The American Breed is an American rock band from Chicago, formed in the mid-1960s and best known for their psychedelic hit "Bend Me, Shape Me". The band was originally founded as Gary & the Knight Lites, before adopting the name The American Breed in 1967, when it signed with Acta Records. The band's distinctive blend of psychedelic rock, bubblegum pop and white soul, incorporating horns into its arrangements, foreshadowed the stylistic evolutions of some of its members. The classic line-up included Gary Loizzo (vocals, guitar), Charles Colbert (bass), Lee Graziano (drums, trumpet) and Al Ciner (guitar). After their first chart hit in 1967, "Step Out of Your Mind" (#24 on the Billboard Hot 100), came their biggest hit, "Bend Me, Shape Me", which reached #5ᵉ on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1968 (#6 in the Netherlands, #9 in Germany and #24 in the UK), becoming their signature song and main commercial success. Other titles enjoyed more modest success, such as "Green Light" (no. 39), "Ready, Willing and Able" (no. 84) and "Anyway That You Want Me" (no. 88). That same year, 1968, "The Brain", with music by George Delerue, was used as the theme song for Gérard Oury's film Le Cerveau. The group recorded four studio albums between 1967 and 1969, before disbanding in 1970. After the split, several members joined or helped form the funk and soul group Rufus, later known for its association with Chaka Khan. Gary Loizzo pursued a career as a producer and sound engineer, notably for the band Styx, before dying of pancreatic cancer on January 16, 2016, at the age of 70.
