Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad
Don Brewer, Mark Farner and Mel Schacher (1971)
General information
Genre (s)	Rock , hard rock , blues rock , funk rock
founding	1968, since 1969 as "Grand Funk Railroad"
Website	grandfunkrailroad.com
Founding members
Vocals , guitar , harmonica	Mark Farner (born September 29, 1948)
Electric bass , vocals	Mel Schacher (born April 8, 1951)
Drums , vocals	Don Brewer (born September 3, 1948)
Current occupation
Bass, vocals	Mel Schacher (born April 8, 1951)
Guitar, vocals	Max Carl (formerly 38 Special )
Guitar, vocals	Bruce Kulick (formerly Kiss )
Drums, vocals	Don Brewer (born September 3, 1948)
Piano , organ , vocals	Tim Cashion (formerly Bob Seger )
former members
Keyboard , vocals	Craig Frost (1972–1976) (born April 20, 1948)
Bass, background vocals	Dennis Bellinger (1981-1983)

Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was founded in 1968 and was one of the most successful representatives of this music genre in the USA in the early 1970s. Artistically controversial, often criticized by contemporaries for a less innovative, gimmicky style, the band had great success with music consumers in their first few years and at a concert on July 9, 1971 in New York's Shea Stadium, exceeded the Beatles' record six years earlier .

Band history

Founding members were the singer and guitarist Mark Farner and the drummer Don Brewer from Flint in the US state of Michigan , as well as the bassist Mel Schacher from the neighboring town of Owosso . The three musicians had known each other since their teenage years. Her entry into the music business came after Don Brewer met the singer of the band The Pack , Terry Knight, who took over the management of Grand Funk Railroad from 1969.

Terry Knight was also from Flint and was a popular disc jockey for a radio station in Detroit . After being fired from his broadcaster at the age of 20 for his quick temper, he joined The Pack as lead singer (later Terry Knight and the Pack). Don Brewer and Mark Farner also joined The Pack. They made a number of local hits until Knight's difficult character caused the band to fall apart.

Don Brewer and Mark Farner therefore decided in 1968 to start their own band. A little later, Mel Schacher joined the group. Brewer engaged Terry Knight to advise the initially unnamed trio. The band name, introduced in early 1969, referred to a railway line "Grand Trunk Railroad" that ran through Brewers and Farner's hometown of Flint. Knight took over the management on condition that he had a free hand in all important issues. In spring 1969 he organized the band's first appearance in Buffalo ( New York ). In the following years he was solely responsible and consistently shaped the style of the group and dominated its development as press spokesman, publisher, producer and person responsible for the extraordinary presentation of the band.

Grand Funk Railroad had their breakthrough at the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 4, 1969, where they played for free. Encouraged by the great fan interest, Knight then went to record labels and managed to get Capitol Records to sign the group. Her first album, On Time , became the musical pattern for all subsequent ones.

The band's music has been reviled by many reviewers as being melodious and too loud. Rod Stewart once described it as "the all-time loud white noise" (German: "permanent white noise "). Despite the sometimes massive criticism of many British and American reviewers and music magazines, Grand Funk Railroad recorded a series of gold and platinum albums and performed successfully in the USA and Europe.

Grand Funk reached the top of the US album charts and was first awarded gold a year after it was founded in 1969. In the same year the band released their first single hits: Timemachine and Mr. Limousinedriver . In 1970, the astonished press recorded sensational sales. Three albums were released: Grand Funk , Closer to Home and the famous live double album. Several successive single hits made the band a lucrative act. Five million dollars in sales were posted that year.

When in 1971 every Grand Funk album brought success and fame after completion, Knight made the band an attraction in the USA, including two sold-out concerts in New York's Shea Stadium. The tickets were sold faster than at the Beatles concerts. While many countries succumbed to the grand funk fever, in Great Britain the attitude towards imported hard rock remained reserved and preferred local bands such as Black Sabbath , Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple .

After three years and the release of the album E Pluribus Funk , Grand Funk Railroad parted ways with their manager Terry Knight. He sued her for breach of contract. The climax of the dispute was the confiscation of the instruments at a performance, which would have led to a riot and could be averted at the last moment. The legal battle over the 55 million dollar lawsuit ended after years of litigation with a settlement.

Craig Frost, an old friend of the group, played the keyboards from 1972 and the album Phoenix and finally became a fourth member from the album We're an American Band (1973), which was produced by Todd Rundgren and with which the heaviness and the " Killergroove ”were gone for good. Shinin 'On was completed in 1974, followed by All the Girls in the World, Beware (1974), which features soul elements. The real break in style had already taken place with the album We're an American Band , after which everything that had made the band so unique was given up. Before Born to Die was released in 1976 , the band had unofficially split up, they were planning their last album. However, she returned to record the album Good Singin ', Good Playin' , which was released in 1976, with Frank Zappa as producer .

In 1976 Mark Farner began to devote himself to his solo career. The remaining members founded the Flint trio named after their hometown.

From 1981 to 1983 Grand Funk Railroad reformed with Dennis Bellinger (without Mel Schacher) and released another album: Grand Funk Lives . Rolling Stone critics harshly judged: "'Grand Funk Lives' will go down as one of the most embarrassing comeback albums in history." Nevertheless, another album was released during this time: What's Funk .

Mark Farner then continued his solo career and released numerous albums that are only available as rare collector's items today ( Mark Farner , No Frills , Some Kind of Wonderful , Just Another Injustice , Wake Up , Closer to ... , Heirlooms ). In one phase he called himself Christian Mark Farner and only played at Christian events. From 1995 he performed with Ringo Starr's All Star Band and enjoyed success with colleagues such as John Entwistle from The Who and Billy Preston .

In 1997, Grand Funk Railroad reunited with Mark Farner to give a benefit concert for the victims of the Bosnian War . A double CD with a novel sound, with the participation of a symphony orchestra, Peter Frampton and Alto Reed , was the result of this reunion. In 1999 the three-piece set Thirty Years of Funk was released with all the band's successes and some previously unreleased tracks.

Mark Farner toured the USA with the N'r'G Band (Lawrence Buckner, Paul Ojibway, Hubert Crawford). Don Brewer and Mel Schacher decided to keep Grand Funk Railroad going and took Bruce Kulick (formerly with Kiss ), Tim Cashion (formerly with Bob Seger ) and Max Carl (formerly with 38 Special ) into the band. From the year 2000 the group gave again numerous concerts in the United States.

In November 2004, Terry Knight was murdered by multiple knife wounds. Don Brewer was shocked by the death and stated, "Terry has been very helpful in developing and marketing Grand Funk Railroad". Knight and Brewer hadn't spoken to each other in more than 30 years.

Grand Funk Railroad have sold more than 20 million albums in their musical career.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1969	On time	-	-	US27 gold (55 weeks)US
1970	Grand funk	DE17 (8 weeks) DE	-	US11 platinum (67 weeks)US	also known as The Red Album
	Closer to home	-	-	US6th × 2 Double platinum (63 weeks)US
	Live album	-	UK29 (1 week) UK	US5 × 2 Double platinum (62 weeks)US	Live recording
1971	Survival	DE48 (1 week) DE	-	US6th platinum (40 weeks)US
	E pluribus funk	DE41 (1 week) DE	-	US5 platinum (30 weeks)US
1972	Mark, Don & Mel 1969-71	-	-	US17th gold (27 weeks)US	compilation
	Phoenix	DE25 (4 weeks) DE	-	US7th gold (27 weeks)US
1973	We're an American Band as Grand Funk	DE46 (1 week) DE	-	US2 platinum (35 weeks)US
1974	Shinin 'On as Grand Funk	-	-	US5 gold (29 weeks)US
	All the Girls in the World Beware !!! as Grand Funk	-	-	US10 gold (24 weeks)US
1975	Caught in the Act	-	-	US21 (10 weeks) US	Live recording
1976	Born to Die	-	-	US47 (11 weeks) US
	Good singin ', good playin'	-	-	US52 (9 weeks) US
	Grand funk hits	-	-	US126 (5 weeks) US	Best of album
1981	Grand Funk Lives	-	-	US149 (5 weeks) US

More albums

• What's Funk (1983)
• Heavy hitters! (1989)
• The Best of Grand Funk (1990)
• The Capitol Collector Series (1991, US:gold Gold )
• More of the Best (1991)
• Best of Grand Funk Railroad (1996)
• Bosnia (1997, live)
• Thirty Years of Funk (1999)
• Live - The 1971 Tour (2002, digitally edited)
• Trunk of Funk (2002, the first four albums in an elaborate collector's box)
• Essential Collection (2004)
• Greatest Hits (2006, CD and DVD in collector's box)
• Trunk of Funk Vol. 2 (2006)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	UK	US
1969	Time Machine On Time	-	-	-	US48 (11 weeks) US
	Mr. Limousine Driver Grand Funk	-	-	-	US97 (2 weeks) US
1970	Heartbreaker On Time	-	-	-	US72 (6 weeks) US
	Closer to Home (I'm Your Captain) Closer to Home	-	-	-	US22 (12 weeks) US
	Mean Mistreater Live Album	-	-	-	US47 (8 weeks) US
1971	Inside Looking Out Grand Funk	-	-	UK40 (1 week) UK	-
	Feelin 'Alright Survival	-	-	-	US54 (6 weeks) US	Author: Dave Mason
	Gimme Shelter Survival	-	-	-	US61 (6 weeks) US	Original: The Rolling Stones (1969)
1972	Footstompin 'Music E pluribus funk	-	-	-	US29 (11 weeks) US
	Upsetter E pluribus funk	-	-	-	US73 (5 weeks) US
	Rock 'n Roll Soul Phoenix	-	-	-	US29 (13 weeks) US
1973	We're an American Band We're an American Band	-	-	-	US1 gold (17 weeks)US	Producer: Todd Rundgren Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
	Walk Like a Man We're an American Band	-	-	-	US19 (12 weeks) US	Producer: Todd Rundgren
1974	The Loco-Motion Shinin 'On	DE10 (16 weeks) DE	AT7 (8 weeks) AT	-	US1 gold (20 weeks)US	Original: Little Eva Producer: Todd Rundgren
	Shinin 'On Shinin' On	-	-	-	US11 (11 weeks) US	Producer: Todd Rundgren
	Some Kind of Wonderful All the Girls in the World Beware !!!	-	-	-	US3 (13 weeks) US
1975	Bad Time All the Girls in the World Beware !!!	-	-	-	US4 (15 weeks) US
1976	Take Me Born to Die	-	-	-	US53 (5 weeks) US
	Sally Born to Die	-	-	-	US69 (4 weeks) US
	Can You Do It Good Singin ', Good Playin'	-	-	-	US45 (7 weeks) US	Producer: Frank Zappa

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More singles

• TNUC (1969)
• Sin's a Good Man's Brother (1970)
• People, Let's Stop the War (1971)
• Just Couldn't Wait (1977)
• YOU (1981)
• Stuck in the Middle (1982)
• I'm So True (1982)

Web links

Commons : Grand Funk Railroad  - Collection of Images

• Grand Funk Railroad website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Das neue Rocklexikon, rororo-Handbuch, ISBN 3-499-16320-9 , p. 318/319 with source reference to "Rolling Stone" / "Melodie Maker"
2. ↑ ^{a b} Das neue Rocklexikon, rororo-Handbuch, ISBN 3-499-16320-9 , p. 319
3. ↑ Aaron Chimbel: Musician Terry Knight Stabbed to Death in Temple. (No longer available online.) In: KWTX.com. November 20, 2004, archived from the original on February 2, 2014 ; accessed on February 1, 2014 (English). 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Germany - Austria - UK 1 / UK 2 - USA
5. ↑ ^{a b} The Billboard album by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 . / Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , 11th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} Grand Funk Railroad in the gold / platinum database of the RIAA (USA)