#SONGS BY GRAND FUNK RAILROAD FOR FREE#
#SONGS BY GRAND FUNK RAILROAD MOVIE#
#SONGS BY GRAND FUNK RAILROAD TV#

I just made like it was part of the show, Dude. That guitar cord was still in my axe and I still played from that position. I’m not gonna stop! Oh, no! I’m going right over the front of the… Woo!” And there I was, standing in front of the audience with the stage ten feet up and I’m at the very end of that cord. I hit that stage and I come sliding out on the dance wax and I’m going, “Oh, shit.

But I was not prepared for what happened. I had two twenty-footers that would lock together with XLR connectors in the middle like a mic cable and it gave me a great distance. I hit that stuff and my cord – because we didn’t have cordless back then, you had a coil cord. dynamo… the bull’s riding you know! So, here I come and I did not know that the lighting director had put dance wax on that stage, Brother. Then it’s like busting out…shoot number four. You know, do some boxer shuffles and stuff – with my guitar on just to burn it up. There I was ready to tear things apart because I always got worked up before I go out on the stage. Aargh – the tales I could tell you!ĭJ: I’m pretty sure virtually every successful musician of your generation has a similar tale to tell!ĭJ: In 1971 you came over to the UK to London and headlined at Hyde Park? Have you any memories of that particular day? So he was keeping ten, giving the band six to split and then taking a management commission of that 6%, Dude. So, we finally find out years and years later – there was a contract between Knight and Capital Records for 16%. And we said, “More than the Beatles! Wow, that’s cool.” And then he did a deal with Capitol – a production deal – and signed the band to himself under this production deal and told the band that the 6% that we were receiving and dividing was more than the Beatles was getting. MF: Well, of course, the record companies had a lot of acts there and Capitol, being one of the companies, were very interested in talking to Terry Knight at that festival about signing.

What a lucky thing for Grand Funk!ĭJ: Incredible! And how did it move on from there – from that spectacular opening? So, you know – one hand washes the other.

#SONGS BY GRAND FUNK RAILROAD FOR FREE#

Grand Funk plays for free just to get the exposure and then they gave him an adjusted fee for the legal work. So they worked a deal with the promoters of the pop festival to put us on first and we’ll play for free. MF: Well, the attorneys that did the legal work for that pop festival were the same attorneys that Terry Knight, our manager, used for his legal work in New York City. One of your very first gigs was at the legendary Atlanta Pop Festival in 1969. But you actually started off as a stadium band pretty much from the get-go. In this interview we look back at Mark’s career: forming Grand Funk, performing at the Atlanta Pop Festival in 1969 and London’s Hyde Park in 1971 as well as discussing the inspirations behind his songs, his collaborations with the likes of Ringo Starr and Alice Cooper not to mention his brand new DVD ‘From Chile With Love’ which is due out on 6th April.ĭJ: When we think of Grand Funk Railroad we think of one of the legendary American stadium bands of the 1970s. As well as being their lead singer and lead guitarist he was also the band’s principal songwriter. film RADIO, and also in the swashbuckler SAHARA starring Matthew McConaughey.Mark Farner was one of the founding members of American rock legends Grand Funk Railroad. We’re An American Band was featured in the Cuba Gooding Jr.

#SONGS BY GRAND FUNK RAILROAD TV#

The huge hit was featured in a General Motors national TV ad campaign and in Disney’s animated feature film The Country Bears.

#SONGS BY GRAND FUNK RAILROAD MOVIE#

We’re An American Band has received notoriety in recent years being used in movie soundtracks and in television/radio advertising. Mega-hits We’re An American Band, I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home, Locomotion, and Some Kind Of Wonderful still receive continuous airplay on Classic Rock radio. The fact that Grand Funk’s legacy still reigns over the Classic Rock landscape fifty years after its 1969 birth in Flint, Michigan is a testament to the group’s influence and staying power. Grand Funk laid the groundwork for such bands as Foreigner, Journey, Van Halen, and Bon Jovi with its signature hard-driving sound, soulful vocals, muscular instrumentation, and forceful pop melodies.

Grand Funk Railroad, sometimes shortened as Grand Funk, is an American hard rock band popular during the 1970s, which toured extensively and played to packed arenas worldwide. 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.

Songs by grand funk railroad