Editing David Gates (section)

==Life and early career==
Originally from [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]],<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Gates was surrounded by music from infancy, as the son of Clarence Gates, a band director, and Wanda Rollins, a piano teacher. He became proficient in piano, violin, bass and guitar by the time he enrolled in [[Tulsa]]'s [[Will Rogers High School]]. Gates formed his first band, The Accents, with other high school musicians which included a piano player, Claude Russell Bridges, who later in life changed his name to [[Leon Russell]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> During a concert in 1957, the Accents backed [[Chuck Berry]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Kim Summers |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-gates-mn0000179126/biography |title=David Gates &#124; Biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |date=December 11, 1940 |access-date=November 7, 2013}}</ref> In 1957, David Gates and the Accents released the 45 "Jo-Baby" / "Lovin' at Night" on Robbins record label. The A-side was written for his sweetheart, Jo Rita, whom he married in 1959 while enrolled at the [[University of Oklahoma]] studying law and pre-med. At Oklahoma he became a member of [[Delta Tau Delta]] International Fraternity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.delts.org/about/famousdelts.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301095840/http://www.delts.org/about/famousdelts.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-03-01|title=Delta Tau Delta &#124; About Us: Subpage|date=March 1, 2012|access-date=September 3, 2021}}</ref>

In 1961, he and his family moved to [[Los Angeles]], where Gates continued writing songs, and he worked as a [[music copyist]], as a [[session musician|studio musician]], and as a producer for many artists – including [[Pat Boone]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Success soon followed. His composition "[[Popsicles and Icicles]]" hit No.&nbsp;3 on the US Hot 100 for [[The Murmaids]] in January 1964.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> [[The Monkees]] recorded another of his songs, "[[Saturday's Child]]". By the end of the 1960s, he had worked with many leading artists, including [[Elvis Presley]], [[The Walker Brothers]], [[Bobby Darin]], [[Merle Haggard]], [[The Ventures]], [[Duane Eddy]] and [[Brian Wilson]].{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} In 1965, Gates arranged the [[Glenn Yarbrough]] [[chart-topper|hit]], "[[Baby the Rain Must Fall (song)|Baby the Rain Must Fall]]". In 1966, he produced two singles on [[A&M Records]] for [[Captain Beefheart]] and [[The Magic Band]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

Gates scored his first motion picture ''[[Journey to Shiloh]]'' in 1967.<ref>''Billboard'' Vol. 79, No. 29, July 22, 1967, p. 50</ref>

In the meantime, Gates had been releasing singles of his own on several labels in the early 1960s.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> On [[Mala Records]], he released "There's a Heaven" / "She Don't Cry", "You'll Be My Baby" / "What's This I Hear", "The Happiest Man Alive" / "A Road That Leads to Love", and "Jo Baby" / "Teardrops in My Heart". On Planetary, he released "Little Miss Stuck Up" / "The Brighter Side", and "Let You Go" / "Once upon a Time" under the pseudonym of "Del Ashley" in 1965. On Del-Fi, he released "No One Really Loves a Clown" / "You Had It Comin' to Ya". He also released a single under the name of "The Manchesters" in 1965 on the [[Vee-Jay Records|Vee-Jay]] label.