Song:Bend Me, Shape Me
Album:'60s: Gold
The 1968 top five hit Bend Me, Shape Me was the only significant hit for The American Breed. A couple of their other songs charted but none of them are memorable. Music fans might be surprised that The American Breed morphed into the successful 70s group Rufus. The American Breed were from the Chicago suburb of Cicero, IL. They were originally called Gary & The Nite Lites led by lead singer Gary Loizzo along with Charles Colbert Jr. on bass, Al Ciner on guitar and Lee Graziano on drums. They released one single locally and then signed with the Dot Records subsidiary Acta and changed their name to The American Breed. They recorded four albums for Acta all produced by former Dunwich Records owner Bill Traut. Their first album didn't do well. But Bend Me, Shape Me reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 but the album didn't do as well. Bend Me, Shape Me was written by Scott English and Larry Weiss and was a hit in England for Amen Corner and then recorded by The Outsiders in 1966. Scott English had a hit in 1973 with Brandy which became the Barry Manilow hit Mandy. The American Breed started having personnel problems and brought in keyboard player Kevin Murphy and drummer Andre Fischer. They shortened their name to The Breed and then changed it to Smoke and then Ask Rufus. Eventually they had success when Fischer returned to the band and Chaka Khan replaced Paulette McWilliams as lead singer. You can get Bend Me, Shape Me on this excellent 2CD various artists comp from Universal's Hip-O label. American Breed lead singer Gary Loizzo started his own recording studio and is known as recording engineer for Styx. He has two Grammy nominations for Best Engineered Album. Andre Fischer has had a long career as a record producer and was once married to Natalie Cole. Here's The American Breed performing Bend Me, Shape Me 1967.
No comments:
Post a Comment