William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Guitar Man ; Year: 1972; Genre: Soft Rock Used to listen to this record a lot back when I was in my early teens; still love it quite a bit. It's one of those album oriented rock discs that each track just leads from one to another perfectly as to not break the vibe and flow of the listener. In my opinion Guitar Man was Bread's best record by a country mile; even though they might've had bigger hits elsewhere, the sum of its parts just blows their other studio album away. Anyway, this piece that features strings and acoustic guitar is quite mellow musically on the surface, but the emotion conveyed in the chord choices and melody along with David Gates' vocal performance make it deep and heavy all the same.   Hear Aubrey on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Bryan Adams - Summer of '69     My song pick 2 years ago today: For Squirrels - Plymouth     My song pick 3 years ago today: The Undisputed Truth - Atomic Funk   ...

From: Manna ; Year: 1971; Genre: Rock This one's always been among my favourite from Bread. Love the energy with that comes with that rhythm that gives the listener the feeling of movement like being in a truck speeding down a road.    Hear Truckin' on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Queen - Mustapha     My song pick 2 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Everything In Our Lives   My song pick 3 years ago today: Lakeside - Party Patrol   My song pick 4 years ago today: Nocturnal Rites - Never Trust   My song pick 5 years ago today: Quiet Riot - Metal Health (Bang Your Head)   My song pick 6 years ago today: Traffic - Smiling Phases My song pick 7 years ago today: Van der Graaf Generator - The Emperor In His War Room My song pick 8 years ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Feel the Thunder My song pick 9 years ago today: The Temptations - War My song pick 10 years ago today: Eric Stuart Band - Lipstick & Barbed ...

From: Manna ; Year: 1971; Genre: Hard Rock Let Your Love Go is one of the harder rockers from the band Bread, which to most is the undeniable embodiment of '70s soft rock. Though kind of rare amongst its musical brethren, this is not the only time the band decided to get a bit heavier; two right off the top of my head I can think of is Down On My Knees and the ever anthemic floor-shaker Mother Freedom , both of which are top favourites of mine. I really like how the beat-heavy rhythm goes right on through both the blues-rock inspired verses and more raucous, singalong style chorus.   Hear Let Your Love Go on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Simple Minds - Love Song   My song pick 2 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Hard Liner   My song pick 3 years ago today: Traffic - Glad My song pick 4 years ago today: Megadeth - Rattlehead My song pick 5 years ago today: Parliament - Everything Is on the One My song pick 6 years ago today: Symphony X...

From: Baby I'm-a Want You ; Year: 1971; Genre: Rock For the last couple of days I had a bunch of music from Bread running through my mind; I thought I would finally break down and pick one of their songs. This is one of the heavier tracks by the band, but not the heaviest; that would be Mother Freedom . All in all this is a great guitar driven track; one of their best in my opinion. Hear Down on my Knees on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Dream Theater - Learning to Live My song pick two years ago today: Franz Schubert - D 911, Op. 89 - Die Winterreise My song pick three years ago today: Bon Jovi - Runaway My song pick four years ago today: Missing Link - Spoiled Love My song pick five years ago today: Grace Slick - Angel of the Night My song pick six years ago today: Don Williams - Yellow Moon

Personally I could not let a guitar themed week go without choosing this one; it is one of my favorite songs from the band Bread. The song is about what drives a musician (The Guitar Man) to create and play his music and how he creates emotion in the listener. In this song bassist/keyboardist/guitarist Larry Knechtel provides the awesome guitar work; it is amazing to look at all artists that he has recorded with. Here is a video with the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. +

For the most part Bread is known for their softer ballads like their hits: " If ," and " Make It with You ," however this song is a lot heavier. Mother Freedom is a rock anthem of sorts, it has a sound somewhat similar to a lot of the American metal groups of the time; a real nice song to finish off a Saturday. Here is a video with the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance of the song by James Griffin on YouTube. +