Thoughts on the future of Grand Funk Railroad?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by JRD, Dec 28, 2016.

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  1. JRD

    JRD Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    England
    Will they continue as the faux funk or reunite with Mark?
     
  2. Todd W.

    Todd W. It's a Puggle

    Location:
    Maryland
    Unless Don and Mark sit down and hash it out, it will never happen. A lot of bad blood there. Absolutely one of my favorite bands growing up. I was fortunate to see them on essentially what was the Caught in the Act tour. I would pay to see the original again with Craig Frost on organ/keyboards.
     
  3. Yankeefan01

    Yankeefan01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tonawanda, NY, USA
    Seriously doubt it as I don't think Mark and Don will ever be able to come to agreement.

    I think that they would be able to tour and play arenas with no problem for a reunion tour.
     
    Jamey K likes this.
  4. What does the future hold? Continuous tours of the state fair and casino circuits with increasingly illegitimate lineups until their fan base is gone and no one will hire them anymore.
     
    Dr. Mudd, milankey, Comet01 and 8 others like this.
  5. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    Still very much an above-average wedding band, there's always money to be made there.
     
  6. boboquisp

    boboquisp Magic Prism Eyes

    Location:
    NE Ohio
    No future.
     
    a customer likes this.
  7. BadJack

    BadJack doorman who always high-fives children of divorce

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Aside from the business and personal issues, Brewer's Grand Funk and Farner's solo shows present two different visions of the band. Farner plays cuts like "Paranoid" and "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" from the earlier albums while Brewer is content to put on a striped hat and sing the praises of coming to your town and helping you party down. Neither one is unentertaining; in fact, Farner has barely lost a step over the years and is very impressive live.

    But the sad result is that the classic band has been dismissed if not completely forgotten, and I don't think that a reunited Mark/Don/Mel could fill even the places they played in the '90's. I've said before that I don't understand why their early records haven't found a sort of cult following with a younger (which in this case probably translates to 45), stoner metal crowd but I'm also not sure that they're interested in such a thing at the expense of the oldies circuit.

    What do I know, though? I'd love to see the original gang make one last go-round.
     
    Haggis Wampovich, keyXVII and Dexter like this.
  8. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    They will never reunite with Mark Farner. Brewer screwed him royally, and from what I understand Farner is happy doing what he does with his own band. Too bad, because from what I have seen from clips, he can still bring it 100%. They were stupid to push him out. All three of them are good musicians, but Mark was The Talent IMO.
     
  9. masterbucket

    masterbucket Senior Member

    Location:
    Georgia US
    Forget the reunion.
    Give me a 45 rpm or sacd set of the Red Album!!:bdance:
     
  10. Yankeefan01

    Yankeefan01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tonawanda, NY, USA
    Have any of their albums been given the reissue/remaster treatment.
     
  11. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    I think there is some stipulation that Farner can't advertise his shows indicating "Formerly of Grand Funk Railroad" which has restricted his potential bookings.

    Don Brewer seems like a real class act.
     
    keyXVII, jon9091 and dkmonroe like this.
  12. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Brewer's band at least does my favorite GF song, "Shinin' On."
     
    The Panda likes this.
  13. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Yeah. I mean, really? Brewer puts bread on the table by going around playing Mark Farner's songs at county fairs or whatever, and yet he begrudges Farner even the freedom to advertise the fact that he was once a member of GFR. What a dirtbag. At least he graciously allows Mark to continue to perform his own songs. I suppose he's take that away from him if he could. Peace and love generation, my ass.
     
  14. I don't understand how this sort of thing is legal. I mean, it's not like Farner would be trading under the GFR name, it's a simple factual statement.
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  15. BadJack

    BadJack doorman who always high-fives children of divorce

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Farner does that and "American Band" with, I think, his keyboard player handling the vocals.
     
  16. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    They have about as good a chance of reforming as CCR.
     
  17. OnTheRoad

    OnTheRoad Not of this world

    Sponsored by

    The Flint Water Department !








    The tour might be doomed to failure. :hide:
     
    zphage, MYQ1 and klockwerk like this.
  18. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    I saw them in 2011 and in 2016. Max Carl doesn't come close to Mark Farner.
     
    Spaghettiows likes this.
  19. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    Even though they needed 2 guys to replace Mark.
     
    seacliffe301 and Dr. Funk like this.
  20. keefer1970

    keefer1970 Metal, Movies, Beer!

    Location:
    New Jersey


    "Nobody knows the band Grand Funk? The wild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner? The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher? The competent drum work of Don Brewer? Oh, MAN!"
     
  21. Daryl M

    Daryl M Senior Member

    Location:
    London, Ontario
    As for my immediate Grand Funk plans, I hope to one day find a CD copy of `Bosnia'.
    Man, that is a hard one to find.
     
    MYQ1 likes this.
  22. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Brewer drew up a contract that basically gave him ownership of the band name and insisted that Farner sign it. Farner had no idea what he was agreeing to. Under the stipulations in that contact, Farner cannot use the GFR name at all to promote his own work.
     
    Dudley Morris likes this.
  23. Finchingfield

    Finchingfield Forum Resident

    Location:
    Henrico, Va
    Based on what I've casually read here and elsewhere, it sounds to me that Mark would rejoin Don and Mel, but Don would not want to reunite with Mark. Mark seems to be easy going, Christian, at peace with life, not holding any grudges. I don't know the source of Don's anger.

    I don't know how they split songwriting royalties for Mark's songs in the pre-American Band years. Could it be that Mark kept all the songwriting money for his songs, as he would be entitled to do, and Don and Mel always resented that? I don't know, just fishing for an answer...
     
  24. JRD

    JRD Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    England
    Did Mel and Mark have an argument? Mel sticks to Brewer like glue.
     
  25. JRD

    JRD Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    England
    I think that they could fill a few arenas and do some theater shows as well.
     
    Todd W. likes this.
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