- The American Breed
The American Breed was an American rock band that was formed in 1966 and disbanded in 1969.
Career
The group was formed in Cicero,
Illinois as Gary & The Nite Lites. The group's greatest success was the single, "Bend Me, Shape Me ," which reached number five on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968. Thesong , written byScott English and Larry Weiss, was a remake of a recording by The Outsiders that had been released the year before. The group also appeared on the16 December 1967 episode of thetelevision show "American Bandstand ", along withPink Floyd .The original members of the group were
Gary Loizzo on vocals, Charles Colbert, Jr. onbass guitar , Al Ciner onguitar , and Lee Graziano ondrum s. All members were from the greaterChicago area. As Gary & The Nite Lites, they were somewhat successful in Chicago and released one single. Soon afterwards, the group underwent several changes. They moved to the Actarecord label and renamed themselves The American Breed. Two new members were also added by 1968: Kevin Murphy on keyboards and Andre Fischer on drums.The band enjoyed its greatest success in 1967 and 1968. They released five singles that reached the charts, including "Step Out Of Your Mind", "Green Light" and "Bend Me, Shape Me". The group went through several more name and personnel changes, but with Ciner and Murphy remaining as core members through the changes. First was shortening the name to 'The Breed', then re-naming the band 'Smoke', before evolving to a R&B
funk sound as 'Ask Rufus'. They added singer Paulette McWilliams, who was later replaced byChaka Khan , and finally became Rufus, (former American Breed drummer Andre Fisher returned as Rufus's drummer during this period), and the band later scored their first Top 10 hit under the Rufus name with "Tell Me Something Good" in 1974. Fischer later marriedNatalie Cole . Acompilation album , "Bend Me, Shape Me: The Best of the American Breed", was released in 1994. "Bend Me, Shape Me" continues to receive occasionalairplay onoldies radio stations .In celebration of the 2005
baseball World Championship of theChicago White Sox , the American Breed issued a CD single entitled "Rock with the Sox." The single was produced by Gary Loizzo. [cite web|url=http://www.midwestbeat.com/ezine/November%202005/release.htm|title=White Sox Glory Put To Song…|author=Tom Lounges|date=2005|accessdate=2007-06-18|publisher="Midwest Beat Magazine"]Best known lineup
*Gary Loizzo - vocals, guitar (born
August 16 1945 , Chicago)
*Al Ciner - guitar (bornMay 14 1947 , Chicago)
*Kevin Murphy - keyboards (born1947 , Chicago)
*Charles Colbert - bass (bornAugust 30 1944 , Chicago)
*Lee Graziano - drums (bornNovember 9 1943 , Chicago)References
External links
* [http://www.tsimon.com/breed.htm The American Breed web site]
* [http://www.tv.com/american-bandstand/pink-floyd---the-american-breed/episode/163775/recap.html Episode summary for The American Breed's appearance on "American Bandstand"] atTV.com
* [http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=328429 Musicmatch guide web page on The American Breed]
* [http://www.bsnpubs.com/dot/acta.html Acta records history including The American Breed]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.