Where Were You When I Needed You – THE GRASS ROOTS****

Only When You’re Lonely/Look Out Girl/Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby/I’ve Got No More To Say/I Am A Rock/ Lollipop Train/Where Were You When I Needed You/You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice/Tell Me/You Baby/This Is What I Was Made For/Mr Jones (Ballad Of A Thin Man)

Where Were You When I Needed You was the debut album from San Franciscan pop group The Grass Roots. They enjoyed consistent commercial success in the States during the late 1960s, but were largely unheard of in Britain.

“First album by US pop/rock group The Grass Roots, formed around the talented team of songwriters: Steve Barri and P. F. Sloan, who co-wrote some of the most notable songs of the 1960s California sound. The material is a superb mixture of influences, from folk-rock, garage rock, British Invasion and early psychedelia. Most of the music is original, but several covers are also included.”

“No band or not, this album is worth checking if you happen to like the mid-60s folk-rock/sunshine pop. Barri and Sloan were excellent songwriters and all of their material here (seven songs out of twelve), is good. Some of the covers are nice too.”

"Where Were You When I Needed You is the one and only album by the first incarnation of the 'band', although the liner notes imply that much of the record is, in fact, Sloan, Barri, and backing musicians. No matter. As the enigmatic cover shot implies, you're better off not thinking of the record in terms of bands. Rather, regard it as another entry in the Sloan/Barri canon, and a particularly good one at that.”

“It is a record full of solid, folksy originals, and a slew of well-performed covers. I like it better than any of the other albums released under the 'Grass Roots' banner, as it's the only one with a consistent focus; additionally, it has little of the corporate atmosphere that decorates most of their later albums.”

“Barri and Sloan's vision was that of folk rock mixed with sunshine pop. Their compositions and cover selections are true ear candy, and the various singers who put their voices to them strike the perfect balance between folk harmonies and garage grit. The band was equally adept at melodic pop-rock as they were at tougher garage rockers. It's not as polished as later offerings by different incarnations of this group, but it's equally as good.”