The collective under the laconic name Bread became one of the brightest representatives of pop-rock of the early 1970s. The compositions of If and Make It With You occupied a leading position in the Western music charts, so American artists became popular.
The beginning of the work of the Bread team
Los Angeles has given the world many great bands like The Doors or Guns N' Roses. The Bread group also started their creative path in this city. The official date of creation of the team is 1969. The first composition of the Bread group included only three musicians: the band's founder David Gates, Robb Royer and James Griffin.
During his creative career, Gates managed to acquire acquaintances in musical circles, having worked with Elvis Presley, and with Glenn Campbell, and with Pat Boone. David often performed in various bands as a session musician. He met Royer during the recording of his band's next album, The Pleasure Fair.
Griffin met Gates after being invited to produce his record. After talking a little, the guys agreed to create a joint project, which then became a famous quartet.
Albums Bread and On The Waters
To record the first record, the group lacked only a drummer. Jim Gordon took this place as a guest artist. None of the musicians were going to "grab the stars from the sky" and did not expect that the album would be very successful. But the longplay with the simple name Bread suddenly spread among fans of melodic soft rock and gained some popularity.
In late 1969, drummer Mike Botts joined the band in place of session drummer Gordon. A barely rising star (the band Bread) could not be allowed to die out. The musicians started recording their second album, On The Waters.
The melodic composition Make It With You was very popular. It was soon re-released as a single and sold over 1 million copies nationwide.
The album On The Waters made the band famous, giving the green light to their debut album. For example, the song It Don't Matter To Me from the first LP Bread after that hit the top 10 of most American charts. Then the group went on tour and did not please the audience with premieres until 1971.
Manna and Baby I'm-a Want You albums
A new full disc was released in the spring of 1971, but most of the songs from it did not become eternal hits. Only the romantic ballad If received significant public attention. After some time, Robb Royer announced his departure from the team. Larry Knechtel took his place at the keyboards.
The audience did not take the updates in the group too warmly. The demand for the team has slightly decreased. But the following year, Bread attracted attention by releasing LPs Baby I'm-a Want You and Guitar Man. The first of these is considered the most successful release in the history of the group.
The collapse and revival of the group Bread
Most musical groups have not been able to avoid disputes between group members. And the same fate awaited Bread. After the release of Guitar Man, conflicts began between Griffin and Gates regarding the format of the released material. David only wanted to release singles, but James was skeptical of such a strategy. The musicians could not agree - the group broke up, but not for long.
In 1976, Bread tried to reunite, even recording the album Lost Without Your Love. One of the singles from the collection hit the US Top 10, but there was no bright comeback. Instead of Griffin, guitarist Dean Parks began to appear at the band's concerts. Gates stopped spending all the main time on joint recordings, he was engaged in solo work. His album Goodbye Girl didn't get much exposure either. Deciding that the soft rock in their performance has exhausted itself, the musicians again dispersed.
They were destined to enter the same stage again only after 20 years. In 1996, the Bread group united for a massive concert tour of the cities of the USA, Europe, Asia and South Africa. The tour was a resounding success and dragged on until 1997. Then the musicians again went to solo projects, this time for good.
Today, only Robb Royer and Bread founder David Gates, who celebrated their 2020th anniversary in 80, remain from the group. 2005 claimed the lives of two members of the team at once - James Griffin and Mike Botts. Both of them died of cancer. In 2009, Larry Knechtel left our world. The musician's life was cut short as a result of a heart attack.
Royer continues to have a successful solo career in the Virgin Islands. Gates lives a quiet life on one of his ranches in northern California.
