Green Light/Don’t It Make You Cry/Mindrocker/Bird/Something You’ve Got/Don’t Make Me Leave You/Bend Me Shape Me/Before & After/Sometime In The Morning/I’ve Been Tryin’/No Easy Way Down
Bend Me Shape Me was the most commercially successful album released by the pop group American Breed. The title track peaked at No. 5 in the US and was successfully covered in the UK by Amen Corner. (US:99)
“Fairly decent, as commercial pop albums go. This is pleasant and mostly uptempo vocal harmony pop with horns and/or orchestration, soul influences, a few easy listening moves, and great period flavour.”
“Somehow, in 1968, The American Breed managed to put out an album that retained the fresh-faced innocence of 1966. This is basically vocal harmonies over either horn sections (mostly Side A) or airy strings (mostly Side B). Pop with a touch of sweet soul, good if you like that sort of thing.”
"The American Breed in 1968 were pretty productive, bringing three LPs onto the market, of which this was the most successful. The album consists of a colourful mixture of rock and pop, fuzz and soul, is really well produced with some good brass and strings arrangements. Recommended to anyone interested in soul-oriented late sixties pop.”
“This, their second album contained their massive hit Bend Me Shape Me. The songs are far better than on the first album. Their version of The Monkees Sometimes In The Morning is just as good as Micky Dolenz's sung classic. Their take on Chuck Jackson's Something You Got just smokes and their interpretation of The Impressions' I've Been Trying can bring you to tears. The rest of the album is top-notch gritty Chicago garage rock. I can't give more honours to this classic.”
“The American Breed were my favourite horn based rock band of all time. They had a fine production formula which made for a great, if somewhat short-lived sound, during the dawning of the psych and heavy rock era.”
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