Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
Group Members: Bruce Kulick, Don Brewer Blues Project, Mark Farner, Mark Farner's N'rG Band
All Music Guide:
One of the 1970s' most successful hard rock bands in spite of critical pans and somewhat reluctant radio airplay (at first), Grand Funk Railroad built a devoted fan base with constant touring, a loud, simple take on the blues-rock power trio sound, and strong working-class appeal. The band was formed by Flint, MI, guitarist/songwriter Mark Farner and drummer Don Brewer, both former members of a local band called Terry Knight & the Pack. They recruited former ? & the Mysterians bassist Mel Schacher in 1968, and Knight retired from performing to become their manager, naming the group after Michigan's well-known Grand Trunk Railroad.
They performed for free at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival, and their energetic, if not technically proficient, show led Capitol Records to sign them at once. While radio shied away from Grand Funk Railroad, the group's strong work ethic and commitment to touring produced a series of big-selling albums over the next few years; five of their eight releases from 1969 to 1972 went platinum, and the others all went gold. Meanwhile, Knight promoted the band aggressively, going so far as to rent a Times Square billboard to advertise Closer to Home, which turned out to be the band's first multi-platinum album in spite of a backlash from the rock press. However, Grand Funk Railroad fired Knight in March of 1972, who promptly sued; the band spent most of the year in a court battle that ended when they bought Knight out.
Keyboardist Craig Frost joined the group for the Phoenix LP at the end of 1972. Following that album, the band's name was officially shortened to Grand Funk, and the group finally scored a big hit single (number one, in fact) with the title track of the Todd Rundgren-produced We're an American Band. The follow-up, Shinin' On, contained another number one hit in a remake of Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion." However, following Grand Funk's next album, All the Girls in the World Beware!!, interest in the group began to wane. Reverting back to Grand Funk Railroad, they remained together in 1976 solely to work with producer Frank Zappa on Good Singin', Good Playin'. Farner left for a solo career, and the remainder of the band released an album as Flint with guitarist Billy Elworthy.
Grand Funk Railroad re-formed in 1981 with Dennis Bellinger on bass and released two albums; only Grand Funk Lives even managed to scrape the bottom of the charts. The group disbanded again, with Brewer and Frost joining Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band and Farner embarking on a new career as a CCM artist; his "Isn't It Amazing" was a number two gospel hit in 1988. In 1997, Grand Funk Railroad reunited once again to record a benefit album titled Bosnia; two years later, Capitol issued a three-disc box set retrospective, Thirty Years of Funk: 1969-1999.
Wikipedia:
Grand Funk Railroad (also known as Grand Funk) is an American blues rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them. The band's name is a play on words of the Grand Trunk Railroad, a railroad line that ran through the band's home town of Flint, Michigan.
History [edit]
Formation (1969) [edit]
Originally a trio, the band was formed in 1969 by Mark Farner (guitar, vocals) and Don Brewer (drums, vocals) from Terry Knight and the Pack, and Mel Schacher (bass) from Question Mark & the Mysterians; Knight soon became the band's manager. Knight named the band after the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a well-known rail line in Michigan. First achieving recognition at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival, the band was signed by Capitol Records. After a raucous, well-received set on the first day of the festival, the group was asked back to play two additional days. Patterned after hard rock power trios such as Cream, the band, with Terry Knight's marketing savvy, developed its own popular style. In 1969, the band released its first album titled On Time, which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record in 1970.
In the same year, a second album, Grand Funk (aka "The Red Album"), was awarded gold status. The hit single "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)", from the album Closer to Home, also released in 1970, was considered stylistically representative of Terry Knight and the Pack's recordings. The band spent $100,000 on a New York Times Square billboard to advertise Closer to Home. In 1970, they sold more albums than any other American band and became a major concert attraction. By 1971, Grand Funk broke The Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record by selling out in just 72 hours.
Despite critical pans and a lack of airplay, the group's first six albums (five studio releases and one live album) were quite successful. In 1970, Knight launched an intensive advertising campaign to promote the album Closer To Home. That album was certified multi-platinum despite a lack of critical approval. Following Closer To Home, Live Album was also released in 1970, and was another gold disc recipient. Survival and E Pluribus Funk were both released in 1971. E Pluribus Funk celebrated the Shea Stadium show with an embossed depiction of the stadium on the album cover's reverse.
Early 1970s [edit]
By late 1971 the band was concerned with Knight's managerial style and fiscal responsibility. This growing dissatisfaction led Grand Funk Railroad to fire Knight in early 1972. Knight sued for breach of contract, which resulted in a protracted legal battle. At one point, Knight repossessed the band's gear before a gig at Madison Square Garden. In VH1's "Behind the Music" Grand Funk Railroad episode, Knight stated that the original contract would have run out in about three months, and that the smart decision for the band would have been to just wait out the time. However, the band felt they had no choice but to continue and fight for the rights to their career and name.
In 1972, Grand Funk Railroad added Craig Frost on keyboards full-time. Originally, Grand Funk attempted to attract Peter Frampton, late of Humble Pie; however, Frampton was not available due to signing a solo-record deal with A&M Records. The addition of Frost, however, a stylistic shift from Grand Funk's original garage-band based rock & roll roots to a more rhythm & blues/pop-rock-oriented style. With the new lineup, Grand Funk released its sixth album of original music Phoenix in 1972. The new combination worked.
To refine Grand Funk's sound, the band secured veteran musician Todd Rundgren as a producer. Their two most successful albums and two No. 1 hit singles resulted: the Don Brewer penned "We're an American Band" (from We're an American Band) and "The Loco-Motion" (from Shinin' On, written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and originally recorded by Little Eva). The album We're an American Band topped out at No. 2 on the charts, while the "We're an American Band" single, released during summer 1973, was Grand Funk's first No. 1 hit. "The Loco-Motion" followed in 1974 as Grand Funk's second chart topping single. Follow up top forty hits "Walk Like A Man" and "Shinin' On" sung and co-written by Don Brewer followed, and the band continued touring the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Mid 1970s [edit]
In 1975, Grand Funk switched to Jimmy Ienner as producer and reverted to using their full name: "Grand Funk Railroad". The band released the album All the Girls in the World Beware!!!, which depicted the band member's heads superimposed on the bodies of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu. This album spawned the band's last two top ten hits, "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Bad Time".
Although highly successful in the mid-1970s, tensions mounted within the band due to personal issues, burn-out, and musical direction. Despite these issues, Grand Funk forged ahead. Needing two more albums to complete their record deal with Capitol, Grand Funk embarked on a major tour and decided to record a double live album, Caught in the Act.
The double album should have fulfilled the contract with Capitol; however, because it contained previously released material, Capitol requested an additional album to complete Grand Funk's contractual obligation. While pressures between the band members still existed, the members agreed to move forward and complete one more album for Capitol to avoid legalities similar to the ones that they endured with Terry Knight in 1972. The band recorded Born to Die and agreed not to release any information regarding their impending breakup in 1976.
However, Grand Funk found new life via interest by Frank Zappa in producing the band. Signing with MCA Records, the resulting album Good Singin', Good Playin' yielded little success. After this, Grand Funk Railroad decided once more to disband in 1976.
Late 1970s and 1980s [edit]
Following the breakup, Farner began a solo career and signed with Atlantic Records which resulted in two albums: Mark Farner (1977) and No Frills (1978). Brewer, Schacher and Frost remained intact and formed the band Flint. Flint released one album on Columbia Records; a second record was finished but never released. Grand Funk Railroad reunited in 1981 without Frost and with Dennis Bellinger replacing Schacher on bass.
The new line-up released two albums on Irving Azoff's Full Moon label, distributed by Warner Bros. Records. These releases included 1981's Grand Funk Lives and 1983's What's Funk?. Neither album achieved much critical acclaim; however, the single "Queen Bee" was included in the Heavy Metal movie and soundtrack album. After disbanding a second time in 1983, Farner continued as a solo performer and became a Christian recording artist and Brewer went on to tour with Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band.
1990s and 2000s [edit]
In 1996 Grand Funk Railroad's three original members once again reunited and played to 250,000 people in 14 shows during a three-month period. In 1997 the band played three sold-out Bosnian benefit concerts. These shows featured a full symphony orchestra that was conducted by Paul Shaffer (from the David Letterman Late Show). The band released a live two-disc benefit CD called Bosnia recorded in Auburn Hills, Michigan. This recording also featured Peter Frampton who joined the band on stage. In 1998, after three years of touring, Farner left the band and returned to his solo career.
In 2000, Brewer and Schacher recruited lead vocalist Max Carl (of 38 Special), former Kiss lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, and keyboardist Tim Cashion . Grand Funk Railroad continues to tour 40 shows a year and will kick off their 2013 American Tour January 11 in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
On the long-running series The Simpsons, Grand Funk Railroad is a favorite band of Homer Simpson. In the season seven episode "Homerpalooza", upon hearing that Bart and Lisa do not know anything about GFR, Homer says "You kids don't know Grand Funk? The wild shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner? The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher? The competent drumwork of Don Brewer? Oh, man!" and in the season twelve episode "A Tale of Two Springfields" when he gives The Who a list of songs to play, Roger Daltrey states that most of the songs are by GFR. In the series premiere of season 18, "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer", Bart and Lisa get on the school bus, and Bart will not share his seat (the last available one) with Lisa. Instead of dealing with her problem, Otto puts a Grand Funk tape into his Walkman and sings to "We're an American Band". When asked in interviews, Don Brewer has confessed to being incredibly flattered about having Homer as a fan.
