Grand Funk Railroad, sometimes shortened as Grand Funk, is an American rock band popular during the 1970s, when they toured extensively and played to packed arenas worldwide. David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine once said, "You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!" Known for their crowd-pleasing arena rock style, the band was well-regarded by audiences despite a relative lack of critical acclaim. The band's name is a play on words of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a line that runs through the band's home town of Flint, Michigan.
Mark Fredrick Farner is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a contemporary Christian musician.
Good Singin', Good Playin' is 11th studio album by Grand Funk Railroad, released by MCA Records in 1976.
Donald George Brewer is an American drummer who is best known as the drummer and co-lead singer of American rock band Grand Funk Railroad.
On Time is Grand Funk Railroad's first studio album, released in August 1969 by Capitol Records. It was produced by Terry Knight.
Grand Funk is Grand Funk Railroad's second studio album and was released in December 1969 by Capitol Records. It was produced by Terry Knight and engineered by Ken Hamann. This release was certified by RIAA with a gold record award, the first for the group. It includes a cover of The Animals' "Inside Looking Out" which is still a cornerstone of the band's live concerts today. Other key tracks include "Got This Thing on the Move", "In Need", and "Paranoid". The inside spread photograph of the trio, for the original album release, was used for the now infamous, $100,000, block-long and several stories high New York CityTimes Square billboard ad for the album Closer to Home (1970). It stayed up longer than the contracted time due to a strike by the painters union. Mel Schacher's "fuzz" bass tone gained as much prominence as Mark Farner's guitar and Don Brewer's drums and remained a co-lead instrument until 1972's Phoenix, when it was toned down slightly.
Closer to Home is Grand Funk Railroad's third studio album and was released on June 15, 1970 by Capitol Records. It was produced by Terry Knight. This album reached RIAA gold record status in 1970, making it the group's third gold record in one year. The songs "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" and "Aimless Lady" were later covered by South African group Suck. "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" was also covered by the band Monster Magnet on their first full-length album Spine of God (1991), by former Dokken guitarist George Lynch on his 2004 covers album "Furious George", and by Gov't Mule on their album The Deep End, Volume 1 (2001). The album's inside artwork shows a live photo of the band performing at Madison Square Garden in February 1970.
Survival is Grand Funk Railroad's fourth studio album and was released in April 1971 by Capitol Records. It was produced by Terry Knight. Drummer Don Brewer was never happy with the drum sound on the album, due to Knight's insistence of having Brewer cover his drum heads with tea-towels, after seeing Ringo Starr using that technique in the Beatles' film Let It Be (1970).
E Pluribus Funk is Grand Funk Railroad's fifth studio album and was released in November 1971 by Capitol Records. Like previous Grand Funk Railroad albums, it was recorded at Cleveland Recording Company and is the final album produced by Terry Knight. The title is a play on the former motto of the US government, E pluribus unum. The original release cover was completely round and covered with a silver-like film to resemble a large coin. The back side of the cover of this album included a die cast picture of Shea Stadium to celebrate Grand Funk beating The Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record by selling out in just 72 hours.
Phoenix is the sixth studio album by the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. It was released in 1972 on Capitol Records. The album was produced by Grand Funk and marks the band's first album not produced by Terry Knight. "Rock & Roll Soul" was released as a single and went to #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.
Monumental Funk is a studio album by the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. It was released in 1974 on Quadico (QLP-7401).
Thirty Years of Funk: 1969–1999 is a 1999 box set by Grand Funk Railroad, containing three new songs and several previously unreleased songs.
Melvin George "Mel" Schacher is best known as the bassist for rock band Grand Funk Railroad.
Grand Funk Hits is a greatest hits compilation by Grand Funk Railroad originally released in 1976 on Capitol Records (LP-ST-11579). It peaked at number 126 on the Billboard 200.
The Eric Singer Project (ESP) is an American rock band. ESP was founded in the 1990s by Eric Singer, drummer for such acts as Lita Ford, Black Sabbath, Badlands, Alice Cooper, and Kiss, along with Bruce Kulick on guitar, John Corabi on guitar and bass, and Karl Cochran on guitar and bass. Vocals duties were shared by Eric, John, and Karl.
Mark, Don & Mel: 1969–71 is a rock album by Grand Funk Railroad that was released in 1972. It is a compilation of early highlights from both studio and live performances while the band was managed by Terry Knight. It peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified gold by the RIAA.
Terry Knight and the Pack was the debut album for the American garage rock band, Terry Knight and the Pack. On this record, future Grand Funk Railroad alumni such as Mark Farner, appear. Vocalist Terry Knight wrote the bulk of the 12 tracks, barring the four cover versions.
Rose Royce III: Strikes Again! is the third album released by the Funk band Rose Royce on the Whitfield label in August 1978. It was produced by Norman Whitfield.
