I'm not going to give anything away, including my opinion.
I'm not going to give anything away, including my opinion.
Intestesting stories regarding: Zepplin, Zappa, Terry Knight's murder, Mark's honoring by the Native American people and most importantly, a GFRR documentary in the works!!!....many stories of which I've never heard before.
The interviewer has to be the WORST I've ever heard before.
Thanks for posting
only 1 cat besides me found this interview interesting enough to comment on? must not be many GFR fans here
I watched it as well. What I personally got out of it was that MF is tremendously self-centered and to me came off thinking that he was still the shit. YMM of course V.
Sorry, it ain't so.
I was never a GFR fan (did really like "Captain/Home" & "American Band" though).
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
Uh... Yeah man... I hung with Hendrix... Slept with my guitar... I just dont have 55 minutes left on my Ipad to watch this whole thing. Never cared for grand funk. Different strokes for different folks.
He reminds me a little of Ted Nugent.
Still alive and well...
Outside of Discipline, and not counting jazz cats like Kenny Burrell and Ron Carter, have there ever really been any good bands from Michigan? I mean, when Grand Funk and P-Funk and Bob Seger and Terrible Ted and the MC5 are the best thing y'got goin' for ya . . . . . . . . . .
Hired on to work for Mr. Bill Cox, a-fixin' lawn mowers and what-not, since 1964.
"Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pigeon. It'll just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut about like it's won anyway." Anonymous
“Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.” George Carlin
He should've tried practicing it, instead.Originally Posted by Nijinsky Hind
? & the Mysterians!
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
I found the interview to be entertaining. A rock star who's half Cherokee is bound to have some colorful stories. I was hoping he'd take a break and play the guitar though. Can't say I'm a Grand Funk fan, but this has piqued interest in revisiting their music.
Watching it as I write. Is it me or does Mark kinda sound like Iggy Pop?Something about Michigan accents.
Watched pretty much all of it. Interesting interview. I like Mark Farner. He was one of my early guitar heroes. He wasn't a great guitarist but his riffs and crunchy chords were easy to copy, and he had kind of a garage/rock, tone on that wierd guitar he used to play (the semi-hollow thing he played in the early days). GFR were one of my favorite bands in the early 70s when I was getting into hard/rock and heavy metal. I only had a compilation called "Mark, Don, & Mel" back then, It was a two disc set and had all the epic, heavy hits. I was a huge fan back then. I lost interest after they got away from the power-trio sound and started doing songs like "Locomotion" and "We're An American Band." Just never did anything for me. No balls, no edge.
As far as some of the comments he made, I thought his comments about Todd and Frank were interesting. He actually thinks it was all that coffee that Frank drank that killed him? Who knows? I figured his comments on guns would ruffle some feathers. I'm no gun nut. Never owned one, never been interested in guns. If I had a thousand dollars to spend on a weapon I'd buy an electric guitar rather than a gun. But, I agree with Mark. Yeah he's a little Nugent-y, and confident with himself. He should be. He was that band. He knows it, and the current incarnation of the band knows it.
If you were a kid back then, it was hard not to like Grand Funk! It's hard to believe how popular they were in the US. I gather that in Europe, not as much. I still think some of their songs are great: Aimless Lady, Sin's a Good Man's Brother, and Mr. Limousine Driver, to name a few! Farner was a great singer, too!
There's a few innaccuracies in the interview such as Zappa's cause of death and Farner makes way more of the bands prowess than is justified. I mean blowing Zeppelin off the stage? Certainly not musically!
Thanks for posting the article!
I guess "kid" is the operative term here, but nobody I knew would've been caught dead with one of their LPs.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Well, I guess that explains the zombification of America circa 1972-73!
I listened to part of it but Farner gets tiresome. Yet another classic rocker whose estimation of his work is a bit higher than the common consensus. There were some great tunes but hey, there's a reason why the writers of the Simpsons chose Grand Funk as Homer's favorite band.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
GFR weren't the "smartest" rock band back then but they managed to compose some pretty epic tracks like Paranoid, Inside Looking Out, Into The Sun, and Closer To Home. To me that was the cream of their output. Right now I only have 3 of their albums, the second album (the red cover), Closer To Home, and some cheapo compilation from their later years (which is lame as hell).
Could that be "Grand Funk Hits"? If so, I agree. It's terrible. Compiling only their hits probably does more to harm their rep than anything. How can any comp exclude "Foot Stompin' Music" while keeping dreck like "Bad Time to Be in Love"?
gag.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Them’s fighting words here. You know I had to respond.....Outside of Discipline, and not counting jazz cats like Kenny Burrell and Ron Carter, have there ever really been any good bands from Michigan? I mean, when Grand Funk and P-Funk and Bob Seger and Terrible Ted and the MC5 are the best thing y'got goin' for ya . . . . . . . . . .
You may not like Bob Seeger, but for those of us who grew up in Michigan the guy is every bit as important as Springsteen (whom I assume you don’t like either).
Personally I don’t like Nugent’s politics or some of his other views, but he was an important part of the hard rock scene in the 70’s.
Iggy Pop may not be everyone’s taste here either, but he is one of the most influential artists of his time.
You may not like Motown, but the label (located in the heart of downtown Detroit) created much of the soundtrack to the 60’s and 70’s and is one of the most important record labels in the history of music.
For prog, along with Discipline Michigan has given us Tiles, and House Of Usher,
And let’s not forget the mighty Alice Cooper.
Others include:
Kid Rock – He’s come a long way over the years.
Aretha Franklin – C’mon she is the queen of fuc*ing soul!
Glenn Frey from The Eagles
James Maynard Keenan – We’re talking Tool here!
Wayne Kramer
The MC5 – Again one of the most influential bands of the 60’s.
Jason Newsted from Metallica – He used to go to our church when I was growing up.
Mitch Ryder
Del Shannon
Chad Smith and Anthony Kedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Verve Pipe – Kalamazoo Homeboys
Jack White / The White Stripes
Nerada Michael Walden
Ryan Stasik – Umphrey’s Mcgee
Don't forget Vince Fournier. I know he grew up in Arizona but I believe he was born in Michigan ans spent some years there before moving west. And also Alice Cooper left the west coast and really flourished in Michican.
Agree about Bob Seger too.
Yes. Alice was born in Michigan, moved to Arizona where the Alice Cooper Band was formed, but then came back to Detroit before they really took off, so we still claim him.
Mike Quatro (Suzi's brother).
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Yup, both Quatro's were from Michigan.
I crossed paths with GFRR in early '70 when I was 11 yrs old and really into the drums....they were my real gateway band into "real" rock music (after being into The Monkees, etc.) They were HUGE for a few years there and I'd say that; song-wise, they really hit their song-writing peak on We're an American Band... The Railroad, Black Licorice, Loniest Rider, Stop Lookin Back, and Shin'in On from the same album are great Rock tunes. (along with the other aforementioned tunes...the RED album and Closer to Home were also great)
Sadly, Rock history has not been kind to GFRR as they have all but vanished from the conscienceness of most rock fans and Mark is a bit full of himself in the interview. I will say however, in response to the comment about Mark needing to "practice more"....Let's not forget that he played: GTR, Harmonica, Fender Rhodes, Hammond and Sang lead, (He was adequate at all of these ("Jack of all trades...master of none". comes to mind)
I still listen to them on occasion and still enjoy hearing their output...no shame here.
I saw Farner as part of an 80s concert back in '88, I think it was. They other bands included the original BTO, Rare Earth and Dr. Hook (don't ask me why).
Farner was great. I think he stole the show. I believe he was into the religious thing back then, because I do recall some Christian song that was actually very good, even for tis non-believer.
I saw him with the reformed GF years later and I thought they were really good.
It is what it is.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
their early albums as a trio were really good to my ears. i lost interest once they added the keyboard guy. not the same band.
"She said you are the air I breathe
The life I love, the dream I weave."
Unevensong - Camel
Several years ago I had a chance to see the current lineup of GFR at Gulfstream Park (the paramutual horse racing track). I went to a lot of concerts at that venue when they had the concert series (which sadly, has been cancelled). I didn't go though. I kinda wanted to go just to hear all those great old songs being played live, but then I just couldn't imagine a band calling themselves Grand Funk Railroad without Mark Farner. Is there bad blood between Mark and Mel and Don? That's kinda the impression I get from hearing what Mark says in the interview. I like that Mark isn't making a stink out of letting the other two guys use the name GFR and making a living off it. And I'm sure if Mark wanted to he could go out on tour as "Mark Farner's GFR" or something. But he's content to be where he is.
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