Grand Funk Railroad – Live. The 1971 Tour

207

5 Stars

***By the time this album came out, no money was thrown around for nice things like artwork.***

Audio CD (paid link)

During 1970 and 1971, the power trio Grand Funk Railroad (Mark Farner, Don Brewer, and Mel Schacher), under the management of Terry Knight, set out to become the biggest rock ‘n’ roll band in America.

By the time of this recording, Grand Funk Railroad had reached their aim and were the biggest band in the land. They probably peaked at Shea Stadium that year, but there was still plenty of life left in the tracks. Soon afterwards, they were to have two #1 singles in America – with a cover of Carole King’s ‘Locomotion’ and Don Brewer’s ‘We’re an American Band.’

*We, the paying public, were lucky to get these montages*
*and the track listing.*

The Shea Stadium concert was to be recorded for a full-length feature movie, but before this could happen, band and management went their separate ways and the whole thing was put up on the shelf.

Fortunately, the tapes were dug out in 2002 and Capital Records realized what a little gold mine they were sitting on. These tapes were handed over to David K. Tedds, who has done a marvelous job of seamlessly putting together an entire show from that hot summer of ’71 and leaving it in its original running order with all the stage announcements, crowd cheering, and atmosphere of a good old seventies rock ‘n’ roll concert.

If you’re going to get a Billboard, get a big un! Terry Knight made sure his boys got the wildest publicity so that no one could ignore them. Unfortunately, it left no money in the purse for the band to share, as all publicity came out of their share. Not very fair.

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2001 A Space Odyssey led Grand Funk Railroad into ‘Are You Ready,’ which gets the audience on their feet and rockin’. Grand Funk Railroad obviously had a lot of dog in them as they grabbed their followers by the scruff of the neck and just keep on shaking until they begged for forgiveness. The band storms through a set of all the highlights from their first five albums.

The medley of ‘I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home’ in the center of the set is the true work of artists playing at the peak of their powers. The version of ‘T.N.U.C.’ is seventeen minutes long and allows every member of the band space to stretch out and show their skills. Mark Farner was the obvious focal point of the band, playing lead guitar, most of the lead vocals, keyboards, and at the time, wrote all the songs. But during T.N.U.C. Mel Schacher got to show off his dexterous bass playing and Don Brewer takes a 10-minute drum solo that even listening to on audio he manages to keep interesting.

Next we get two cover versions to bring the set proper to a rousing conclusion. First we have a 15-minute version of the Animals’ song, ‘‘Inside Looking Out.’ Grand Funk Railroad take it apart and then smack it back together again in their own style with some wonderfully sprawling guitar solos and plenty of pathos in Mark Farner’s endeavors to sing Eric Burdon’s words.

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Then, with the introduction from Mark Farner of “This song is our generation’s national anthem,” the band screams into a powerful version of the Stones’ ‘Gimmie Shelter.’ It may not have the light and shade of the Stones’ original, but what it lacks in grace, it more than makes up for in power and enthusiasm, also proving how much effect the Brit-Invasion of the mid-sixties was still having on American rock & roll.

After this, there is only one song Grand Funk Railroad could possibly finish with – ‘Into the Sun.’ Seeing Grand Funk Railroad without them playing ‘Into the Sun’ would be a bit like seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd without them doing Freebird. ‘Into the Sun’ starts off with the main lick played over softly until the first sung verse, where from this point onwards, it builds and builds from guitar breaks to heavier drumming to Mel Schacher ringing every note out of the bass guitar until it reaches a thunderous climax. This version from Detroit (Motor City) is by far the most exciting ever officially released and worth the price of the album on its own.

These days the long drum solos and heavy references to marijuana may leave the younger generation baffled, but back in the day of the early seventies it was cool.

Turn it up to 11 and enjoy.