***Fun Fact*** Grand Funk Railroad's sold-out show on July 9, 1971, at New York's Shea Stadium is famous for selling its 55,000 tickets in 72 hours - faster than the Beatles had in August 1965. That record at the home of baseball's Mets stood until the ballpark was demolished in 2008.
Grand Funk sold-out MSG in 2 hours ! added a 2cd show and sold that out in 4 hours, added a 3 show and sold that out in 10 hours. Grand Funk sold-out MSG 3 times in 1 day.
You said it just as I was typing it; ABSOLUTE ROCK ANTHEM. What American rock music lover wouldn't party to that? When it came on the car radio, everybody including the driver rocked out. Because of course!
I was in the 3rd grade when this came out. My oldest brother (11 yrs older) had their albums. All the older teenage boys looked like these guys. My dad was an MP (military policeman) for the 101st Screaming Eagles and it was a daily occurrence of him ranting about those "long-haired" hippies, get a f-ing haircut comments. My oldest brother didn't have long hair but it was big and bushy so he had to deal with the comments...all coming from a flat top wearing, shiny combat boots, 1950s attitude father. Honestly, it cracked me up even at an early age. My brother, on the other hand, didn't think it was so funny. They are laid to rest side by side now and I miss them both. RIP
I took my 14 y/o brother to their show 100 miles away (KC Mo) in early '70s including back stage access & limo ride all the way back home on the farm. From that night forward let's just say John went to seed. ;)
The song mentions "Connie" at the beginning, she was the notorious and wayward groupie (Connie Hamzy) known to be a perverse teen and by her own admissions "pleased" many rockers. Also drummers would appreciate the song T. N.U.C. which has an insane drum solo by Don Brewer. btw the title of the song was to be spelt inverted, but the record company wouldn't allow it
Apparently as the story goes, they wanted to show UK bands, which were incredibly big at the time, that America could rock out just as good & hard, and that they loved their horses, dirt bikes, & motorcycles !!! Great Band.....
Didn't need Rundgren to write their music though right? Hell No Mark wrote All or most of their great hits. They definitely didn't need him to sell out Shea Stadium too!!!
One day back in 1972 I rode my bike to the Mall and bought Deep Purple "Made In Japan", Alice Cooper "Billion Dollar Babies" and Grand Funk Railroad "We're An American Band". Those were the days, daze. BTW, Mel's last name is pronounced Shak-ter. The boys from Flint, Michigan. And that classic car they were pushing and riding in was a Hispano-Suiza, check with Jay Leno about that particular mark, he rated H-S above Rolls Royce in their early days.
What a great video. The 70s where a blast! Sweet Connie was a famous groupie. The band name was inspired by the grand trunk railroad that ran through Michigan. I don't know how drummers sing and play. It's like singing and running.
Another Todd Rundgren production. Check out Black Licorice (live), Shinin’ On, Footstompin’ Music, I’m Your Captain. Such an underrated band and Mel is such an underrated bassist. Saw them on their reunion tour during the 90’s. Couldn’t believe how tight they were. And that live album is great also.
Mel 'Shocker' is the pronunciation,bro. First album with the keyboardist (Frost). Their earlier albums were edgier/bluesier and Farner wrote/sang almost every song. Glad you dug this one,Lee. My fav band from my old high school days! Rock on! T
Actually, the first GFR album Craig Frost played on was the previous album "Phoenix". He was not an official member yet, and was not shown on the album cover.
Great that you reacted to this!! I was fortunate to see them in 1973, 1975, and their reunion tour in the 90s. I HIGHLY recommend checking out the live version of this from the Caught in the Act album!!!! Craig Frost's organ playing is more prominent on that live version!!!
It's funny the only reason I know these songs because my older brother and sister had the 45 of this I remember the orange label and I used to rock it out on the victrola in our basement when i was a kid!!!💯🔥🎶❤
Saw them in Sacramento Ca. back in the mid 70s. They rolled that bit of film, in the middle of the show, as an 'intermission.' I remember thinking "wtf, came here for a rock concert, not a movie." But to be fair, the rest of the show did NOT disappoint.
I saw them during the We’re An American Band tour. It was a great show. When we walked into the coliseum in Corpus Christi, TX there was a huge Uncle Sam standing there.
I saw them in Oct. of 1969 at the old University of Oklahoma Field House (couldn't hear for two days afterwards} ,in1970 at Pirate World in Miami and in 1972 in Frankfurt Germany while I was a draftee in the army. They always put on a kick ass rock show and were the loudest band working at the time. Farner was a ball of fire on stage. He'd go from one side of the stage to the other in three downbeats, climb on and jump off the stacks and absolutely owned the stage.
That video gives you some interesting glimpses into that time for sure, but to me it's mostly a distraction, and there is another version where it just shows the session where they are all doing it. I had this single in later grade school and I fell in love also with side B, their cover of Do the Locomotion, an older hit from the 60s. It's so cool how the bass comes in so incredibly heavy when it does, and the whole thing is just cranked up to the maximum density, and so fun to dance to. It's really raw in a lot of ways, especially for a pop cover, and I love it.
I really enjoy your videos man, it's nice to see young people paying attention to what happened in the 60's and 70's. This album was produced by Todd Rundgren, he gave them a new sound, and it propelled the band into superstardom.
You should react to Freddy King's "Palace of the King." One of the three "Kings" of the blues: BB, Albert, and Freddy. Eric Clapton practically idolized Freddy. Left us too soon.
Well, I'm from a not so big city in the south of Italy (Lecce)...I still wonder how I came in contact with all this music in the seventies...so lucky, so lucky! (Probably it was thanks to a radio station of the time:THANKS)
Graduated highschool, rolled fatty and went to Shea Stadium in N.Y. to see and hear Humble Pie with Peter Framton and Grand Funk Railroad The concert sold out faster than the Beatles. We were in the top tier and thought it was going to fall down. Check out tunes from GFR's first red album. There's some great stuff there and Humble Pie's Rock On album is great in it's entirety
I watched this because I was trying to look for musicians reacting to this song to see how much they liked the various aspects of it and to hear what they noticed. I really enjoyed this. I appreciate you bud. Just found your channel and just subbed. I like some of those albums I see in the background btw. I was originally looking this song up to add it to a Feel Good Playlist I'm making.
Someday the Rock n Roll hall of fame may be ever so kind to put this iconic rock and roll band into their library, or whatever it's supposed to be. A museum? Or, is it just some money laundering place for rock critics?
All the great bands you react to I've either seen live or was buying their music as soon as it came out as the 60's and 70's was my stomping ground. In the case of GFR, I've seen them live in 1969. I have to laugh when people nowadays have never heard of all the bands that I grew up with. I can understand Mountain as one of them as they were really not mainstream. I met a 16 year old girl yesterday who never even heard of The Beatles...too funny. Thanks Lee for the great reactions.
Great timing…you just listened to Todd Rundgren…who was the producer of this song. A little different sound to this song compared to their other work. Credit that to Todd
I saw Don Brewers version of Grand Funk Railroad just last summer in Concord NC! They were outstanding! I can wait until you get to America's greatest band LYNYRD SKYNYRD!
Ultimately, I agree that GFR is a better name, but the truth is that when they were very popular, we all called them Grand Funk, and the Railroad part became unnecessary I suppose. ✌🏼😎🇺🇸
Hi there. I'd strongly recommend to dive into two tracks; namely I can feel it in the morning and the cover Gimmie Shelter from the Stones, they play it even better than them. I hope you'll enjoy them. Big hug alongside my blessings. You're great. I like your way.
Now that is American Rock and Roll! Kicks Major Ass...I think they had just little fun with Sweet sweet Connie and many others!...And they are not in the lamo R&R Hall of Fame (like the J Geils Band you just Did and your Jethro Tull!))..You want to check out another good tune by a singing drummer...Rare Earth and "Get Ready"..
It wasn't their choice to drop "Railroad" from their name. Grand Trunk Railroad sued them for copyright infringement. GTR runs through Flint, MI, their hometown.
'Ole Audiophile to L33Reacts: Hopefully you've heard earlier material. I'm not much of a complainer but this is a CLASSIC 1st class case of completely selling out. The band had fired their long time manager/record producer Terry Knight when up popped the idea the band needed major record production modification. Introduce artist Todd Rundgren into the formula & he remade the band in his own image. Early Grand Funk Railroad fans became very contentious. Let's say it didn't end well with the band. Thanx
Yeah I've done Heartbreaker and inside looking out. Great stuff. I don't see this as selling out but I see what you mean. It's definitely a little more... not as rigid... but I liked that rigidness of the earlier stuff
Hey L33! This is a fun video, but if you get a chance, check out the sonically superior album version of this. And, while you're at it, the rest of the "We're an American Band" album. Great stuff! Peace.