GRAND FUNK RAILROAD CAPTAIN PLUS
Plus I had the worst case of crabs in the world.” We were stuck in a summer cottage with a gas heater, melting down snow to drink and to allow us to shave.
“It was during the worst snowstorm of the century. Out of touch with the times and sounding dated, The Pack found themselves stranded in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on the promise of a live residency booking that never existed. The 60s were coming to an end, and the loved-up hippy ethos was being replaced by a bitter atmosphere of anger, war, race riots and ever-harder drugs. While Knight moved to New York and built up a successful career in music production, The Pack proceeded to go down the tubes rapidly. The band rechristened themselves The Pack and voted in Farner as vocalist and guitarist. But a combination of weak follow-ups and internal conflict led to Knight’s dismissal. The band achieved minor chart success with their interpretation of the schmaltzy standard I Who Have Nothing. Mark Farner was then recruited, initially as a bass player, Knight being impressed by Farner because of his resemblance to Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. Knight convinced the band they needed him as their lead singer and frontman to propel them to success, and The Jazz Masters were renamed Terry & The Pack. But I went to see them and lost the bet – I thought they were fantastic.” “I hated local bands worse than anything in the world. “A fellow disc jockey had bet me that if I went to see The Jazz Masters, I would like them,” Knight recalled. Playing covers to an audience who demanded all the latest hits, the band found themselves going around in ever-decreasing circles until one night DJ/blagger Terry Knight came across them, in unusual circumstances. The seeds of Grand Funk were sown in the early 60s with The Jazz Masters, an above-average bar band that featured Don Brewer, a drummer with a wild Afro hairdo. Grand Funk played R&B loud and with lashings of feedback, and the people of Flint – a close neighbour of Detroit – loved their local band with a vengeance. Flint was, and remains, violent, downtrodden and resolutely working class. In the mid-60s he managed to blag his way into a job as a DJ on a Michigan radio station by convincing his future employers he was a close friend of The Rolling Stones.Ĭonstantly reinventing himself, Knight was an old-school huckster in the style of Elvis Presley’s mentor, Colonel Tom Parker.ģ. Formerly known as Terence Knapp, Knight was a crass cabaret singer and master bullshitter. The band’s original manager/svengali, Terry Knight. At the start of the 70s the band took over the US chart with a succession of million-selling, classic rock albums: On Time, Grand Funk, Closer To Home, Live, Survival and E Pluribus Funk… which, for me, is where their story ends.Ģ. In their prime, Grand Funk were a bludgeoning riff machine that brought you such subtly titled gems as TNUC (read it backwards), Sin’s A Good Man’s Brother and Inside Looking Out. For the original Grand Funk Railroad, look no further than the above trio, and disregard the watered-down AOR outfit they developed into in later years. The band, of course: Mark Farner (guitar/vocals), Mel Schacher (bass) and Don Brewer (drums/vocals). I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.1. You guys all need to go and check this out! Mark is such a great guy and a class act. Mark does a lot for Veterans and is donating 20% of all proceeds from each sale of the DVD to help Veterans. If you need proof of this just check out the new DVD by Mark and his band- “From Chile with Love” which was released in April.
There was so much I wanted to ask but we just ran out of time- (Hendrix, Zappa, working with Ringo etc…)but we still got a lot of good stuff in!Īt 72 years of age he still plays and sings his ass off. In this interview he tells me about how a prayer inspired him to write the song, We also talk about his early influences, how Grand Funk blew Led Zeppelin off stage one night in Ohio, how he learned to sing by reading a newspaper upside down, his Musicraft Messenger guitar and much much more. One of his best known songs is the 1970 classic I’m your Captain (Closer to Home) which by now has reached legendary rock anthem status. These days he’s still rocking with his Mark Farner’s American Band and tours constantly. From the game changing Atlanta Pop Festival performance to the legendary Shea Stadium performance that they sold out in 72 hours (breaking the Beatles record many times over) Mark has seen and done it all. Best known as the frontman guitarist/songwriter and lead singer for one of the biggest bands in 1970’s rock- Grand Funk Railroad.
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