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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGRAND FUNK (RAILROAD)US heavy metal band of '70s originally formed as Terry Knight and the Pack. Garage-band one-hit wonders ('I [Who Have Nothing]' no. 46 '66) incl. Detroit disc jockey-turned-singer Knight (b 9 April '43) and Dan Brewer on drums (b 3 Sep. '48, Flint, MI); Mark Farner (b 29 Sep. '48, Flint) was temporarily bass player. By Feb. '69, Knight-less band the Fabulous Pack had Mel Schacher on bass (b April '51, Owosso MI; ex-? and the Mysterians); Farner moved to guitar. Knight, now the entrepreneur, prevented split by demanding complete control, incl. name change to Grand Funk Railroad. On Time '69 on Capitol was basic blues/rock on which their image was built: like Status Quo in '70s UK, they stripped the music to basics and found youth identification factor with heavy metal/macho mix: went from unpaid opening slot at '69 Atlanta pop festival (released as two-disc Live Album '70) to showcase Shea Stadium gig '71 (sold out in 72 hours, better than the Beatles), Knight masterminding rise (rented Times Square billboard, etc). LPs almost secondary, but sold well: Grand Funk and Closer To Home '70, Survival and E Pluribus Funk '71, two-disc compilation Mark, Don And Mel 1969- -71 '72 were all brash, basic three-chord metal, mostly written by Farner; went gold and spawned three top 30 singles. They sued Knight for independence; lawsuits followed as Phoenix '73 proved they could do it without him and even threatened a degree of subtlety, introducing keyboardist Craig Frost (b 20 April '48, Flint). Name shortened to Grand Funk; Todd Rundgren prod. We're An American Band '73, title track written by Brewer no. 1 hit, became heavy metal anthem; 'Walk Like A Man' no. 19. Shinin' On '74 incl. no. 11 title hit, another no. 1 with heavy version of 'The Locomotion'. Dropped more heavy metal edge when pop prod. Jimmy Ienner (Raspberries, etc) took over: 'Some Kind Of Wonderful', 'Bad Time' from All The Girls Of The World Beware!!! '74 were top five hits '74--5, but harmony etc alienated fans who wanted sweaty, shirtless, long-haired image/sound: the no. 10 LP was their poorest seller since the second release. Changed name back to Grand Funk Railroad for live two-disc Caught In The Act and Born To Die '75, but the band had peaked. Switched labels; Frank Zappa prod. Good Singin', Good Playin' '76 on MCA; they split. Farner made solo LPs Mark Farner and No Frills '77--8; Brewer, Schacher, Frost and guitarist Billy Elworthy formed Flint (eponymous LP on Epic '79); Frost then joined Bob Seger. Re-formed without Frost, with new bassist Dennis Bellinger (yet another musician from Flint) for Grand Funk Lives '81 on Full Moon; What's Funk? '83 did not make top 200 LPs. Brewer later joined Frost in Seger's Silver Bullet Band. They had flown in the face of fashion and alarmed the Woodstock generation with loud music and neanderthal appearance, but the shock value wore off. |