The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
Bread
Baby I’m-A Want You
At No.25, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is Bread with “Baby I’m-A Want You”.
As we reach the half-way point in this chart,..
…I arrive at one of my favourite songs which I discovered many years later.
Bread came together initially as a trio, back in 1968,..
…but the group member’s individual stories go back as far as over ten years previously from then.
The initial coming together of any of the band members happened when singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Jimmy Griffin teamed up with fellow musician, singer and songwriter Robb Royer.
Jimmy had already released an album,..
…years before in 1963 called ‘Summer Holiday’. The title track having been a U.K. No.1 hit single for Cliff Richard and the Shadows at the beginning of that year…
Jimmy would team up with Robb,..
…about 4 years later, when they became friends and songwriters. A respectful companionship which would eventually last a lifetime.
He would also co-write with others, including composer, musician, producer, and screenwriter Michael Gordon, which won this partnership a BMI award a year later for their song “Apologize”.
That same year…
…in 1968, Jimmy and Robb got together with another musician, singer, and songwriter David Gates.
David’s musicianship…
…went even further back, to his high school days, when he’d formed ‘Dave Gates & The Accents’ which had included a pianist called Claude Russell Bridges, who would later change his name to Leon Russell.
It was while David was with ‘The Accents’, that they first backed Chuck Berry in 1957, and then a year later released a single “Jo Baby”. A song written by David for the girl who would become his wife a couple of years later.
After David had moved from his hometown in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Los Angeles at the beginning of the 1960’s,..
…he wrote songs which became hits for other artists, such as “Popsicles and Icicles” which had become a success in the U.S. for the Murmaids.
Another pop outfit which benefitted from David’s songwriting,..
…were ‘The Monkees’, who featured David’s song “Saturday’s Child”.
Like Jimmy, David would also collaborate with Robb,..
…but in the capacity of conductor and arranger on a debut album for Robb’s previous band ‘Pleasure Fair’, of which one of the tracks “Turnaround” featured the band guesting in a cameo role for the detective TV show ‘Ironside’.
It wouldn’t be long afterwards,..
…that David would join the songwriting partnership of Robb and Jimmy, who, between them, would collectively form ‘Bread’; initially as a trio.
As David recalls…
“A bread truck came along right at the time we were trying to think of a name.
We had been saying, “How about bush, telephone pole? Ah, bread truck, bread.” It began with a B, like the Beatles and the Bee Gees.
Bread also had a kind of universal appeal. It could be taken a number of ways.
Of course, for the entire first year people called us the Breads”.
Their debut single,..
…called “Dismal Day”, ended up living up to its title, and “dismally” failed to chart.
Meanwhile, in contrast to the new band’s nonstarter,..
…Jimmy and Robb (using the respective pseudonyms Arthur James and Robb Wilson) found magnificent success, when they provided lyrics to TV and film score composer Fred Karlin’s tune “For All We Know” (which featured in the movie ‘Lovers And Other Strangers’), where it won the Academy Award for best composition.
Back in the group,..
…the three of them initially relied at first on session drummers, until they realised that, due to conflicting schedules, it was proving impossible to tour with one. So they recruited Mike Botts.
Mike had also previously worked with other artists,..
…such as Tommy Flanders, Dick Rosmini, Mary McCaslin, Joshua Fox, Sal Valentino, and Ananda Shankar.
The addition of Mike now joining the group,..
…and expanding the band to a four piece, they soon scored their first breakout hit with ‘Make It With You’.
With songwriting duties split evenly…
…between Jimmy, Robb, and David, they soon began to achieve a number of hit singles on home soil in their Soft Rock style, including “It Don’t Matter To Me” which reached the Top 10…
…and “If”,..
…which reached No.4 in the U.S.
However, three albums in,..
…and Robb’s dissatisfaction with the rest of the group forced him to leave; and with him, his third of the songwriting input with the band.
Unperturbed, they carried on, eventually welcoming Larry Knechtel to the group.
Larry’s musical background had been initially carried out on the road,..
…when he had toured and recorded most notably with Duane Eddy in the 1950’s, providing piano on his album ‘The “Twangs” The “Thang”‘…
Six years later,..
…and making appearances on other’s albums, after playing bass and keyboards for Jan and Dean, and piano for Barry McGuire, he performed harmonica duties, hiding under the pseudonym of ‘Larry Nelson’;and with his fellow sought after musicians, who were famously named ‘The Wrecking Crew’, they recorded the album ‘The “In” Harmonica’, which also featured keyboard maestro Billy Preston.
A year later,..
…after donating piano, celeste, bass, and keyboard backing for Terry Gibbs, he provided the organ accompaniments for the ‘Beach Boys’’ album ‘Pet Sounds’.
Two years on,..
…after more legendary album ‘Wrecking Crew’ appearances (with himself playing piano for the Righteous Brothers; keyboards for ‘The Grass Roots’, and for ‘The Mamas And The Papas’; bass and organ for ‘The Monkees’; piano for Hamilton Camp; and the same, plus additional keyboards for Johnny Rivers; piano and electric piano for Nancy Sinatra; organ, piano, and additional keyboards for ‘The 5th Dimension’; and drums and keyboards for Bob Ray); he would provide bass and keyboards for what would become known as the ‘Elvis Presley ’68 Comeback Special’.
And 1 year further on,..
…after he’d appeared with them on further albums (contributing bass and piano for Harry Nilsson; piano and keyboards for Lee Michaels; keyboards again, along with organ and piano for Mama Cass; and keyboards for Michael Nesmith; organ, harpsichord, and keyboards for Richard Harris; bass for ‘Spanky And Our Gang’, and the same for ‘The Collectors’;…
…still with me?….good…
….bass and keyboards for Anders & Poncia; piano for Bob Morrison; bass for David Ackles; keyboards for Hoyt Axton; organ, piano, keyboards, hammond organ, and clavinet for Jeffrey Comanor; bass, harmonica, and piano for ‘The Mike Post Coalition’; and organ and celeste for the ‘Mystic Moods Orchestra’;…
(…and breathe…))
…it would be his talented digits on the piano that you would hear first, when you dropped the needle at the beginning of side one of Simon and Garfunkel’s last album together.
In fact by the time Larry joined Jimmy, David and Mike,..
…he had worked with almost another 30 artists on top of those already mentioned, including already established icons such as Barbra Streisand, and new up and coming artists, such as Billy Joel.
Now, with him joining in on this new line-up, the band would release this latest effort.
“Baby I’m – A Want You” had entered the U.K. Singles Chart…
…at No.38 on the 9th of January, and in 4 weeks had broken the Top 20 to achieve it’s highest position of No.14, in the week that January turned to February.
Managing to keep inside the Top 20 up until this week, the 20th of February will see it fall back out, but it won’t leave the chart completely for another month, until after the 18th of March, which will give the single a total of 10 weeks in the Top 50 altogether.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Bread – Truckin’
Bread – Baby I’m – A Want You (TV Appearance)
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