Song:Never Let Her Go
Album:The David Gates Songbook
Of course David Gates is best known as the leader of the very successful 70s soft rock group Bread. He was lead singer and he wrote and produced most of the songs. But he also had solo success after Bread split up with the 1975 single Never Let Her Go and the theme from the 1977 film Goodbye Girl. He was born Dec. 11, 1940 in Tulsa. His father was a band director and his mother taught piano. He started his first band The Accents in high school. The pianist was Leon Russell. Gates married his high school sweetheart while studying pre-law and pre-med at University of Oklahoma. Then he moved to Los Angeles in 1961 and got into the music business as a studio musician, songwriter and producer. He wrote and produced The Murmaids 1964 top five hit Popsicles and Icicles. He also produced and arranged the theme for the 1965 film Baby, The Rain Must Fall for Glenn Yarbrough. After releasing a few unsuccessful singles, Gates formed Bread with Jimmy Griffin and later Larry Knechtel. That band was very successful until they split up in 1973. Gates released two solo albums. Never Let Her Go is from the 1975 album Never Let Her Go. It reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. The guitar solo is by veteran session musician Dean Parks. After Bread reunited to release the 1976 album Lost Without Your Love, Gates released the theme for the 1977 film Goodbye Girl. It reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The 1977 album Goodbye Girl was that single and songs from the first two albums. He toured with Knechtel and sax player Warren Ham of Bloodrock and his brother Bill Ham as David Gates and Bread. Griffin sued and Gates couldn't use the name Bread. After a couple more albums, Gates retired to his cattle ranch that he financed with songwriting royalties. He still runs that today. This comp covers Gates' solo recordings and his recordings with Bread. Here's David Gates performing Never Let Her Go on the BBC show The Old Grey Whistle Test 1975.
I grew up with him and Bread. Listen to his music while mom did chores in the car on the FM stations. Thanks so much Frank.
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