Retrospective

Performer: Bread
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: RETROSPECTIVE includes classic Bread songs as well as tracks from solo projects of former Bread members. Bread: David Gates (vocals, guitar, violin, keyboards, bass); James Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Larry Knechtel (guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass); Robb Royer (guitar, keyboards, bass); Mike Botts (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Jim Gordon (drums). James Griffin personnel: James Griffin (electric guitar); David Gates (12-string guitar, bass); Robb Royer, David Cohen (guitar); Larry Knechtel (keyboards). David Gates personnel: David Gates (guitar, keyboards, bass); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); Hadley Hockensmith (guitar, bass); Larry Carlton, Louie Shelton, Dean Parks, Robin Williamson (guitar); David Lindley (fiddle); Jimmy Getzoff (strings); Jim Horn, Tom Scott (alto saxophone); Dick Hyde (bass trumpet); Chuck Findley (flugelhorn); Larry Knechtel (keyboards, bass); David Miner (bass); Mike Botts, Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Jim Gordon, John Guerin, Russ Kunkel (drums); Craig Gates (percussion). Producers: Bread, David Gates, James Griffin, Robb Royer, James Griffin. Compilation producers: Bread, David McLees, Bill Inglot. Engineers include: Bruce Botnick, Armin Steiner, Ed Barton. Recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders and DG Studios, Los Angeles, California; Sound Recorders, Id Sound Studios and Wally Heider Studios, Hollywood, California. Includes liner notes by Barry Alfonso. Personnel: David Gates (guitar, keyboards); Dean Parks, Hadley Hockensmith, Larry Carlton, Louie Shelton, Robin Williamson (guitar); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); David Lindley (fiddle); James Getzoff (strings); Jim Horn, Tom Scott (alto saxophone); Dick Hyde (bass trumpet); Chuck Findley (flugelhorn); Larry Knechtel (keyboards); Michael Botts, Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Jim Gordon , John Guerin, Russ Kunkel (drums); Craig Gates (percussion). Audio Remasterers: Geoff Sykes; Bill Inglot. Liner Note Author: Barry Alfonso. Photographers: David Gates; Frank Bez. Arranger: David Gates. It may have been the late rock critic Lester Bangs who first applied the tag "wimp rock" to the session men-turned-AM radio stars of Bread. They were an easy target, and the appellation stuck. Even at the band's most impassioned, rocking out wasn't the point; instead, Bread made some of the finest, most enduring soft rock singles ever. Delicate, acoustic-based love songs such as "Make it With You" and "If" sound like they could have been recorded at any point in the last few decades. This handsomely-packaged two-disc set collects all of Bread's singles, both charting and otherwise, along with significant album tracks, rarities, and a handful of solo recordings made after Bread's late-'70s breakup, including David Gates' hit movie theme "The Goodbye Girl," in excellently remastered sound.

Rolling Stone (12/26/96, p.189) - "...Writing and singing about the pressures and rewards of monogamy, the group's David Gates sounds like the Uber role model for today's country-radio squires, with one crucial difference--his seductive melodicism....guilty pleasures don't always turn out to be embarrassments." Q (10/96, p.175) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...the understated, romantic pop rock of Bread helped to define the sound of the early-'70s..."

The kings of 1970s soft rock, Bread was led by singer/songwriters David Gates and James Griffin. The band's mellow, highly melodic style made it a mainstay on the Top 40 and AM radio throughout the decade, with huge hits such as "If" and "Baby, I'm A-Want You." Bread split in the late 1970s, with Gates and Griffin pursuing solo careers. Gates had a solo smash with the title song for the hit film THE GOODBYE GIRL, and Griffin found success in the country-music field with the Remingtons. Any hopes of a Bread reunion were dashed when Griffin died of cancer in January 2005.

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