If you were listening to Top 40 radio in the U.S. throughout the ’70s, chances are you’d hear a song by the band with the bland name Bread. The group, fronted by David Gates, their songwriter, producer and primary guitarist and vocalist, earned six Top 10 singles on the Hot 100 including the soft-rock favorites “Baby I’m-a Want You,” “If” and the 1970 #1 hit, “Make It With You.”
Gates, a multi-instrumentalist who also played keyboards and percussion, founded the popular group in Los Angeles in 1968 as a vehicle for singing his own songs. He wrote most of their trademark hits including “The Guitar Man,” “It Don’t Matter To Me” and “Lost Without Your Love.”
Gates was born December 11, 1940, the son of musicians in Tulsa, Okla. His first band, the Accents, included a piano player, Claude Russell Bridges, who later changed his name to Leon Russell. Gates received his first break when the band performed with Chuck Berry. Gates married his high school sweetheart, Jo Rita, in 1959.
In 1961, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Gates pursued a career in music, initially working as a studio musician and writing songs. His first significant songwriting accomplishment arrived in early 1964 when the Murmaids earned a #3 single with his song, “Popsicles and Icicles.” As the decade continued, Gates released several singles on his own and collaborated with many stars, including Elvis Presley and Bobby Darin.
In 1968, he teamed with Robb Royer and Jimmy Griffin to form Bread and soon signed with Elektra Records, their home throughout their career. Their 1969 self-titled debut, recorded with session drummers Jim Gordon and Ron Edgar, was a modest success. Later that year, Mike Botts joined as their permanent drummer.
Their second album became a legitimate success, reaching #12 in the U.S., thanks to the ballad “Make It With You,” which topped the pop singles chart in 1970.
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