From: owner-grand-funk To: grand-funk-digest Subject: grand-funk-digest V1 #37 Reply-To: grand-funk@roadkill.com Errors-To: owner-grand-funk Precedence: bulk grand-funk-digest Friday, 18 April 1997 Volume 01 : Number 037 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Butler <1kfunkrr@vegasnet.net> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 13:39:15 -0700 Subject: Funkengruven T's Man do we have tee shirts!!!!! They look pretty darn good. Both places came through, I've got tee shirts comin out my ears!!!! If I have time before I leave for Detroit I'll try to scan in a picture of the tees and post the URL for all you guys to look at (especially you New York guys). If anybody is interested in the shirts - I've got plenty. - -=Mike=- ------------------------------ From: "Michael Catalano" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 97 13:50:42 EDT Subject: Re: AOL Questions We ought to inondate (sp) the GFR fan email--line with this stuff. Maybe they won't play it when they tour this summer (not)!!! Wanting Power Chords, Mick - ------------- Original Text From: "Robert Bodily" , on 4/18/97 12:19 PM: > From: Michael Catalano > Subject: re: AOL Questions > Date: Friday, April 18, 1997 5:49 AM > > I've always felt the same way about this "pop" -- "bubblegum" stuff. [Other Stuff Deleted] > I'm prayin' that if > they release new material it will be "back to the roots" as Farner said on > GMA. Yeah - what he said! > One last question: Who are the Funk fans today -- Those "Disco Duck" > airheads singing "Comon Baby, do the Locomotion"; or the backbone of the > original fans that still listen to "Paranoid" off the LIVE album at 110 dB? Isn't that a little low to be listening to Paranoid? I mean, you could still hear a jet fly overhead at that volume! :-) They probably play those 2 or 3 songs to satisfy the non-Funk tagalongs that show up (e.g., our spouses/friends that we drag to the show hoping to convert - along with WAAB, those are probably the only tunes they'd recognize). I would much rather they dropped those and substituted Into The Sun, People Let's Stop the War, Winter and My Soul,... Robert ------------------------------ From: Al Henneborn 595-6669 Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 16:17:00 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: AOL Questions Mick, Julie Signorelli? Man, her name hasn't been mentioned in years. Remember how she used to whine Mickeeeeeee, Phillllllll, Steeeeeeveeeee, Alfeeeeeee, Kennnnn. Boy, does that bring back "Memories". As for your comment on the Charlie Daniels homo hillbilly fans, as I rememder it, Mark was pretty much booed from the start. Those bozos (who don't have family tree's but have family wreaths) wanted only one thing, CD. They may have bottled Farner during "Bad Time" (I don't remember what song it was) but I'll never forget that I wanted to kick the $@%& *&%$ outta every &%$# @!%$ in the place. As for the Funk pop stuff. I prefer the heavier stuff. I would prefer not hearing Loco & SKW next Fri. and would rather hear "People Let's Stop The War" nd "I don't Have To Sing The Blues". However, that horn R&B, Detroit sound stuff is pretty driving too. I'll tell ya though, when I heard GF Lives, it was obvious to me that no one rocks like them (too bad Mel wasn't on that album). See ya on Funk Friday, Fred ------------------------------ From: Phil Catalano Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 14:59:14 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" Thanks Jeff... I'm Getting Closer To My Home.......................... Phil - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= Phil Catalano phil.catalano@mci.com - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, G. Jeffrey Gower wrote: > OK, folks, here is Whitman's poem, like I promised - I found it on the > web. It ain't exactly like Mark's "I'm Your Captain", of course, but when I > read it, I immediately thought that perhaps Mark had read it also. At any > rate, it is a classic poem. Enjoy.... > > Jeff > > > O Captain! My Captain! > 1 > O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; > The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won; > The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, > While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: > But O heart! heart! heart! > O the bleeding drops of red, > Where on the deck my Captain lies, > Fallen cold and dead. > > 2 > O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; > Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills; > For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding; > For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; > Here Captain! dear father! > This arm beneath your head; > It is some dream that on the deck, > You've fallen cold and dead. > > 3 > My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; > My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; > The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; > From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; > Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! > But I, with mournful tread, > Walk the deck my Captain lies, > Fallen cold and dead. > > Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass. > > > > ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:04:30 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: 1997 tour Hi all, On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, steelhorse wrote and humbled himself with: > Well, hell, I'm battin a thousand today, aren't I? ... :-) :-) :-) :-) > ... > Bill, it may humor you to know that I have never seen them live. I'd > sell important parts of my body if I could ... Dare I ask? ... Naahhh! ;-) > ... Nearly all the GFR websites have references back and forth to each > other ... > http://www.rpi.net.au/~loki/grand-funk/ > ... No comment. :-( > ... > http://www.anaserve.com/~cochran/home.htm Everybody has heard that Jeff's site is going to be on tempo- rary leave starting May 1st, right? He told me he will still be on-line, answering e-mail, dubbing some tapes, and such. He also assured me that, as soon as he straightens out "some things," he'll be back with a vengeance. I would personally hope he remains subscribed to the mailing list so that we can all chat with our brother in Funk! And, Jeff, we're waiting for you dude, hurry back! If anyone is in regular contact with posters to Jeff's guest book, please invite them to join the mailing list. I have a hor- rible case of the "not invented here syndrome," so if I can't write the guest book code, I won't put one up. I think that this mailing list will "make due" while Jeff is on hiatus and I be- lieve we can all interact in much the same way. The only real difference is that you have to become a "member" of this "club" before you can participate. So, take care, let's continue talking Funk, and grok in full- ness ... Bill-- ...who "borrows" ASCII clip-art whenever he sees something interesting. ///// (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: "G. Jeffrey Gower" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:08:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: AOL Questions On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, Phil Catalano wrote: > Well put Jeff! I couldn't agree with you more! Haven't seen too many guitarists > that put as much into what they're playing as he does! A similar guitar sound and expression was obtained by Michael Bruce, who was Alice Cooper's guitarist in the early 70s (also Glen Buxton, the lead guitarist). They had that rhythmic feel as well, I thought - especially on the "Love it to Death" and "Killer" albums ("Halo of Flies" is a masterpiece!). Again, simple music done powerfully and effectively. And with a great drummer (Neal Smith) and bassist (Dennis Dunaway) to boot. Jeff ------------------------------ From: Bill Parrette Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 16:19:10 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Fwd: Re: GFR on AOL (fwd) This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info. - --WebTV-Mail-1234038893-28 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-ID: Hi all, I believe this was intended for the list. - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 17:52:11 -0700 From: airshift@webtv.net To: owner-grand-funk@roadkill.com Subject: Fwd: Re: GFR on AOL - --WebTV-Mail-1234038893-28 Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822 Content-ID: Message-Id: <199704171356.GAA10085@mailtod-101.bryant.webtv.net> From: bluetuna@webtv.net (Rand Kelly) Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 06:56:56 -0700 To: hubby@flash.net (steelhorse), airshift@webtv.net Subject: Re: GFR on AOL Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT MIME-Version: 1.0 (WebTV) Unfortunately us WEB TV funk fans can't access AOL so we are going to miss the big event. I spoke to web tv lady last night and she suggests to have friends with aol download to disk and then either print out or e-mail the show to us. If not what a bummer. BTW CD Banzai is supposed to find me a copy of LIVE ALBUM(remastered) and it looks like it takes at least 8 weeks but accord. to their catalog that and SURVIVAL are avail. at around 11.00 dollars. So I'm still waiting. Can't attend any shows unless they play the SF,CA area after they return to USA. - --WebTV-Mail-1234038893-28-- ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:26:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: AOL Questions Hi all, On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, G. Jeffrey Gower wrote: > ... > By the way, about how many folks are on this mailing list - anyone know? Well, from your friendly list owner/administrator, as of to- day, Fri Apr 18 17:23:13 EDT 1997, there are 97 grand-funk list members on the roadkill list. I was hoping we would hit 100 be- fore the big concert, but there have been a rash of unsubscribes over the last couple of weeks. Oh well, that's 97 more than we had when we started 2.5 months ago, eh? Take care, grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who has heard death defined as "to stop sinning suddenly." ///// (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, 18 Apr 1997 18:21:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Tailgate party at Auburn Hills Hi all, I have a question. How many of us Grand Funk mailing list subscribers are going to be at the Auburn Hills concert this weekend? Greg Wereley and I would like to put together a little "tail- gate party" the afternoon of the show out in the parking lot of the Palace. Nothing fancy, nothing big, just a chance to meet and put faces with those account names that we see on all of the messages on the list. Maybe we can trade stories, trade memora- bilia, and such -- just have a pre-concert good time. Greg and I would like to have an idea of how many folks would show up for such a thing. So, if you would please reply to this message -- and reply to it on list so that both Greg and I see it -- and we can get a little head-count and find out how many peo- ple to expect. Only two more days until that great Rock 'N Roll Soul! Grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who believes pro is to con as progress is to Congress. +--------------------------+--------------------------+------------------+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | (42?) | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| ,.,., / | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | ( o o ) | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+--ww--U--ww-------+ ------------------------------ From: Ken Blackley Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 15:31:01 -0700 Subject: DBM How many .... William A. Parrette wrote: > > > Oh well, that's 97 more than we had when we started 2.5 months > ago, eh? Take care, grok in fullness ... > Actually, 96. I'm subscribed on from both work and from home! Dedication, huh? Also, if I say something stupid from one address, I can switch to my other address and smugly criticize my first address. Ken ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 18:32:29 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Sleepless in Detroit ... again! Hi all, As some of you already know, Jeff Cochran is having to reeval- uate some things and will be taking his site down shortly. As a result, Jeff has decided that it is not currently feasible to at- tend the Auburn Hills show. He's just sick about it and told me how envious and jealous he'll be of all of us but I wanted to let everybody know that this has changed my plans slightly as well. Instead of driving up with Jeff, I will be bringing my two teen-aged children with me. Mindy is 16 and enjoys wearing the Grand Funk tee-shirt I got for her at the Traverse City show last year. Mark is 18 and likes to play a Grand Funk tune for his old man when I show up for one of his D.J. gigs. We will still be staying at the Mariott Residence Inn, Troy (Central), MI. The address is 2600 Livernois Road and, according to the map, it's right off of I-75 and about 20 minutes away from The Palace of Auburn Hills. The phone number there is 810/689-6856. We are planning on arriving on Saturday around 6 p.m. or so and are planning on staying two nights. Mike "Funken- gruven" Butler will be arriving from Las Vegas at around the same time and will be at the same hotel. Although the management of the hotel said we couldn't have a "party" in the room, we would like to invite any of you list mem- bers who are going to be in the area the night before the "biggest event in rock music history" to stop by and say hi. Please call first so we can tell you which building and room we're in and, of course, BYOB. Well, that's all for now. I hope to see many of you in Auburn Hills, take care, and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who is curious: When they ship styrofoam, what do they pack it in? |\/\/\/| +--------------------------+--------------------------+ | | (42,man)+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | | (o)(o) / | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| c _) / | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | | '___| | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+- | / ----------+ /____\ ------------------------------ From: Mike Butler <1kfunkrr@vegasnet.net> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 15:40:47 -0700 Subject: Re: Tailgate party at Auburn Hills Great idea guys, I was hoping we could do this. Anyone who can't pick up their tee shirts at the Mariott Sat evening - I'll bring them and pass out at the tailgate. - -=Mike=- ------------------------------ From: "Rex D. Hutto" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 18:52:58 -0500 Subject: Questions I just bought the "Caught in the Act" CD (I had the vinyl years ago, but = don't know what happened to it). A couple questions: 1. The sleeve lists the time on Introduction as 2:47 and Foot Stompin'' = Music as 4:02, for a combined time of 6:49 (the two are actually one = track). Windows 95's CD Player (I'm playing Caught... right now on my = computer) lists the time of track 1 as 4:14. Any idea what happened to = the additional 2:35? 2. Similar to #1: Sleeve lists TNUC as 9:13; in reality it's only 4:40. = What happened? Are there two versions of the album? A typo in the sleeve = notes? Last question: I seem to remember GFR being known for a strong anti-drug = position before it was fashionable to do so (or am I in my cabin = dreaming?). Has anybody heard an explanation as to how they reconciled = this with the lyrics of Inside Looking Out? Just wondering........ Rex Hutto Wolfeboro, NH rdh@conknet.com * Only 7 days 'til NYC...and I couldn't get tickets :-( * Enjoy, Funk fans! ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 19:10:53 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: GFR CDs Hi all, Well, I don't know if I qualify as the "resident expert" or not but, on Thu, 17 Apr 1997, Stan Pace wrote: > I can only admit this to people other than my wife ... I *totally* understand, I sympathize with you, and I identify with you. :-) :-) :-) > ... I > have some GFR CDs, but I'm not certain that I have all of the US CDs > available. I do not have Survival, but recent messages seem to indicate > that a US version is out ... Of course, I've seen the same posts. I thought that Jay Siekierski had implied to me a long time ago that Survival was supposed to be the last of the initial Capitol re-releases for a while. I looked for it forever -- in every Camelot, Big Buy, Circuit City, and others -- but couldn't find it. Finally, I printed out the descriptions of all of the Grand Funk CDs on the Camelot music computer and one of the few that came back as orderable was Survival. When my copy came in, how- ever, it was a Japanese import priced at $26.95. > ... > Call me overly patriotic, but I am waiting for Capitol/CEMA/Collectors > Pipeline etc. to release US CDs. There's something unappealing about GFR > music and photos covered with Japanese writing ... I'm with you on this one. As much as I wanted to turn down the Japanese Survival however, I just couldn't pass it up. As you do, I would love to have Capitol/MCA/Warner Brothers pro- duced CDs of *all* of the albums. But, I think we'll have to wait until this train starts rolling again with the 1997 concert tour. > ... > I'm not sure who our resident expert is on this subject. It would really be > nice to have a constantly updated matrix that shows the albums, availability > of CDs/tape, and sources. Well, I don't know if I'll go that far. :-) Maybe when I'm bored and looking for something to add to my Web pages. :-) At this time, the only official Capitol re-releases that I am aware of are Closer To Home, E Pluribus Funk, We're An American Band, and Caught In The Act (And, I sorely wish they would re-do Caught ...!!!). Rumor has it that Punch Enterprises of Birmingham, MI is work- ing with Capitol on the re-releases of all of the GFR CDs. I've snail-mailed Punch and not received any reply at all -- not even a polite "thanks but no information now." Rumor further has it that the Capitol releases would be re-released in blocks of four over the remainder of the year. There was no indication which titles would be released when or anything of that nature. Jay Siekierski has said that he has contacted both MCA and Warner Brothers about the last three albums and was told that he was perhaps the second or third query they've had about them. Again rumor has it that these two companies are watching the tour and the market to see how things pan out. And, if things are successful, perhaps things will be released later in the year. Well, that's about all I know. I hope it helps without de- pressing anyone too much. Take care, Keep Shinin' On, *only two more days*, and grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who defines Adult as one who is old enough to know better. +--------------------------+--------------------------+------------------+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | (42?) | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| \ | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | (. .) | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+---------w--U--w--+ ------------------------------ From: einar@rfci.net Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 19:19:48 -0400 Subject: Re: 1997 tour William A. Parrette wrote: > No comment. :-( I couldn't agree more! > > http://www.anaserve.com/~cochran/home.htm > > Everybody has heard that Jeff's site is going to be on tempo- > rary leave starting May 1st, right? He told me he will still be > on-line, answering e-mail, dubbing some tapes, and such. He also > assured me that, as soon as he straightens out "some things," > he'll be back with a vengeance. > > I would personally hope he remains subscribed to the mailing > list so that we can all chat with our brother in Funk! And, > Jeff, we're waiting for you dude, hurry back! > > If anyone is in regular contact with posters to Jeff's guest > book, please invite them to join the mailing list. I have a hor- > rible case of the "not invented here syndrome," so if I can't > write the guest book code, I won't put one up. I think that this > mailing list will "make due" while Jeff is on hiatus and I be- > lieve we can all interact in much the same way. The only real > difference is that you have to become a "member" of this "club" > before you can participate. > > So, take care, let's continue talking Funk, and grok in full- > ness ... > > Bill-- Thanks for the boost Bill. I will be back, maybe with a different look. Plus Staats pics and more sound bites than people will have time to download. As Donna told me, people don't realize how much time goes into a web site. This is the case even when it doesn't appear to be changing on the surface. I'm paying big bucks for school and falling behind. Plus summer means more farming to do. And to you guys who have been talking about Farner's licks...... Here is a quote from Farner in Circus: "I know there are better lead guitarist than me. I'm more rhythm oriented than lead oriented. I play a mother fucker of a rhythm guitar". So that is how he felt about it! No offense meant to the God Rockers. Funkola ------------------------------ From: einar@rfci.net Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 19:47:21 -0400 Subject: [Fwd: Re: GFR CDs] Message-ID: <335807A9.2538@rfci.net> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 19:45:45 -0400 From: einar@rfci.net Reply-To: einar@rfci.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "William A. Parrette" Subject: Re: GFR CDs References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit William A. Parrette wrote: > At this time, the only official Capitol re-releases that I am > aware of are Closer To Home, E Pluribus Funk, We're An American > Band, and Caught In The Act (And, I sorely wish they would re-do > Caught ...!!!). I beg to differ with the 'EXPERT'! :) But Capitol also distributed 'Live Album' through EMI. Doesn't that qualify? And as I'm sure you know there were two releases of CITA. The second one attempted to clean up the first screwup but didn't completely. We must remember, says the resident CD expert, :) that a cd can only hold 74 minutes of audio. Period. In fact, it is technically even less than that by about 2 minutes because the cd has to open and close the recording session and that of course consumes space on the disk. Anybody know off hand how long CITA on LP is? Funkola ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 19:50:38 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Questions Hi all With respect to the Caught In The Act CD, on Fri, 18 Apr 1997, Rex D. Hutto wrote: > ... > 1. The sleeve lists the time on Introduction as 2:47 and Foot Stompin'' Music as 4:02, for a combined time of 6:49 (the two are actually one track). Windows 95's CD Player (I'm playing Caught... right now on my computer) lists the time of track 1 as 4:1 4. Any idea what happened to the additional 2:35? > > 2. Similar to #1: Sleeve lists TNUC as 9:13; in reality it's only 4:40. What happened? Are there two versions of the album? A typo in the sleeve notes? > ... Well, this is one of my favorite things to gripe about so, here we go. The CD "sleeve" is simply a copy of the original al- bum sleeve. What they failed to mention is the editing they did. Because a CD can only hold so much music (I've forgotten the exact number of minutes -- I'm sure someone on-list will remind me) some editing was done on the music to make it fit. The first edit was to remove the Introduction -- the back-stage chatter that let's us hear "the boys" getting pumped up for the show. It's just gone. The second edit that was done was to rip the guts out of the T.N.U.C. drum solo. As a drummer, the first time I heard what they did, I almost hurled ... with chunks! I still like the Live Album solo better but they destroyed this song for this CD. The third edit is one I just think happened -- I never both- ered comparing the two. But, I am almost certain that they edit- ed down the crowd noise between songs. The fourth thing they *should have* edited but, for reasons still unclear to me, didn't is to leave the "album break" in for the segue between Closer To Home and Heartbreaker! How hard would that have been to fix?!? Whew! I'm out of breath!! Did I rant too much? Sorry if I did. But I, for one, hope that they re-re-release this one and fix the butchering they did to it. > ... > Last question: I seem to remember GFR being known for a strong anti-drug position before it was fashionable to do so (or am I in my cabin dreaming?). Has anybody heard an explanation as to how they reconciled this with the lyrics of Inside Looking Out? Just wondering........ > If you listen *closely* to those old PSAs and such, the band was anti- *hard* -drugs. The lyrics to Inside Lookin Out reflect the one drug vice "our boys" did have. I think I remember some- one, somewhere attributing a quote to Mark of something like "We used to smoke (pot) more than an old pot-bellied stove with a broken flu pipe." Although I believe things have changed for the band (Mark, I'm sure), "the boys" used to love their wine, women, song and pot. Anyway, just my $0.02 without adjusting for inflation. Take care and always grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who used to be indecisive, but now is not so sure. +--------------------------+--------------------------+------------------+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | (42?) | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| -\\|//- / | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | o o | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+-uuu--U--uuu------+ ------------------------------ From: Randy Stowe Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 18:52:09 -0500 Subject: Re: Questions Rex D. Hutto wrote: > Last question: I seem to remember GFR being known for a strong anti-drug position before it was fashionable to do so (or am I in my cabin dreaming?). Has anybody heard an explanation as to how they reconciled this with the lyrics of Inside Looking Out? Just wondering........ Hi Rex, Concerning the last question to your post, it's my impression that Grand Funk campaigned actively against hard drugs like heroin. I don't think they included pot in that category. Marijuana was considered to be no more harmful than beer. Mark may hold a different opinion nowadays. I can't think of any GFR lyrics that glorifies the use of anything stronger than weed or alcohol. I too wonder if Mark has a problem with the lyrics on Inside Looking Out. I seem to remember a post from someone who saw GFR last year and said that Mark kind of mumbled his way through ILO. Anyone care to elaborate? Later, Randy Stowe (Stuck in Little Rock) ------------------------------ From: einar@rfci.net Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 20:01:39 -0400 Subject: [Fwd: Re: Questions] Message-ID: <33580455.5016@rfci.net> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 19:31:33 -0400 From: einar@rfci.net Reply-To: einar@rfci.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Rex D. Hutto" Subject: Re: Questions References: <01BC4C2B.92800760@cnkm085.conknet.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rex D. Hutto wrote: > Last question: I seem to remember GFR being known for a strong anti-drug position before it was fashionable to do so (or am I in my cabin dreaming?). Has anybody heard an explanation as to how they reconciled this with the lyrics of Inside Looking Out? Just wondering........ They were anti 'hard' drugs. But they did smoke dope and booze it up. So their lyrics in ISO were correct for their current lifestyle. funkola ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 20:09:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: GFR CDs] Hi all, I *knew* I couldn't get by on this one! ;-) On Fri, 18 Apr 1997 einar@rfci.net wrote: > I beg to differ with the 'EXPERT'! :) But Capitol also distributed 'Live > Album' through EMI. Doesn't that qualify? ... I have two EMI releases. Live Album and Shinin' On -- I'm sure there were others. I believe EMI is the Canadian arm of Capitol -- I think, so I guess it "qualifies." :-) Collector's pipeline has also put out a number of GFR CDs. Again, I think all of them through Phoenix. But, I'm not sure on that one. Someone (on-list???) said they had a small stock but were not going to produce any more. > ... And as I'm sure you know there > were two releases of CITA. The second one attempted to clean up the > first screwup but didn't completely ... Let me pick my jaw up off of the ground, sir. No, I wasn't aware! I have two copies of this CD, one of which I obtained *very* recently directly from a representative of Capitol. As far as I could tell, they were the same! THey even had the exact same catalog number and everything. Now I'll have to go back and listen even more closely! > ... > We must remember, says the resident CD expert, ... I bow to you, Mr. Cochran! :-) > ... that a cd can only > hold 74 minutes of audio ... I knew someone would remind me of this number! ;-) Take care, Get that thing on the move, and always grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who says "If you can change your thoughts you can change the world." (42?) (__==__) +--------------------------+--------------------------+---- \ -- (oo) ---+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | /-------\/ | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| / | || | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | * ||----|| | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+--- ^^ -- ^^ -----+ ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 20:36:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: TV coverage Hi all, On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, Stan Pace wrote: > A momentary blinding flash! I wonder what the chances are that a local TV > station will broadcast any footage of "The Big Show(s)". Do we have anyone > in the area(s) with an available VCR? ... I can't say that it *won't* happen. But, I haven't heard any- thing and sort of doubt it will. > ... > Second flash! Let us non-attendees know if there is any sort of videotape > offering of the show/tour/etc. so that we can get in on the deal ... As I understand it, both VH-1 and Time/Warner will be video taping the Auburn Hills show. VH-1 *may* use the "footage" for an on-air special in the future or they *may* use clips in their normal format. I believe, knowing them from past history, Time/Warner is "filming" for a home-video release sometime this year. And, of course, all of last year's mini-reunion shows were video-taped. If only we could convince the band to release some of it. That's all I know. Take care, grok in fullness ... Bill-- ...who heard a wise man say "Never play leapfrog with a Unicorn." (\ +--------------------------+-------------------------(42?)\\_ _/(\ ------+ |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | \ 0 0 _\)___ | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| =(_T_)= )* | | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | /"/ ( / | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+--- <_<_/-<__| ---+ ------------------------------ From: "William A. Parrette" Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 20:42:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: GFR CDs (fwd) Hi all, I received the following message from Jay Siekierski -- editor and owner of The Sonics music news and review site. For those of you who think Survival is out as a U.S. release, Jay seems to have "the word." - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:35:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Jay Siekierski To: "William A. Parrette" Subject: Re: GFR CDs hi bill i spoke with capiitol again last week about the funk cd's still nothing and SURVIVAL is not OUT as many think. It is not OUT! Tell these people on the list despite its capitol catalog # in the computer systems it has not even HIT THE MANUFACTURING stage in the u.s. and that is an import if they think it is a u.s. release. Capitol has heard this story so much they maybe they will issue it next! My thought not there's! jay The Sonics:The All Music Site! Located In Cucumber Castle. Music Editor: Jay'Sonics'Siekierski http://home.earthlink.net/~thesonics/ - -------- End Forwarded message -------- Bill-- ...who has been told: Never let a fool kiss you, or a kiss fool you. _.---.) +--------------------------+--------------------------+ (^--^)_.-" `; |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | ) ee ( 42 | |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012|(_.__._) / | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | `--', ,' | +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+---- )-)_|--')_|--+ " ""' ""' ------------------------------ From: Bass6plyr@aol.com Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 20:56:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Funkengruven T's In a message dated 97-04-18 18:19:45 EDT, you write: << Man do we have tee shirts!!!!! They look pretty darn good. Both places came through, I've got tee shirts comin out my ears!!!! If I have time before I leave for Detroit I'll try to scan in a picture of the tees and post the URL for all you guys to look at (especially you New York guys). If anybody is interested in the shirts - I've got plenty. -=Mike=- >> This NYC guy may want one, or two. How much? Paul Bass6plyr@aol.com ------------------------------ From: STAATS Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 21:29:56 -0400 Subject: Re: Tailgate party at Auburn Hills William A. Parrette wrote: > > Hi all, > > I have a question. How many of us Grand Funk mailing list > subscribers are going to be at the Auburn Hills concert this > weekend? > > Greg Wereley and I would like to put together a little "tail- > gate party" the afternoon of the show out in the parking lot of > the Palace. Nothing fancy, nothing big, just a chance to meet > and put faces with those account names that we see on all of the > messages on the list. Maybe we can trade stories, trade memora- > bilia, and such -- just have a pre-concert good time. > > Greg and I would like to have an idea of how many folks would > show up for such a thing. So, if you would please reply to this > message -- and reply to it on list so that both Greg and I see it > -- and we can get a little head-count and find out how many peo- > ple to expect. > > Only two more days until that great Rock 'N Roll Soul! Grok > in fullness ... > > Bill-- > ...who believes pro is to con as progress is to Congress. > +--------------------------+--------------------------+------------------+ > |William A. (Bill) Parrette|7177 Heritage Drive | (42?) | > |wap@one.net |Westchester, OH 45069-4012| ,.,., / | > | *** http://w3.one.net/~wap/ *** | ( o o ) | > +------------------- 513-779-0780 --------------------+--ww--U--ww-------+ BIG TIME BILL Dan and I will be at the TAILGATE PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAVID ------------------------------ From: Bass6plyr@aol.com Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 22:57:41 -0400 (EDT) Subject: ***ATTENTION*** GFR TANSCRIPT IS HERE!!!! - --PART.BOUNDARY.0.21756.emout19.mail.aol.com.861418659 Content-ID: <0_21756_861418659@emout19.mail.aol.com.10387> Content-type: text/plain As promised, here is the transcript from AOL Live on April 17th. I know a lot of you guys don't have AOL so I'm not really sure if you can view the file extention ".LOG" so I took the liberty of pasting the entire transcript to this e-mail as well. Otherwise, you can just go ahead and download it if you are certain that you can view LOG files. Rock on, fellow funkers! Paul Bass6plyr@aol.com OnlineHost: Copyright 1997 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AOLiveMC1: JimJMF (AOLiveMC1) and SheilahMM (AOLiveMC3) are you gracious hosts, welcoming y'all to AOL LIVE! OnlineHost: Grand Funk Railroad, one of the top-selling American rock groups of all times, is back on track and live with AOL. The only group in history to sell-out Shea Stadium faster than the Beatles, Grand Funk Railroad brought such Mega-hits as LOCOMOTION, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL and I'M YOUR CAPTAIN to the world. With the launch of their reunion tour this Sunday, the unstoppable trio of rock-n-rollers is reminding fans why their middle name is FUNK! AOLiveMC1: It is my pleasure to present to you, Grand Funk Railroad. Welcome to AOL! GrndFunkRR: Thank you for all the kind words and the great intro! On behalf of GFRR, I, Mark Farner am happy to answer your questions Feel free to ask anything that's on you mind! AOLiveMC1: And let's get to those questions right now... Question: It's great to see you guys back together. What were some of the factors that led to the band's reforming? GrndFunkRR: 20 yrs. was long enough! A lot of fans wanted GF to get back together. The music that is being played now on the radio, a lot of alternative, is very rootsy rock and roll And GF is a very rootsy band. There just might be a place for us in today's radio. And we can use our talents to promote great causes such as the Bosnian Relief Fund. Question: Mark, I met you in Winter Haven, Fla wearing a Phoenix T-shirt and gave you writers cramp signing all my albums. Have you guys got a release date on the CD reissues and when are you coming back to Florida? GrndFunkRR: We do not have specific release dates on the reissues. However there are more in the works. We just finished the Rock and Roll Fantasy camp in Fla. Where were you? Question: Gys, you were my fav in the 70's. especially songs like TNUC, INSIDE LOOKING OUT, AND OF COURSE CLOSER TO HOME, what were your inspirations for those songs? GrndFunkRR: The inspirations mostly came from jamming certain chord changes that led to feelings being stirred within my soul and lyrics being written to accompany with character the music. However, on the song "I'm Your Capt" from the Closer to home Album, I wrote words first. And that was the first song ever that I had written lyrics first, music second. GrndFunkRR: I said my prayers one night and asked God to give me lyrics to a song that he wanted to touch people's heart and lo and behold, in the middle of the night, I wrote "I'm Your Capt." The following morning as I sat in the big kitchen in the farm house, I grabbed my axe out of the corner and started strumming Between sips of coffee, I was moved to play the chord changes that you now recognize in "I'm your Capt." GrndFunkRR: I went to my bedroom, grabbed the lyrics, brought them back out and put this song together over a cup of coffee and took it to rehearsal that day. The guys loved it and so do millions of people around this world. Question: What motivated the Bosnian relief charity? GrndFunkRR: Our manager David Fishof is close friends with the consulate to Israel through the UN in NYC and introduced him to Mohammed Sacrabe who is the Bosnian consulate. And he asked David about doing a charitable concert, Rock and Roll or course for the relief and also world attention to be given to the tragedy that is at hand as a result of this ethnic cleansing. In short, another Holocaust. We don't want to see another Holocaust, so to bring awareness to this situation that exists, is our moral duty. Question: Mark-Will your new music be influenced by your own life experiences or those of the masses ? BTW-It's me Linda-the photographer in Chgo. Glad to see it's working out for the band this time around! GrndFunkRR: Thanks for the question, Linda! It is a good question because fans need to know where these songs come from and in most cases, my songs have come from personal experience. And I believe without really being able to read the future, and without the possession of a crystal ball that my songs will continue to come from the real life experiences. And that source will produce most likely the songs that people have credited us for being the people's band. Question: Mark, any plans for more Christian albums? GrndFunkRR: At this time, I am speaking with a very big distributor within the Christian music scene. GrndFunkRR: However, this would only be a portion of the distribution that I am after because many in fact I will say most, of the audiences that I play to won't be in their neighborhood bible book store looking for my album. And my intentions are not to entertain Christians as some have obviously done, but to take the message of God's love to those who really need it. Question: Question to Mark Farner: Are you guys going to tour the USA full blast or just the 3 city thing, if so when? GrndFunkRR: After the 3 city Bosnian tour, we go to Europe for 2 weeks. We return to the US briefly to catch our breath before leaving for Japan. We will be in Japan about 10 days and will return to the US and tour from July to Sept. in the US. And then we do our 4th Bosnian relief concert in Sarajevo on September 20. Question: Question to Mark, is it true that you went into farming and if so how do you like it? GrndFunkRR: Yes. It is true. But that has been many years ago. I went as far as to purchase 1600 acres and farmed full time, cash cropping. We raised a few beef cattle. And I had International Grand Champion Horses in the Paint and Pinto Horse Associations. Being that I am part Cherokee, Native American, I like Indian ponies. However, when I moved in '86 from the Eastern side of the state of Michigan to the Western side, we sold the farm, and just keep a few chickens for layers. We raise our chickens for meat for the freezer and we can chicken and raise our own garden. And our three sons. And that's as far as our farming goes on the 80 acres that we now live on in Northern Michigan. Question: Mark did you just pick up the guitar and start playing or did you take lessons and a lot of practicing? GrndFunkRR: My mother bought six lessons and rented a flat top guitar for my fifteenth birthday. I finished three lessons. And my guitar teacher blew his foot off with a 12 gauge shotgun in a pheasant hunting accident. He then called my mother, filled her in on what happened and said that because I was picking up so fast I should just go and watch the guys in the high school that had a 3 pc. band, 3 guitar players. And mimic their chords and pick it up that way. So I did. As far as the practicing aspect, I spent hours with that guitar and finally my mother had to turn it back into the rental place. But, much to my surprise, I got a mail order guitar and amplifier through Fingerhut for my 16th birthday! And spent countless hours practicing with the electric and it was only five years after I initially started playing that Grand Funk sold its first million selling album. Things happen fast for yours truly. AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf of the Grand Funk Railroad band. Question: Who do you think is the best new group out now? GrndFunkRR: That is a tough question! I have sons that are 17 years old, 15 yrs. old, 8 yrs. old and of course here many bands! I don't know the names of these bands. I don't ask them who it is. ;) But I would have to say I really like some of the music from Soundgarden, Black Crows, and the more garage band sounding realistic music. Question: Was it hard getting used to playing all the time again ? GrndFunkRR: I didn't quit! I have played in my solo bands, the Godrockers, played with Ringo Starr and the All Star Band, played with the Norwest airlines band and I do prisons, jails, drug rehabs, juvenile detention homes, etc. without a band. So, I stayed pretty active concerning music. Question: Was GFRR the first band to tour in their own jetliner? GrndFunkRR: I don't know if we were the first. But we only flew in Lear jets not really a jet liner. We did however lease DC7 and Convairs that were radial turbo engines with props. AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf of the Grand Funk Railroad band. Question: This is for Mark Farner, what kind of equipment did you use in the first live album, and what are you using now? GrndFunkRR: I used West Amplifiers in the first live album. Which were all vacuum tube pre amps and power amps. And I used a PV Vacuum tube power amp today. And a PV Vacuum tube pre amp only a rack mount configuration which is different from the old days, but I still use the same speaker cabinet that I used the 4th of July, 1969! At Atlanta, Georgia in front of 185,000 people on our kick-off gig! Question: How will the music be different today as opposed to twenty years ago? GrndFunkRR: Our music will reflect some of the modern recording technology. But we will be careful so as not to lose the grip on our Funk Factor! The digital recording industry has dominated for the past few years, but I am an analog fan myself! There is nothing like some good old harmonic distortion! It's good for the soul! ::turning off warning signal:: Question: What would be your fave song to perform? GrndFunkRR: My favorite song to perform has got to be "I'm Your Captain.." AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf of the Grand Funk Railroad band. Question: Does Mark's Christianity affect the way you approach playing rock and roll now? GrndFunkRR: It has affected my moral convictions. It does not affect my playing style. It affects my conscious effort to not make wrong moves with my words. To guard young ears from fantasies that are being portrayed about rock and roll, without any regard to the implications of fans taking hook, line and sinker all that is said in a song. I want to be responsible not only to the young rockers, but to you old farts too! Question: Is there any video that exists other than LA-74 and some of the 69 and 70 rock fests? GrndFunkRR: Yes. There is a video of Shea Stadium. And there are some other video clips that some of my friends have turned me onto, which are all bootlegged of course, but nevertheless, it's a hoot to watch these things! Question: Mark do you remember that picture of you riding a horse with no shirt on? My best friend had that all over her walls and I can't say the rest because my husband is in the room. GrndFunkRR: Yes! I remember that picture! It was a publicity picture done on me during our heyday. And the horse that I'm riding in that picture was an International Grand Champion mare that was raised on my farm and her name is Bronzetta. Question: Are you aware of the great online following and discussions that the band has? GrndFunkRR: Only of the rumors. I have not partaken on the screen and the keys. But when I get a moment I'm going to go on and check it out! AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf of the Grand Funk Railroad band. Question: I am 15 and in a band and the songwriter You guys are a big influence to me. Where do you get your ideas? GrndFunkRR: I like to write songs that people can relate to because of having similar experiences or similar dreams. Whether they be written from reality or from fantasy. And knowing people will aid in your quest for song topics. And as far as musical appeal, play what makes you happy. Question: How did you pick your name? GrndFunkRR: The same way I pick my nose! No! HA! HA! HA! Actually, the name was given to us by our first manager, Terry Knight, who had written a song called Grand Funk Railroad, and it was a play off an existing railway that ran through Ontario Michigan and Ohio called the Grand Trunk and Western Railway. Question: What was the biggest break the band got over the years? GrndFunkRR: The biggest break had to be our 1969 appearance at the Atlanta Pop Festival where we played for free and opened the show in 110 degrees heat and 285,000 fans! Music fans! Question: Mark has a store in Michigan, where? GrndFunkRR: In Onaway, Michigan. Question: Looking back over the years what hair style looked the best on you guys? GrndFunkRR : Looking back over the years, the one where I had a lot more than I do presently! AOLiveMC1 : I'm sorry to say that time's almost up and so we have time for one final question from the audience. Question: How much of the proceeds from your tour will go to Bosnian relief? GrndFunkRR : 100% of the profit after expenses have been paid. The band is NOT one of the expenses. The band is playing for free! AOLiveMC1 : Mark Farner, thank you for appearing on behalf of the Grand Funk Railroad band. Any last words for your adoring audience out there? GrndFunkRR : Yes! Thank you for the opportunity to speak with my brothers and sisters! Please be aware that my biography will be released this summer in book form. It's called Mark Farner, Closer To Home. Written by Joe Gavlick and it's interesting stories, horror stories, crying stories, and the truth about rock and roll. Thank you so much! And God bless you all!! Brother Mark. AOLiveMC1 : And a special thanks to the audience for joining us. Until next time, AOL! OnlineHost: Copyright 1997 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ======================== More about this Event: 04/17 Rock Band Grand Funk Railroad (AOL Live) Grand Funk Railroad, one of the most popular, influential bands of the late sixties and early seventies -- and the only band in history to sell-out Shea Stadium faster than The Beatles -- is back on track, launching their 1997 world tour with a three-city concert event to benefit the Bosnian Relief Fund. The benefit concert kicks off in the band's hometown of Detroit on April 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, followed by New York's Beacon Theatre on April 26 and the final performance on May 2 at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. For the first time in 20 years, the original band, guitarist/vocalist Mark Farner, drummer/vocalist Don Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher reunite and go full steam ahead, bringing the best of Grand Funk Railroad cross-country in an effort to provide awareness and aid for war orphans in Bosnia-Herzegovina. All profits from all three events will be donated to the Bosnian Relief Fund. In commemoration of their generous contribution, United Nations Ambassador Mohammed Sacirbey will present the band with a special award during intermission at the Detroit benefit. The Detroit concert will also be recorded for release as a LIVE album and filmed for an upcoming TV special. Grand Funk will perform mega-hits such as "We're an American Band," "I'm Your Captain," "Locomotion" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" with a 40-piece orchestra featuring members of the Sarajevo Symphony, along with special musical guests soon to be announced. A four-piece horn section led by Alto Reed from Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band will also accompany the power trio of Farner, Brewer and Schacher. Having recently signed on with the management company David Fishof Presents, the band has plans to tour Japan and Europe in June and July before returning to the United States for a tour this summer. The group also plans to record new songs with producer Ron Navison. Grand Funk departs for Sarajevo for a benefit performance on September 19th. The Bosnian-American Relief Fund is a charitable organization that was established to alleviate the suffering of victims of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina by providing medical supplies, food and clothing. The organization is one of very few in North America that has been successful in providing aid to children left orphaned and homeless. Tickets are presently on sale in all three cities. The Rolling Stone Album Guide offers the following description of Grand Funk Railroad: "At its sweat-dripping best, the band emits a surging, elemental blast of hard-rock heat." Well, rock fans everywhere will be thrilled to learn they can once again warm themselves in front of the fire... The top-selling American rock group has newly reformed -- stoked by the much-awaited re-issue of the group's catalogue on CD by Capitol Records, as well as the overwhelming response to a handful of reunion performances played last year to more than 200,000 fans. Generally acknowledged as one of the precursors to heavy metal, Grand Funk led the track work for such bands as Foreigner, Journey, Van Halen and Bon Jovi with its signature hard-driving sound -- a combination of soulful vocals, muscular instrumentation and forceful pop melodies. The fact that GFR's legacy still looms large over the pop music landscape more than a decade after its disbandment is also a testament to the group's influence and staying power. Their mega-hits still enjoy considerable airplay today, and neo-country mavericks, The Jayhawks, recently interpreted GFR's hit song "Bad Times" on their record "Tomorrow the Green Grass." Legend even has it that Prince named his first band Grand Central as a nod to Grand Funk. Internationally acclaimed, GFR completed four world tours during the band's heyday -- selling out in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and South America. (The 1971 performance at New York's Shea Stadium sold out faster than The Beatles.) The group's widespread appeal is also evident in its considerable recording achievements. In their career as a band, Grand Funk has had 19 charted singles, eight Top 40 hits, and two #1 million-selling singles ("Locomotion" and "We're an American Band"). On top of that, the group has 12 gold and 10 platinum albums, with record sales in excess of 14 million copies worldwide. With GFR reforming in 1997, the final chapter of the band's biography remains to be written. One thing is certain however -- with the announcement of the group's plans to tour the country, both seasoned GFR lovers and contemporary rock fans discovering the group for the first time on the digitally remastered CD's, will be able to see and hear first-hand that Grand Funk Railroad's train is back on track again -- cannonballing toward glory -- and a city near you! Event Keyword: "AOL Live" - --PART.BOUNDARY.0.21756.emout19.mail.aol.com.861418659 Content-ID: <0_21756_861418659@emout19.mail.aol.com.10388> Content-type: text/plain; name="A970417B.LOG" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable OnlineHost: Copyright 1997 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =0D AOLiveMC1: JimJMF (AOLiveMC1) and SheilahMM (AOLiveMC3) are you gracious= hosts, welcoming y'all to AOL LIVE! =0D OnlineHost: Grand Funk Railroad, one of the top-selling American rock gr= oups of all times, is back on track and live with AOL. The only group in = history to sell-out Shea Stadium faster than the Beatles, Grand Funk Rail= road brought such Mega-hits as LOCOMOTION, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL and I'M= YOUR CAPTAIN to the world. With the launch of their reunion tour this Su= nday, the unstoppable trio of rock-n-rollers is reminding fans why their = middle name is FUNK! =0D AOLiveMC1: It is my pleasure to present to you, Grand Funk Railroad. Wel= come to AOL! =0D GrndFunkRR: Thank you for all the kind words and the great intro! On beh= alf of GFRR, I, Mark Farner am happy to answer your questions Feel free t= o ask anything that's on you mind! =0D AOLiveMC1: And let's get to those questions right now... = =0D Question: It's great to see you guys back together. What were some of th= e factors that led to the band's reforming? =0D GrndFunkRR: 20 yrs. was long enough! A lot of fans wanted GF to get back= together. The music that is being played now on the radio, a lot of alte= rnative, is very rootsy rock and roll And GF is a very rootsy band. There= just might be a place for us in today's radio. And we can use our talent= s to promote great causes such as the Bosnian Relief Fund. = =0D Question: Mark, I met you in Winter Haven, Fla wearing a Phoenix T-shirt= and gave you writers cramp signing all my albums. Have you guys got a re= lease date on the CD reissues and when are you coming back to Florida? =0D GrndFunkRR: We do not have specific release dates on the reissues. Howev= er there are more in the works. We just finished the Rock and Roll Fantas= y camp in Fla. Where were you? = =0D Question: Gys, you were my fav in the 70's. especially songs like TNUC, = INSIDE LOOKING OUT, AND OF COURSE CLOSER TO HOME, what were your inspirat= ions for those songs? =0D GrndFunkRR: The inspirations mostly came from jamming certain chord chan= ges that led to feelings being stirred within my soul and lyrics being wr= itten to accompany with character the music. However, on the song "I'm Yo= ur Capt" from the Closer to home Album, I wrote words first. And that was= the first song ever that I had written lyrics first, music second. =0D GrndFunkRR: I said my prayers one night and asked God to give me lyrics = to a song that he wanted to touch people's heart and lo and behold, in th= e middle of the night, I wrote "I'm Your Capt." The following morning as = I sat in the big kitchen in the farm house, I grabbed my axe out of the c= orner and started strumming Between sips of coffee, I was moved to play t= he chord changes that you now recognize in "I'm your Capt." =0D GrndFunkRR: I went to my bedroom, grabbed the lyrics, brought them back = out and put this song together over a cup of coffee and took it to rehear= sal that day. The guys loved it and so do millions of people around this = world. =0D Question: What motivated the Bosnian relief charity? =0D GrndFunkRR: Our manager David Fishof is close friends with the consulate= to Israel through the UN in NYC and introduced him to Mohammed Sacrabe w= ho is the Bosnian consulate. And he asked David about doing a charitable = concert, Rock and Roll or course for the relief and also world attention = to be given to the tragedy that is at hand as a result of this ethnic cle= ansing. In short, another Holocaust. We don't want to see another Holocau= st, so to bring awareness to this situation that exists, is our moral dut= y. = =0D Question: Mark-Will your new music be influenced by your own life experi= ences or those of the masses ? BTW-It's me Linda-the photographer in Chgo= =2E Glad to see it's working out for the band this time around! = =0D GrndFunkRR: Thanks for the question, Linda! It is a good question becaus= e fans need to know where these songs come from and in most cases, my son= gs have come from personal experience. And I believe without really being= able to read the future, and without the possession of a crystal ball th= at my songs will continue to come from the real life experiences. And tha= t source will produce most likely the songs that people have credited us = for being the people's band. = =0D Question: Mark, any plans for more Christian albums? =0D GrndFunkRR: At this time, I am speaking with a very big distributor with= in the Christian music scene. =0D GrndFunkRR: However, this would only be a portion of the distribution th= at I am after because many in fact I will say most, of the audiences that= I play to won't be in their neighborhood bible book store looking for my= album. And my intentions are not to entertain Christians as some have ob= viously done, but to take the message of God's love to those who really n= eed it. =0D Question: Question to Mark Farner: Are you guys going to tour the USA f= ull blast or just the 3 city thing, if so when? =0D GrndFunkRR: After the 3 city Bosnian tour, we go to Europe for 2 weeks. = We return to the US briefly to catch our breath before leaving for Japan.= We will be in Japan about 10 days and will return to the US and tour fro= m July to Sept. in the US. And then we do our 4th Bosnian relief concert = in Sarajevo on September 20. =0D Question: Question to Mark, is it true that you went into farming and if= so how do you like it? =0D GrndFunkRR: Yes. It is true. But that has been many years ago. I went as= far as to purchase 1600 acres and farmed full time, cash cropping. We ra= ised a few beef cattle. And I had International Grand Champion Horses in = the Paint and Pinto Horse Associations. Being that I am part Cherokee, Na= tive American, I like Indian ponies. However, when I moved in '86 from th= e Eastern side of the state of Michigan to the Western side, we sold the = farm, and just keep a few chickens for layers. We raise our chickens for = meat for the freezer and we can chicken and raise our own garden. And our= three sons. And that's as far as our farming goes on the 80 acres that w= e now live on in Northern Michigan. =0D Question: Mark did you just pick up the guitar and start playing or did = you take lessons and a lot of practicing? =0D GrndFunkRR: My mother bought six lessons and rented a flat top guitar fo= r my fifteenth birthday. I finished three lessons. And my guitar teacher = blew his foot off with a 12 gauge shotgun in a pheasant hunting accident.= He then called my mother, filled her in on what happened and said that b= ecause I was picking up so fast I should just go and watch the guys in th= e high school that had a 3 pc. band, 3 guitar players. And mimic their ch= ords and pick it up that way. So I did. As far as the practicing aspect, = I spent hours with that guitar and finally my mother had to turn it back = into the rental place. But, much to my surprise, I got a mail order guita= r and amplifier through Fingerhut for my 16th birthday! And spent countle= ss hours practicing with the electric and it was only five years after I = initially started playing that Grand Funk sold its first million selling = album. Things happen fast for yours truly. =0D AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf = of the Grand Funk Railroad band. =0D Question: Who do you think is the best new group out now? =0D GrndFunkRR: That is a tough question! I have sons that are 17 years old,= 15 yrs. old, 8 yrs. old and of course here many bands! I don't know the = names of these bands. I don't ask them who it is. ;) But I would have to = say I really like some of the music from Soundgarden, Black Crows, and th= e more garage band sounding realistic music. =0D Question: Was it hard getting used to playing all the time again ? =0D GrndFunkRR: I didn't quit! I have played in my solo bands, the Godrocker= s, played with Ringo Starr and the All Star Band, played with the Norwest= airlines band and I do prisons, jails, drug rehabs, juvenile detention h= omes, etc. without a band. So, I stayed pretty active concerning music. =0D Question: Was GFRR the first band to tour in their own jetliner? =0D GrndFunkRR: I don't know if we were the first. But we only flew in Lear = jets not really a jet liner. We did however lease DC7 and Convairs that w= ere radial turbo engines with props. =0D AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf = of the Grand Funk Railroad band. =0D Question: This is for Mark Farner, what kind of equipment did you use in= the first live album, and what are you using now? =0D GrndFunkRR: I used West Amplifiers in the first live album. Which were a= ll vacuum tube pre amps and power amps. And I used a PV Vacuum tube power= amp today. And a PV Vacuum tube pre amp only a rack mount configuration = which is different from the old days, but I still use the same speaker ca= binet that I used the 4th of July, 1969! At Atlanta, Georgia in front of = 185,000 people on our kick-off gig! =0D Question: How will the music be different today as opposed to twenty yea= rs ago? =0D GrndFunkRR: Our music will reflect some of the modern recording technolo= gy. But we will be careful so as not to lose the grip on our Funk Factor!= The digital recording industry has dominated for the past few years, but= I am an analog fan myself! There is nothing like some good old harmonic = distortion! It's good for the soul! ::turning off warning signal:: =0D Question: What would be your fave song to perform? =0D GrndFunkRR: My favorite song to perform has got to be "I'm Your Captain.= =2E" =0D AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf = of the Grand Funk Railroad band. =0D Question: Does Mark's Christianity affect the way you approach playing r= ock and roll now? =0D GrndFunkRR: It has affected my moral convictions. It does not affect my = playing style. It affects my conscious effort to not make wrong moves wit= h my words. To guard young ears from fantasies that are being portrayed a= bout rock and roll, without any regard to the implications of fans taking= hook, line and sinker all that is said in a song. I want to be responsib= le not only to the young rockers, but to you old farts too! =0D Question: Is there any video that exists other than LA-74 and some of th= e 69 and 70 rock fests? =0D GrndFunkRR: Yes. There is a video of Shea Stadium. And there are some ot= her video clips that some of my friends have turned me onto, which are al= l bootlegged of course, but nevertheless, it's a hoot to watch these thin= gs! =0D Question: Mark do you remember that picture of you riding a horse with n= o shirt on? My best friend had that all over her walls and I can't say th= e rest because my husband is in the room. =0D GrndFunkRR: Yes! I remember that picture! It was a publicity picture don= e on me during our heyday. And the horse that I'm riding in that picture = was an International Grand Champion mare that was raised on my farm and h= er name is Bronzetta. =0D Question: Are you aware of the great online following and discussions th= at the band has? =0D GrndFunkRR: Only of the rumors. I have not partaken on the screen and th= e keys. But when I get a moment I'm going to go on and check it out! =0D AOLiveMC1: Just a reminder... Mark Farner is speaking tonight on behalf = of the Grand Funk Railroad band. =0D Question: I am 15 and in a band and the songwriter You guys are a big in= fluence to me. Where do you get your ideas? =0D GrndFunkRR: I like to write songs that people can relate to because of h= aving similar experiences or similar dreams. Whether they be written from= reality or from fantasy. And knowing people will aid in your quest for s= ong topics. And as far as musical appeal, play what makes you happy. =0D Question: How did you pick your name? =0D GrndFunkRR: The same way I pick my nose! No! HA! HA! HA! Actually, the n= ame was given to us by our first manager, Terry Knight, who had written a= song called Grand Funk Railroad, and it was a play off an existing railw= ay that ran through Ontario Michigan and Ohio called the Grand Trunk and = Western Railway. =0D Question: What was the biggest break the band got over the years? =0D GrndFunkRR: The biggest break had to be our 1969 appearance at the Atlan= ta Pop Festival where we played for free and opened the show in 110 degre= es heat and 285,000 fans! Music fans! =0D Question: Mark has a store in Michigan, where? =0D GrndFunkRR: In Onaway, Michigan. =0D Question: Looking back over the years what hair style looked the best on= you guys? =0D GrndFunkRR : Looking back over the years, the one where I had a lot more= than I do presently! =0D AOLiveMC1 : I'm sorry to say that time's almost up and so we have time f= or one final question from the audience. =0D Question: How much of the proceeds from your tour will go to Bosnian rel= ief? =0D GrndFunkRR : 100% of the profit after expenses have been paid. The band = is NOT one of the expenses. The band is playing for free! =0D AOLiveMC1 : Mark Farner, thank you for appearing on behalf of the Grand = Funk Railroad band. Any last words for your adoring audience out there? =0D GrndFunkRR : Yes! Thank you for the opportunity to speak with my brother= s and sisters! Please be aware that my biography will be released this su= mmer in book form. It's called Mark Farner, Closer To Home. Written by Jo= e Gavlick and it's interesting stories, horror stories, crying stories, a= nd the truth about rock and roll. Thank you so much! And God bless you al= l!! Brother Mark. =0D AOLiveMC1 : And a special thanks to the audience for joining us. Until n= ext time, AOL! =0D OnlineHost: Copyright 1997 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved. =0D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D More about this Event: =0D 04/17 Rock Band Grand Funk Railroad (AOL Live) =0D Grand Funk Railroad, one of the most popular, influential bands of the la= te sixties and early seventies -- and the only band in history to sell-ou= t Shea Stadium faster than The Beatles -- is back on track, launching the= ir 1997 world tour with a three-city concert event to benefit the Bosnian= Relief Fund. The benefit concert kicks off in the band's hometown of Det= roit on April 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, followed by New York's Be= acon Theatre on April 26 and the final performance on May 2 at The Greek = Theatre in Los Angeles. =0D For the first time in 20 years, the original band, guitarist/vocalist Mar= k Farner, drummer/vocalist Don Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher reunite an= d go full steam ahead, bringing the best of Grand Funk Railroad cross-cou= ntry in an effort to provide awareness and aid for war orphans in Bosnia-= Herzegovina. All profits from all three events will be donated to the Bos= nian Relief Fund. =0D In commemoration of their generous contribution, United Nations Ambassado= r Mohammed Sacirbey will present the band with a special award during int= ermission at the Detroit benefit. The Detroit concert will also be record= ed for release as a LIVE album and filmed for an upcoming TV special. =0D Grand Funk will perform mega-hits such as "We're an American Band," "I'm = Your Captain," "Locomotion" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" with a 40-piece = orchestra featuring members of the Sarajevo Symphony, along with special = musical guests soon to be announced. A four-piece horn section led by Alt= o Reed from Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band will also accompany the power = trio of Farner, Brewer and Schacher. =0D Having recently signed on with the management company David Fishof Presen= ts, the band has plans to tour Japan and Europe in June and July before r= eturning to the United States for a tour this summer. The group also plan= s to record new songs with producer Ron Navison. Grand Funk departs for S= arajevo for a benefit performance on September 19th. =0D The Bosnian-American Relief Fund is a charitable organization that was es= tablished to alleviate the suffering of victims of the war in Bosnia-Herz= egovina by providing medical supplies, food and clothing. The organizatio= n is one of very few in North America that has been successful in providi= ng aid to children left orphaned and homeless. =0D Tickets are presently on sale in all three cities. =0D The Rolling Stone Album Guide offers the following description of Grand F= unk Railroad: "At its sweat-dripping best, the band emits a surging, ele= mental blast of hard-rock heat." Well, rock fans everywhere will be thril= led to learn they can once again warm themselves in front of the fire... =0D The top-selling American rock group has newly reformed -- stoked by the m= uch-awaited re-issue of the group's catalogue on CD by Capitol Records, a= s well as the overwhelming response to a handful of reunion performances = played last year to more than 200,000 fans. =0D Generally acknowledged as one of the precursors to heavy metal, Grand Fun= k led the track work for such bands as Foreigner, Journey, Van Halen and = Bon Jovi with its signature hard-driving sound -- a combination of soulfu= l vocals, muscular instrumentation and forceful pop melodies. =0D The fact that GFR's legacy still looms large over the pop music landscape= more than a decade after its disbandment is also a testament to the grou= p's influence and staying power. Their mega-hits still enjoy considerable= airplay today, and neo-country mavericks, The Jayhawks, recently interpr= eted GFR's hit song "Bad Times" on their record "Tomorrow the Green Grass= =2E" Legend even has it that Prince named his first band Grand Central as= a nod to Grand Funk. =0D Internationally acclaimed, GFR completed four world tours during the band= 's heyday -- selling out in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and South Ame= rica. (The 1971 performance at New York's Shea Stadium sold out faster th= an The Beatles.) The group's widespread appeal is also evident in its con= siderable recording achievements. In their career as a band, Grand Funk h= as had 19 charted singles, eight Top 40 hits, and two #1 million-selling = singles ("Locomotion" and "We're an American Band"). On top of that, the = group has 12 gold and 10 platinum albums, with record sales in excess of = 14 million copies worldwide. =0D With GFR reforming in 1997, the final chapter of the band's biography rem= ains to be written. One thing is certain however -- with the announcement= of the group's plans to tour the country, both seasoned GFR lovers and c= ontemporary rock fans discovering the group for the first time on the dig= itally remastered CD's, will be able to see and hear first-hand that Gran= d Funk Railroad's train is back on track again -- cannonballing toward gl= ory -- and a city near you! =0D Event Keyword: "AOL Live" - --PART.BOUNDARY.0.21756.emout19.mail.aol.com.861418659-- ------------------------------ End of grand-funk-digest V1 #37 *******************************