Grand Funk Railroad

My first old fogies reunion concert. Grand Funk Railroad still ROCKS!









At least I wasn't the oldest one there.

Fuck yeah man!! Grand Funk rocks (still lol). When I saw the thread name, I assumed GFR was a new strain name.

IMO, their cover of Gimme Shelter is way better than the Stone's version.

Grand Funk always sucked. Most especially no talent Mark Farner. He's the only guitar player I was ever embarrassed for on stage. This was back in '72, REO warmed up.

I agree, I always thought Mark Farner was about the worst big-time guitar player ever (right down there with Neil Young). But I thought his voice really fit perfectly with the band's sound, especially in the early days when they had that pre-heavy metal sound. However, Farner hasn't been with the band in many years. Their new guitar player is really quite decent. Though at times it sounded like he was trying to copy Farner's style, maybe going for that original sound. And the new singer was really very good, even though he didn't have that Mark Farner twang.

come on and ride the Railroad, one more time.
Mark Farner is on tour, too.

Had a boss who collected autographs on guitars and memorabilia. I sorta got the 'pleasure' of meetin Mark farner while the Boss got his sig on the original red boots he wore once or somethin.. Mostly I recall he was a douche and I was ashamed he was from Mich. Flint I think?

Did love some of the stuff growin up, and now that I know MF is replaced I would see em again. Thanks

For some reason I always thought they were a three=man band. Put out a lot of decibels for three guys. I was never "into" them but they had a couple cuts I loved. My brother, six years my junior, had all their stuff and played some of it in his bands,
.

They started out as a three-man band, but when they transitioned from hard rock to a more pop sound they added a keyboard player. They're now a five-man band (two guitars). And of course, they are an American Band.

I remember them clearly

I remember them clearly

in 1974 I was smoking Thai sticks, Kona Gold, and Red Columbian. I remember them

Grand Funk is one of my favorite bands from back in the day. Still is. I have such good memories of tokin up with friends and listening to GFR. Their Live album is one that I really enjoy. I agree with festivus; IMO2, their cover of Gimme Shelter is way better than the Stone's version. Long live Grand Funk Railroad!

saw that ad on TV, with some other grounps!

what is credence clear water revival up too?

Member when Farner used to fuck his guitar onstage? What a doofus.........

I didn't care for GFR's drumming style, sounded like a syncopated snare drum machine or something from a marching band. The drum kits back then were small and had a "tinney" sound, if that makes sense.

They did rock in their day. Hard rock was brand spanking new then, and there were just a handful of decent bands lead by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabath, Uriah Heap and The James Gang (Bang!).

I love GFR
I really never saw them back in the day but they rocked it pretty damn good
and were one of my favorite bands
there were so many good bands back then.....

being a drummer I enjoyed don brewers rudimental style, very powerful and solid.
listen to his solo on T.N.U.C live, at 14 i was trying to nail down his solo and did a fair rendition.

hey festivus, I know your not a drummer and i agree the sound for the most part sucked back in the day!
especially live but isn't a reflection on the drummers ability.
what people don't realize is back then they didn't have the huge selections in drum heads, shell thickness and cut angles on the bearing edge like we have today to tailor the sound we want.
nor did they have technology to make the amplified drums sound like they do these days that give depth
and power to the sound.
back in the day they just miked em up... sometimes with only 1 overhead and one in front of the kit
and put a bit of delay and verb on it and that was it.
and the mic's they used wern't made for the high SPLs drums produced and many were just vocal mic's....yuk!
todays mic's are tailored for drums.
as far as you sound back in the day, it sucked!!! LOL

guitar players had all kinds of effects, even back then.
tell one today play his instrument dry, no effects and see how it sounds, see how he likes it and can he make his instrument convey his feeling/inflections into the music with his instrument like that..
it takes raw talent to make the kit rock in that situation and that's what brewer did!
of course I'm not saying drums didn't sound good back then,
but when rock hit in the technology to let the drums compete on an even playing field in the hi volume situations they
performed in just wasn't available at the time.
I mean, drummers in the studio didn't even get to play with a click track.
they played by the seat of their pants so to say!

as for farner I agree,
he wasn't a great guitar player,
the same for his singing.
but he had good ear and knew what sounded good
and knew when and where to do it
so in that respec he was a very good *musician*

the music they put out as a 3 piece band was very good in my book.
i saw them a few years ago and don still nails it on the drums!

I still like Grand Funk. They are on my MP3 player.

When did they pick up the 2nd guitar player? They were a 3 man band back in the day. Are they a oldies band now?

Hank Hemp said:

When did they pick up the 2nd guitar player? They were a 3 man band back in the day. Are they a oldies band now?

Click to expand...

its 2/3rds of the original 3 man lineup

I watched them practice as they were forming back in the day in Saginaw mi, in a little club called Daniels den. Terry knight of terry knight and the Pack put gfr together. They were very loud and somewhat crude compared to today's over produced sounds. But then I like the old raw style where each show sounded different, and the players played with emotions. For the haters put on the utube version of inside looking out. Very very heavy back in the day. No discounting that big bass either, it really drove the music. On the radio they changed the lyrics ( inside looking out) of making up nickel bags to making up burlap bags. This was life was like in the late 60's and early 70's.....scrappy

Hell yeah