David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940)[1] is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s.

He became proficient in piano, violin, bass and guitar by the time he enrolled in Tulsa's Will Rogers High School.

[3] 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.

[4] 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.

By the end of the 1960s, he had worked with many leading artists, including Elvis Presley, The Walker Brothers, Bobby Darin, Merle Haggard, The Ventures, Duane Eddy and Brian Wilson.

[citation needed] In 1965, Gates arranged the Glenn Yarbrough hit, "Baby the Rain Must Fall".

On Planetary, he released "Little Miss Stuck Up" / "The Brighter Side", and "Let You Go" / "Once upon a Time" under the pseudonym of "Del Ashley" in 1965.

In 1967, Gates produced and arranged the debut album for a band called The Pleasure Fair,[1][6] of which Robb Royer was a member.

Bread's next three albums, Manna (1971), Baby I'm-a Want You (1972) (featuring Larry Knechtel as a new member of the band, replacing Royer) and Guitar Man (1972) were also successful, with more chart singles and gold records.

That caused some antagonism between Gates and Griffin, who was also a significant contributor to Bread's albums as a singer and songwriter.

By the end of 1978, the "Bread" moniker had been dropped and they continued on as "David Gates and His Band".

He recorded a duet with Melissa Manchester, "Wish We Were Heroes", included in her 1982 album Hey Ricky.

[1] He concentrated on operating a cattle ranch in the Fall River Valley of Northern California, located on land he purchased in the 1970s.

Gates and Griffin put aside their differences, and reunited for a final Bread tour in 1996–97 with Botts and Knechtel.

The David Gates Songbook, containing earlier hit singles and new material, was released in 2002.

Frank Sinatra covered "If" in a live performance at Madison Square Garden on October 12, 1974, which was recorded by Reprise.

According to a 1996 article in People, Gates has remained married to high school sweetheart Jo Rita since 1959.