Song #243 - "Make It With You" - Bread

Recorded - winter or spring, 1970

Released - May 1970

#1 for week of August 22, 1970. 

     Here we have an act that, unlike The Carpenters, will be quite unfamiliar to those who didn't grow up in the era. I'll be honest that even I wasn't aware of this song's existence until I began 1970 on my blog. So either this is a song best left forgotten, or a song that at yeast deserves attention. In case you didn't catch my terrible pun, Bread is the musical group on the agenda. 

     David Gates, the eventual lead singer of Bread, had previous written several singles for other singers during the 1960's. He also produced an early Captain Beefheart single! In 1969, David joined forces with Jimmy Griffin, Robb Royer, and Mike Botts and thus, Bread was formed. 

     Bread are almost always labeled as "Soft-Rock", and while soft-pop is characterized by pianos and strings, soft-rock features laid-back rock instrumentation. However, the group certainly could rock out when they wanted to and weren't limited to softer music. Just give "Let Your Love Go" or "Fancy Dancer" a listen and see for yourself. 

     In 1970, Bread got this genre rolling with the David Gates written, produced, and sung "Make It With You". True to the genre, the song features a blend of electric and acoustic guitars, bass, and drums. There is also a restrained string section, that may actually be keyboard-played, as opposed to a real orchestra. 

     Overall, I'm a bit pleasantly surprised by "Make It With You". The electric guitar lines keep the song entertaining as opposed to sleepy. I also like the electric guitar tones used, and I feel they add a very summery sound to the song. Bread were certainly aiming for a more mellow sound with "Make It With You", especially with the lyrics and David's vocal performance. However, as was the case with my previous Carpenter's review, his vocal performance is quite good. 

     "Make It With You" would be Bread's only #1 hit. They would continue to release material throughout much of the 1970's, before going their separate ways. By this point in time, numerous other soft-rock bands came along to emulate Bread's original style. However, most of these imitators aimed more for the "Soft" side as opposed to "Rock" side of soft-rock. Guess sometimes, the originator is still the best. 

Final Verdict - Not bad, not bad at all. I'd certainly say "Make It With You" is a unjustly forgotten. It's not one of the most lavish or technically advanced songs of the year, but I found it quite pleasing to the ear. It's a much softer song and it stands in sharp contrast to a year that also brought us "Iron Man" and "Immigrant Song. Yet, I feel the song has enough of a footing in the door of rock to earn enjoyment by fans of guitar-based music. 

                            Coming Up Next - "War" by Edwin Starr. 

                Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock, and I kneed more dough -