David Gates

A decade before he found success with soft rock band Bread, singer-songwriter David Gates – born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 11, 1940 - formed his first band, The Accents, with piano player Claude Russell Bridges. The group released a single and played many shows before splitting up. While Claude Russell Bridges changed his name to Leon Russell and went on to make his own mark in music, David Gates relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music. He became a session musician and producer for many artists and wrote songs for others including the Murmaids’ “Popsicles and Icicles” (number 3 in 1964), Michael Landon’s “Without You” (1964), the Monkees’ “Saturday’s Child” (1967), and many others. David Gates also worked with many other artists including Elvis Presley, Brian Wilson, the Walker Brothers, the Ventures, Merle Haggard, Duane Eddy, Glenn Yarbrough, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, and many others. All the while, David Gates continued to release solo singles before forming Bread in 1968 with Robb Royer (bass), and Jimmy Griffin (guitar / vocals). Full-time drummer Mike Botts would join in 1970, and Robb Royer would be replaced by Larry Knechtel in 1971. Bread was a tremendously successful band, scoring many Top 10 hits in the 1970s including “Make It with You” (number 1 in 1970), “It Don’t Matter to Me” (number 10 in 1970), “If” (number 4 in 1971), “Baby I’m-a Want You” (number 3 in 1971), and “Everything I Own” (number 5 in 1972). Bread broke up in 1973 and each band members continued making music. David Gates released his solo debut album, First (1973), and followed that with the Never Let Her Go album in 1975. While they both charted – as did their singles – the success of these releases didn’t match the success he had enjoyed with Bread. The group reunited in 1976 for another album, but David Gates’ solo career took off at the end of 1977 with “Goodbye Girl,” the theme to the hit film The Goodbye Girl. The single rose to number 15 on the singles chart. Bread split up although Mike Botts and Larry Knechtel remained in David Gates’ solo band. David Gates continued as a solo artist although his records no longer rose high in the charts. He eventually turned to country music by the time he released the 1994 album Love is Always Seventeen. David Gates, Jimmy Griffin, Mike Botts, and Larry Knechtel reunited as Bread for a final tour in 1996 and 1997. Since that final reunion, David Gates and original bassist Robb Royer remain the only two surviving members.