The Guitar Man
| "The Guitar Man" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Just Like Yesterday" |
"The Guitar Man" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the rock group Bread, of which Gates was a member. It first appeared on Bread's 1972 album, Guitar Man. The song 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. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and their third number-one hit on the easy listening chart,[2] (following "If" and "Baby I'm-a Want You").
The melody of the song is complex and is played by using 12 different chords, which is a rather high number for a pop song.
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.
Personnel (Bread version)
- David Gates - lead vocals, bass guitar, string instruments
- James Griffin - acoustic guitar, harmony vocals
- Larry Knechtel - lead guitar
- Mike Botts - drums
See also
References
- ^ Soft Rock Music - What is Soft Rock? - Oldies Music Songs and Artists
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 39.
External links
 | This 1970s pop song–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |