Bread and Butter (song)

This article is about the Newbeats song. For other uses, see Bread and butter § Music.
"Bread and Butter"
Single by the Newbeats
from the album Bread & Butter
B-side"Tough Little Buggy"
ReleasedJuly 1964 (US)
August 28, 1964 (UK)
Recorded1964
GenrePop
Length1:58
LabelHickory 1269
Songwriter(s)
  • Larry Parks
  • Jay Turnbow
The Newbeats singles chronology
"Bread and Butter"
(1964) 		"Everything's Alright"
(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.

"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.[1]

The opening two-chord piano riff and the lead falsetto singing voice of Larry Henley are notable features of the song.

Soon 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".[2] 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. 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"; in the former, it featured in the opening scene after the opening credits (with Radio dedicating the song to Toaster, whom he called "a chrome-plated crony with a big heart full of crumbs"; Hearing Aid himself was introduced singing a variation of the Schmidt jingle version). The song has also been used as a jingle for Savacentre, Spam, Doritos, Little Chef[3] and Quaker Rice Cakes; as well as in a 2018 television commercial for Walmart.

The song has been featured on numerous compilations, including Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1964 and Classic Rock (Time-Life Music).

The American Henry Qualls, a Texas and country blues guitarist and singer, covered the song on Blues from Elmo, Texas (1994).[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Book of Golden Discs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Harrison, David (4 September 1998). "The song remains the same". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  3. ^ Little Chef Advert 1987 THF Trust House Forte, YouTube.com, Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  4. ^ "Blues from Elmo, Texas - Henry Qualls | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. 22 November 1995. Retrieved 10 January 2017.