would release it. The resulting "Grass Roots" debut song, the Byrds pastiche "Where Were You When I Needed You", was sung by Sloan and soon sent to a Los Angeles, California radio station, which began playing it almost immediately. The problem was, naturally, that there was no "Grass Roots" at that point.
The next step was to recruit a band that could become "The Grass Roots". Sloan found a San Francisco based rock group called the Bedouins that seemed promising on the basis of their lead singer, musician Bill Fulton. Fulton recorded a new vocal over the backing tracks laid down for the P.F. Sloan version of the song. The Bedouins were, at first, content to put their future in the hands of Sloan and Barri as producers, despite the fact that the group was more blues-oriented than anything like the psychedelic folk being created. However, the rest of the group felt very offended when Fulton was told to record their debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Ballad of a Thin Man," backed by studio musicians.
When that single, released in October of 1965, became only a modest hit, every member of the Bedouins except for their drummer, Joel Larson, departed for San Francisco once again to re-form as The Unquenchable Thirst. Sloan and Barri continued to record. The re-vamped "Where Were You When I Needed You" was widely released in mid-1966 and peaked at number 28. Yet the album of the same name never charted, leaving things in flux.
Amid the machinations behind "Where Were You When I Needed You", the songwriters argued amongst themselves that it remained a problem that no "real" Grass Roots band existed in 1966. A possible solution came along when a Los Angeles based band called the 13th Floor submitted a demo tape to Dunhill. This group, consisting of Warren Entner (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Creed Bratton (lead guitar), Rob Grill (vocals, bass), and Rick Coonce (drums), was recruited and offered the choice of recording under their own name or taking over the name "The Grass Roots" by putting themselves in the hands of Sloan and Barri and drawing advantage of the Grass Roots' at least moderately successful track record. They chose the latter, with Rob Grill as primary lead vocalist.
The first track cut by the new Grass Roots in the spring of 1967 was a new version of a song that had been an Italian hit, in a lighter, more uptempo version, for a British band called The Rokes. "Let's Live for Today" was an achingly beautiful, dramatic, and serious single, and it shot into the Top 10 upon its release in the summer of 1967. An accompanying album, 'Let's Live for Today', only reached number 75 but gained a significant fan following.
The group began spreading its wings in the studio with their next album, 'Feelings', which they recorded late in 1967. Said work emphasized the band's material over Sloan and Barri's singles. This was intended as their own statement of who they were, but it lacked the broad commercial appeal of anything on 'Let's Live for Today', sold poorly, and never yielded any hit singles. Eleven months went by before the group had another chart entry, and, during that period, Sloan and Barri's partnership broke up, with Sloan departing for New York and attempting a performing career of his own.
The band considered splitting up as all of this was happening. The Grass Roots' return to the charts (with Barri producing), however, was a triumphant one. In the late fall of 1968, "Midnight Confessions" reached number five on the charts and earned the band a gold record, still receiving airplay to this day. "Midnight Confessions" showed the strong influence of Motown's singles on the group, and the R&B flavor of the song stuck with Barri and the band.
In April of 1969, Creed Bratton left the band, to be replaced by Denny Provisor on keyboards and Terry Furlong on lead guitar. Now a quintet, the Grass Roots went on cutting records without breaking stride, enjoying a string of Top 40 hits that ran into the early '70s, peaking with "Temptation Eyes" at number 15 in the summer of 1971. Coonce and Provisor left at the end of 1971, to be replaced by Reed Kailing on lead guitar, Virgil Webberon keyboards, and Joel Larson , of the original Bedouins/Grass Roots outfit, on drums. They arrived just in time to take advantage of the number 16 success of "Two Divided by Love," which was the last of the Grass Roots' big hits.
The Grass Roots soldiered on for a few more years, reaching the Top 40 a couple of times in 1972, but their commercial success slowly slipped away during 1973. They kept working for a few more years, but called it quits in 1975. Rob Grill remained in the music business on the organizing side, and by 1980 was persuaded by his friend John McVie to cut a solo album, "Uprooted" , which featured contributions by Mick Fleetwood and Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. By 1982, amid the burgeoning oldies concert circuit and the respect beginning to be accorded the Grass Roots, Grill formed a new Grass Roots, sometimes billed as "Rob Grill and the Grass Roots" and began performing as many as 100 shows a year. Their presence on various oldies package tours have seen to it that the Grass Roots name remains visible in the '90s.
Individuals Associated With the Band:
CREED BRATTON: (guitar) Creed recorded with The Grass Roots from 1966-1969. He left the band to purse an acting career and works in that field to this day. Creed has recently formed a band with Dick Dodd of The Standells so watch for them soon.
RICK COONCE: (drums) Rick pounded the skins from 1966-1971 and was known for his trademark mutton-chop sideburns. Rick's high-energy drumming style set the pace for many of the Grass Roots' early hits. Rick also co-wrote the title track to the Feelings album.
DENNY ELLIS: Was a member of the band in 1965-66 and was on the first few 45s.
WARREN ENTNER: (vocals, guitar & keys) Warren was with The Grass Roots longer than any other member besides Rob Grill. Warren sang numerous hits and sang many duets with Grill, including Midnight Confessions. Warren has stayed in the music business and currently has his own artist management company.
BILL FULTON: Bill was the original lead singer of the band in 1965. He sang the original vocal on Where Were You When I Needed You. By the end of 1966 he had departed from the group.
TERRY FURLONG: (guitar) Terry appeared on one album only: More Golden Grass.
ROB GRILL: (vocals & bass) Rob has been the lead singer for the band since its inception. His vocal style is the basis for the Grass Roots' sound. He has appeared on every album and continues to tour today with his own version of the band.
REED KAILING:(guitar) Reed played with the band from 1972-1974 and was featured on the albums Move Along and Alotta Mileage.
REGGIE KNIGHTON: (guitar) Reggie joined the Grass Roots when it went back to a four piece in 1975. He was on the album entitled The Grass Roots. Shortly after his tenure with the group Reggie signed a solo record deal with CBS Records and released two albums in the late seventies. (see solo album cover above)
JOEL LARSON: (drums) A veteran of numerous L.A. bands, Joel was a member of the Grass Roots in 1964-5 when the band had only recorded a few singles. Larson left before the group's first album release to join The Merry Go Round with Emmitt Rhodes, only to return in 1972 and stay through the last several album releases. After the Grass Roots stopped playing together, Larson went on to record & tour with Lee Michaels and played on Lee's smash hit, Do Ya Know What I Mean.
DENNIS PROVISOR: (keys & vocals) While many Grass Roots songs were penned by writers outside the group, Provisor was the most prolific songwriter in any incarnation of The Grass Roots. While his trademark may be the hit Walking Through The Country, Provisor has penned some great & still greatly underrated songs like Monday Love & I Can't Turn Off The Rain. Dennis fronts his own band and tours the midwest on a regular basis.
DAVE STENSEN: Original bass player with the band for the first few singles. Went onto join Serpent Power.
VIRGIL WEBER: (keyboards) Virgil recorded & toured with the Grass Roots from 1972-1974 and recorded with the then fivesome on Move Along and Alotta Mileage. After Weber left the group he remained busy doing recording sessions & tours with many artists including Donna Summer.
2. The original name of the band that in 1965 became Love.
Where Were You When I Needed You
The Grass Roots Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's all over now, no use in stalling
The love once I felt
I don't feel anymore for you
This time I'll even open the door for you
You walked out when I was down
Well, now I'm well off
And look, look who's coming 'round
Where were you when I needed ya
Where were you when I wanted ya
Where were you when I needed ya
Where?
You're looking good
It's hard to fight it
There's no use explaining
I've already decided
That living with you
Is worse than without you
I won't spend a lifetime a-worriying about you
Things get rough and you disappeared
Now I'm back on my feet
And look, look who is standing there
Where were you when I needed ya
Where were you when I wanted ya
Where were you when I needed ya
Where?
You were so young and you were so wild
I knew you were nobody's innocent child
The first day I saw you
You really got to me
I thought I could change you
What good did it to me?
Things got rough and you couldn't wait
Now you're tripping back
But babe, babe it's too late
Where were you when I needed ya
Where were you when I wanted ya
Where were you when I needed ya
Where?
The Grass Roots's song "Where Were You When I Needed You" is a classic example of a breakup song that focuses on the singer's anger and resentment towards their ex-lover. The song is written in a conversational style where the singer speaks directly to the person who hurt them. The opening lines of "Don't bother crying, don't bother calling, It's all over now, no use in stalling" are a clear indication that the singer has moved on and doesn't want any contact from their ex. They go on to say that they no longer feel the love they once had for the person and that they won't waste any more time worrying about them.
The chorus of the song repeats the question "Where were you when I needed ya?" three times, which drives home the message that the singer's ex wasn't there for them in their time of need. The lines "You walked out when I was down, Well, now I'm well off, And look, look who's coming 'round" suggest that the ex is now trying to come back into the singer's life, but the singer is not interested in reconciling. The final verse, which addresses the ex's youth and wildness, suggests that the singer was drawn to the ex's free-spirited nature, but that it ultimately proved to be their downfall.
Overall, "Where Were You When I Needed You" is a powerful breakup song that conveys a strong sense of anger and frustration towards an ex-lover who wasn't there when the singer needed them most.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't bother crying, don't bother calling
There's no point in trying to contact me now.
It's all over now, no use in stalling
Our relationship is finished, so there's no point in delaying the inevitable.
The love once I felt
I used to love you.
I don't feel anymore for you
But I don't have feelings for you anymore.
This time I'll even open the door for you
In fact, I will help you leave, by opening the door for you.
You walked out when I was down
When I was going through a tough time, you left me.
Well, now I'm well off
But now I am doing much better.
And look, look who's coming 'round
And now you are trying to come back into my life.
Where were you when I needed ya
So, where were you when I was in trouble and needed help?
You're looking good
I have to admit, you look good.
It's hard to fight it
It's difficult to resist your appearance.
There's no use explaining
But trying to justify yourself won't help matters.
I've already decided
I have already made up my mind.
That living with you
Living with you again
Is worse than without you
Would be worse than being alone.
I won't spend a lifetime a-worriying about you
I refuse to spend the rest of my life worrying about you.
Things get rough and you disappeared
You tend to run away when things get tough.
Now I'm back on my feet
But I have recovered from the problems that we had.
And look, look who is standing there
And now you are trying to come back into my life again.
You were so young and you were so wild
You were very young and free-spirited.
I knew you were nobody's innocent child
I knew that you were not a naive, innocent person.
The first day I saw you
When I first met you.
You really got to me
I was immediately attracted to you.
I thought I could change you
I once thought that I could change your wild ways.
What good did it to me?
But that did not work out well for me.
Things got rough and you couldn't wait
When things got difficult, you did not have the patience to stick around.
Now you're tripping back
But now you are trying to return to my life.
But babe, babe it's too late
But it's too late for us to be together.
Where were you when I needed ya
So, where were you when I was in trouble and needed help?
Where were you when I wanted ya
Where were you when I wanted to be with you?
Where were you when I needed ya
Where were you when I was in trouble and needed help?
Where?
Where were you?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind