''Bread'' is the debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

band

Bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

, released in September

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. This album has been certified Double Platinum in Australia by the

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

Overview

Produced by Bread themselves, this album was recorded at

Elektra Sound Recorders Elektra Sound Recorders was Elektra Records's recording studio in Los Angeles, California, United States located at 962 La Cienega Boulevard. Electric Entertainment currently provides video production services at this location. History In 1958, ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the album as "effectively the birth of Californian soft rock, as

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread (band), Bread, which reached the top of the musical ch ...

and compatriots blend the folk-rock of

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

and

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (musician), Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely know ...

with a distinctly British melodicism and a streak of sentimentality borrowed from

McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

. The result is a modest little gem, with more strange turns than you'd expect from their reputation -- including soaring falsettos, spiraling melodies, rough guitars, and, best of all, a set of tightly-written, appealing songs."

Track listing

Side one #"Dismal Day" (Gates) – 2:21 #"London Bridge" (Gates) – 2:32 #"Could I" (Griffin, Royer) – 3:31 #"Look at Me" (Gates) – 2:43 #"The Last Time" (Griffin, Royer) – 4:10 #"Any Way You Want Me" (Griffin, Royer) – 3:16 Side two #"Move Over" (Griffin) – 2:36 #"Don't Shut Me Out" (Gates) – 2:39 #"You Can't Measure the Cost" (Gates) – 3:22 #"Family Doctor" (Griffin, Royer) – 2:15 #" It Don't Matter to Me" (Gates) – 2:41 #"Friends and Lovers" (Griffin, Royer) – 3:54

Personnel

Bread

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, RMI

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* James Griffin – lead vocals, guitars, percussion *

Robb Royer Robert Wilson Royer (born December 6, 1942, in Los Angeles) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the soft rock band Bread from 1968 to 1971. While he was with the band, they had a #5 UK/#1 US hit single wit ...

– backing vocals, guitar, bass, RMI electric piano, piano,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

, percussion

Additional personnel

* Jim Gordon – drums * Ron Edgar – drums

Production

*Producer: Bread *Engineer:

Bruce Botnick Bruce Botnick (born 1945) is an American audio engineer and record producer. He is best known for co-producing '' L.A. Woman'', the sixth studio album by the Doors, after producer Paul A. Rothchild quit during production of the album. Botnick i ...

*Production supervisor:

Jac Holzman Jac Holzman (born September 15, 1931) is an American record executive. He is the founder of the record labels Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman helped commercially launch the CD and home video formats, as well as the pilot program wh ...

*Art direction:

William S. Harvey William Stanley Harvey (November 10, 1920 – July 15, 1993) was an American graphic designer and art director, responsible for the design of Elektra Records' logos and many of its album covers between the 1950s and 1970s including those by Lo ...

, Coco Shinomiya *Cover art concept: William S. Harvey *Cover art: Abe Gurvin *Design: Bryan Rackleff *Photography: Ed Caraeff *Liner Notes: Barry Alfonso

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bread (Album) Bread (band) albums 1969 debut albums Elektra Records albums Albums produced by David Gates Albums produced by Jimmy Griffin Albums produced by Robb Royer