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The Totally Unofficial & Unauthorized |
DISCOGRAPHY PAGES ON THIS SITE:BREAD RELEASES (updated Jan. 23, 2008) LIST OF BREAD SONGS (updated Sept. 21, 2005): Songs are listed with reference to the original albums. A supplementary list augmented with additional compilations is found here. Solo & Duo Releases, Part 1 – Gates (updated Feb. 13, 2009): Includes David Gates' early rockabilly singles and notes on his collaborations with Billy Dean and Melissa Manchester. Check out footnote "DD" for a photo of a David Gates 78 rpm record! Solo & Duo Releases, Part 2 – Griffin, Botts and Knechtel (updated Nov. 30, 2005): Includes James Griffin's start on the Reprise label in 1962 through his duet with Holly released in April, 2005. Also included is a limited-edition cassette-album of demos issued privately in 1997. His 1976 duet with Terry Sylvester on "Travellin' Boy" is indicated here. Related Groups (updated Feb. 20, 2007): The Fencemen, The Avalanches, The De-Fenders, The Deuce Coupes, The Darts, The Vanguard Voyagers, The Pleasure Fair (aka The Rainy Day People), The Travelers 3 / Na Kama Hele, Joshua Fox, Black Tie, The Remingtons, and GYG (Griffin, Yancey and Guilbeau). |
PAGES TWO & THREE |
SPECIAL PAGES ON THIS SITE:Bread in Arlington, TX – August 9, 1997 Charlie Oyama on Mike's Drumming Kellie Gardenia's Bread Compilation Proposal How about a multi-CD James Griffin Compilation? Andrew Butterfield's Review of David Gates in Manchester – March 31, 2003 David Crawt's 4-Part James Griffin in Nashville Story – February, 2004 |
 
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As excellent and tasteful have been the David Gates songs that many of us grew up with and love, notions about Bread that are based only on top-40 radio listening are not entirely valid. Being a long-time Bread fan – ever since hearing "Make It With You" blasting out of my brand-new 1970 Gremlin's AM radio – I continue to be most impressed by the amazing variety and depth of Bread's material above and beyond the dozen or so hits that made it onto the airwaves. Now that the entire Bread LP catalog has been made available on CDs (it took awhile!), one can easily experience B-sides and album cuts which range from the ethereal to the metallic. (Bread Zeppelin indeed!) The members of Bread – individually and collectively – have built around themselves a veritable musical kaleidoscope spanning most of rock's history. One can dig deep into the vinyl to find solo releases and items done with other bands – including some genuine Buddy Holly-era rockabilly by David Gates with Russell Bridges (aka Leon Russell) on keyboards and Carl Radle on bass. (See The Kansas/ Oklahoma 60's Rock Discography by Tom W. Tourville on which the David Gates discography herein was initially based.) A listing of the substantial contribution to the music industry by David Gates, James Griffin, Robb Royer, Mike Botts and Larry Knechtel – as vocalists, instrumentalists, writers, arrangers, producers and engineers for so many decades – could fill many web pages and maybe someday will. A great example of songwriting is Griffin and Royer's 1970 Academy Award-winning "For All We Know" – written along with Fred Karlin and made into a no. 1 hit by The Carpenters. The original demo was eventually released on Bread's 1996 "Retrospective" CD. Perhaps it would behoove an oldies reissue label to come out with compilations of recordings centered on the individual members of Bread! Certainly such a thing would appeal to more than just the die-hard completists and rock history buffs.
On the related groups page are lists of groups (and their personnel) with which members of Bread have been associated. Very unfortunately I have given short shrift on that page to Larry Knechtel who was a member of Duane Eddy and the Rebels, the Shindogs, Ceyleib People, Jamme and probably more groups. Hopefully someone will help me fill in the relevant discographical details. For decades he has been highly renowned as a session musician (usually on keyboards), having played hundreds of sessions with the likes of drummer Hal Blaine and bassist Joe Osborn. A relevant article starts here. Among his activities in recent years has been touring with the Dixie Chicks as noted here. As a session drummer, Mike Botts brightened up a number of album projects, many of which are listed here. A significant omission on that list is the 1977 LP "Blowin' Away" by Joan Baez which contains "Time Rag" – a disco rap song in which Mike played drums with Dean Parks on guitar and Larry Knechtel on organ. The Joan Baez sessions were a lot of fun for Mike as he recounted later. Mike was a member of Na Kama Hele (formerly The Travelers 3) and was also significantly associated with Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John and Dan Fogelberg among many others. Mike sang like none other. You can make a donation to the Mike Botts Cancer Fund and get a signed copy of his CD; see the link to the Official Mike Botts Website here. Hopefully, Bread fans and collectors will find this site informative and useful, and it is certainly (and refreshingly to some) not hit-oriented. Here and there are links to photos of interesting record labels and album covers. A few examples:
The Pleasure Fair
Until the more enlightened biographies of the past decade or so, one would always be reading the same tired old litany about how David Gates, James Griffin and Robb Royer toiled in the studio as "Pleasure Faire" prior to their becoming "Bread." Whether or not "Pleasure Faire" was ever under serious consideration as their group name, there did exist the distinct, pre-Bread, Gates-produced quartet THE PLEASURE FAIR (without that final "E"!) who released an album and two singles under that name (listed here) in 1967 and '68. The same group was known by various other names including The Rainy Day People. Their 1966 Snuff Garrett-produced pop masterpiece is shown here. The "Pleasure Faire" appellation (with that final "E") still seems to persist among those who embrace the press hype of their youth. A few items about the members of The Pleasure Fair which is definitely a supergroup in retrospect. In alphabetical order: (1) Michele Cochrane had a gorgeous singing voice and acted in a number of television dramas. (2) Classically-trained musician and composer Stephen Cohn won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music for his chamber ensemble score for a PBS documentary film, and much of his guitar style was significantly incorporated into Bread's sound. (3) Mystery writer Timothy Hallinan is the author of the popular Simeon Grist series of detective novels (get the grist/bread connection?) and did a bit of songwriting as well. The first in his new series of Far East-based novels, "A Nail through the Heart," is a smokin' page-turner. The action and intrigue continue in "The Fourth Watcher" whose early chapters on the protagonist's homelife with his new family have – within the multidimensionality of it all – somewhat of a Charles Dickens ring to them and are a special reward to the reader. (4) The unique sound of many recordings during Bread's first few years was due in large part to Robb Royer who also was responsible for a lot of lyrical substance in the Griffin-Royer compositions. In recent decades he has achieved great success as a country music writer as a Google search can reveal. The Pleasure Fair made a brief TV appearance on "Ironside" in the episode "Tagged For Murder" which was aired October, 1967. This was Episode 8 in the first "Ironside" season which is now available on DVD. The group is shown listening to a playback of "Turnaway" in a recording studio. The Recipe for BreadThe Pleasure Fair has been thought of as being Bread's immediate precursor. David Gates' own recording career dates back to 1957, and the steady succession of his pre-Bread solo singles is shown here. Records showing Gates as producer and/or writer constantly turn up in collections of old vinyl, and a Japanese CD compilation that provides a glimpse of his songwriting career in the 1960s is shown here. A bit of his work as a session musician can be heard on the "Sharon Sheeley: Songwriter" CD. James Griffin and Robb Royer's writing, performance and production activities (yet to be fully documented anywhere) were every much a precursor to Bread as were those of The Pleasure Fair or David Gates. Check out the list of Griffin's pre-Bread recordings here. Some of the recordings in the "Griffin by Others" category are included in the lists on this page.
Griffin had an earlier partnership with Michael Z. Gordon, writing more than 60 songs for over 50 highly diverse hit artists of the sixties including Ed Ames (whose recording of "Apologize" was a BMI Award-winner) and Rudy Vallee. The Ames and Vallee releases are shown on the right (top row). The Gordon-Griffin team also wrote the catchy and impressive "Get The Message" which was recorded around 1968-69 by a number of artists including Sagittarius (Michael Fennelly, lead vocal), Brian Hyland, Bobby Vee, Michael J. James, and The Young Men. A product of the renewed Gordon-Griffin collaboration – "Something Else Altogether" – was intended for a remake of "The Devil and Daniel Webster." However, after some drastic overhauls, the movie made a brief appearance in the summer of 2007 with the new title "Shortcut to Happiness" but without the song. Not to despair: "Something Else Altogether" has re-emerged in the movie "A Killing on Brighton Beach"! (See above under the blinking button.) Here is where Bread comes together: An interesting Dot single by THE CURTAIN CALLS came out in 1968 which showed James Griffin as Producer and David Gates as Arranger. The A-side, "Sock It To Me Sunshine," is sung in falsetto by the three individuals listed on the 45 who performed the song on the TV show "Laugh-In": Stan Jay, Merryl Jay and Garry Lynn. "Say What You See" (written by Robb Royer and Tim Hallinan) appears to be The Pleasure Fair providing the B side for this record. With this in mind, indications in various Bread biographies that Griffin worked with Gates and Royer in the Pleasure Fair project have credence. In fact, production of this single was the point from which Griffin, Royer and Gates combined their talents into the group that made BREAD their name. But why "Bread"? The original inspiration came to Robb Royer when he and James Griffin encountered a Barbara Ann Bread truck while in heavy traffic. When decision time came to name the group officially and "Bread" was offered, it was pointed out that a lot of musicians put on a show of disdain when it comes to the thought of deriving bread (as in monetary riches) from their art. There being no need to be phony in that regard (and to take any pride in humility such as this), then why not just go with the name? Bread's first album from 1969 is still a breath of fresh air, a reflection of the many inventive directions rock was taking in the late 60s. Pre-Mike Botts drummers Ron Edgar and Jim Gordon were listed among the supporting artists as was Tim Hallinan. One may occasionally hear or read about "The Plastic Sibling" and "Cosmo and Robetta" – Royer and Griffin-related multi-media (and ahead-of-their-time) productions that gave rise to Bread songs eventually released as "Family Doctor" and "Fly Away," respectively. Interesting information about these and other musical/theatrical projects which also involved Tim Hallinan can be found here. Here is a really rare one for you: Bread contributed to the music for the obscure late-60s movie "Cover Me Babe" (aka "Run Shadow Run"), and a 45 on the Trump label (no. 2890, also PRO-5095/5096) which featured the title song came out in 1970 as by THE SUNSHINE TROLLEY. One can hear David Gates singing lead in a very heavily-produced recording – quite "un-Breadlike" with lots of echo. The movie also contains a more Breadlike version of "Cover Me Babe" as well as "So You Say" (sung by James Griffin) which would have made an interesting B-side to this single. Fred Karlin wrote the music for both songs; lyrics for "Cover Me Babe" and "So You Say" were by Randy Newman and the Griffin/Royer team respectively. What actually appeared on the B-side of the Trump single – "It's Gotta Be Real" – was a non-movie song by a studio group with a female lead vocalist. Both sides were produced by Tommy Cogbill & Chips Moman. Trump was a Memphis-based label and a subsidiary of Capitol Records. Among its releases was "Old Joe Clark"/"Orange Juice Commercial" (Trump 3135) by the Memphis group Montage which is not to be confused with The Montage – an offshoot of The Left Banke. Continued on Page Two
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If the pages on this site have been found interesting and informative to the Bread collector, that makes my day! Corrections and additions to the history, discography and overall substance are always welcome – as are cool stories you would like to turn into Special Pages (see menu on top of page). | |
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This Bread collectors' site has been on the web in one form or another since May 18, 1997. You may find parts showing up on rogue websites elsewhere – for example, a recipe website of all things. Unfortunately I have no information on Bread videos nor anything for sale or trade. However, we always have available free CDs of our James Griffin radio tribute from March, 2005; just e-mail me a mailing address. Also, you will find surprises on YouTube and eBay. | |
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NEW and reliable e-mail address: |
Material on this page last modified on 6/10/09 at 8:15 PM, CDT. |
Bread is the Tiffany of rock groups. Why settle for cheap imitation?