Share A Little Bread

1969/1970 was a year of change at our offices and in the broadcasting industry, music was changing constantly and with every LP, that came into my office, a new sound would be established. Elektra Records
was no different then the 100's of other record companies at the time. But they we're about to strike gold. In the early seventies a style of music was emerging which had grabbed programmers such as myself with hard abandon. Later it would be labeled as "soft rock".One of the most popular and successful rock groups of that era was Bread.

Bread was a 1970s rock/pop band out of Los Angeles, California, who releasing a string of well-crafted, melodic soft rock singles. The band consisted of David Gates, Jimmy Griffin, Robb Roye , Mike Bott , and Larry Knechtel .


Originally Gates and Griffin, had worked together with Royer in his previous band Pleasure Fair in 1967. Again they joined Royer in 1968 signing with Elektra Records and choosing the name Bread in 1969. Bread's first single, "Dismal Day", was released in June 1969 but did not chart. Their debut album, Bread, was released in September 1969 and peaked at #127 on the Billboard 200.

Hooked On You - Bread
Bread became a quartet with their second album, On the Waters, bringing in Botts as drummer. This time their efforts quickly established Bread as a major act, hitting the mainstream with the Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit "Make It with You" in 1970. "Make It With You" strange as it may seem would be Bread's only number one hit on the Hot 100. The album peaked at #12 on Billboards Hot 200 LP's

For their next single, they released a re-recorded version of "It Don't Matter to Me", a song from their first album written by David Gates. This single was a hit as well, reaching #10. Bread began touring and in 1971 recorded the album titled Manna, which included the Top 5 hit single, "If".

Royer left the group after two albums; although, he would continue to write with Griffin—and was replaced by Knechtel, a leading session player from the Los Angeles scene.

Following on the heels on the album Manna, Bread released Baby I'm-a Want You, their most successful album, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200, in January 1972. Baby I'm a Want you and follow-up singles "Everything I Own" and "Diary" all reached the top-20.

Look What Youve Done - Bread
The next album, Guitar Man, was released ten months later and went to #18. The album produced three top-15 singles, "The Guitar Man" (#11), "Sweet Surrender" (#15), and "Aubrey" (#15), with the first two going to #1 on Billboard's adult contemporary chart. The band would have a total of four #1 singles on this chart; "If" and "Baby I'm-a Want You" had also reached the top of the adult contemporary chart during their respective chart runs.

Despite the band's success, tensions existed between Gates and Griffin. All eleven of Bread's charting singles between 1970 and 1973 had been written and sung by Gates. Elektra Records had invariably selected Gates' songs for the A-sides of the singles, while Griffin felt that the singles should have been split between the two of them.

By 1973, fatigue from constant recording and touring had set in and personal relationships began to show strain. There was also some dissatisfaction with the songs planned for a sixth album. In view of this, Bread o disbanded.

The Best of Bread compilation album from 1973 was a huge success, peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 and staying on the chart for over two years. The follow-up, The Best of Bread, Volume Two, was released in 1974 and went to #32.

After leaving Bread in 1971, Royer stuck mostly to songwriting (still teaming with Griffin on occasion). Like Griffin, his success was mostly writing for artists in the Country Music field in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1994, after being out of the spotlight for 13 years, Gates released a new solo album, Love Is Always Seventeen. In 1996, having settled their differences, Gates, Griffin, Botts and Knechtel reunited Bread for a successful "25th Anniversary" tour of the United States, South Africa, Europe and Asia. This time out the group was accompanied by Randy Flowers (guitars), Scott Chambers (bass) and a string section to help them capture the sound of the records. This tour was extended into 1997, after which Gates and the others resumed their individual careers.

In 2005, Griffin and Botts both died from cancer at age 61. Bread was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.

After leaving Bread in 1971, Royer stuck mostly to songwriting (still teaming with Griffin on occasion). Like Griffin, his success was mostly writing for artists in the Country Music field in the 1980s and 1990s.

As Always

Peace

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