Bread's first single, "Dismal Day" in the Summer of 1969 flopped, but the second album On the Waters established them as a major act in 1970 with the #1 hit "Make It With You".
For their next single, they released a re-recorded version of "It Don't Matter To Me", a Gates song from their first album. This single was a hit as well, reaching #10.
The band began touring and recording the 1971 album titled Manna (#21), which included the Top 5 hit single, "If". In January 1972 Bread released Baby I'm-a Want You, their most successful album, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200. The title song was established as a hit in late 1971 before the album was even released. Follow-up singles "Everything I Own" and "Diary" also went Top 20.
The next album, Guitar Man, was released ten months later and went to #18. The album produced three Top 20 singles, "The Guitar Man" (#11), "Sweet Surrender" (#15), and "Aubrey" (#15), with the first two going to #1 on Billboard's adult contemporary chart.
Despite the band's success, tensions existed between Gates and Griffin. By 1973, fatigue from constant recording and touring had set in and personal relationships began to show strain. There was also some dissatisfaction with the songs planned for a sixth album. Bread decided to go their own ways with solo projects, but to limited success.
The Best of Bread compilation album from 1973 became a standard in everybody's collection, a huge commercial success that peaked at #2 and remained on the chart for over two years. A follow-up, The Best Of Bread, Volume Two, was released in 1974 and went to #32.
The reunion of the group in 1976 came in the form of the LP Lost Without Your Love, released in January 1977. The title track, again written and sung by Gates, was the band's last Top 10 hit...
Bread: Guitar Man - 1972