David Gates
| David Gates | |
|---|---|
Gates in 1975
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Ashworth Gates |
| Born |
December 11, 1940 Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States |
| Genres | Rock and roll, soft rock, country, pop, adult contemporary |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1957–present |
| Labels | A&M, Elektra |
| Associated acts | Bread |
David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer, best known as the co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gates was surrounded by music from infancy, as the son of a band director and a piano teacher. He became proficient in piano, bass and guitar by the time he enrolled in Tulsa's Will Rogers High School. Gates joined local bands around Tulsa. During a concert in 1957, his high school band backed Chuck Berry. Later, Gates released his first local hit single, "Jo-Baby", a song he had written for his sweetheart, Jo Rita, whom he married in 1958 while enrolled at the University of Oklahoma studying music. At Oklahoma he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.
In 1961, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where Gates continued writing songs, and he worked as a music copyist, as a studio musician, and as a producer for many artists – including Pat Boone. Success soon followed. His composition "Popsicles and Icicles" hit No. 3 on the US Hot 100 for The Murmaids in January 1964. The Monkees recorded another of his songs, "Saturday's Child". By the end of the 1960s, he had worked with many leading artists, including Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Merle Haggard, Duane Eddy and Brian Wilson. In 1965, Gates arranged the Glenn Yarbrough hit, "Baby the Rain Must Fall". In 1966, he produced two singles on A&M Records for Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band which were hits in the Los Angeles area.
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