Tuesday, May 5, 2009

ക GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, We're An American Band|Closer To Home|Loco-motion|Heartbreaker|

Grand Funk Railroad (also known as Grand Funk) is an American rock band. The Grand Funk Railroad lineup was highly popular during the 1970s. Selling over 25 million records, near constant touring, selling out arenas worldwide and being awarded four RIAA gold albums in 1970, the most for any American Group that year. The current Grand Funk Railroad lineup uses the nickname "The American Band", from their hit song "We're an American Band". A popular take on the band during their heyday was that the critics hated them, but audiences loved them. The band's name is a pun on "Grand Trunk Railroad" a railroad that went through the band's home town of Flint, Michigan.



The band was formed in 1968 by Mark Farner (guitars, lead vocals), Don Brewer (drums, lead vocals) from Terry Knight and the Pack, and Mel Schacher (bass guitar) from 'Question Mark & the Mysterians'. Former band-mate 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, after a raucous, well-received set on the first day of the festival. Grand Funk Railroad were asked back to play two additional days. Patterned after hard rock power trios, such as Cream, Grand Funk Railroad, with Terry Knight's marketing savvy developed their own populist style. In 1970 they sold more albums than any other American band and had become a major concert attraction.



The first record in 1969 was On Time, which eventually went gold in 1970, that same year they earned their second gold record award for their second album Grand Funk, (aka the Red Album) and A rare hit single also followed in 1970, "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" from the album Closer to Home, which was stylistically Close to the old Terry Knight and the Pack. A year later, in 1971, they broke the attendance record set by The Beatles' at Shea Stadium, selling out in just 72 hours.



The "Loco-Motion" would be Grand Funk's second chart topping single, in 1974. The "Loco-Motion" is a 1962 pop song written by American songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The song is notable for making the American Top 5 three times in three different decades: for Little Eva in 1962 (U.S. #1); for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 (U.S. #1); and for Kylie Minogue in 1988 (U.S. #3). It is ranked #350 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [wikipedia]



2 comments:

farner9 said...

Love it!

CheaHSan said...

Hi farner9 thanks for hopping in the locomotion