![]() Joining Don and Mel is an all-star cast featuring singer Max Carl (38 Special, Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, Max Carl and Big Dance), lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (12 years with KISS and credits with Michael Bolton, Meatloaf and Billy Squire) and keyboardist Tim Cashion (Bob Seger and Robert Palmer). Currently the group includes original founding members Don Brewer (vocals and drums, writer and singer of the hit, "We're An American Band") and bassist Mel Schacher. The group has 12 gold and 10 platinum records with record sales in excess of 25 million copies sold worldwide.įormed in 1969, Grand Funk was born out of the ashes of Terry Knight & The Pack, another band from Flint, Michigan. Over their career, Grand Funk has had 19 charted singles, 8 Top 40 hits and two Number One singles ("We're An American Band" and "Locomotion," both selling more than one million each). The group's widespread appeal is also evident in its considerable recording achievements. A 1971 performance at New York's Shea Stadium sold out faster than the Beatles. Internationally acclaimed, Grand Funk has toured the world, selling out in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and South America. Legend has it that Prince named his first rock band Grand Central as a nod to Grand Funk. Mega-hits "We're An American Band," "I'm Your Captain/Closer To Home," "Locomotion," and "Some Kind Of Wonderful" still receive continuous airplay on Classic Rock radio. The fact that Grand Funk's legacy still looms large over the pop music landscape more than thirty years after its 1969 birth in Flint, Michigan is also a testament to the group's influence and staying power. Generally acknowledged as one of the precursors to heavy metal, Grand Funk laid the groundwork for such bands as Foreigner, Journey, Van Halen and Bon Jovi with its signature hard driving sound a combination of soulful vocals, muscular instrumentation and forceful pop melodies. After playing to more than a million fans on the band's '96, '97, and '98 tours, Grand Funk has just announced plans for a 2000-2002 tour that begins Decemin West Palm Beach, Florida. ![]() The group is also featured regularly on VH-1's Behind the Music. Grand Funk is newly reformed, stoked by the reissue of the group's catalog on CD and the new box set Thirty Years of Funk, The Anthology by EMI-Capitol records. The top selling American rock group of the 70's is back. Now rock fans everywhere will be thrilled to learn they can once again warm themselves in front of the fire. ![]() That, along with legendary lines like “Come on, dudes, let’s get it on!,” gets it the No 1 spot on our list of the 10 best Great Funk Railroad songs.At its sweat-dripping best, the legendary rock band Grand Funk emits a surging, elemental blast of hard rock heat. Brewer, of course, denies all this, but either way, this is the song that defines the band like no other. After extolling the virtues of American legends like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard, Brewer slammed down his drink, stood up, puffed out his chest, and proudly declared “We’re an American band.” The next morning, he sat down and committed his words to paper. The story goes that Don Brewer was having a few after-show drinks with the guys from Humble Pie and decided to get into an argument about British music versus American music. If anyone ever had any doubts about Grand Funk’s nationality, “We’re an American Band” put the questions to bed. The ebbs, the flows, the drama, the catchy verses, the hooky choruses… it’s all there, and it’s all magnificent. It’s a testament to the band’s prowess that it didn’t here. Described by as Mark Farner’s magnum opus, few songs exemplify what Grand Funk were all about better than “I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home).” Any other song that lasted over ten minutes would stretch your concentration to breaking point.
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