Bread and Butter (song)
{{About|the Newbeats song||Bread and butter (disambiguation)#Music{{!}}Bread and butter § Music}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2016}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Bread and Butter
| cover = The-newbeats-bread-and-butter-hickory-5.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Newbeats
| album = Bread & Butter
| B-side = Tough Little Buggy
| released = July 1964 (US)
28 August 1964 (UK)
| recorded = 1964
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop rock{{AllMusic |class=album |id=mw0000215543|title= Various Artists – Chartbusters USA, Vol. 2 (2002) Review |last= Unterberger|first= Richie|access-date= 16 November 2024}}
| length = 1:58
| label = Hickory 1269
| writer = * Larry Parks
- Jay Turnbow
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Everything's Alright
| next_year = 1964
}}
"Bread and Butter" is a 1964 song by American pop vocal trio the Newbeats. Written by Larry Parks and Jay Turnbow, "Bread and Butter" was the group's first and most popular hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background
"Bread and Butter" served as the Newbeats' demo in an effort to obtain a recording contract with Hickory Records. They were then asked to formally record the track for the label.
The opening two-chord piano riff and the lead falsetto singing voice of Larry Henley are notable features of the song.{{cn|date=February 2025}}
Use in other media
The song was sampled in the Dickie Goodman novelty tune "Presidential Interview (Flying Saucer '64)". "Bread and Butter" was the inspiration for the advertising jingle of Schmidt Baking Company used in the 1970s and 1980s; it went: "I like bread and butter, I like toast and jam, I like Schmidt's Blue Ribbon Bread, It's my favorite brand".{{cite news |first= David|last= Harrison|title= The song remains the same |url=http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/09/07/tidbits.html?page=2 |work=Baltimore Business Journal |date=4 September 1998 |access-date=2008-05-17 }} Devo covered the song in 1986 for the soundtrack to the film 9½ Weeks. A lyrically modified version was used as the theme for the television series Baby Talk.{{cn|date=February 2025}}
The song features on the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy-drama film, Simon Birch, as well as in the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. "Bread and Butter" also was featured in The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars and in the Lizzie McGuire episode "She Said, He Said, She Said".{{cn|date=February 2025}} The song has also been used as a jingle for Savacentre, Spam, Doritos, Little Chef[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTqQH670XEU Little Chef Advert 1987 THF Trust House Forte], YouTube.com, Retrieved 24 January 2021. and Quaker Rice Cakes; as well as in a 2018 television commercial for Walmart.{{cn|date=February 2025}}
Chart performance and run
- Billboard Hot 100 (12 weeks, entered 15 August): Reached No. 2 (two weeks){{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| pages= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/179 179–180]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/179
| first= Joel
| last= Whitburn
| year= 1997
| title= Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles
| publisher= Record Research Inc
| location= Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
| isbn= 0-89820-122-5
| page= 435}}
- Cashbox (14 weeks, entered 8 August): No. 2{{cite book
| first= Frank
| last= Hoffmann
| year= 1983
| title= The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981
| publisher= The Scarecrow Press, Inc
| location= Metuchen, NJ & London
| page= 420}}
It was kept from the No. 1 spot by both: "The House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals and "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100|title=Top 100 Songs – Billboard Hot 100 Chart|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=6 January 2019}} The song reached No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 393}} and No. 8 in Australia. It sold over one million copies in the United States, attaining a gold disc.
Compilations
The song has been featured on numerous compilations, including Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1964 and Classic Rock (Time-Life Music).
Cover versions
- Checkmates, Ltd. as part of a medley on their 1967 debut album, Live! at Caesar's Palace.{{cn|date=February 2025}}
- The American Henry Qualls, a Texas and country blues guitarist and singer, covered the song on Blues from Elmo, Texas (1994).{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/blues-from-elmo-texas-mw0000123396 |title=Blues from Elmo, Texas – Henry Qualls | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=1995-11-22 |access-date=2017-01-10}}
8 Robert John covered it in 1983 and had a minor hit with it in the US
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{discogs master|type=single|205694}}
{{The Newbeats}}
{{authority control}}