Grand Funk Still Playing At 45
Grand Funk Railroad, one of the great institutions of American rock, are enjoying a busy 45th anniversary year, with a packed schedule that sees them playing far and wide across their beloved United States this summer and beyond.
The multi-million-selling band, these days a five-piece, still feature two of the original trio line-up of GFR that was formed in Flint, Michigan 1969, bassist Schacher and drummer Don Brewer. This weekend (Saturday 12), they rock into Grand Island, Nebraska, for a show at Heartland Events Centre on a remarkable double bill with another massive name in American music history, the Temptations.
In the rest of July alone, Grand Funk will play further dates in Montana, New York, Oregon and Connecticut. Just like they always said, they’re an American band, and crowds still flock to see them — last summer, for example, they drew the biggest crowd of the season at the Rockin’ The Riverfront series in their own backyard of Detroit.
All those shows resound to the sound of a band who had an incredible run of 11 consecutive gold or platinum albums in a row, in the States alone, between 1969 and 1974, including two in 1970 that are both double platinum in the US, ‘Closer To Home’ and their ‘Live Album.’ Then there are their two No. 1 singles, 1973’s ‘We’re An American Band’ and their remake of ‘The Loco-Motion’ the following year, two more top-five hits, two more top 20s and 19 chart singles in total.
Schacher and Brewer are joined in the current Grand Funk line-up by a vastly experienced line-up, including vocalist Max Carl, formerly with 38 Special, for whom he sang lead vocals on their biggest US chart single, 1989’s top ten smash ‘Second Chance.’ Bassist Bruce Kulick played with Kiss for 12 years, while keyboardist Tim Cashion’s credits include Bob Seger and Robert Palmer.
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