The opening track is probably the most recognisable GFR song, rightfully a staple of classic rock radio. Marco LG: Grand Funk Railroad are one of my personal favourites from the 70s, and although as an album We’re An American Band is not my favourite of theirs it remains their most iconic. My favourite record from Grand Funk and I still play it frequently. I can still remember the vibe and sweet smell of 1974.īrad Kyle: Absolutely the best-sounding hard rock album of it’s era or since. They certainly became a favourite and eventually became the first band I ever went to see in concert. Every time I listen to it I feel like I’m back in middle school starting to develop my identity. I’m really not sure what to say about it except, to me, it sounds dated and not in a bad way. We’re an American Band was a great record, but an “institutionalized” one. Their first misstep, if you ask me, was the self-produced Phoenix. There is absolutely northing wrong with every single one of their Terry-produced albums. I don’t care if they were basic and primitive, their jams could knock me out alright. Maxwell Martello: With the possible exception of Mel, they were not virtuosos, but that did not prevent them from being able to unleash pure mayhem on the stage. Their attempt at being a jam band with their sub-bar band chops was ludicrous from the start, but they did have the ability to write a catchy tune, and he was able to harness that and pull them together for what's easily their most cohesive album, with a minimum of the overreach that had damaged even their best previous work ( I'm Your Captain being the most prominent example, with the final section at least four minutes longer than it needed to be). Joe Cogan: A taskmaster like Rundgren was exactly what a band like Grand Funk needed. It saved the band for another two to three years. He made them into a tighter band (and I'm still waiting for someone to release a live bootleg from the ensuing tour). Todd helped them sophisticate their sound immensely, bringing in all manner of percussion instruments and keyboard sounds. Most important, someone, whether the band or Rundgren, decided that gruff-voiced drummer Don Brewer should be employed as a lead singer as often as guitarist Mark Farner." ( AllMusic (opens in new tab))īill Griffin: Not my favourite Grand Funk album (they were my favourite band at the time though), that would be one or two of those terribly-produced records by Terry Knight, but a fine effort by a band still easing in a fourth member on keyboards. Sonically, the record was sharp and detailed and the band's playing was far tighter and more accomplished. "We're an American Band sounded nothing like its muddy, plodding predecessors. But I have to concede that at least on We’re An American Band, they bring far more to the party than just the title track. " Rolling Stone’s David Fricke once said, “You cannot talk about rock in the 1970’s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!” I always thought that was the craziest thing I ever heard, and Fricke is currently residing in an asylum for the musically insane in South Dakota. "If it takes me three months to decide that this is a listenable hard rock record, just how listenable can it be? Well, Todd Rundgren has done remarkable things, that's for sure-the drumming has real punch, the organ fills attractively, and Don Brewer's singing is a relief. So by the time I worked with them their expectations for the record were so low I couldn’t fail." To compound things their manager insisted on producing their records, and he was terrible at it. "They had a huge live following but were excessively jammy, and if you compared them to real jam bands like Cream they really didn’t hold up. They’d had some great success but they were not well-regarded critically. "It simply required my normal sensibility, particularly because the band was operating with such low expectations. "It was one of the easiest things I ever did," said producer Todd Rundgren. Two years later they released We're An American Band. However, this monumental event has been largely erased from rock history because: a) Grand Funk weren’t The Who or the Rolling Stones, and b) critics abhorred them as much as fans adored them. Thousands of early-generation headbangers witnessed a truly awe-inspiring set by the definitive American blue-collar rock band. In July 1971, Grand Funk Railroad played a massive free concert in London’s Hyde Park, supported by Humble Pie and Head Hands & Feet.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |