According to an advertisement folder issued in the early seventies, Bread's beginning was "an accident," described as a "chance encounter among creative musicians who got together in late 1969 to explore a new escape from the supercharged notes exploding from overjuiced amps in those electronically inspired, frenzied days of rock." Whew! What a mouthful. Well, maybe the author of these adjective-laden phrases overdid it a little bit, but the essence of the message was true enough. Bread's music clearly defied the norms and was indicative of a change back to more interesting melodies and intricate harmonies.

They knew each other through various ways. Jimmy Griffin and David Gates each had solo careers with varying degrees of success, both as writers and artists. Larry Knechtel was a well-known studio musician, as was Mike Botts. Robb Royer, who was a founding member, had recently come from a singing group called "Pleasure Fair," whose producer was David Gates. So the raw talent was there and the desire to collaborate was there. According to David Gates, "We sat down, started singing and jamming together and the sound came out." Jimmy Griffin recalls "Because we both wanted to play, write, produce and arrange, we decided to form our own group."

In the beginning, there were just three: David, Jimmy and Robb. It was the summer of 1968 when the group approached Elektra Records....