Grand Funk
Establishing one of heavy metal's most proven keys to success—continuous touring—Grand Funk Railroad formed in Michigan in 1969 and quickly became the most popular American hard rock band of the early 70s. Although critics and programmers were unfriendly from the beginning, the band earned 10 consecutive platinum albums and set attendance records everywhere, including Shea Stadium when they broke the Beatles record in 1971 by selling out their two day stand in 48 hours.
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Grand Funk
Establishing one of heavy metal's most proven keys to success—continuous touring—Grand Funk Railroad formed in Michigan in 1969 and quickly became the most popular American hard rock band of the early 70s. Although critics and programmers were unfriendly from the beginning, the band earned 10 consecutive platinum albums and set attendance records everywhere, including Shea Stadium when they broke the Beatles record in 1971 by selling out their two day stand in 48 hours. While their music never moved far from the standard hard rock power chords, Grand Funk’s onstage sweating and strutting proved that energy is worth a thousand notes.
With an initial line-up of Mark Farner: guitar and vocals, Mel Schacher: bass, Don Brewer: drums, plus Craig Frost: keyboards (who joined in 1971), they hooked up with Terry Knight as a manager and became millionaires within two years. Farner wrote and sang most of the band’s hits, By the early 70s, Grand Funk was up to their ears in lawsuits with Knight, trying with the help of attorney John Eastman (McCartney’s father-in-law) to break their contract. The group broke up soon after that. Brewer and Schacher formed Flint, while Farner released two solo albums. In 1981, Farner and Brewer reformed Grand Funk under the influence of David Geffen and cut a remake of the Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.’’ It didn’t work, and they broke up again.
