From: owner-grand-funk To: grand-funk-digest Subject: grand-funk V1 #6 Reply-To: Errors-To: owner-grand-funk Precedence: bulk grand-funk Saturday, 15 February 1997 Volume 01 : Number 006 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 09:30:32 -0500 (EST) Subject: Winter And My Soul and Japanese sites Hi all, On Thu, 13 Feb 1997, NH Borger wrote: > ... > > Did either of these shows contain Winter And My Soul? > No Winter And My Soul ... So, they only did Winter And My Soul in Raleigh, eh? And someone thought it was too long, huh? Well, I certainly want to talk to that someone!!! :-) It seems that there are a number of drummers on this list now. Do any of you other guys think that drum riff at the end of this song was interesting, and pretty cool? For some reason, I was able to pick it up right away -- I seemed to intuitively know what Don was doing. For me, straight triplets were much harder to learn. But, with those cymbal strikes, this was easier. > ... > Bill, on your website I found a link to a Japanese Website which is under > construction. Would be nice to hear all the stories from the Japanese fans... Yes it would! I've heard that the Japanese folks have "kept the faith" longer and stronger than us folks in the States and Europe. I'm looking forward to seeing what this person puts up. But, he seems to have stalled -- I keep checking back every cou- ple of weeks and I don't find anything new. I'd like to thank Kenny Stevens (another member of this list who is still lurking :-) ) for finding the site and pointing it out to me. Hopefully, something new will appear there soon. Take care and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who knows that you can't be truly rude until you understand good manners. (42) \ o o o /\ o o +--------------------------+--------------------------+---- >={)'> \ -+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | \ \/ /\ o| |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| /\ o / >={)'> | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | >={)'> \/ | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+-- \/ ---- / --+ / ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 09:57:08 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: TIME TO LOAD THE GOODS, AND BRING'EM SOUTH Hi all, On Thu, 13 Feb 1997 HCRRock@aol.com wrote: > I didn't find out about this tour until well into September of last year... > Now you ask me how disappointed I was to find out that they got > started up in Raleigh, just up the road ... I think that this past summer's mini-reunion tour was one of the best kept secrets in the states. It wasn't until our Web pages started coming up and some of us started tracking the events that anything became widely known. For whatever reason, instead of national publicity, the band and its management opted for local publicity near each specific venue. Kind of sad, real- ly. It was really sad for me too, Chris. The first one that I had heard about -- through a long and sometimes complex path of ru- mors upon rumors feeding other rumors -- was the Traverse City show. And, as it turns out, it was the next to the last one! Tickets for that show even went on sale before *I* knew about any of the other shows at all. I've said it before here -- I was teaching a class in San Diego when I found out about the event some two days before tick- ets went on sale. I woke up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning to make the call to the Cherry Festival folks to buy tickets and managed to snag 5th row-left. Then, I get back home and start scanning the 'Net a little more thoroughly and I find shows pop- ping up all over the place. Some of them were much closer to me while I may have been able to attend more than one if I had had some advance notice and was able to do some planning. Oh well, the upper peninsula of Michigan is pretty in the sum- mer and Traverse City is a wonderful little vacation town -- even if it was about 9 hours and 500 miles one-way from Cincinnati. > ... Always remember, "The > parts might have come from Flint, but Grand Funk Railroad was > born in Atlanta, Ga!!!" ... Ah, the Atlanta Pop Festival! Uh, Chris, do you have some stories you're hinting at here? Do tell ... > ... > Most of the radio stations this way didn't pick up on the reunion so > that didn't help either...I'm counting on you guys to keep me up on > the news... Well, personally, I hope to be able to keep my pages up to date with tour information as it becomes available. And, one of the reasons that I wanted to set up this list was to be able to disseminate this type of information to a base of fans who could then spread the word in each of their locales when it became available to me. So, keep the faith, and keep subscribed to this list -- we'll try to keep everybody posted as soon as something new and note- worthy becomes available. > ... > and somebody find me a 96 GFR HH video somewhere!!! The last I heard is that someone was at the Raleigh show with a video camera and was told to put it away after Are You Ready was done. This seems to indicate that "our boys" *may* be final- ly contemplating some actual video release themselves sometime soon. Let's hope so! Maybe I can drop a note to Fishof and ask this question. Hey folks -- the list keeps growing! We're up to 21 sub- scribers now. Keep talking about the Funk -- Grand Funk -- *the* American Band! And always grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who keeps emotionally active by catering to his favorite neurosis. /^--^\ (42?) +--------------------------+--------------------------+-- \____/ /-----+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | / \ | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| | | | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | \__/ /_/ | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+------\ \---------+ / / \/ ------------------------------ From: Bruce Thomas Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 12:39:51 -0800 Subject: 1973 Concert.. Hello Grand Funker's . I saw 'em in 1973 in Hampton, Va. It was the "E Pluribus Funk" tour! A friend and I were on the sixth row of a seated concert. The Funk opened with "Footstompin' Music" and I mean to tell you...they rocked the house down that night...an expierence I can remember vividly and fondly. Freddie King open the show and he was fantastic too...I ran out the next day and bought all the Freddie King I could find...still love his music to this day! Anyone else see the '73 tour...??? Here's the sad part of the story...the Funk came back to Hampton in 1975 and for some reason I can't remember...I didn't get a ticket in time...it was sold out. So...I went to the Coliseum and bought a basketball game ticket (again with the same friend i saw the '73 show with)...we went to the concert in the height of the hysteria to get in to the show...(I was sure I'd get in even with a bogus ticket)....MAN...my friend got in but I was snagged! I had to listen from the outside. I still feel sorry for myself when thinking about missing the '75 "Shinnin' On" show . Long Live GFR! - -- -=[ Bruce ]=- /~~\_/~\ ,,, | #=#==========# \_/~\_/ ``` ------------------------------ From: Bruce Thomas Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 12:46:16 -0800 Subject: Re: TIME TO LOAD THE GOODS, AND BRING'EM SOUTH I didn't know anything about the reunion tour until it was too late! I would have been more than happy to travel to NC to see GFR again...what were they thinking in not letting EVERYONE know?? - -- -=[ Bruce ]=- /~~\_/~\ ,,, | #=#==========# \_/~\_/ ``` ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 11:04:46 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Winter in the Set Hi all, On Thu, 13 Feb 1997 IMTurtle2@aol.com wrote: > ... Grand Funk rehearsed Winter and My Soul for their '96 mini-tour > and only performed it in Raliegh, N.C., ... This is truly a shame! Although the lyrics aren't strong on this song it is musically excellent. I would have loved to hear it. Sin's A Good Man's Brother is great too! The extreme con- tradiction between the acoustic opening chords and the blast of Hot Rock that Mark and Mel send out after used to send chills up and down my spine. > ... After > the show, a few of us went back to the hotel that they were staying and had a > chance to talk at length with Mel and Mark's brother, Rick ... I'll tell you what, between you and Greg Wereley there must be some incredibly interesting to stories to tell about your inter- actions with the band. I understand from private e-mail that you're a very busy person but I hope that you can find some time once in a while to share some of these stories with us. > ... They felt that > Bad Time did not fit where they had it in the set list ... As a musician, I understand this immediately. In the re- hearsal room, some of the best sounding songs sound great by themselves. But, when you get to playing it live -- surrounded by other material -- some things just don't seem to fit. Al- though I have nothing against Bad Time myself, I could have done without it anyway. > ... > I have since had conversations with Rick and he told me that they dropped > Winter and Sin's because they were too long and didn't seem to fit ... Awww, bull-poopie! :-) They couldn't possibly be too long!! ;-) Not fitting? Maybe. But never too long. > ... I > was fortunate to get backstage after the first two and talked with all of the > band members ... Again, you just *have* to find some tome to share some day! > ... > They had also thought about doing Upsetter and Into the Sun this last tour. > Mel told us that the first time they played Atlanta, it was 110 degrees and > they came out and opened with Into the Sun! He said that THAT was what > hooked the crowd ... Growing, knowing, you learn more everyday, yeah. Needing, succeeding, sun, don't go away. Things are changing for the bet- ter, now I'm not afraid. I'll be writing you a letter, 'cause I just got paid. What was it that Chris said earlier? "The parts may have been manufactured in Flint, MI. But, Grand Funk was born in [the heat of the sun in] Atlanta." Now, if we could just figure out what writing a letter has to do with getting paid ... ;-) > ... > PS I'm also a drummer The drummers are taking over the list! Maybe I should have called it the Don Brewer fan club! Naw ... just joking. Keep those Funk e-cards and e-letters coming folks. Let's keep talk- ing Funk! Take care and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who asks if molecular biologists wear designer genes? (42?) |\__/| .~ ~. +--------------------------+--------------------------\- /o=o'`./ .'+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | {o__, \ { | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| / . . ) \ | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | `-` '-' \ } | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+- .( _( )_.' -+ '---.~_ _ _| ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 11:19:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: is anybody out there? Hi Mick and all, I promise to get to a more detailed reply on this subject here soon. I've got a lot of things I want to say about it but I just ran out of steam. I think my wife has plans for me tonight but maybe I can put something together tomorrow. Thanks for your pa- tience. Take care and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who thinks that life is a yo-yo and mankind ties knots in the string. +--------------------------+--------------------------+--------- (42?) --+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | /\_/\ / | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| ( o.o ) | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | > - < | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+------------------+ ------------------------------ From: DrBlut@aol.com Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 11:44:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: Are there any keyboard players out there? Hello! Yes, it does seem like the list is composed of a lot of drummers, and great ones at that! However, I'm a keyboard player, and I guess that's why I like the GFR albums with Craig Frost just as much as the early trio stuff. Not more, just as much. It was great being a keyboard player back in high school, because I was always in demand to play the keyboards on GFR covers played by the band that I was friends with. On the songs not requiring a keyboard, I'd play rythm guitar. We used to cover "Mean Mistreater" and "Get It Together", and at that time all I had was an old upright piano which we miked through the PA. When I got my first real electric piano, I thought it couldn't get any better! I can remember spending hours learning the keyboard parts of the two above-mentioned songs. When Phoenix was released, I knew I had to have something besides just an electric piano. The first synthesizer that I bought (used) was so complicated compared to the Roland Juno that I have now! Things would've been so much easier.... I ran through some GFR songs the other night to see if I could still play 'em, and I was shocked that I could still remember them, almost to the note! Let me know if there's any keyboard players out there! Jim Kohler. ------------------------------ From: Randy Stowe Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 11:06:28 -0600 Subject: A Fan Remembers I would like to share with you one of my favorite alltime rock memories. In December of 1988, Mark Farner and The Godrockers came to Little Rock to play at a little night club a few miles from my house. My wife and I were there with a half dozen of my closest friends. We had a couple of tables about 15 feet from the stage. The house was packed with about 500 folks. The sound system and acoustics were excellent. Farner was definitely in the zone, flawlessly ripping through one GFR song after another. I didn't hear him miss a note all evening. He also did a few tunes off of Airborne Ranger, and a rocking version of "Jesus Loves Me", but it was the Grand Funk I came to hear. They played almost all my favorites except We're An American Band and Inside Looking Out, which is understandable since he didn't write those tunes. All told it was a great night in which much rocking was done and many pitchers consumed. My wife and I waited around after the show and got to visit with Mark for a few minutes. I had brought along the liner to my Caught In The Act cd, which Mark graciously autographed. He was a real down to earth guy, not stuck up at all. And to top that off, the next morning he and his entourage showed up at my wifes church. I've seen many fine concerts in my time ... Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, and many others (I even saw Grand Funk open up for ZZ Top in the early 80's), but this was the best weekend, music wise, that I have ever experienced. Well, thanks for indulging me. Cordially Randy Stowe ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 14:56:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Was it real or was it Memorex? Hi all, It's great to see some of the other list members contributing more often. Ah ... brothers and sisters, there are people out there that look just like you or maybe ah ..., your brother ah ..., and they are. And, when they write something to the list, that sounds interesting -- respond to it, okay? On Mon, 10 Feb 1997 einar@rfci.net wrote: > William A. Parrette wrote (Re: reunion Inside Looking Out lyrics): > > I'm sure that we all agree that the subject matter just can't > > sit well with Mark's Christian orientation. But, as I watched > > Mark sing the song -- I was in the fifth row and I watched close- > > ly -- I just don't think he sang the original lyrics. > I am cool with the lyrics thing but I'm a Funker because I get off on > the tunes more than the message. But I do also enjoy the message, just > not as much as the sound ... Well Jeff, I sort of agree with you there. As a matter of fact, as musicians go, I'm sort of a different breed. Of all the local bands that I was ever in or that I ever saw performed, I never really saw one that took care in the lyrics. Most just didn't care. I was different and, with the bands I was in or that I knew, I would always try to ensure they had access to what I thought were the correct lyrics. I'm just sort of different that way, I guess. But with "our boys," it *was* the music that got to me first. And, I really enjoy playing Inside Looking Out myself because of that music. The drum part is so simple as to be almost boring -- but I get a real kick out of playing it. There are several songs like that to me (and, interestingly enough, most of them are on the "red album"). > ... I wouldn't care if Farner hummed Inside > Looking Out as long as he played it ... Well, I don't know if I'd go quite that far ... :-) :-) :-) > ... I, like you was surprised it was on > the playlist as well as TNUC and American Band ... Well T.N.U.C. really didn't surprise me -- it's only the ti- tle, when spelled backwards, that is a problem. And, with Ameri- can Band, Mark had told the Detroit Journal interviewer something like "... well Don sings that one anyway ..." So this is why I had assumed that lyrics might have been important to Mark and why I watched so closely. Could you imagine them playing Black Licorice or She Got To Move Me? Now *that* would have been interesting! Although, on second thought, I think that, like American Band, Don sings both of them. > ... As > you suspect Big Bill, he probably mumbled his ass off. But alas, I was > not there to bump beer glasses with you! :( ... You're probably right and, like you, I think that I'm just re- ally glad that the song made the play list. Mark's guitar work there is just classic. > ... > I hope you are not charging per post. That must be why only about three > people even post anything. Come on guys, get with it. Let's here some > stories. C'mon Elton, you are welcome here! ... <*G*> <-- That's a *very* big grin. No, I'm not charging per post. :-) But, since Jeff posted this note, I have noticed a bit more participation in the list. And, for that, I am very greatful. Well, I haven't seen John Elton subscribe to the list yet. Maybe we should automatically sub him, eh? Waddya' think? That would surely get some conversations going. :-) > ... > The note from Jayfunk was not encouraging.... We must be realistic and > not count on 5,000 names ... Well, I don't think we need 5,000 names either. What might be more realistic is to guesstimate the number of CD-buying Internet users compared to the number of CD-buying people at-large and shoot for a number near there. (Special note: The following is completely hearsay. I have absolutely nothing to back it up with and I have no way of deter- mining its factualness. This is simply what I heard and I know nothing more.) I have heard through the "grapevine" (and maybe the grapevine will speak up here and confirm this), that Capitol is planning on re-releasing *everything* -- no longer just the ones on the 1995 press release. And, that the remainder of the releases will come out in groups of four with the next batch due out in six months or so. The "red album" -- the *one* that everybody is waiting for -- is supposed to be released in the last batch. This same grapevine seemed to indicate (I think) that MCA was at least thinking about their GFR catalog while Warner/Full Moon had at least made some noise about theirs. Who knows what kind of corporate reasoning goes into decisions like this one -- if it is true. > ... > On the bright side.... there is a Canadian public TV producer working on > a GFR profile ... Cool! I hope you'll keep us posted! > ... > There is also a slim possibility that GFR might play the Boardwalk in > Santa Cruz Ca. ... Cool again! A bit far for me but, who knows! Again, I hope you'll keep us posted! > ... > You guys are truly my ' Funky brothers and sisters' and as Phil and I > have discussed, we must bust a keg and crank up the Funk sometime > together. I think it would be a night I would never forget. You know, this may be one of the best ideas yet. Wouldn't it be just too cool for all of us to get together somehwere -- maybe in Detroit the night before the Fishof "event." Rent a confer- ence room at a local hotel, get a good music system, a few kegs (and a soda or two for me please), and just Funk Out!!! Maybe we could even convince "the boys in the band" to join us on this night before the big show. This would be really just too cool. Some of us musicians in the crowd might even be convinced to bring our gear and set up to record that "tribute" album that has been talked about. Wow!! Anybody got a couple thousand they would like to invest? :-) ;-) :-) Take care all, and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who thinks that research causes cancer in rats. ///// (42?) +--------------------------+--------------------------+--- [ o o ] / ----+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | \_=_/ | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| _| |_ | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | / \_/ \ | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+--oOOO---OOOo-----+ ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 15:39:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Was it real or was it Memorex? Hi all, On Mon, 10 Feb 1997, Jay Siekierski wrote: > honestly; i'm not sure what mark's trip is, as far as lyrics go...i mean he > knows whats in his heart and soul and they are only words ... Yes, they are only words. But, there are other words that fundamental religious folks take very much to heart. I think that I could deal with this issue if I had to but I am sort of curious as to what Mark's thoughts are on the subject. In fact, I might like to sit down some time and talk religion with Mark. As long as I promised not to try to convert him and he promised not to try to convert me, it could be an interesting and fascinating discussion. > ... this is an interesting > point regarding some songs? i mean another tune that comes to my mind is > Black Licorice'. killer tune very hot lyrics! its really not offensive at > least in my frame of mind but the words & music fit well. as mark said > SIN'S A GOOD MAN's BROTHER! ... "But is that right?" "You tell me that I don't, then I say I won't, but then I might." An interesting song, lyrically. But back to the topic. There are very few songs that might be considered "bad" -- Mr. Limou- sine Driver comes to mind and, as I said earlier, She Got To Move Me. All really good tunes. But the lyrics *are* just words. By the way, has anybody been to: http://www.yahwehministries.org/crock.html Our friend, Mark Farner, is mentioned on the page in a not-so- flattering way. And, even though I couldn't find it quickly, there was another page that mentions "our boys" in reference to a 45-jacket that had a picture of a young boy apparently trying to seduce a young girl on a couch. The gist of the page said some- thing to the effect of how Grand Funk's lyrics promote lewdness and lechery among the young people. Does anybody else want to slap these folks once or twice? Maybe hit them with a really big clue-by-4? Sorry Jay, I didn't mean to get on my soap-box with your post. Thanks for contributing. I appreciate your participation and look forward to interactions in the future. Take care all and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who, when in doubt, does what the President does -- guesses. |//// (42?) +--------------------------+--------------------------+-- |o_o| / --+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive |ooOO__\ _ /__OOoo-| |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012|---O---------O----| | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** || | -| .|. |- | | | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+|_| \--|--/ |_| + | | ------------------------------ From: "NH Borger" Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 22:39:35 +0100 Subject: Don's drum solo intro's I was listening to the drum solo intro in the song Runnin' (ATGITWB) today, great intro. Destitude & Loosin' (B-side Locomotion single) also has such a good drum solo intro. Capitol should include Destitude and Loosin' on the to be reissued Shinin' On CD. Nico ------------------------------ From: Bugsy41157@aol.com Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 20:36:38 -0500 (EST) Subject: gfr New to the list. Glad to know there are more Brothers & Sisters. First saw GFR on " In Concert" on TV in 1973, I was a fan instantly. No frills, just three guys out to rock you. Saw GFR at Madison Square Garden in 1974. Had floor seats. Stood on the arms of the chair the whole show. My first, and best concert. It took a week for me to recover my voice from all the cheering. Last saw Mark in a small club in Seaside Heights, NJ in 1989. Stood not five feet from him for every note. A great night. Well, hello to all that dig what I dig, talk to you soon. ------------------------------ From: Bruce Thomas Date: Sat, 15 Feb 1997 09:23:07 -0800 Subject: [FWD} Farner's Guitar From rsadeck@gtech.com (Richard M. Sadeck) Organization GTECH Corporation Date Wed, 5 Feb 1997 11:19:48 LOCAL Newsgroups rec.music.makers.guitar Message-ID Could someone please tell what make/model guitar and amps Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad used when the band was three piece...up to the Closer to Home era. Please email me directly and thank you. Rick - -- -=[ Bruce ]=- /~~\_/~\ ,,, | #=#==========# \_/~\_/ ``` ------------------------------ End of grand-funk V1 #6 ***********************