Editing David Gates (section)

==Bread and fame==
[[File:David Gates and Bread 1973.JPG|thumb|Gates and Bread performing on the television program ''Hotel Ninety'' in 1973]]
In 1967, Gates produced and arranged the debut album for a band called [[The Pleasure Fair]],<ref name="LarkinGE"/><ref name=Anthology>1985 Album ''Anthology'' – [[Elektra Records]] LP (E1-60414)</ref> of which [[Robb Royer]] was a member. A little over a year later, Gates and Royer got together with [[Jimmy Griffin]] to form [[Bread (band)|Bread]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The group was signed by the [[Elektra Records|Elektra]] record company, where it would remain for the eight years of its existence. Elektra released Bread's first album, ''[[Bread (album)|Bread]]'', in 1969, which peaked at No.&nbsp;127 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]. 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]]'' (the title a wordplay on [[Ecclesiastes]] 11:1; "''Cast thy bread upon the waters'': for thou shalt find it after many days."<ref>{{Cite web |title=ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 11 KJV |url=https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Ecclesiastes-Chapter-11/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=www.kingjamesbibleonline.org |language=en}}</ref>), with a new drummer, [[Mike Botts]], was released in 1970, and became a breakout success. It contained the No.&nbsp;1 single "[[Make It with You]]" and was the first of seven consecutive Bread albums to go [[Gold Record|gold]] in the US. Bread's next three albums, ''[[Manna (album)|Manna]]'' (1971), ''[[Baby I'm-a Want You]]'' (1972) (featuring [[Larry Knechtel]] as a new member of the band, replacing Royer) and ''[[Guitar Man (Bread album)|Guitar Man]]'' (1972) were also successful, with more chart singles and [[music recording sales certification|gold records]]. From 1970 to 1973, Bread charted 11 singles on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], and all 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.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Their last concert was performed at the [[Salt Palace (arena)|Salt Palace]] in [[Salt Lake City]], Utah on May 19, 1973.

Gates recorded and produced his solo album ''[[First (David Gates album)|First]]'' in 1973.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The single "Clouds", an edited version of the album track "Suite Clouds and Rain", peaked at No.&nbsp;47 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, and No.&nbsp;3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The full album version was played extensively by [[Radio Caroline]] presenter [[Samantha Dubois]] at the end of her early morning radio programme, and became her closing theme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.home.nl/coenanja/Radiotunes%20van%20vroeger%20en%20nu.htm |title=Radio Tunes Van Vroeger En Nu |website=Members.home.nl |access-date=November 7, 2013}}</ref> A second single, "Sail Around the World", reached No.&nbsp;50 on the singles chart and No.&nbsp;11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album reached No.&nbsp;107 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. In 1975, Gates released the album ''[[Never Let Her Go (David Gates album)|Never Let Her Go]]''.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The [[Never Let Her Go (song)|title track]] was released as a single, and reached No.&nbsp;29 on the Hot 100 chart and No.&nbsp;3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album itself reached No.&nbsp;102 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Bread reunited in 1976 for one album, ''[[Lost Without Your Love]]'', released late that year.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The title track—again written and sung by Gates—reached No.&nbsp;9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. At the end of 1977, Gates released what would be his most successful single as a solo artist, "[[Goodbye Girl (David Gates song)|Goodbye Girl]]", from the 1977 film The Goodbye Girl.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> It peaked at No.&nbsp;15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. To capitalize on that success, Gates put an album together in June 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 No.&nbsp;30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but the album itself made it only to No.&nbsp;165 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In 1978, Gates and Bread guest starred on an episode of ''[[The Hardy Boys Mysteries]]''.

Botts and Knechtel from Bread, along with [[Warren Ham]], brother Bill Ham and bassist [[David Miner (musician)|David Miner]], continued to record and tour with Gates. In late 1978, they toured billing themselves as "David Gates & Bread", which brought a lawsuit from Griffin, who was still co-owner of the Bread trademark, and an injunction against the use of the name Bread. By the end of 1978, the "Bread" moniker had been dropped and they continued on as "David Gates and His Band". The dispute was not resolved until 1984.

Gates released the albums ''[[Falling in Love Again (David Gates album)|Falling in Love Again]]'' (featuring "Where Does the Loving Go"), which peaked at No.&nbsp;46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1979, and ''[[Take Me Now (David Gates album)|Take Me Now]]'', which peaked at No.&nbsp;62, in 1981. He recorded a [[duet (music)|duet]] with [[Melissa Manchester]], "Wish We Were Heroes", included in her 1982 album ''[[Hey Ricky]]''. Gates was less active in music during the remainder of the 1980s.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He concentrated on operating a [[cattle ranch]] in the Fall River Valley of 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 1996–97 with Botts and Knechtel. With the deaths 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. [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]] included "[[Baby I'm-a Want You (Bread song)|Baby I'm-a Want You]]" on his 1972 album ''[[In Time]]'' and "If" on his 2003 album ''Definition of Love''. [[Frank Sinatra]] covered "[[If (Bread song)|If]]" in a live performance at [[Madison Square Garden]] on October 12, 1974, which was recorded by Reprise.<ref>Album: Frank Sinatra, New York, Reprise, 1974</ref> Gates's songs have been recorded by many artists, including [[Telly Savalas]], who had a UK No. 1 hit with "If" in 1975; [[Vesta Williams]], who made a rendition of "Make It with You" in 1988; the band [[CAKE (band)|CAKE]], which covered "The Guitar Man" in 2004; [[Ray Parker Jr.]], who also recorded "The Guitar Man" in 2006; and [[Boy George]], who took "[[Everything I Own]]" to No. 1 on the UK chart, when he covered the [[Ken Boothe]] reggae version of Gates's song, which itself had been a UK No. 1 in 1974. [[Jack Jones (singer)|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.