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US AND THEM - 1973
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"…Loneliest Rider…"
With album chart-numbers like No. 6 for both July 1970's "Closer To Home" and April 1971's well-received "Survival" – on top of November 1971's "E Pluribus Funk" at No. 5 and November 1972's "Phoenix" at No. 7 – it seems odd now to think that the American press had written off Grand Funk Railroad in late 1972 and early 1973 as 'finished' – or worse – just not that good.
This is a band that has always had vitriol thrown at them. But a smart decision to employ Drummer and Singer Don Brewer and Keyboardist Craig Frost into their ranks permanently – and an even smarter decision to get ace zeitgeist master Todd Rundgren on board as Producer – Grand Funk Railroad would shorten their name and shorten that distance in the charts.
Because with July 1973's "We're An American Band" – Grand Funk went all the way up to No. 2 on the US Billboard LP charts, despite the naysayers. It invigorated the group and even spawned two 45-smashes in the shape of "We're An American Band" and "Walk Like A Man" - the title track achieving a rapid numero uno slot - not something every group in the world could manage in the busy listings of summer 1973. Which brings us here...
This deftly-handled 2002 CD Reissue in their 'Grand Funk Remasters' series doesn't quite have the gold-effect cover impact of the original vinyl LP (does at least have a gold first page to ape that) – but it does sport four cracking bonus tracks actually worthy of inclusion - while new STEVE ROESER liner notes give this much-maligned American institution their proper due. And it's cheap-as-chips too in 2021. Let's point the big gold finger; here are the details…
UK released November 2002 – "We're An American Band" by GRAND FUNK on Capitol 5417262 (Barcode 724354172625) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue in their 'Grand Funk Remasters' Series with Four Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows (55:13 minutes):
1. We're An American Band [Side 1]
2. Stop Lookin' Back
3. Creepin'
4. Black Licorice
5. The Railroad [Side 2]
6. Ain't Got Nobody
7. Walk Like A Man
8. Loneliest Rider
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 7th studio album "We're An American Band" – released July 1973 in the USA on Capitol SMAS-11207 and October 1973 in the UK on Capitol EA-ST 11207. Their first album credited to just GRAND FUNK – it was produced by TODD RUNDGREN and peaked at No. 2 in the US album charts (didn't chart UK). Mark Farner wrote Tracks 3 and 5, Don Brewer wrote Track 1 with the remainder written by both Farner and Brewer
BONUS TRACKS:
9. Hooray
10. The End
Tracks 9 and 10 were studio outtakes from the June 1973 album sessions first issued in June 1999 as part of the UK 3CD Box Set "Thirty Years Of Funk 1969-1999: The Anthology" on Capitol Records 72434-99523-2-4
11. Stop Lookin' Back (Acoustic Mix) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
12. We're An American Band (2002 Mix) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Tracks 9, 10 and 11 written by Brewer and Farner - Track 12 by Brewer
GRAND FUNK was:
MARK FARNER – Lead Vocals on Tracks 3, 5 and 6 with duet vocals on Track 9 with Don Brewer, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Conga and Electric Piano on "Creepin'" only
DON BREWER – Lead Vocals on Tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 11 and 12 with duet vocals on Track 9 with Don Farner, Drums and Percussion
MEL SCHACHER – Bass
CRAIG FROST – Organ, Clavinet, Electric Piano and Moog
While their earlier albums were notoriously recorded with no sense of audiophile, Rundgren was at the helm in 1973 and you have to wonder why. Rundgren explains in the new liner notes that he heard the new songs - not Rock rambles and jams - but more accomplished tunes with actual verses and choruses. And they were rehearsed. The title track was recorded in one day, completed and mixed on the second and by day three on its way to pressing plants. In fact by album's end, the single was already climbing the 45-charts to Number 1 as they mopped up the LP. The 12-page booklet repro's the original 'pointing finger' artwork as well as the gold sleeve - that awful naked photo in some barn somewhere and a better black and white snap showing the four-piece alive and kicking on stage. There are track-by-track recording details and of course extensive reissue credits.
Still pumping out down 'n' dirty American Rock when they boogied, but now with flourishes of Acoustic beauty too, Rundgren brought a polish to GF and their material that both clearly needed (and according to the liner notes, wanted). Audio Engineer EVREN GOKNAR has 24-bit remastered this from original tapes - giving each Brewer vocal, Farner riff and Frost keyboard flourish more muscle. These tracks come at you with renewed power – not dampened down – but allowed to breath (like the other remasters in this series). Very well done. To the music and the cool bonuses...
Released in early July 1973 when the boys were still putting the LP together, Capitol rushed out the title track "We're An American Band" on Capitol 3660 with a 6:28-minute edit of "Creepin'" on the flipside. They gave it a picture sleeve and coloured vinyl and while some maintain the A-side was 'so' rushed in release that the mix is in fact an unpolished Rundgren version - his recollections put a damper on this hoped-for 'rare single version'. Rundgren remembers final mixing and mastering "We're An American Band" at Criteria before it was sent off to the pressing plants ("Creepin'" was also recorded on 12 June 1973 although originally entitled "I Don't Want To Be Their Fool"). The drum-start and guitar-funk come roaring out of the speakers - forty days on the road - come into your town - help you party down.
"Stop Lookin' Back" feels like Grand Funk have suddenly discovered Funk-Rock via a Clavinet and Organ. Stuck in a county jail, our hero is hearing a turnkey and a voice calling him 'a dirty punk'. I'd forgotten how strong the Funk is with this one - Frost and Farner trading Guitar and Organ solos to fantastic effect. That's neatly followed by the seven-minute keyboard-slink of "Creepin'" where Frost gets to shine with big chunky notes. I love this - so Steppenwolf and John Kay - and in a good way. A love affair with a lady of colour infuses "Black Licorice" with a Stevie Wonder rapido Funk-Rock mania. And again, you can hear why Rundgren liked this - a hooky tune, that dances like a goodun (although I find it hard to hear those bullish lyrics amidst his screaming vocals).
Side 2 opens with six-minutes of "The Railroad" - a brooding treated guitar snaking its way out into your loving room with tales of hard work and punch cards and sweat running down your back. Time for a quick but commercial rocker, so we get "Ain't Got Nobody" - a I-don't-why-I'm-crying boo hoo moment (huge audio on this when they go into that break). Capitol paired the big choruses of "Walk Like A Man" with "The Railroad" in October 1973 to produce the LP's second single release - Capitol 3760 rising to No. 19. Far better in my eyes is the Side 2 finisher "Loneliest Rider" - another Rock-Funk chugger that has Mark Farner talking about his Cherokee roots and meaning it. Grand Funk had a driving intensity and its here in "Loneliest Rider".
And stripped of its bombast, the Bonus Mix for "Stop Lookin' Back" features just two acoustic guitars, Don Farner vocals and some percussion moments towards the end – a very clever bare-naked version that makes you feel the song anew. The excellent rocker "Hooray" (so Steppenwolf) was recorded 14 June, while four-minutes of "The End" was done on the 15th. Both have been smartly added on here as extras - once only available on the 1999 3CD Box set that in 2021 is long deleted. Accomplished, finished, it's surprising they remained in the can for so long. The extensively remixed new cut of the title track is 'guitar heavy' - a looser live-in-the-studio vibe than the more polished LP final. Nicely done...
For sure there will always be those who knock Grand Funk and neither Farner nor Brewer were ever going to be in the greatest singers ever in Rock lists any time soon. But I'd forgotten the good parts on this album and I'm glad I've renewed acquaintances with "We're An American Band", beefed up good and raring to go...
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