Best Grand Funk pressings?

Yes, I know they suck...

I’ve got green label presssings of the 1st three. They sound o.k. Has anyone found better pressings or even “wallys” of the 1st three? I picked up a German pressing of on time, the vinyl is good, but sound is about the same as the US Capitol. I’m starting to think Terry Knight was less than spectacular as a producer. Any help would be appreciated.

 

For the red album, I love my Toshiba CD pressing. And the Toshiba for Survival. I have the Trunk of Funk for the rest of the albums.

 

I'm looking for some good Grand Funk pressings too so any advice would be welcome here! Love Grand Funk!!

 

Who else is out there?

 

Any of the Japan "Past Masters" cd series of Grand Funk are awesome. A forum favorite!

 

On vinyl:

Lee Hulko masterings of Shinin' On and Phoenix

Other than that you really can't go wrong with the early Capitol pressings
The pattern tends to be initially when the album is released there is several pressings, then a mid-70s' repress, then sometimes one more in '80-'81.
But even those later pressings are usually very good.

Like Cactus, Mountain, James Gang, GFR are really served and heard on vinyl

Now the trick is finding a non trashed copy of the 1st three and the 1st live album.

These pressings can still be had in $10 -$15, but they'll soon be moving into the $20 Sabbath Zep Floyd territory. There is money to be made repressing GFR vinyl, MoFi, Analogue Prod, Capitol, Intervention, etc.!

 

Live Album Audiophile Limited Anniversary Edition

180 gram, Live, Gatefold
Format: Vinyl

 

My advice...................
Don't worry about originals verses later reissues, and find the cleanest ones you can for each album. I went for years with scratched, sub par pressings until about three years ago when I walked into a used media shop and someone had just unloaded 8 gorgeous Grand Funk albums. I snatched them all. There is not much of a sonic difference between the early and later US pressings.......the trick is finding ones that are CLEAN. These were major party albums back in the early 70's, and for some reason if there was Grand Funk on the label, I guess people thought they were supposed to abuse them??? If your looking for audiophile bliss, you're not going to find it with Grand Funk's production. That swampy, muddy mix is prevalent with much of their albums.......but they are fun to spin.

 

The Toshiba Red album CD is unbelievable.

 

I love the way the early albums sound. I'm a big fan of Terry Knights' production. The only thing he messed up is the drum sound on Survival. Still a great record though. Any clean green or red label is fine to me. I'm still looking for a clean "On Time" US pressing. Hard to find. The German press I have is bass shy, and that won't do. The songs from that album that are on the Mark, Don, and Mel comp have way more bass than the German.

 

I've been a major GFR fan for years, and have all of their original vinyl releases...about 2 years ago I purchased the Friday Music release of We're An American Band and last year I bought the Music On Vinyl release of Closer To Home...both of them are really nice sounding pieces!

 

Years ago, I downloaded needle drops of the original 1970 pressing of Closer to Home and the 1980 reissue. The reissue sounded infinitely better, so I went on Discogs and bought myself a copy. I love the way that record sounds, I’m not sure if the rest of their catalog was reissued in 1980 as well but I would assume if it was the reissues would trump the original pressings.

 

I love the sound too. I have a red label that smokes.

 

I wish I could remember what color label mine is, I think it’s purple. I’m not near my records at the moment. What year was your pressing manufactured?

 

The red labels are early 70's. Purple labels came in around '78, and went into the eighties. I've had good luck with purple labels in the Beatles catalog sounding very good. I've never heard a Grand Funk purple, but I wouldn't shy away from one if it didn't have an 80's barcode. I would love to find a clean late 70's purple label copy of "On Time." I'm not sure if those even exist. I'll have to check that. I'm always afraid that digital mastering started creeping in on some of those 80's reissues, but I could be completely wrong about that.

 

US Capitol Records Label Colors:

Rainbow: '62 - '69

Lime Green: '69 - '72 ( with purple and black target logo on top)

Red/Orange: '69 - '72 (with purple and black target label on top)

Mustard/Yellow: '72 - '76 ( Capitol at Bottom)

Red/Orange: '72 - '76 (Capitol at Bottom)

Purple: '77 - '83 (Capitol at Top)

Teal: '77 - '83 (Capitol at Top)

Grand Funk also had their own special nickel/silver label variant for E Pluribus Funk

 

My CTH is the red target label. Winchester press. I played my green target of The Red Album last night, and was reminded how much it smokes also.

 

scored the toshiba pastmasters red album CD over the weekend.

that bong-rattling bass was actually moving my pants leg in the vehicle. have supermasters/coolprice "e-pluribus funk" , "closer to home" and "survival" on the way

looks like i erred in passing on the audio fidelity WAAB when it was released

 

Not sure if a purple label exists for "On Time " but it does for the Red Album. Don't own it. I own both on the dark green labels from 1981 with the SN- catalog numbers. Both sound really, really good. So does the dark green "Closer To Home". In my experience the orange labels for these 3 albums are the worst capitol pressed of Grand Funk. I have an orange "On Time " and it was definitely the worst of the 3 copies I own. I was very lucky to get excellent condition copies of the original lime green label first 3 LPS. To me, those sound the best. BUT the dark green labels from 1981 are really, really close and are easier to find in nice shape. I'd bet any purple labels you can find also sound great. I have a few of those Beatles purples that are quite nice as well.

BTW, the dark green labels pressings from 1981 are most definitely NOT digital. They sound very analog and seriously compare to the originals. At least in my experience. All of mine say "mastered by capitol" in the dead wax. BOTH sides.

 

I have a uk version of the first album and a us version of the second album. Both sound great.

 

Registered here to ask.
Does anyone hear some weirdness in sound of "Born To Die" (1999, STCD 11482)? I have impression that it was transferred from LP and de-clicked.
Track "Talk To The People" sounds exactly as if vinyl plays.

Grand Funk Railroad - Born To Die

 

Even then aNd even now I have avoided (on Cd and LP) both this and All the Girls...Though I really like Good Singin’

 

I recently picked up what was sold to me as (and what appears to be) an unsealed but unplayed Japanese pressing of the first LP that was part of the "RockGreatest 1500" series...at least that's what it's called on the OBI.

Man, it sounds great - dead quiet vinyl, rumblin' bass...so happy with this purchase, as my older/original copies of "On Time" that I've had for 40+ years are just too rough to play anymore.

 

Audiophile? One of the worst sounding recordings ever.