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Admittedly, these guys eluded me for years. Maybe it's my old curmudgeonly self lately but this band has really begun to hit a few spots with me. Besides, what's not to love about soft rock?

One of my all-time favorite groups, and a book will soon be published about them:

http://www.helterskelterpublishing.com/item.asp?id=3617 (http://www.helterskelterpublishing.com/item.asp?id=3617)

Baby I'm A Want You is a fantastic song.  It has a haunting quality to it that is just beautiful. 

Hey anyone remember that episode of "The Wonder Years" where Kevin buys Winnie a "Bread" LP for Christmas but he feels funny about going in and purchasing it because they were a "chick band"?  That just came to mind, funny stuff.

Baby I'mma Want You always reminds me of that scene from The Simpsons where Chief Wiggum walks in on Comic Book Guy and Principal Skinner's mom doing it.

They... have other songs?  :)

there was another episode where Wayne sings a tragicomic version of "If" to a girl he digs

Any respectable version of "If" is ok with me

I could listen to It Don't Matter To Me on repeat for hours. Preferably with a cold beverage on a breezy day.

Great band. Down On My Knees is one of the ultimate Beatle-influenced cuts. As good as anything Badfinger recorded.

My band does Make it With You, and I've played a lot of their songs on my own - Too Much Love, Everything I Own, Look What You've Done, the Guitar Man, Diary, Fancy Dancer. Great songwriters, great singers, and they had one of the best all around musicians in the biz, Larry Knechtel, playing keys, bass and guitar.

By the way...is the original version of It Don't Matter To Me available at all? I cannot find it...ANYWHERE.

Do you mean the version from the first album? Is the first album out of print?  I thought Wounded Bird had reissued all the albums recently. The single version, recorded after the second album, is the one on all the best of's.

My copy of the first album has the single version and not the original album version.

Does the Telly Savalas version count?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8dDkIrVuRg

What a Change has been on some preshow mixes when I've went to see Brian.

Okay,  I didn't know they replaced it on later issues. My copy has the original version, plus the lyrics insert.

Granted, I've HEARD the first version from a vinyl played while a video camera recorded it for a YouTube video. Needless to say it sounded very tin can.

Just picked up on this thread... and in case you weren't aware it's MY book on the band coming out later in the year !!
Covering the careers of all FIVE members across the years (and I've tried to give the BB's as many mentions as possible without overdoing it  ::) ) and maybe I'm biased... but it's a damn fine read !
Contributions from founding member Robb Royer, the families of Jimmy, Mike and Larry ... and numerous other musical acquaintances and friends - tho' I have to admit that David declined to contribute  :(
... and I encourage all of the unknowing out there to dig a little deeper into their catalog if you only know the Gates-penned 'hits'. It wasn't all sweetness and light as the numerous compilations and re-issues will constantly have us believe...

I look forward to reading it Malc,  I love Bread  :)

hahahah i'm sorry that just made me laugh.

Many thanks !! Pre-orders now being taken on a limited hardback edition - www.helterskelterpublishing.com - and HOPEFULLY the paperback edition will follow at a later date...

Hm, I'm a fan of reviving old threads.
Anyway.

I bought Goodbye Girl by David Gates with my dad.
3 buck vinyl... can't complain.

I'm listening to this song for like the 5th time and I feel like crying. It's so beautiful.

I'm reading the book now, just up to the point where Gates, Grifftin and Royer join forces. Been a great read so far.

Hey there !! Glad you're enjoying the book ! Made the years of research worth it when you hear a comment like that. 26 5-star review on Amazon UK too so I must have something right
I've just co-edited Robb Royer's new memoirs as well, working alongside him for the past year on it (well, not quite alongside - he's in the Virgin Islands whilst I'm just outside London but...), and that's now available as an iPad formatted eBook on Amazon (for some reason it didn't format for Kindle too well but I'm working on that).
Let me know your thoughts when you finish my tome...
 8)

Will do, Malc. Nice that Robb is working on a book - for a lot of us, he was kind of the invisible member of Bread. Wrote with James, but didn't sing, and disappeared after the third album. He was the guy I knew the least about.

He never really disappeared, though. His cowrites with James are still all over the place on the last three albums.

Always thought David Gates and Anne Murray had near identical vocals.....Listen to "You Needed Me" and picture David singing..... ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6nfpxZ2Nz4

Tim

First time I heard "Baby I'm A-Want You", I thought it was Anne Murray.

That's the spirit, u-m. This one's doing nicely. :=)

;D ;D ;D

I've decided that just below the level of super-popular (Beatles, Stones, the stuff you see on yuppie t shirts), there's sub-popular bands (not necessarily Sub Pop). Bread seems to be one of those bands that does get played on the oldies station but none of my friends know of :/

I just heard "The Guitar Man" on KGY a few minutes ago, but it's true they are not in the rotation as much as Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, Elton, etc. The thing that makes this band interesting to me is the contrast between their 'light' hits and the edgier material on their albums. It seems to happen to a lot of bands, though - they get pegged in the public eye with one sound, when the reality is much more wide ranging. The Guess Who (at least in the Burton Cummings era) first made it big in the states with "These Eyes" - a ballad. Imagine if they followed it up with a dozen more ballads, instead of "No Time", "Hand Me Down World", "American Woman", "Share the Land", "No Sugar Tonight". Cummings could sing a ballad beautifully, but there was a lot more to the Guess Who than pretty songs to slow dance to. The same is true for Bread.

"Manna" waas the first album I ever owned. I still have my copy from when it came out. Great record! The James/Robb team were a superb creative duo that rivaled Gates. Though Royer still wrote with James after Robb left but the group lost their edge IMO.

I saw them in concert, 72 or 73 (Steely Dan  was the opening act) and again in 1997 on their final  reunion tour.

My favorite Bread song "Too Much Love" - a Griffin/Royer classic!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FtqTO8nLH2Q

Steely Dan AND Bread? I would have loved that.

I don't know a lot of the Guess Who (a lot of the albums that I see by them at record stores/spotify are greatist hits, etc.), but I do love the songs I know. "No Time" is a fun song. Like, I'm sure people recognize their songs, but they definitely don't get as much recognition. Which is sort of a shame, but at the same time I sort of pride myself in knowing those lesser-known oldies bands... yknow?

And that's really a shame that The Guess Who is a "lesser known" oldies band. There was a brief time, American Woman era, when they were one of the hottest bands around, and they definitely had the talent to back it up. They had a lead singer would could sign any style, also played great piano, could also play a bit of guitar and flute, and co-wrote most of the songs. Randy Bachman was a great guitarist and songwriter, later replaced by the equally talented Kurt Winter. Jim Kale was a solid bassist, Garry Peterson an excellent drummer with taste and style and could sing harmony. On their albums they do hard rock, pop ballads, country, straight ahead good ol' rock 'n' roll, and even touches of blues and jazz. Everyone knows the hits, but as you dig into the albums, you find there's a lot of worthwhile music there.

Since you've posted that, I've been listening to more of the Guess Who. What a fantastic band! I really enjoy their lyrics especially.

Also, lives videos of Bread on Youtube are fantastic. I'm sure if I was around in the 70s I would be melting at their concerts.  ^-^

Nice to know I could steer you towards some great music. Never got to see Bread live, but I did see a reunited Guess Who in 2001, one of the most memorable shows I've seen. Got to see Burton a couple NYE's ago, too, and he was magnificent. Did all the GW songs I wanted to hear, and more.

I can't listen to that song!  It is beautiful but I find it very melancholy also. There are a few songs that get me like that.. another one is Bright Eyes from Watership Down.. :(

Haha yes, that song can definitely evoke a few tears. "Never Let Her Go" is a happier love song :)

Hey Lonely Summer ! Final thoughts on the book, assuming you've finished it now ?! :p

I've probably mentioned this before on a thread, but cant' remember.  When I was in High School, me and a friend would get together and were learning to play guitar.  He was better than I was, I never got very good because i'm left handed and didn't want to play a lefty guitar, so I always played right handed, which doesn't work as well because I don't have the dexterity in my picking hand.

Anyways.  One of his favorite bands was "Bread", he was a more relaxed laid back guy then me, and he had a knack for figuring out songs by just listening to them.  Even note for note solos, etc.  I basically just got decent at playing hillbilly chords.

He lived with his grandparents, who always supported everything he did because his parents weren't very good role models.  Anyways, a few years went by and his grandfather passed away.  So we all went tot he funeral, and my friend and his dad got up in front of 100 people and sang "Everything I own" at the old man's funeral, with him playing it on guitar. 

It was so uncomfortably sad, probably the saddest thing I've ever seen in person.  Really beautiful, though...

I don't know what to add to what I've said elsewhere. Best pop/rock bio I've read in several years. Most of them disappoint me - as with the recent Carl Wilson book. Your book really covered every possible area of the careers of the Bread guys, I think Larry, James and Mike would be very proud of the work you did. Anyone that calls themselves a Bread fan needs to have this book.

 :-D
Thank you most sincerely...