Bread (band)
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Bread

The band in 1971 – David Gates, Robb Royer, Jimmy Griffin, Mike Botts
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Soft rock, folk rock
Years active 1969–1973; 1976–1978; 1996–1997
Labels Elektra, Rhino
Associated acts The Remingtons
The Pleasure Fair
Toast/Radio Dixie
Past members
David Gates
Jimmy Griffin
Robb Royer
Mike Botts
Larry Knechtel
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock.
The band consisted of David Gates (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, violin, viola, percussion), Jimmy Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Robb Royer (bass, guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, recorder, backing vocals), Mike Botts (drums; joined in 1970), and Larry Knechtel (bass, guitar, keyboards, harmonica; replaced Royer in 1971).
Contents [hide]
1 Beginnings and fame
2 Split and reunion
3 Following the break-up
4 Final reunion
5 Discography
5.1 Studio albums
5.2 Compilation albums
5.2.1 Notes
5.3 Singles
5.3.1 Notes
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Beginnings and fame

Before forming Bread, Gates had worked with Royer’s previous band, The Pleasure Fair, producing and arranging the band’s 1967 album, The Pleasure Fair. Royer then introduced Gates to his songwriting partner, Griffin, and the trio joined together in 1968 and signed with Elektra Records, choosing the name “Bread” in 1969. The group’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. Songwriting on the album was split evenly between Gates and the team of Griffin-Royer. Jim Gordon, a session musician, accompanied the band on drums for the album.
Bread became a quartet with their second album, On the Waters (peaking at #12 on the Billboard 200), bringing in Botts as drummer. This time their efforts quickly established Bread as a major act with the Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit “Make It with You” in 1970. “Make It with You” would be Bread’s only #1 on the Hot 100.
For their next single, they released a re-recorded version of “It Don’t Matter To Me”, a Gates song from their first album. This single was a hit as well, reaching #10. Bread began touring and recording the 1971 album titled Manna (#21), which included the Top 5 hit single, “If”. As with the first album, songwriting credits were split evenly between Gates and Griffin-Royer.
Royer left the group after three albums, although he would continue to write with Griffin, and was replaced by Larry Knechtel, a leading Los Angeles session musician who had played piano on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” single in 1970. In January 1972 Bread released Baby I’m-a Want You, their most successful album, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200. The title song was established as a hit in late 1971 before the album was released, also hitting #3. Follow-up singles “Everything I Own” and “Diary” also went Top 20. The next album, Guitar Man, was released ten months later and went to #18. The album produced three Top 20 singles, “The Guitar Man” (#11), “Sweet Surrender” (#15), and “Aubrey” (#15), with the first two going to #1 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart.
[edit]Split and reunion

By 1973, fatigue from constant recording and touring had set in despite the band’s success, and personal relationships began to show strain, especially 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. There was also some dissatisfaction with the songs planned for a sixth album. Bread decided to disband.
Gates and Griffin returned to their solo careers with mixed results. 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.
The reunion of the group in 1976 came about after Elektra Records expressed interest in another Bread album. Gates, Griffin, Botts and Knechtel returned to the studio that year and recorded the album Lost Without Your Love, released in January 1977. The title track, again written and sung by Gates, was the band’s last Top 10 hit, peaking at #9 on the singles chart. This comeback record reached #26 on Billboard’s album chart and was Bread’s seventh consecutive album (including the two best ofs) to be R.I.A.A. certified gold. In March 1977, Elektra released a second single, “Hooked On You”. It was less successful on the pop chart (peaking at #60) but it reached #2 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. The four members of Bread (along with session guitarist Dean Parks) toured throughout 1977 to support their comeback album. After a short break, they commenced the tour’s second leg that summer without Griffin, whom Gates failed to invite after further rising tensions. They ended the year with no further plans to record as a group.
[edit]Following the break-up

In 1978 Gates enjoyed success as a solo artist with the hit singles “Goodbye Girl” (#15; from the movie The Goodbye Girl) and “Took the Last Train” (#30). He then toured with Botts and Knechtel as “David Gates & Bread”. The group’s 1978 touring line-up also included Warren Ham (woodwinds, keyboards, backing vocals), Bill Ham (guitars) and David Miner (bass). This led to a legal dispute with Griffin over use of the band’s name, of which Griffin was co-owner. In the dispute, Griffin again complained that Gates’ songs were given preference as singles over his. The resulting litigation was not settled until 1984.
After leaving Bread in 1971, Royer stuck mostly to songwriting (still teaming up with Griffin on occasion). As with Griffin, his success was mostly in writing for artists in the country music field in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994 Royer, Griffin and Knechtel re-united under the name “Toast”. Knechtel had continued to be an in-demand session player, backing up such artists as Elvis Costello. In 1994, after being out of the spotlight for thirteen years, Gates released a new solo album, Love is Always Seventeen.
In 2010, Robb Royer released a Jimmy Griffin album, consisting of songs written by both Royer and Griffin.
[edit]Final reunion

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, which would be the last year the original members of Bread would ever perform together. Gates and the others then resumed their individual careers. Bread was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006.
In 2005 both Griffin and Botts died from cancer at the age of 61. In August 2009, Knechtel died of a heart attack at the age of 69, leaving Gates and Royer as the only surviving original members of Bread.
[edit]Discography

[edit]Studio albums
Year
Title
Label
RIAA Sales
Certification
Billboard 200
Peak
1969 Bread Elektra
n/a
127
1970 On the Waters Elektra
Gold
12
1971 Manna Elektra
Gold
21
1972 Baby I’m-a Want You Elektra
Gold
3
1972 Guitar Man Elektra
Gold
18
1977 Lost Without Your Love Elektra
Gold
26
[edit]Compilation albums
Year
Title
Label
RIAA Sales
Certification
1973 The Best of Bread Elektra
5x Platinum
1974 The Best of Bread, Volume 2 Elektra
Gold
1977 The Sound of Bread Elektra
n/a
1985 Anthology of Bread Elektra
Platinum
1989 The Very Best Of Bread Pickwick
n/a
1996 David Gates & Bread Essentials Elektra
n/a
1996 Retrospective Elektra
n/a
2002 Make It With You And Other Hits Flashback
n/a
2006 The Definitive Collection Elektra/Rhino
n/a
2007 The Works Warner Music Group UK
n/a
[edit]Notes
Peaked numbers in Billboard charts that are bold denotes that they were within top twenty at that time.
Gold and Platinum certifications from Recording Industry Association of America
[edit]Singles
Date Title US Billboard Hot 100
Peak UK Singles Chart
Peak[1] Miscellaneous
June 13, 1970
“Make It with You”
1
[2]
5
[3] Certified Gold
September 26, 1970
“It Don’t Matter to Me”
10
[4]
–
January 2, 1971
“Let Your Love Go”
28
[5]
–
March 27, 1971
“If”
4
[6]
–
Hit #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in its original form and in the UK in 1975 when covered by Telly Savalas.
July 17, 1971
“Mother Freedom”
37
[7]
–
October 23, 1971
“Baby I’m-a Want You”
3
[8]
14
[9] Hit #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. It was also Certified Gold.
January 29, 1972
“Everything I Own”
5
[10]
32
[11] #1 in the UK when recorded by Ken Boothe in 1974, when recorded by Crystal Gayle, and #1 when recorded by Boy George.
April 22, 1972
“Diary”
15
[12]
–
July 29, 1972
“The Guitar Man”
11
[13]
16
[14] Hit #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in its original form
November 11, 1972
“Sweet Surrender”
15
[15]
–
Hit #1 in the Easy Listening chart.
February 3, 1973
“Aubrey”
15
[16]
–
November 27, 1976
“Lost Without Your Love”
9
[17]
27
[18]
April 16, 1977
“Hooked On You”
60
[19]
–
[edit]Notes
Date indicates the week the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
All songs above reached their peak position on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year they entered the chart except for “Lost Without Your Love” which peaked at #9 in 1977.
Peaked numbers in both two charts that are bold denotes that they were within top ten at that time.
[edit]References

^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 77. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/make-it-with-you/1593998
^ “1970-09-12 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive”. Official Charts. 1970-09-12. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/it-don-t-matter-to-me/95517
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/let-your-love-go/1594401
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/if/1594404
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/mother-freedom/439639
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/baby-i-m-a-want-you/439640
^ “1972-02-05 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive”. Official Charts. 1972-02-05. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/everything-i-own/439642
^ “1972-05-20 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive”. Official Charts. 1972-05-20. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/diary/439644
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/the-guitar-man/4936420
^ “1972-10-28 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive”. Official Charts. 1972-10-28. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/sweet-surrender/4936424
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/aubrey/4936422
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/lost-without-your-love/3923376
^ “1977-01-29 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive”. Official Charts. 1977-01-29. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
^ http://www.billboard.com/#/song/bread/hooked-on-you/3923374
[edit]External links

Bread in the Yahoo! Directory
allmusic (Bread Overview)
The Official Site
[hide] v t e
Bread
David Gates Jimmy Griffin Robb Royer Mike Botts Larry Knechtel
Studio albums
Bread On the Waters Manna Baby I’m-a Want You Guitar Man Lost Without Your Love
Compilation albums
The Best of Bread The Best of Bread, Volume 2 The Sound of Bread Anthology of Bread
Hit singles
“Make It with You” “If” “Baby I’m-a Want You” “Everything I Own” “The Guitar Man” “Sweet Surrender” “Aubrey” “Lost Without Your Love”
Related articles
Discography Elektra Records Rhino Records Warner Music Group
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Categories: American rock music groupsAmerican soft rock music groupsRock music groups from CaliforniaMusical groups established in 1968Elektra Records artists
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