Well, today our wishes came true ... so, running simultaneously with his Daily Herald column, here is Ron's review!
The Grandest Band of Funky Blues-Rock!
I guess I could say that I really began my rock 'n' roll
journey back in sixth grade at Our Lady of the Angels School on Chicago’s west
side. We had our first gymnasium dance
that year, and I remember that night … and my burgundy outfit well, complete
with red vest, deep red polyester pants, red-flowered silk shirt and black
platform shoes. Flashbacks still occur
involving streamers taped to the walls and hanging from the basketball hoops, a
punch bowl of Hawaiian Punch, just a few of the fluorescent bulbs on, a record
player manned by the gym teacher and a bunch of boys on one side of the room,
and a bunch of girls on the other.
Everyone pretty much stayed on their respective side of the
gym for most of the night, except for when the teacher called out “Ladies
choice” and played Terry Kath’s “Colour My World” by Chicago. I’ll never forget that dance. I was a strapping four-feet, ten inches, and
she was a solid five-six. I rested my
head on her chest during the flute solo, and from that moment on, I was never
the same.
Anyway, in typical youthful fashion, the eight p.m. ending
to the dance was quickly approaching and the realization that the evening was
coming to an end caused mass concern and the teacher to turn up the music a
bit. “The Loco-Motion” was just released
by Grand Funk Railroad, and was the teacher’s last-ditch effort to shake things
up. For some reason, that song brought
us “I don’t dance fast” kids all on the dance floor, and all at once we became “American
Bandstand” wannabees. Then the last song
came on, GFR’s “We’re An American Band”.
We air-guitared like we were on stage ourselves, and I knew then what it
felt to be a rocker!
But by the time I graduated grammar school in 1976, the band
that began as a power-trio with Don Brewer, Max Schacher and Mark Farner had
broken up. No more Grand Funk 45s to be
purchased from the record store on Saturday mornings! I was heartbroken! But over the years, the band got back
together and split up again multiple times with a variety of rosters. I was able to breathe once more.
With all the bands I have worked with in my twenty-five-plus
years in the music biz, I only worked with Grand Funk for the first time just
in the past couple of years. And that
was with the Don Brewer version of the band.
Although Farner was in and out of the band over the years, he
predominantly focused on his solo career.
I recently worked with Mark Farner for the first time on a co-bill at
The Arcada Theatre with Three Dog Night original, Chuck Negron. The two guys
and their respective bands just killed that night, with just so many hits and
both were out-of-control rockers that have not missed a beat!
I met Farner for the first time as he was on our stage doing
his sound check before that night’s show.
He is a thick guy, still sporting his signature patriotic colors and long,
straight hair. As I was watching him
effortlessly rock his guitar, I was marveling about how his thick fingers
landed perfectly on every fret. He said
hello, and I could pretty much look him square in the eyes. Whoa! I
thought he was a much bigger guy!
We talked a bit, and he is still very much grounded, with still
a deep appreciation for his fans. I told
him my story about those two songs and he gave me a couple of stories
back. First of all, he saw that Todd
Rundgren signed our dressing room walls after his recent Arcada
appearance. “Did you know that Todd produced
both those songs, ‘The Loco-Motion’ and ‘We’re An American Band’?,” he said. “As a matter of fact, had it not been for
Todd, we would never have recorded ‘Loco-Motion’”!
It seems that the guys were recording when Farner walked in
whistling the Little Eva version of “The Loco-Motion” he had just heard on his
car radio on his way to the studio.
Rundgren heard Farner and the producer wheels started turning!
“There is a story out there that The Beatles recorded “The
Loco-Motion”,” I said. “No, they never
recorded it, but when I was touring with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, Ringo
told me that it was one of the covers they would play before they made it
big. So I sang it on stage with him and
it was recorded on his next live album!
That’s as close as I got to playing with The Beatles!”
In 1965, The Beatles sold out Shea Stadium in New York in
just about two weeks. That was an
incredible feat, being that meant over fifty thousand ticket buyers in a
pre-internet culture. A few years later,
Grand Funk Railroad smashed that record, selling out Shea Stadium in less than
72 hours! “It was a mind blowing
experience! People everywhere, we had to
be helicoptered in. When we landed in
the parking lot, our limos weren’t there, so the police brought us into the stadium
to the stage that was on second base with their sirens on. One of the coolest experiences of my career,”
Farner said.
During his incredible show, Farner slammed on the brakes to
pay special tribute to military personnel.
He touched on their sacrifices, and dedicated his next song, what came
to be a Viet Nam War staple. Originally
penned by Farner about a sea captain facing a mutiny with his crew, “I’m Your
Captain” (Closer To Home) became a war-time anthem for the troops overseas who
just wanted to be “Closer To Home”. At
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Viet Nam Wall, “I’m Your Captain” was voted
the number one requested song by Viet Nam War Vets.
Both the Don Brewer version of Grand Funk Railroad and Mark
Farner’s solo tour of Grand Funk hits continue, and thank God for that. These songs are a huge part of our pop culture,
from the band’s inception in 1969 through the young generations I see at my
theatre today. In a time when patriotism
is tested regularly, and national unity is at a rare premium,
there is nothing that gives me red, white and blue warmth more than someone on
stage proudly professing that they are an “American Band.”
-- Ron Onesti
Man, I'm hoping you bring BOTH of these guys back so I can see them!
I had a chance to interview Mark Farner when he was part of the Happy Together Tour a couple of years ago but I could never free up my schedule to meet his so the interview never happened. Too bad ... I hear he's a real interesting and down to earth guy to talk to.
My brother was the big Grand Funk fan in our house ... we had competing bands in the early '70's and his always rocked a little harder ... we tended to stay more to the "pop" side of things.
Grand Funk Railroad sold a gizillion albums in the early '70's ... one of the top-selling bands out there ... and that was pretty much how they were perceived at the time. So it was a real surprise when they started to hit the pop singles chart, too.
"We're An American Band" and "The Loco-Motion" both topped the chart in all three music trades ... and their version of "Some Kind Of Wonderful" and "Bad Time" were Top Five hits, too. I have to count "Closer To Home" as one of my favorites by them. I also like their version of "Feelin' Alright" ... and some of their Forgotten Hits like "Footstompin' Music", "Rock 'n' Roll Soul" and "Walk Like A Man".
One of the things I wanted to ask Mark about was how he felt at the time and now, all these years later, about such a drastic move to the pop side ... a lot of the original die-hard Grand Funk Railroad fans thought the band sold out when it went the pop route under Todd Rundgren's direction ... but they also picked up millions of NEW fans in the process. "We're An American Band" and their version of "The Loco-Motion" are known worldwide ... and took their already VERY successful career to a whole new level.
(By the way, Todd Rundgren is coming BACK to The Arcada Theatre on May 12th ... tickets are on sale now through the OShows online box office ... www.oshows.com
One of the things I wanted to ask Mark about was how he felt at the time and now, all these years later, about such a drastic move to the pop side ... a lot of the original die-hard Grand Funk Railroad fans thought the band sold out when it went the pop route under Todd Rundgren's direction ... but they also picked up millions of NEW fans in the process. "We're An American Band" and their version of "The Loco-Motion" are known worldwide ... and took their already VERY successful career to a whole new level.
(By the way, Todd Rundgren is coming BACK to The Arcada Theatre on May 12th ... tickets are on sale now through the OShows online box office ... www.oshows.com
Thanks for another great, fly-on-the-wall review, Ron! (kk)
