Paul Wheatbread (born February 8, 1946) is an American drummer.

Career

The Hard Times 
Wheatbread was a member of the Hard Times from 1965 to 1967; the group was one of the regular acts on the show, Where the Action Is. The group became a well-attended attraction on the Sunset Strip as house band to music venues such as the Whisky a Go Go. They managed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 with a cover version of Allen Toussaint's song "Fortune Teller" on the last chart week of 1966. The song only lasted on the charts for two weeks, leaving the charts in January 1967, peaking at number 97. After two years, Hard Times disbanded in 1967.

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap 
When the Hard Times ended, Wheatbread joined Gary and the Remarkables with Gary Puckett, Kerry Chater, Gary Withem, and Dwight Bement. The group then changed their name to Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, and they would have a number of hits in the late 1960s such as "Woman, Woman", "Young Girl", "Lady Willpower", "Over You", "Don't Give In to Him", and "This Girl Is a Woman Now". Wheatbread remained a member of the group until they disbanded in 1971.

Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids 
In 1976, he joined Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids, a 1950s rock revival group that appeared in the 1973 film, American Graffiti. Union Gap saxophonist Dwight Bement has already been in the group since 1973. Wheatbread appeared with the Continentals on American Bandstand, where during an interview, Wheatbread appeared unrecognisable to host Dick Clark, whom he had met when he they were both on Where a The Action Is, and during the Union Gap era.

Paul left the Continental Kids not long after, in 1978.

Personal life 
After leaving the Continental Kids in 1978, Wheatbread would carry on singing in clubs, whilst also working several blue collar jobs in his hometown of San Diego, California, including as a booking agent. 

When asked by the Los Angeles Times in 1989 why he was working regular jobs, as opposed to his previous lifestyle of touring around the United States, he said: "We (The Union Gap) made some good money, but we squandered a lot of it away on things like flying first class, riding around in limousines, staying in better places, and buying 20 pairs of shoes at one time, when you all of a sudden come into easy money, there’s no telling what you will do with it. Some people save it and some people don't--and I was one of the ones who didn't."

Now retired, Wheatbread plays drums in a group called The Rockers.

References

Living people
1946 births
20th-century American drummers
21st-century American drummers
American rock drummers
Musicians from San Diego