Mark Farner Interview in Rock Cellar Magazine
 

I recently came across this interview with Mark Farner (formerly of Grand Funk Railroad) in my internet travels and thought I'd post the link.

What The Funk?! Mark Farner’s Excellent Adventure (Interview) | Rock Cellar Magazine

Never really knew much about Mr. Farner, even though I've been a fan of GFR since the early '70s. I found the interview quite revealing and interesting.

I love the first two Grand Funk albums On Time and Grand Funk they're classic boogie hard rock albums from that period. They were also a fantastic band to watch live and one of the most exciting trios ever. Another great album of theirs was We're An American Band, which benefited from Todd Rundgren on production duties.

Good interview! Not too much into GFR, but I have been getting some albums looking through the used bins to have another listen. Focusing more on the Early days, managed by Terry Knight (Remember his band Terry Knight and the Pack with Mark and Don?).

Live Album - Solid set, recorded very early. Being their third album, it features some extended jams that show how they kept the crowds going. Nothing too wild, just good basic Rock that gets to the point.

Survival - Their '71 album. Not too into the covers (not many can cover "Gimme Shelter" in my opinion), but the originals are alright. One of the things I do notice is the use of some Heavy Bass by Mel (who was in ? and the Mysterians).

The 69-71 collection - Fine starter's kit, has their early FM Radio hits.

Born to Die - Their final Capitol album, showing a very mature style, but lacking in the power that attracted a lot of their early fans. It's either a disappointment or something under-rated, I'll get back to that later, but as it stands, it's not a bad way to go into the post-hit era either. There's a little more social commentary here than usual ("Politician," "Talk to the People").

Mark Farner - Got the debut vinyl, cut out, Produced by Dick Wagner. Showing a growing use Christian themes (The Gospel-style "He Let Me Love" - the Thank God credit on the back cover), this would hint at what his writing went to after the first run of success. Social commentary is here as well in songs like "Ban the Man" and "Social Disaster." "Dear Miss Lucy" was the single I think. Bob Kulick was on Guitar on this album. GFR fans might like this.


Being the B-Movie lover, I would like to point those interested to the film Weekend Rebellion, which is a 1970 flick that has some early live footage filmed I think back in '69, just when things were starting to get going for them. Most of the rest of the film is from the 1967 flick Mondo Daytona, with the added live footage offering star appeal to see it.

^ That movie sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out since I'm into their early work more than their later efforts.


I saw them a couple of times between '96 & '98 when they reunited for a few tours. Definitely an exciting band to see live! They sounded as good as they did in the 70's, almost as if they had never stopped playing together.

Caught in the Act is a great live double album of theirs released in 1975, its a great live album of the 1970s that hardly gets any attention. A bit of trivia, Styx released a live album with exactly the same name in 1984 and that is also a classic live double album as well

GFR's Caught is also a great end to their golden years as the next album was Born to Die. Sadly, it only went to #21 in the US following a succession of Top 10 albums although it is seen by fans to be a great reminder of the band's live show.