David Gates
Encyclopedia
David Gates is an American singer-songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, best known as the lead singer of the group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 Bread
Bread (band)
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....

, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum....

.

Life and early career

Originally from Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, Gates was surrounded by music from infancy, as the son of a band director and a piano teacher. He became proficient in piano, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 and guitar by the time he enrolled in Tulsa's Will Rogers High School
Will Rogers High School
Will Rogers High School, located on 3909 E. 5th Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was built by Tulsa Public Schools in 1939 using WPA workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Rogers, who died in 1935 along with Wiley Post in a plane crash...

. Gates joined local bands around Tulsa. During a concert in 1957, his high school band backed Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

. Later, Gates released his first local hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Jo-Baby," a song he had written for his sweetheart, Jo Rita, whom he married in 1958 while enrolled at the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

.

In 1961, he and his family moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, where Gates continued writing songs, and he worked as a music copyist, as a studio musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

, and as a producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 for many artists — including Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

. Success soon followed. His composition "Popsicles and Icicles" hit #3 on the US Hot 100 for The Murmaids
The Murmaids
The Murmaids were a one-hit wonder all-female vocal trio composed of sisters Carol and Terry Fischer; and Sally Gordon from Los Angeles, California who, in January 1964 reached #3 with "Popsicles and Icicles".-Background:...

 in January 1964. The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

 recorded another of his songs, "Saturday's Child
Saturday's Child
"Saturday's Child" is a popular song, written by David Gates, in an unusual departure from his more common easy listening style , and performed by The Monkees. The song is an electric-guitar based rock song, and some fans of The Monkees consider it to be unusually "tough" for their first album...

". By the end of the 1960s, he had worked with many leading artists, including Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...

, Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...

, Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...

 and Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

. In 1965, Gates arranged the Glenn Yarbrough
Glenn Yarbrough
Glenn Yarbrough is an American folk singer. He was the lead singer with The Limeliters between 1959 and 1963, and had a prolific solo career, recording on various labels.-Biography:...

 hit, "Baby, the Rain Must Fall." In 1966, he produced two singles on A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

 for Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...

 and The Magic Band which were hits in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 area.

In the meantime, Gates had been releasing singles of his own on several labels. "Manchester 101" "There's A Heaven/She don't cry 196?". "Mala 413" "You'll Be My Baby/What's This I Hear".
"Mala 418" "The Happiest Man Alive/A Road That Leads To Love". Both In 1960. "Mala 427" "Jo Baby/Teardrops In My Heart". In 1961
"Planetary 103" "Little Miss Stuck Up/The Brighter Side". "Planetary 108" "Let You Go/Once Upon A Time". under the Pseudonym of "Del Asley" in 1965 & "Del-Fi 4206" "No One Really Loves A Clown/You Had It Commin' To Ya". He also released a single under the name of "The Manchesters" in 1965 on the Vee Jay Label.

Bread and fame

In 1967, Gates produced and arranged the debut album of a band called The Pleasure Fair, of which Robb Royer
Robb Royer
Robert Wilson "Robb" Royer was the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter with Bread from 1968 to 1971. While he was with the band, they had a #5 UK/#1 US hit single with "Make It With You"...

 was a member. A little over a year later, Gates and Royer got together with Jimmy Griffin
Jimmy Griffin
James Arthur Griffin was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter with the 1970s rock band Bread.-Early life:An Academy Award winning songwriter, Griffin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. His musical training began when his parents signed him up for accordion lessons...

 to form Bread
Bread (band)
Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....

. The group was signed by Elektra, where it would remain for the eight years of its existence. It released its first album, Bread
Bread (album)
Bread is the self-titled debut album by soft rock band Bread, released in 1969.Bread peaked at #127 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. A remake of "It Don't Matter to Me" charted in 1970 after the release of Bread's second album...

, in 1969, which peaked at #127 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

. The first single, "Dismal Day," written by Gates, was released in June 1969 but did not sell well.

Bread's second album, On the Waters
On the Waters
On the Waters is the second album released by Bread in 1970. This album was released in July 1970.-Track listing:#"Why Do You Keep Me Waiting" – 2:32 #"Make It with You" – 3:18...

(a play on Ecclesiates 11:1), with a new drummer, Mike Botts
Mike Botts
Michael G. Botts was the drummer of 1970s soft rock band Bread and a studio musician.Born in Oakland, California, Botts grew up in nearby Antioch before moving to Sacramento. While in college, he began playing with a band called The Travellers Three and working as a studio musician...

, was released in 1970, and became a breakout success. It contained the #1 single "Make It with You" and was the first of seven consecutive Bread albums to go Gold in the U.S. Bread's next three albums, Manna
Manna (album)
Manna is the third album released by Bread in 1971. The title, like that of the preceding album On the Waters, is a Biblical pun on the name Bread, this time to the manna from Heaven fed to the Israelites...

(1971), Baby I’m-a Want You (1972) (featuring Larry Knechtel
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...

 as a new member of the band, replacing Royer) and Guitar Man (1972) were also successful, with more chart singles and gold records
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

. From 1970 to 1973, Bread charted 11 singles on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, all of which were written and sung by Gates. That caused some antagonism between Gates and Griffin, who was also a significant contributor to Bread's albums as a singer and songwriter. Bread disbanded in 1973, much to the surprise of fans and the music industry. Their last concert was performed at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gates recorded and produced his solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 album First in 1973. The single "Clouds," an edited version of the album track "Suite Clouds and Rain," peaked at #47 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The full album version was played extensively by Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...

 Presenter Samantha Dubois
Samantha Dubois
Samantha Dubois was a radio presenter on Radio Caroline during the 1970s and again in 1984. She was born in Holland but learned to speak English from time spent growing up in New Zealand in the 1960s, this gave her a unique and instantly recognisable accent...

 at the end of her early morning radio programme, and became her closing theme. A second single, "Sail Around The World," reached #50 on the singles chart and #11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album reached #107 on Billboard's album chart. In 1975 Gates released the album Never Let Her Go. The title track was released as a single, and reached #29 on the Hot 100 chart and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album itself reached #102 on the Billboard 200.

Bread reunited in 1976 for one album, Lost Without Your Love, released late that year. The title track—again written and sung by Gates—reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bread then disbanded again, and at the end of 1977, Gates released what would be his most successful single as a solo artist, "Goodbye Girl," from the 1977 film of the same name. It peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. To capitalize on that success, Gates put an album together in 1978 that featured material from his first two solo albums mixed with some new material. It yielded another hit single, "Took the Last Train," which reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 but the album itself made it only to #165 on the Billboard 200. Botts and Knechtel from Bread, along with Warren Ham and his brother Bill Ham and their band, continued to record and tour with Gates. On one tour they were billed as "David Gates & Bread," which brought a lawsuit from Griffin, and an injunction against the use of the name Bread. The dispute was resolved in 1984.

Gates released the albums Falling In Love Again (featuring "Where Does the Loving Go"), which peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979, and Take Me Now, which peaked at #62, in 1981. He recorded a duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...

 with Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....

, "Wish We Were Heroes," included in her 1982 album Hey Ricky. Gates was less active in music during the remainder of the 1980s. He concentrated on operating a cattle ranch in Northern California, located on land he purchased in the 1970s. He returned to music in 1994, when he released Love Is Always Seventeen, his first new album in thirteen years.

Gates and Griffin put aside their differences, and reunited for a final Bread tour in 1996-1997 with Botts and Knechtel. With the passing of three of the other principal members of Bread, Gates is the sole surviving band member from their heyday, although Royer still successfully works in Nashville.

The David Gates Songbook, containing earlier hit singles and new material, was released in 2002. Gates's songs have been recorded by many artists, including Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...

, who had a UK #1 hit with "If
If (Bread song)
"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, the song charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971. The song also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart...

" in 1975; Vesta Williams
Vesta Williams
Mary Vesta Williams was an American R&B singer. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was sometimes simply billed as Vesta beginning in the 1990s. She was known for her four-octave vocal range...

, who made a rendition of "Make It With You" in 1988; the band CAKE
Cake (band)
Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...

, which covered "The Guitar Man
The Guitar Man
"The Guitar Man" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the pop rock group Bread, of which Gates was a member. It first appeared on Bread's 1972 album, Guitar Man. The song is a mixture of the sounds of soft rock, including strings and acoustic guitar, and the addition of a...

" in 2004; Ray Parker Jr, who also recorded "The Guitar Man" in 2006; and Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

, who took "Everything I Own
Everything I Own
"Everything I Own" is a song written by David Gates. Originally recorded by Gates's band Bread for their 1972 album Baby, I'm a Want You, the single was recorded by The Connells, Jack Jones, Ken Boothe, Olivia Newton-John, Georgie Fame, Boy George, *NSYNC, Jude, Rod Stewart, Crystal Gayle, Nicole...

" to #1 on the UK chart, when he covered the Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe
Ken Boothe OD is a Jamaican recording artist.-Biography:Ken Boothe was born in the Denham Town area of Kingston in 1948, the youngest of seven children, and began singing in school...

 reggae version of Gates's song, which itself had been a UK #1 in 1974. Jack Jones recorded a Bread tribute album, "Bread Winners (1972) including the Gates' standard, "If", which has long been a staple of Jones' live performances. The songs "Lost Without Your Love" and "Everything I Own" are said to have been written by David about feelings when his father died.

Albums

  • 1973: First
    First (David Gates album)
    First is the first solo album by David Gates of Bread. The musicians include: Jimmy Getzoff, Jim Gordon, Jim Horn, John Guerin, Larry Carlton, Larry Knechtel, Louie Shelton, Mike Botts and Russ Kunkel.-Track listing:All tracks composed by David Gates...

    (#102)
  • 1975: Never Let Her Go
  • 1978: Goodbye Girl
    Goodbye Girl (David Gates album)
    Goodbye Girl is the third solo album by David Gates of Bread. The song "Goodbye Girl" was also used in the movie of the same name.Only tracks 1-4, 6 and 7 are new material; the remainder are reissued from previous albums.-Track listing:...

    (#165)
  • 1980: Falling in Love Again
    Falling in Love Again (David Gates album)
    Falling in Love Again is the fourth solo album by David Gates of Bread.-Track listing:All tracks composed by David Gates#"Can I Call You" - #"Where Does the Lovin' Go" - #"20th Century Man" - #"She Was So Young" -...

  • 1981: Take Me Now
  • 1985: Anthology
  • 1994: Love is Always Seventeen
    Love is Always Seventeen
    Love Is Always Seventeen is the sixth solo album by David Gates of Bread. It came after a 13 year break from recording.-Track listing:#"Avenue Of Love"#"Love Is Always Seventeen"#"Ordinary Man"#"I Will Wait For You"#"Save This Dance For Me"...

  • 2002: The David Gates Songbook
    The David Gates Songbook
    The David Gates Songbook is a compilation album by David Gates of Bread. It consists of previously released as well as new solo material; and songs with his former band Bread....


Singles

  • 1957: Jo Baby/Lovin' At Night

  • 1958: Pretty Baby/Cryin' For You

  • 1959: Swingin' Baby Doll/Walkin' And Talkin'

  • 1960: What's This I Hear/You'll Be My Baby

  • 1960: The Happiest Man Alive/The Road That Leads To Love

  • 1961: Jo Baby (version 2)/Teardrops In My Heart

  • 1962: Sad September/Tryin' To Be Someone

  • 1963: No One Really Loves A Clown/You Had It Comin' To You

  • 1964: The Oakie Surfer/Blue Surf

  • 1964: My Baby's Gone Away/Kiss And Tell

  • 1964: She Don't Cry/There's A Heaven

  • 1965: Little Miss Stuck-Up/The Brighter Side

  • 1965: Just A Lot Of Talk/Love Or Money

  • 1965: Sad September/Star Of The Show

  • 1965: Let You Go/Once Upon A Time

  • 1965: I Don't Come From England/Dragon Fly

  • 1973: Clouds/I Use The Soap (#47)

  • 1973: Sail Around The World/Help Is On The Way (#50)

  • 1974: Sad September/Tryin' To Be Someone

  • 1975: Never Let Her Go/Watch Out (#29)

  • 1975: Part-Time Love/Chain Me

  • ?: Clouds/Sail Around The World

  • 1977: Goodbye Girl
    Goodbye Girl
    "Goodbye Girl" was the first single released from Squeeze's second album Cool for Cats. Three different versions were recorded: one for the UK single, one for the American single, and one for the album...

    /Sunday Rider (#15)

  • 1978: Took The Last Train/Ann (#30)

  • ?: Goodbye Girl/Took The Last Train

  • 1979: Where Does The Lovin' Go/Starship Ride (#46)

  • 1980: Can I Call You/Chingo

  • 1980: Falling In Love Again/Sweet Desire

  • 1981: Take Me Now/It's What You Say (#62)

  • 1981: Come Home For Christmas/Lady Valentine

External links

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