Bread

Bread
General information
Genre (s)	Soft rock
founding	1968
resolution	1977
Founding members
Guitar , piano , bass , violin	David Gates
Guitar, bass, piano, flute	Robb Royer
Vocals , guitar	James Griffin †
Last occupation
Guitar, bass, piano, violin	David Gates
Keyboard , guitar, bass	Larry Knechtel †
Drums	Mike Botts †
Vocals, guitar	James Griffin †
former members
Drums	Jim Gordon

Bread was a four-piece band from Los Angeles , California , formed in 1968 , which had been very successful for years with their own soft pop / rock music style.

Band history

David Gates and James Griffin had been productive in the music industry in and around Los Angeles for years, either alone or in cooperation with other well-known artists. Robb Royer was a member of the band The Pleasure Fair, for which David Gates worked as a producer, and wrote some country songs himself . A cooperation between James Griffin and Rob Royer produced the text of the successful title For All We Know , which was first used in the film Lovers and Other Strangers (original title: Lovers and Other Strangers), was later made famous by the Carpenters and won the Oscar for best song of 1970 won.

These professional points of contact finally led to the merger of the three musicians in a joint band.

The name Bread was the last of many proposals that had long been debated. Finally, Bill Harvey , the then artistic director of Elektra Records , supported Robb Royer's idea: Bread still stands for money in everyday American usage; German equivalents would be coal or dough . One wanted to counter the hypocrisy with which people pretended not to value money.

With the first long-playing record Bread from 1969, the three musicians already presented their own recognizable style and proved their sophisticated technique as multi-talented instrumentalists. Bread was supported on drums by Jim Gordon . Still praised by connoisseurs today, the record did not achieve satisfactory sales results. The single Make It with You reached number one on the US singles charts in 1970 . Another release It Don't Matter to Me reached number 10.

In 1970 the second long-playing record On the Waters was released, followed by Manna a year later . Both albums were awarded gold .

In 1972 Robb Royer left the band and was permanently replaced by Larry Knechtel , a popular keyboardist from Los Angeles. Bread produced two big albums that year, first Baby I'm-a Want You . The title of the same name and two more from the subsequent album The Guitar Man took up positions in the charts.

Before the sixth album was finished, the creative competition that had apparently raged between David Gates and James Griffin for some time led to tensions that began to hinder their work. It was decided together to dissolve Bread.

David Gates initially appeared alone and released his own long-playing records in 1973 and 1975. In 1976, Gates and Griffin got together again and Bread was able to release another LP the following year, Lost Without Your Love . The single of the same name reached the top ten, but the contrasts led to the separation again, this time for many years.

All four band members worked as solo musicians or joined other bands. In 1996 and 1997 the band got together again for a joint world tour.

In 2005, Griffin and Botts, both aged 61, died of cancer. Larry Knechtel succumbed to a heart attack on August 20, 2009 at the age of 69.

Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1969	Bread Elektra 74044	-	US127 (9 weeks) US	First published: September 1969 Producer: Bread
1970	On the Waters Elektra 74076	UK34 (5 weeks) UK	US12 gold (32 weeks)US	First published: July 1970 Producers: David Gates , James Griffin, Robb Royer
1971	Manna Elektra 74086	-	US21st gold (25 weeks)US	First published: March 1971 Producers: David Gates, James Griffin, Robb Royer
1972	Baby I'm-a Want You Elektra 75015	UK9 (19 weeks) UK	US3 gold (56 weeks)US	First published: January 1972 Producers: David Gates, James Griffin
	Guitar Man Elektra 75047	-	US18th gold (29 weeks)US	First published: October 1972 Producers: David Gates, James Griffin
1977	Lost Without Your Love Elektra 7E-1094	UK17 (6 weeks) UK	US26th gold (16 weeks)US	First published: January 1977 Producer: David Gates

Compilations

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1972	The Best of Bread Elektra 75056	UK7th silver (99 weeks)UK	US2 × 5 Quintuple platinum (120 weeks)US	First published: October 1972 in US only published in March 1973
1974	The Best of Bread, Volume 2 Elektra 7E-1005	UK48 (1 week) UK	US32 gold (18 weeks)US	First published: May 1974
1977	The Sound of Bread: Their 20 Finest Songs Elektra 52062	UK1 platinum (46 weeks)UK	-	First published: October 1977
1987	The Collection / The Very Best of Bread Telstar 2303	UK84 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1987 with David Gates
1997	Essentials Elektra 61961	UK9 gold (23 weeks)UK	-	First published: June 1997 with David Gates
2006	The Sound of Bread Elektra 74756	UK18th gold (16 weeks)UK	-	Re-release: September 2006
2012	The Very Best of Bread Rhino 5310513422	UK41 silver (8 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 5, 2012

More compilations

• 1982: The Sound of Bread: Their 16 Finest Songs ( Warner 9960)
• 1990: Greatest Hits (Alex; release: February 16)
• 1994: Let Your Love Go: Greatest Hits (Remember; released April 4th)
• 1995: Anthology of Bread (Elektra; US:platinum; Release: August 1st)
• 1996: Retrospective (2 CDs; Elektra Traditions 73509; release: July)
• 1999: The Love Album (Brilliant 33010; release: January 1st)
• 2002: Make It with You and Other Hits ( Flashback 78211; release: September 17th)
• 2005: Make It with You: The Platinum Collection ( WEA International ; release: September 27th)
• 2006: The Definitive Collection (2 CDs; Elektra / Rhino 73388; release: March 28th)
• 2007: The Works: A 3 CD Retrospective (3 CDs; Rhino 79947; release: August 20th)
• 2009: Original Album Series (box with 5 CDs; Elektra / Rhino 79835)
• 2017: The Elektra Years: The Complete Albums Box (Box with 6 CDs; Elektra / Rhino 79338)
• 2017: Guitar Man: The Best of Bread (Rhino UK 603497863174; release: October 27th)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1970	Make It with You On the Waters	UK5 (14 weeks) UK	US1 gold (17 weeks)US	First published: April 1970 Author: David Gates
	It Don't Matter to Me Bread	-	US10 (11 weeks) US	First published: September 1970 Author: David Gates
1971	Let Your Love Go Manna	-	US28 (10 weeks) US	First published: December 1970 Author: David Gates
	If manna	-	US4 (12 weeks) US	First published: March 1971 Author: David Gates
	Mother Freedom Baby I'm-a Want You	-	US37 (9 weeks) US	First published: June 1971 Author: David Gates
	Baby I'm-a Want You Baby I'm-a Want You	UK14 (10 weeks) UK	US3 gold (12 weeks)US	First published: October 1971 Author: David Gates
1972	Everything I Own Baby I'm-a Want You	UK32 (6 weeks) UK	US5 (13 weeks) US	First published: January 1972 Author: David Gates
	Diary Baby I'm-a Want You	-	US15 (11 weeks) US	First published: April 1972 Author: David Gates
	The Guitar Man Guitar Man	UK16 (9 weeks) UK	US11 (10 weeks) US	First published: July 1972 Author: David Gates
	Sweet Surrender Guitar Man	-	US15 (11 weeks) US	First published: October 1972 Author: David Gates
1973	Aubrey Guitar Man	-	US15 (11 weeks) US	First published: January 1973 Author: David Gates
1976	Lost Without Your Love Lost Without Your Love	UK27 (6 weeks) UK	US9 (16 weeks) US	First published: November 1976 Author: David Gates
1977	Hooked on You Lost Without Your Love	-	US60 (7 weeks) US	First published: April 1977 Author: David Gates

More singles

• 1969: Talks
• 1969: Dismal Day (release: August)
• 1969: Could I (release: October)
• 1970: Move Over (release: February)
• 1978: Diary (release: March)

swell

1. ^ Bert Cardullo: Lovers and Other Strangers . In: The Hudson Review . tape 43 , no. 4 , 1991, ISSN  0018-702X , pp. 645 , doi : 10.2307 / 3852197 .
2. ↑ Text and music by David Gates, produced by David Gates, James Griffin and Robb Royer; US catalog number: Elektra 45686
3. ↑ More information on the title in: Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 279
4. ↑ US catalog number: Elektra 45701
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: UK US
6. ↑ ^{a b c} gold / platinum databases: UK US

literature

• The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Fireside Books, 2001, ISBN 0-7432-0120-5 .
• All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul, Backbeat Books, 2002, ISBN 0-87930-653-X .
• Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 80f, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
• Searles, Malcolm C .: Bread: A Sweet Surrender, London, Helter Skelter Publishing, 2015, 272 pp., ISBN 978-1-905139-34-7 .

Web links

• Bread at Allmusic (English)
• Bread at Discogs (English)
• Official website of Mike Botts
• Official website of Jimmy Griffin
• Official website of Larry Knechtel