Review of: Bread – The Guitar Man

Aah! It’s finally time to review the song of one of the best Soft Rock bands ever, viz. Bread. Simply put, they are “The Carpenters'” rock version. “Bread” consisted of extremely talented people; people who could play any instrument, and who could give vocals. Be it David Gates (Played the guitar, bass, violin, viola, percussion and gave vocals), Robb Royer (Played bass, guitar, flute, keyboard, recorder, percussion and gave background vocals), Mike Botts (Played drums) and Larry Knechtel [Replaced Royer later] (Played bass, guitar, harmonica). Talented bunch of chaps, ain’t they? They put on 13 songs on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles charts between 1990 and 1997. Actually, it was Bread who brought the genre “Soft Rock” into play. Out of a handful of my favorite songs, I’ll tell you three of them: “Make It With You”, “Everything I Own“, “Baby I’m A Want You” and “The Guitar Man“, which I’ll be reviewing today. So let’s get to it!

Bread (Band)

History: “The Guitar Man” is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the pop rock group Bread, of which Gates was a member. It was the main song in their 1972 album titled “Guitar Man“. The song raced to fame because of the wah-wah effect introduced by Larry Knetchel. It peaked at Number 11 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Charts. The song is composed of more than 12 different chords (A rather large number). There are also a lot of cover versions of this song. The original version, however (The Studio Version) has a duration of 3 Minutes and 48 Seconds.

Review: The song starts with the wah- wah effect of the electric guitar, immediately giving the song a Countryside feel. The drums (Mike Botts) are very subtle and calm. David Gates starts the vocals at 00:13, keeping the feel of the Countryside intact. The soft and mellow voice of Gates has a certain kind of hook to it. You’ll hear the bass, the wah-wah of the electric guitar, and the acoustic guitar grinding in the background while the vocals are active. The first stanza finishes and the second one begins instantaneously after a quirky guitar bridge. The lyrics are also very, very smooth. The famous *only-acoustic-guitar* bridge of the song begins at 01:32 and ends at 01:58, where the electric guitar takes over for a brief solo. The solo, too; has a sharp countryside feel to it. The vocal part I like the most is from 02:28 to 02:38. In the lines “Something keeps him moving, but no one seems to know; “WHAT”  it is that makes him go”, the word “what” is SO SMOOTH, it just melts you inside. The second “Only-acoustic-guitar” bridge begins right after that. The song kicks into rock mode in 02:53 and keeps the tempo up till the end. The song ends with the “Either way” and “Got to play” loop, and an applause; and fades at 03:30.

Rating: It’s a smack-in-the-middle 10/10!! For fans of soft rock, this is an absolutely UNMISSABLE song for you guys! For the others, well, the same criteria applies for you too!! Listen to the song and have fun!

 

Lyrics link for “The Guitar Man” : http://artists.letssingit.com/bread-lyrics-the-guitar-man-g8f7zw9

Download link for “The Guitar Man” : http://netanimations.net/The-Guitar-Man.mp3 (Right click on link, click “Save As”)

“The Guitar Man” is a song from Bread’s album “Guitar Man”