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. The song, written by Scott 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 the 16 December 1967 episode of the television show "American Bandstand", along with Pink Floyd.

The original members of the group were Gary Loizzo on vocals, Charles Colbert, Jr. on bass guitar, Al Ciner on guitar, and Lee Graziano on drums. All members were from the greater Chicago 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 Acta record 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 by Chaka 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 married Natalie Cole. A compilation album, "Bend Me, Shape Me: The Best of the American Breed", was released in 1994. "Bend Me, Shape Me" continues to receive occasional airplay on oldies radio stations.

In celebration of the 2005 baseball World Championship of the Chicago 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 (born May 14 1947, Chicago)
*Kevin Murphy - keyboards (born 1947, Chicago)
*Charles Colbert - bass (born August 30 1944, Chicago)
*Lee Graziano - drums (born November 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"] at TV.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]