The Guitar Man

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"The Guitar Man"
The Guitar Man - Bread.jpg
Single by Bread
from the album Guitar Man
B-side "Just Like Yesterday"
ReleasedJuly 1972
Genre Rock, soft rock [1]
Length3:46
Label Elektra
Songwriter(s) David Gates
Producer(s) David Gates
Bread singles chronology
"Diary"
(1972)		"The Guitar Man"
(1972)		"Sweet Surrender"
(1972)

"The Guitar Man" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the rock group Bread. It first appeared on Bread's 1972 album, Guitar Man . It is a mixture of the sounds of soft rock, including strings and acoustic guitar, and the addition of a wah-wah effect electric guitar, played by Larry Knechtel. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and was their third No. 1 hit on the easy listening chart, [2] (following "If" and "Baby I'm-a Want You").

Contents

Record World called it a "superfine superhit" with a "beautiful tune, apt lyric, full, rich production." [3] Cash Box said "this ballad proves [Bread's] versatility and ability to handle a lyric that says a bit more than 'I love you.'" [4] Cash Box also said the song "is about performers, but is bound to be a listener's dream." [4]

Chart performance

Chart (1972)Peak
position
Australia (KMR)22
Canada Top Singles (RPM) [5] 6
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) [6] 7
Ireland (IRMA) [7] 14
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [8] 8
UK Singles (OCC) [9] 16
US Billboard Hot 100 [10] 11
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [11] 1
US Cash Box Top 100 [12] 10

Personnel

Cover versions

The song has been covered by David J on his 2003 album Estranged, Cake on their 2004 album Pressure Chief , Starflyer 59 on their 2007 vinyl collection Ghosts of the Future, and Bobby Bare Jr. on his American Bread EP. Hank Marvin released his album Guitar Man with a cover version of the song. In 2012 Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby recorded a version for a fund raising CD titled Super Hits of the Seventies for radio station WFMU. In 2020, The Wild Feathers included a version of the song on their album "Medium Rarities". A pared back version of the song was sung by Bobby Goldsboro on his album ‘Brand New Kind of Love’.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2013-08-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 39.
  3. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. July 15, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  4. 1 2 "Cash Box Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 15, 1972. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  5. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Guitar Man". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Bread – The Guitar Man". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Bread: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Bread Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Bread Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 9/23/72". Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
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