As promised, I wanted to give you the answers to some of your questions,
as well as give you my comments on James that you may use at your
discretion.

In the making of Bread records, James and I did harmony to each others
songs far more than may be recognizable.  That is because our voices
blended quite remarkably, plus our southern accents were very similar,
him being from Memphis and me from Tulsa.  To hear some of the most
obvious harmonies, listen to "It Don't Matter To Me," where James comes
in with the high harmony on the second verse.  Same with "Baby I'm-A Want
You' and "Guitar Man."  But for the best example of James' great skill at
harmony vocals, listen to the last chorus of "Lost Without Your Love,"
which is some pretty high and tight stuff.  We co-wrote and sang probably
our best harmony together on "I Want You With Me," or "Didn't Even Know
Her Name."

The lead guitar work was passed around based on who was having a good day
at it.  James played lead on "Baby I'm-A Want You," that was me on "Sweet
Surrender" and "Make It With You," and Larry Knechtel on "Guitar Man."

I released an album in 1994 on Discovery Records called "Love Is Always
Seventeen."  Discovery was a label of Jac Holzman, who also started
Elektra Records.  Discovery was in the WEA group, but is now defunct,
having been swallowed up by Sire, and the masters today are the property
of Warner Strategic Marketing.  I released an album in the UK, South
Africa, Australia and New Zealand in 2002 called the "David Gates
Songbook," on Jive Records.  It went gold in the UK, and is now available
only as an import on Amazon, CD now, or eBay.

My statement on James Griffin is as follows.....

"The music business has lost one of it's greatest vocalists with the
passing of James Griffin, known mostly for his work with the group BREAD.
 He was a good songwriter, a rhythm guitarist with innate feel, but mostly
an excellent singer, able to harmonize with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
To fully appreciate his level of work, listen to "The Last Time," "Dream
Lady," and "Down On My Knees."  Our formative years of BREAD were our
best times together, when we roamed the streets of Hollywood, wrote and
sang together to discover each other's talents, or shot pool in Seattle
when we were on our first gigs.  As true with all other groups who lose a
primary member, that group can never perform again with the same
character, and we are fortunate to have the recordings of these groups
for history.  I regret that James' wife and two school-age children are
now left without him, and as Marti said best, "Our lives will never be
the same."

Best of luck on the tribute show, and play a couple for me.

David Gates