Elektra / Wea
1972
Guitar Man
About This Album
Guitar Man is a classy album from Bread which provided David Gates with reason enough to go solo. Just listen to "Aubrey" to hear how the producer/singer/songwriter could create a strong track with little or no help from his fellow musicians. On the other hand, two of his strongest songs, "Sweet Surrender" and "The Guitar Man," are totally products of a band in a groove. The three hits failed to break the Top Ten, though the title track came close, one notch away. It and the sublime "Sweet Surrender" both topped the adult contemporary charts in 1972, while "Aubrey" followed those two titles, going Top 15 itself in early 1973. It would be almost four years before the group would enter the charts for the final time at the end of 1976 with "Lost Without Your Love." That makes Guitar Man the final chapter of the band's first era, three of their 11 hits coming from this volume. The original LP cover featured beautiful off-pastel illustrations by Bob Ziering on rough cardboard without the slick gloss, impressive to the look and touch, while the music inside reflected the professionalism radio programmers and the audience expected to hear from this product.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.