Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Flint, Michigan |
| Years active | 1969 – 1976 1981 – 1983 1996 – 1999 2000 – |
| Members | Don Brewer Mel Schacher Bruce Kulick Max Carl Tim Cashion |
| Past members | Mark Farner Terry Knight |
Grand Funk Railroad is an American power trio band. Not usually well-received by critics, the original Grand Funk Railroad lineup was highly popular during the 1970s, having sold over 25 million records and selling out arenas world-wide. They were often cited as "the loudest rock and roll band in the world." The current Grand Funk Railroad lineup uses the nickname "The American Band", from their hit song "We're An American Band".
History
The band was formed in 1969 by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar) and Don Brewer (vocals, drums), from Terry Knight and the Pack, and Mel Schacher (bass) from ? & the Mysterians in the working class, auto industry town of Flint, Michigan. Former bandmate Terry Knight soon became their manager and 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. Patterned after Cream, but developing their own populist style, in 1970 they had sold more albums than any other American band and had become a major concert attraction. In that same year they had a hit single "Closer To Home," a song that was closer in style to the old Terry Knight and the Pack than it was to GFR. A year later, they went on to break The Beatles' record at Shea Stadium, selling out in just 71 hours. That record still stands today.
Even with critical pans and lack of radio airplay, the group's first eight albums, released in three years, were successful. Knight launched an intense advertising campaign to promote Closer To Home, a multi-platinum, smash hit album that was slammed by virtually every music critic, reportedly paying $100,000 for a huge billboard in New York City's Times Square. In 1972, Grand Funk Railroad fired Knight, who sued for breach of contract, resulting in a protracted legal battle.
After recruiting Craig Frost (keyboards), Grand Funk Railroad released Phoenix in 1972, and then as a result of the ongoing legal battle, shortened their name to Grand Funk. This was followed by two huge hit singles, "We're an American Band" (from We're An American Band) and "The Loco-Motion" (written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin for Little Eva). Following a pop-style album, All the Girls in the World Beware!!!, and a name revert back to "Grand Funk Railroad", the band's popularity decreased. After finishing Good Singin', Good Playin' (1976) with producer Frank Zappa, Grand Funk Railroad disbanded. Farner began a solo career, releasing two critically acclaimed albums, while Brewer and Schacher formed Flint with the addition of Billy Ellworthy.
Grand Funk Railroad reunited in 1980 with Dennis Bellinger replacing Mel Schacher at the last moment on bass, and released two albums on the Warner Brothers label Full Moon. Neither album achieved much success. After disbanding a second time, Farner continued as a solo performer, eventually converting to Christianity and becoming a Christian recording artist, while Brewer and Frost joined Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Most fans were convinced that they would never see GFR play together again, but in 1996, Grand Funk Railroad reunited once more, playing to 260,000 people in 14 sold out shows in a three month period. In 1997, the band did three sold out Bosnian benefit concerts, releasing a benefit album called Bosnia. In 1999, after three years of touring, and a year longer than he had originally agreed on, Mark Farner left the band to continue his solo career, which he had put on hold. He continues to perform with his band N'r'G, doing mostly GFR tunes as well as some solo material. He no longer has any affiliation with the original band, despite an occasional advertising misquote by some promoters.
Terry Knight (Richard Terrance Knapp) was murdered in Killeen, Texas on November 1, 2004. He was 61.
As for GFR, after Farner left in 1999, Brewer and Schacher were left with a band that was once again hot and popular, but now without a frontman and principal vocalist. They eventually decided to keep the train rolling by recruiting lead singer Max Carl (of .38 Special fame), former KISS lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, and keyboard player Timothy Cashion in late 2000, and the new Grand Funk Railroad has toured steadily since then, building a new audience while still drawing fans of the original band.
The new GFR plays around 50 concerts per year, recently breaking attendance records in Buffalo, New York and Orlando, Florida, drawing well over 20,000 fans to both concerts and the band has been writing new material and promises an upcoming release which will include the 9/11 inspired ballad "Who Took Down The Stars" written by Carl and Kulick.
Personnel
| 1969-1972 | |
|---|---|
| 1972-1976 | |
| 1981-1983 | |
| 1996-1999 | |
| 2000-present |
Current members
- Don Brewer - drums
- Mel Schacher - bass
- Max Carl - vocals
- Bruce Kulick - guitar
- Timothy Cashion - keyboard
Former members
- Mark Farner - guitar, vocals
- Craig Frost - keyboards
- Dennis Bellinger - bass
- Howard Eddy Jr. (touring member) - keyboards
Discography
Studio albums
- On Time - (August 1969)
- Grand Funk (The Red Album) - (December 1969)
- Closer to Home - (July 1970)
- Survival - (April 1971)
- E Pluribus Funk - (November 1971)
- Phoenix - (September 1972)
- We're An American Band - (July 1973)
- Shinin' On - (March 1974)
- All the Girls in the World Beware!!! - (December 1974)
- Born To Die - (January 1976)
- Good Singin', Good Playin' - (August 1976)
- Grand Funk Lives - (July 1981)
- What's Funk? - (January 1983)
- Monumental Funk -(1974)
Live albums
- Live Album - (November 1970)
- Caught in the Act - (August 1975)
- Bosnia - (October 1997)
- Thirty Years of Funk: 1969-1999 - (1999)
- Live: The 1971 Tour - (June 2002)
Compilations
- Grand Funk / Live Album - (1970)
- Mark, Don and Mel: 1969-71 - (1972)
- Grand Funk Hits - (1976)
- Hits - (1977)
- The Best of Grand Funk - (1990)
- Capitol Collectors Series - (1991)
- Heavy Hitters - (1992)
- Collectors - (1993)
- Thirty Years of Funk: 1969-1999 - (1999)
- Super Best - (1999)
- Rock Champions - (2001)
- Very Best Grand Funk Railroad Album Ever - (2001)
- Classic Masters - (2002)
- Trunk of Funk - (2001)
- Greatest Hits - (2006)
- Greatest Hits + DVD (2006)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | |||
| 1969 | "Time Machine" | #47 | On Time |
| 1969 | "Mr. Limousine Driver" | #97 | Grand Funk |
| 1970 | "Heartbreaker" | #72 | On Time |
| 1970 | "Nothing is the Same" | - | Closer To Home |
| 1970 | Closer To Home | #22 | I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home) |
| 1970 | "Mean Mistreater" | #47 | Live Album |
| 1971 | "Inside Looking Out" | #40 | Grand Funk (aka Red Album) |
| 1971 | "Feelin' Alright" | #54 | Survival |
| 1971 | "Gimme Shelter" | #61 | Survival |
| 1971 | "People, Let's Stop the War" | - | E Pluribus Funk |
| 1972 | "Footstompin' Music" | #29 | E Pluribus Funk |
| 1972 | "Upsetter" | #73 | E Pluribus Funk |
| 1972 | "Rock & Roll Soul" | #29 | Phoenix |
| 1973 | "We're An American Band" | #1 | We're An American Band |
| 1973 | "Walk Like a Man" | #19 | We're An American Band |
| 1974 | "The Loco-Motion" | #1 | Shinin' On |
| 1974 | "Shinin' On" | #11 | Shinin' On |
| 1974 | "Some Kind of Wonderful" | #3 | All the Girls in the World Beware!!! |
| 1975 | "Bad Time" | #4 | All the Girls in the World Beware!!! |
| 1975 | "Take Me" | #53 | Born To Die |
| 1976 | "Sally" | #69 | Born to Die |
| 1976 | "Can You Do It" | #45 | Good Singin', Good Playin' |
| 1977 | "Just Couldn't Wait" | - | Good Singin', Good Playin' |
| 1981 | "Y.O.U." | - | Grand Funk Lives |
| 1982 | "Stick in the Middle" | - | Grand Funk Lives |