‘The Guitar Man’
October 3, 2023
About six weeks ago I decided I needed to write about this musical group which, in the early 1970’s, was easily one of my top 3 favorites. They first caught my attention with their number one hit, “Make It With You,” in the summer of 1970 and it was one of the first albums I ever purchased. The group: Bread.
It was on October 1, 1971, when they released what was to become their second biggest hit “Baby, I’m a Want You.” It would reach number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Bread was the creation of David Gates, Jimmy Griffin, and Robb Royer who met in the music scene of Los Angeles in the late 1960’s. The Infallible Wikipedia does, of course, have something to say about the group got its name. As Gates explained in an interview:
“A bread truck came along right at the time we were trying to think of a name. We had been saying, ‘How about bush, telephone pole? Ah, bread truck, bread.’ It began with a B, like the Beatles and the Bee Gees. Bread also had a kind of universal appeal. It could be taken a number of ways. Of course, for the entire first year people called us the Breads.”
“Make it With You” catapulted Bread to the top of the Billboard charts on August 22, 1970. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:
“For their next single, Bread 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 No. 10. Bread began touring and recording their third album, titled Manna (March 1971), which peaked at #21 and included ‘Let Your Love Go’ (which preceded the album’s release and made No. 28) and the Top 5 hit single, ‘If’. As with the first album, songwriting credits were split evenly between Gates and Griffin-Royer.
Royer, after conflicts with other members of the band, left the group in the summer of 1971 after three albums, although he would continue to write with Griffin. (snip)
In January 1972 Bread released Baby I’m-a Want You, their most successful album, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The title song was established as a hit in late 1971 before the album was released, also hitting No. 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 No. 18. The album produced three Top 20 singles, ‘The Guitar Man’ (#11), ‘Sweet Surrender’ (#15), and ‘Aubrey’ (#15), with the first two going to No. 1 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart.”
Bread is best known for David Gate’s rich vocals singing heartfelt ballads, appealing to the 12 to 17 year old female Baby Boomers of the day; their songs perfect for slow dances at Homecoming and Tolo dances.
A couple of diary entries from 1971 and 1972 confirm the impact this group’s music had on me. On December 31, 1971 I wrote: “This is a list of songs I like…” and I go on to list six songs. ‘Baby I’m a Want You’ made the cut. In my 1972 diary I specifically note the handful of songs I liked best at the end of each month. The two most consistent groups on that list were The Carpenters and Bread.
In June 1973 the group disbanded.
New songs and groups stepped into the void and I didn’t really think about Bread very much. At least until I started researching for this article. Research often leads me down rabbit holes and such was the case with this article. The article about the group soon lead to articles about the group members and I found myself enthralled with learning about the individual who I think was most responsible for Bread’s success: David Gates. I loved his voice the first time I heard it and marveled at his song writing. After the breakup of Bread, Gates went on to have a successful solo career but eventually retired. Unlike so many successful musical artists, Gates remained married to his wife, Rita Jo, who he married in 1959, and together they raised four children.
And then he and Rita moved to the state of Washington and the community of… checks article… Mount Vernon!
What? One of my musical favorites lives less than six miles from me? Now, of course, I find myself scanning the more ‘mature’ gentlemen I see out shopping. Could one of them be David Gates? The Guitar Man?
Back in 2016 a fan in town organized an event with Gates and his wife. Oh how I wish I had known about that. Even though I didn’t yet live in Mount Vernon, I would have driven there to attend!
Although I still love all their music, It’s ‘The Guitar Man’ which best encapsulates David Gates and Bread for this teenager in 1972. Some of the lyrics:
Yesterday, after I finished writing this article I headed into the dentist’s office to have a crown placed. I had just sat down in the waiting room when I heard it. Soft music coming over the speakers. A moment later I burst out laughing. David Gates singing “The Goodbye Girl” was the selection.
After my appointment I shared the serendipity of hearing “The Goodbye Girl” with Sheryl (she runs the office!) and and then told her about today’s Blog topic. She had two immediate reactions. Her first was to exclaim how much she, too, had loved David Gates and Bread as a teenager and, the second, was complete surprise to learn that Gates is a member of the larger community.
So now there are at least two of us who would love to meet our famous neighbor and hear what he has to say.
Once a fan girl, always a fan girl!
A few links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_(band)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Easy_Listening_number_ones_of_1971
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