NEVER LET HER GO
DAVID GATES
SONGWRITER: DAVID GATES
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: NEVER LET HER GO
LABEL: ELECTRA RECORDS
GENRE: SOFT ROCK
YEAR: 1975
David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940)
is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman
and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin)
of the group Bread,
which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on
several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Gates was surrounded by music from infancy, as the son of Clarence, a band
director, and Wanda Gates (née Rollins), a piano teacher. He became proficient
in piano, violin, bass and guitar by the time he enrolled in Tulsa's Will
Rogers High School. Gates formed his first band,
The Accents, with other high school musicians which included a piano player,
Claude Russell Bridges, who later in life changed his name to Leon Russell.
During a concert in 1957, the Accents backed Chuck Berry.
In 1957, David Gates and the Accents released the 45
"Jo-Baby"/"Lovin' at Night" on Robbins record label. The
A-side was written for his sweetheart, Jo Rita, whom he married in 1959 while
enrolled at the University
of Oklahoma studying law and pre-med. At
Oklahoma he became a member of Delta
Tau Delta International Fraternity.
In 1961, he and his family moved to Los Angeles,
where Gates continued writing songs, and he worked as a music copyist,
as a studio musician,
and as a producer for many artists – including Pat Boone.
Success soon
followed. His composition "Popsicles
and Icicles" hit Nº. 3 on the US Hot
100 for The Murmaids in January 1964. The
Monkees recorded another of his songs,
"Saturday's Child".
By the end of the 1960s, he had worked with many leading artists, including Elvis Presley,
Bobby Darin,
Merle Haggard,
Duane Eddy and Brian Wilson.
In 1965, Gates arranged the Glenn
Yarbrough hit,
"Baby the Rain Must Fall".
In 1966, he produced two singles on A&M
Records for Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band which were hits in the Los Angeles area.
Never Let Her Go is the second solo album by David Gates of the American soft rock band Bread.
Everybody needs a
someone
Waitin' to be there when things are
a-lookin' down
So if you feel a little lonely
Go out, find your one and only
Somewhere out there
Someone will care for you
and then...
Never Let Her Go
Never Let Her Go
You may wonder how
you know love
When the moment comes that you've
been a-dreamin' of
Well true love takes a little longer
Your heart beats a little stronger
You'll know it's real
Inside you'll feel you're home at
last... then
Never Let Her Go
Never Let Her Go
So if you feel a
little lonely
Go out, find your one and only
Open your heart
Give love a start and watch it
grow... and
Never Let Her Go
Never Let Her Go.