Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCL--Bread: Aubrey

My introduction to this week's tune wasn't actually the original version, but a cover version by Frank Sinatra...Jr.  Yes, the man whose musical career would have been as long as mine had his father not been one of the greatest crooners in pop music history sang this on some way back when talk show (maybe the Muscular Dystrophy telethons that Jerry Lewis once did?) and I spent years trying to find it, though it probably would have helped had I not thought the song was called "Auburn" instead of "Aubrey."  To this day I have been unable to find the Frank Sinatra, Jr. version, which may have been a one off.  Just as well--the Bread version is much better.

Bread formed in 1968 in Los Angeles and had a nice run over its relatively brief career.  More or less the brainchild of frontman David Gates, Bread had several hits in their first five years before drugs and the strain of constantly recording and touring took their toll, and they called it quits in 1973.  The band re-formed in 1976 for two years, before calling it quits for good until the obligatory Let's Make a Ton of Money Reunion Tour in 1996 (which lasted a year).  During its 1970's heyday, the band released six albums, five of which hit the top thirty on the Billboard 200 (with the highest peaking at #3).  Bread also released thirteen singles during that time, six of which hit the top ten (and with one #1 hit as well).  In keeping with the Let's Make a Ton of Money theme, the band has also released more compilation albums (ten) than it has studio albums--we Americans do love our Greatest Hits packages.  Sadly, three of the five musicians who made the bulk of Bread's music have passed away since 2005, though David Gates continues to record and perform, and had a modicum of success in his post Bread career.

"Aubrey" was released in 1973, the last single from their 1972 release The Guitar Man (the title track is also a really nice tune).  It would eventually reach #15 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fun Fact:  Though used to name children of both sexes, Aubrey was primarily a man's name until the release of this single.  Since that time it has become primarily a woman's name.  Oh, the things you learn here on Friday Night Jukebox....

Given their history (most of the songs I know by Bread, outside of the two tunes noted above, have been incredibly sappy), it would have been easy for Bread to take a song with the subject of an unrequited love and turn it into another mawkish tune.  Somehow Gates avoided his usual fate and turned in a stellar effort, making the love never realized more wistful than maudlin.  The music is sparse, featuring an acoustic guitar, some strings and a celeste (it's looks somewhat like a piano, but hits different octaves--and yes, I had to look it up to know that), but it's Gates' vocals which carry the song.  He has several very lovely moments when his voice hits higher notes to stress the emotion of the lyric--it probably happens in ballads more than I realize, but I really noticed it in "Aubrey."  In the end, Gates does a fine job of showcasing why the girl was so special to him and why, while his life will go on, there will always be a little sadness that he never got to know her.  I don't feature a lot of ballads here on FNJ, so when I do you know that it's a special tune...and I'd say that "Aubrey" fits that bill nicely.

Lyric Sheet:  "But how I miss the girl/And I'd go a million times around the world just to say/She had been mine for a day..."

Enjoy:

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