Mel and Don said, ‘Man, Farner, you wrote a hit. That’s a hit!’ I said, ‘God gave it to me. I took it to rehearsal that day, and both Mel and Don said, ‘Man, Farner, you wrote a hit. I played this inversion just by accident, and I was like, ‘How did that happen?’ Then I started singing, and the whole song just came out. Then I made a pot of coffee, reached over and grabbed my Washburn guitar, and I started playing. on it: ‘God, would you please give me a song that would touch the hearts of those you want to get to?’ I got up and wrote the words – they were just there. I said the prayer my mother taught me, and I put a P.S. Somebody pinch me!’” “Closer To Home (I’m Your Captain)” from ‘Closer To Home’ (1970) You know, we’re making a record, so I was like, ‘Wow, it’s really happening. What’s next?’ Listening back to it was thrilling. I remember Terry Knight heard us track ‘Heartbreaker’ one time, and he said, ‘Okay, that’s done. “I used my Musicraft Messenger guitar and my West Fillmore amplifier, and I just ripped. Of course, the whole first album was done in three days – recorded and mixed. By the time we got in the studio, I could’ve played it in my sleep. “I played it with Grand Funk pretty much the same way as I did with the Bossmen. It wasn’t so much that I was a great musician it was because I was going after the audience. We’d play it live, and there’d be the breakdown section where I do a guitar solo. In fact, we did it in the Bossmen for the last six months that I was with them. I had it in my back pocket for a few years before Grand Funk. Then I started hearing everything – the drums, the bass, how I should play guitar. I just started playing the chords, played ’em over and over, and soon enough the melody came to me. “This was my first attempt at songwriting. I could never read music, but I knew how to put melodies across in my solos, and I could get the audience going.” “When I played with Don and Mel, I just got into this frame of mind, and I was cookin’. “My guitar playing has always been based on pure emotion,” he says. I’m 72 now, so I’ve got to work the muscles a little more than when I was a young guy. How do you explain it?”įarner is similarly unanalytical when it comes to his exuberant approach to electric guitar playing, a distinctive blend of robust rhythms, widescreen leads and irrepressible jams that ignited car radios, arenas and stadiums throughout the ’70s. I’d pick up my guitar, and at first I had nothing, but before long I’d have a complete song. But it was incredible how I could get in this state of mind. “I just needed the confidence that I could do it, and once I had it, I couldn’t stop,” he says. ISBN 978-0-89820-213-7.That one night unlocked a door for Farner, and it led to a cavalcade of hard-charging, soulful classics that he would go on to write for Grand Funk Railroad from the late ’60s and well into the next decade. The Comparison Book Billboard/Cash Box/Record World 1954-1982. United Kingdom: The Official UK Charts Company. ^ "Official Charts / Grand Funk Railroad / Singles".^ "Chartverfolgung / Grand Funk Railroad / Single".^ "Grand Funk Railroad: Charts & Awards – Billboard Singles".^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Grand Funk Railroad.^ "Artist Info: Grand Funk Railroad" (PHP).Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). ^ a b " Go-Set Magazine Charts: Australian Top 40 Singles and Album Charts 1966–1974".^ a b c "Grand Funk Railroad: Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums".US Charts are Billboard unless otherwise noted. (Terry Knight & The Pack tracks w/Farner & Brewer)ġ0 Great Songs The Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters Grand Funk has released 13 studio album, 4 live albums, 8 albums and 25 singles.Īlbums Studio albums Year The band is most notable for their peak in popularity during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad (shortened to Grand Funk) is an American hard rock band formed in 1969. Cataloging of published recordings by Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad discography
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