Bread

Bread is an American folk rock band from Los Angeles, California. They were one of the most popular rock bands of the early 1970s and were an example of the current that was later called soft rock.

The band consisted of David Gates (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, violin, viola, percussion), Jimmy Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Robb Royer (bass, guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, flute beak, chorus), Mike Botts (drums, joined the group in 1970), and Larry Knechtel (bass, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, replaced Royer in 1971).

Author, composer and performer of Bread's greatest hits, David Gates has been involved in the music world since the early 1960s as a producer, arranger and composer, well before the founding of Bread. David Gates' melodic talent was quickly recognized, so his compositions established the band's trademark. Little by little, a climate of tension settled between him and Jimmy Griffin, whose musical style was more rock than soft rock.

After the break-up of the band in 1972, David Gates enjoyed some success in a solo career, but never managed to earn the glory of his years with the Bread band. In 1977, he became the producer of the film Adieu, Je reste (The Goodbye Girl) for which he wrote the theme song, then devoted himself full time to his family life and his ranch.