Grand Funk Railroad reunion? Mark, Don and Mel. When is this going to happen??

I read it when I worked at Borders Books, I hardly ever bought books when I could read them for free, most of my meager extra cash went to cd's and dvd's. There's a lot of them now, including this one, I wish I HAD bought since they have become collector's items. You just never know which ones will end up on the bargain stack and which ones skyrocket in value. I remember that it was very good, though.

 

Thank you!

 

It is actually amazing there hasn't ever been a better book ever done on GFR, although I think that ship sailed a while ago at this point.

 

When I bought his solo DVD a few years back, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed, and I wasn't !!!!

The VOICE. The guitar. WROTE the songs. Mark Farner IS Grand Funk, Brillo head, and little bass boy. Go F yerselves.
.

 

You hear Mark Farner's side, you hear Don Brewer's side. What about Mel Schacher? Anything on him?

 

I did a Google search on Mel Schacher interview, and came up with nada except for this post :

"It is good to know that Mel's is getting the respect by fellow bass players.
From what I have read he has not done an interview, he is a man of few words.
I sure would like to hear his view on bass playing and how times have changed."

From this thread :

Mel Schacher »

I'd like to hear his take on things as well, but it appears he's Don's bud all the way.

 

It already happened - 1997 and 1998. Saw it twice - first in a small theater, then an outdoor festival type show. Both shows mind blowing.

 

He has been in the band since 2000.

 

I had heard the stuff about Mark, then the dirt about Don. In the end, it ALL sucks.

 

As far as I know, in the cd realm at least, the really rare cd's at the moment for GFR are the Bosnia Live set, the 30 Years Of Funk 3-cd set, the Greatest Hits 2-cd set with bonus dvd, the Trunk Of Funk box, the scarce Canadian cd of Born To Die that came out before the remasters, and of course the early Japan press cd's.

Here's a good price on Bosnia from Zoverstocks :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-lis...ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1459390618&sr=1-21

 

No Farner...No Funk.

Darryl

 

which cd is it?

 

What's on the bonus DVD in the 2cd hits set?

 

1. We're An American Band, Original Promo Film 1973.
2. Inside Looking Out, Live on PBS' The Show, WITF TV, Hershey, Pennsylvania, November, 1969.
3. Some Kind Of Wonderful, live at The Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan, 04/20/97.
4. We're An American Band, live at The Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan, 04/20/97.
5. I'm Your Captain, live at Shea Stadium, 07/09/71.

* NOT 2 CD, 1 CD/1 DVD.

.

 

I've given up hope that we'll ever see Farner perform with GFR again, even though he was everything that made that band great. What Brewer did to force him out is inexcusable. Not only that, for some reason Farner can't use the term "Formerly of Grand Funk Railroad" to advertise his own shows.

The touring group that calls themselves Grand Funk Railroad is an abomination.

That said, I don't understand why they don't release the film of the 1971 Shea Stadium concert. It exists in its' entirety but has never been bootlegged as far as I know and the band, probably Brewer, has no interest in releasing the document of the band at the peak of their success.

 

I loved those guys when I was a young teenager. Mark Don and Mel was the second LP I bought. I was just learning guitar and I spent a lot of time trying to learn Farners parts. It's really sad what has happened to those three guys.

But I did learn one thing from the Grand Funk saga over the years

Q - what time is it when somebody in your band mentions the word "lawyer"?










A - time to find a new band.

 

I don't think we'll ever see GFR reunite with Mark. To hear Mark tell it, Don Brewer learned just enough about business law to talk Mark into signing over the band to him (Don), and then they canned him (Mark). Don apparently wanted all the marbles and now he's got them, no need to call up the guy who mostly wrote and sang all their hits for another go around. Even if Mark's story isn't correct, it's obvious that there's too much bad blood between these guys to make a reunion possible.

 

I have to admit, I often wonder what happened between them all, to generate so much bad blood, that one of them would stick the knife in the back of the other so deeply.

Yes, Brewer comes across really badly... but, why is he so bitter? Did Farner do something, or was it a cumulative effect over the years, to make him so angry?

 

Farner should form a band with Bill Ward and Michael Anthony.

 

Could be ego - it can be a powerful thing. Maybe he was tired of Mark getting all the attention while he was relegated to singing 2 of his songs per show/album. Personality conflicts are a big problem for band members who spend way too much time together touring and recording, maybe even deeper things like Mark's strong religious beliefs potentially creeping into the music he wanted to make, which it did in his subsequent solo albums.

 

Isn't Farner born again and thus won't play some of the songs?

 

He is a Christian, but still plays his songs as far as I know. Gregg Allman and Charlie Daniels have changed some of their lyrics as well, reflecting age, and maturity, and sobriety.
.

 

could be something to that. Maybe Farner was constantly lecturing or preaching to them about their evil ways or something. Who knows.

Somehow, over time, he really pissed off Mel and Don. Maybe its not his fault, maybe they're both petty jealous impossible-to-work-with jerks. I dont know.

 

Mark wanted a clean backstage, Donnie wanted to continue the party atmosphere. There's a story of Donnie getting Mark's son high, during the '97 tour, which of course didn't help anything.
.