From: owner-grand-funk To: grand-funk-digest Subject: grand-funk-digest V1 #52 Reply-To: grand-funk@roadkill.com Errors-To: owner-grand-funk Precedence: bulk grand-funk-digest Monday, 5 May 1997 Volume 01 : Number 052 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: einar@rfci.net Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 13:59:33 -0400 Subject: Re: Fave Funkheads Bands NH Borger wrote: > > Jayola, Funkola, my fav. bands: > > 1. Grand Funk Railroad > 2. Mark Farner > 3. Led Zeppelin > 4. Flint > 5. The Pack > 6. Steve Vai > 7. Joe Satriani > 8. Deep Purple > 9. Eric Johnson > 10. Stevie Ray Vaughan > 11. Chet Atkins > 12. Van Halen > 13. Steve Morse Band > 14. Hot Tuna > 15. Ian Hunter Band > 16. Black Oak Arkansas > 17. ................ > I would like to go on....... > > Nico. Glad to see another Black Oak fan in the crowd. Now they were raw energy! Looks like you are a guitar man there Nico. Funkola ------------------------------ From: steelhorse Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 13:03:07 -0700 Subject: [Fwd: Re: [Fwd: GFR: TV exposure]]-the answer from Sunny Return-Path: Received: from osceola.gate.net (root@osceola.gate.net [199.227.0.18]) by nexus.flash.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id LAA03531 for ; Mon, 5 May 1997 11:43:08 -0500 (CDT) Received: from Sunnyq (wpbfl3-6.gate.net [199.227.125.197]) by osceola.gate.net (8.8.5/8.6.12) with SMTP id MAA90824 for ; Mon, 5 May 1997 12:43:13 -0400 Message-ID: <336E0FA6.3C10@wzzr.com> Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 12:49:42 -0400 From: Sunny Quinn X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: steelhorse Subject: Re: [Fwd: GFR: TV exposure] References: <336E0A6C.5FE3@flash.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-UIDL: 427f0758fce5f7e58f9ac0c50955f045 X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Hi Mike, Thanks for the great letter...I'll pass it on to the guys. Leno was lots of fun to do...we all had a great time. I'll know later today if Letterman is on for Thursday (this week). Letterman doesn't want them playing so close to the Leno show...so that's the reason for the comedic-type role. He may have them back at a later date to play...but the execs try to stay away from classic rock. Bad choice...but that's the way it is. But Paul Shaffer has been very instrumental in getting them involved in any way he can. The guys knew ahead of time that they only had time to play a 4-minute piece, and that there would be no interview...so that's cool. But I'd much rather see them interviewed than Jenny McCarthy!!! Thanks for the support and interest! Sunny steelhorse wrote: > > Subject: GFR: TV exposure > Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 09:21:44 -0700 > From: steelhorse > To: DFishof@aol.com > CC: sunnyq@wzzr.com;, grand-funk@roadkill.com > > I have been very pleased and excited seeing Grand Funk Railroad appear on > Good Morning America and The Tonight Show. I also understand that GFR > will appear on David Letterman in the future. This is -excellent-!!! > > Although The Tonight Show was the best TV coverage so far IMHO, I was > most displeased that the boys didn't even get a chance to be interviewed. > I certainly hope they aren't discouraged by that. I would imagine there > were quite a few old GFR fans who saw them and had no idea of their > recent activities. Even a short couple of minutes would have done the > trick. > > I've read that GFR will only be doing a 'comedy' part on Letterman. > Frankly, I was hoping to see Mark, Don, or Mel make a cameo appearance in > one of Leno's comedy spots: that would have been neat! Anyway, I am > looking forward to Letterman: it would be very good if GFR gets > interviewed AND gets to play. As you may agree, that would be a very good > way to make the viewers aware of Bosnia relief and GFR's labor of love. > > Thank you for your time, and everything you've done. You've made a lot of > people very happy. > > Mike Adair > Dallas, Texas ------------------------------ From: steelhorse Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 13:08:26 -0700 Subject: Re: Fave Funkheads Bands I think bumper stickers would be a fantastic idea! Heck, I'd even put one on my murdercycle :-). Anybody got any ideas on how to go about creating something 'legal'? There's probably alot of copyright red tape involved.... ktut@ix.netcom.com wrote: > > On 05/05/97 08:43:29 Randy wrote: > >Sittin here waitin for the Detroit Live Album and Video.....Ain't life > Grand? > >(Funk) > >Randy > >AliveWW@aol.com > > > > > > > New shirt and bumper sticker idea....... > > Ain't life Grand? (Funk) > > Excellent Randy. > > king tut ------------------------------ From: Stan Pace Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 14:38:32 -0400 Subject: Re: Fave Funkheads Bands I like the idea! Who can make this happen? Stan At 12:11 5/5/97 -0500, you wrote: >On 05/05/97 08:43:29 Randy wrote: >>Sittin here waitin for the Detroit Live Album and Video.....Ain't life >Grand? >>(Funk) >>Randy >>AliveWW@aol.com >> >> >> >New shirt and bumper sticker idea....... > >Ain't life Grand? (Funk) > > >Excellent Randy. > >king tut > > > > Stan Pace U.S. Atlantic Command Joint Training, Analysis and Simulation Center ------------------------------ From: Nancy Barravecchio Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 15:20:53 -0400 Subject: Leno Show I have been reading a lot of everyones view on the show, I am sort of on the fence...Yes I would have loved to have seen them play more and be interviewed...but was there anyone that was at the actual show? Who knows maybe they did get interviewed and played more for the studio audience than we got to see at home on our sets.....Would make sense that when they came back from commercial they were sitting with Jay....Isn't that show tapped and played back at its scheduled time? So if anyone was there they would have more info. on whether or not our Boys got editied out....Bless Nan ------------------------------ From: QuoteNotes@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 15:19:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: Bootleg GFR sold at Detroit.] Regarding the discussion of bootleg tapes... Violating federal copyright laws is not a matter of "morals", it's a matter of violating federal law where you can be held liable to the writers, artists, ASCAP, etc., etc., etc. I understand that this is probably not a profit-making venture and the intentions are well-placed. Too, purchase of a bootleg by a hardcore GFR fan would probably have no effect on sales of other products...we Funkheads will buy EVERYTHING available on GFR. However, that is immaterial. I would be very, very cautious...there are some players in this industry that will go after you at the drop of a hat and the potential penalties are severe. ------------------------------ From: Gasnoilguy@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 15:21:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: My thoughts about GFR on the Tonight Show >Paul, Paul, >The tonight show is for the entire nation, not just Funkheads like us. It has >to appeal to a vast cross-section of the viewing public. >20 years ago, GFR would never have gotten on a primetime network show like the >Carson show. They probably would not have wanted to be on an "establishment >show" back then. Remember, GFR went against the grain in alot of respects. >They were individuals that did could not be pigeon-holed into any single >catagory . . so . . it is a miracle that they were on the "Tonight Show" at >all. >Besides, I thought the Snake bit was pretty good. Maybe we should introduce the >guy who wrote the Newsday review to the Anaconda. >I can see it on the news now . . ."Giant Snake devoures free lance writer . .and >in the sports world, The Flyers come back to take a win in the last minute of >regulation . . . record heat today as floods ravage the midwest." >Anyway, GFR will always be close to our hearts, be we are the proud Funkheads. >Not everyone is. >Jim Maijala Amen, Jim. I agree, even if you are a Broad Street Bully! Gas & Oil Guy ------------------------------ From: AliveWW@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 15:24:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Fave Funkheads Bands In a message dated 97-05-05 14:21:08 EDT, you write: << > On 05/05/97 08:43:29 Randy wrote: > >Sittin here waitin for the Detroit Live Album and Video.....Ain't life > Grand? > >(Funk) > >Randy > >AliveWW@aol.com >> You ALL have my PERMISSION to bootleg the he** out of this idea...I just want a free XL tee and a couple bumper stickers......ha! All the BEST! Randy Kiss On Videotape/Kiss/Indians Caps- http://www.galstar.com/~markmad/galstar.htm ------------------------------ From: Narqualung@worldnet.att.net Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 14:31:24 -0700 Subject: [Fwd: Re: Thanks/wait-a-minute] This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - --------------718A11B36778 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit No....I didn't forget the rest of you....... - --------------718A11B36778 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-ID: <336E5136.76BA@worldnet.att.net> Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 14:29:26 -0700 From: Narqualung@worldnet.att.net Reply-To: Narqualung@worldnet.att.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0C-WorldNet (Win16; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: In2theSon@aol.com Subject: Re: Thanks/wait-a-minute References: <970505125029_-1031109842@emout16.mail.aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In2theSon@aol.com wrote: > > Narqualung@worldnet.att.net, Mrmnas3@aol.com > Did you say..... > >Er, uh, Cream? Jimi Hendrix Experience? Band of Gypsies? ZZ Top? > >etc......GFR are great, but not the best....... > > Get out a town! These aren't opinions, they're blasphemy! I stand corrected........Grand Funk Railroad ARE as good as ZZ Top............not better, but definitely as good.....as to the best THREE member band, "Er, uh, CREAM? JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE? BAND OF GYPSIES? etc........GFR are great, but not the best". Don't get me started or I will start naming greater bands with four or five members. Yours in Funk and Balsphemy, The Great Satan (in response to those in the home of the sacred Chao) - --------------718A11B36778-- ------------------------------ From: einar@rfci.net Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 15:51:52 -0400 Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: Bootleg GFR sold at Detroit.] QuoteNotes@aol.com wrote: > > Regarding the discussion of bootleg tapes... > > Violating federal copyright laws is not a matter of "morals", it's a matter > of violating federal law where you can be held liable to the writers, > artists, ASCAP, etc., etc., etc. > > I understand that this is probably not a profit-making venture and the > intentions are well-placed. Too, purchase of a bootleg by a hardcore GFR fan > would probably have no effect on sales of other products...we Funkheads will > buy EVERYTHING available on GFR. > > However, that is immaterial. I would be very, very cautious...there are some > players in this industry that will go after you at the drop of a hat and the > potential penalties are severe. If you are not into it, fine. I neither solicited your judgement nor do I care what it is. And apparently others feel the same way judging from my email. Nobody is making a dime off of this. Just distributing some funk to fans that they could otherwise not get. You haven't said anything I haven't heard before or either already knew. Why don't those who aren't interested just drop it and get back to talking about GFR? Funkola ------------------------------ From: Gasnoilguy@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 15:52:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Other Bands Ralph, Some of the other bands I listen to: LED ZEPPELIN - 'Nuff said. LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Best guitar work around, another great American Band. DEEP PURPLE - (I didn't know Ritchie Blackmore left.) Their albums with Ian Gillan and David Coverdale are kickin' Rock & Roll. FOGHAT - Good, straight-forward, bluesy Rock & Roll. and, forgive me Old-Timers ( "When I was your age, I had to listen to GFR on a crank Victrola" ) **, NO DOUBT - Great, unique sounding stuff. Refreshing, one might say. SHERYL CROWE - Nice sound. But, of course GFR is the best, and I am IN NEED of them coming to Massachusetts! Gas & Oil Guy ** just jokin' fellas ------------------------------ From: "NH Borger" Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 21:52:08 +0200 Subject: Available GFR CD's Japanese prints I received this message about available GFR CD's Japanese prints. In Japan all titles are 1,750 yen (about 14.35 US dollars), except for Live Album which is 3,000 yen. I was hoping to find a "Live in Japan" video or audio, or the "ABC in concert" video but no luck yet. On Time Toshiba TOCP-3176 Grand Funk Toshiba TOCP-3177 Best of Grand Funk Toshiba TOCP-3178 Live Album Toshiba TOCP-3179/80 Survival Toshiba TOCP-3181 E Puluribus Funk Toshiba TOCP-3182 We're an Amerikan Band Toshiba TOCP-3183 Caught in the Act Toshiba TOCP-3184 Some titles are translated as follows; On time "Grand Funk Tojo" E Puluribus Funk "Senso Wo Yameyo" We're an American Band "American Band" Caught in the Act "Grand Funk Tour '75" Later............Nico ------------------------------ From: JMiller744@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 17:47:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Available CD's I just received the Grand Funk Live CD and am disappointed in it's sound quality. Also, the inside of the booklet is not like the 5 copies of the original LP I have. I got it from CDNow and it's an import. Does anyone have a source for a better sound quality CD? It's a Heartbreaker. ------------------------------ From: ruckerm@agcs.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 14:48:25 -0700 Subject: Re: Other Bands My top however-many-it-is-I-actually-end-up-typing: 1. Jethro Tull 2. Bob Dylan 3. Grand Funk 4. Richard Thompson 5. Partridge Family 6. Van Morrison 7. Kinks 8. Lots of nameless, faceless new age "artists" It's been good to get back heavily into Grand Funk lately, air-drumming my way through the ending minutes of "Creepin'" over and over and over and over... No wrecks yet... - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Rucker AG Communication Systems email: ruckerm@agcs.com Phoenix, Arizona USA phone: (602) 582-7507 http://www.agcs.com - -------------- Expand the power of your network. --------------- ------------------------------ From: frankbauer@thevine.net Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 14:52:38 -0800 Subject: Re: Other Bands >and, forgive me Old-Timers ( "When I was your age, I had to listen to GFR on >a crank Victrola" ) **, no joke: my first album was the live album, which i listened to on a garage sale, 40's or 50's era, steel needle, monophonic record changer/phonograph with a lid and a carry handle! looked like 1st generation after the victrola. sometimes a quarter was taped to the tonearm if the record skipped. some of these same scratchy pieces of vinyl sound wonderful on my current system, since it uses an untouched part of the groove! frank to: IN:Gasnoilguy@aol.com cc: IN:grand-funk@roadkill.com ------------------------------ From: Phil Catalano Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 16:07:03 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: Auburn Hills Brad, This is great info! Where on Pollstar do you find this? I only know about the concert listings. Thanks, Phil - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= Phil Catalano phil.catalano@mci.com - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= On Sat, 3 May 1997, Brad Durham wrote: > FYI, > > Pollstar is reporting the Grand Funk show at the Palace of Auburn Hills' > show (4/20) was a 100% sell-out with 15,086 tickets sold. The concert > grossed $203,290. > > Brad > ------------------------------ From: Sam LeMaster Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 18:06:07 -0400 Subject: Bootlegs Well everyone is talking about bootlegs. The Grateful Dead let their fans have a tapers section. And it never hurt them at all. They encouraged it for over 30 yrs. Hmmm Just a thought. All their shows were always sell outs and their albums sells were always good. Maybe GFR ought to think about doing the same thing, couldnt hurt. I think it would just make them that closer to their fans. Just thought I would throw that out there. Keep Shinin On Sam ------------------------------ From: QuoteNotes@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 18:23:56 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Other Bands Here's a mid-late '70's band out of Texas that few people have heard of, but GFR fans would love: Point Blank ------------------------------ From: Phil Catalano Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 16:27:50 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: GFR Concert Video Woah!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for that info, Tom! What kind of places can you order this video from? Thanks again, Phil - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= Phil Catalano phil.catalano@mci.com - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= On Sun, 4 May 1997, Tom Roberts wrote: > On March 25th, there was supposed to be a live video released of GFR. > >From all the information I could gather, it's release date must have > been pushed back. One source told me it is called "GET DOWN". She said > it had a copyright date of 1970 (Shea Stadium???) and runs for 86 > minutes. One person said it was on the MPI label, while another told me > it was released by a company called Tapeworm, and another person at a > third store told me it was on IVE Entertainment. I have it on order at > two different video stores, and will keep this list informed when I get > any other information. I don't have my MD&M album handy right now, but > in the back of my mind, I think I remember seeing something listed on > one of the inner sleeves somewhere that they did film a concert back > around that time. > > Tom Roberts. > ------------------------------ From: Phil Catalano Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 16:30:36 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: GFR in the 80's On Sun, 4 May 1997, Sam LeMaster wrote: > Everyone keeps on saying that GFR has not been together for over 20 years. > Not true they put out two Great albums in the 80's Grand Funk Lives and > What's Funk? The only thing missing was Mel. I went and seen them on the GF > Lives tour and I think that Dennis did a great job of playing bass. And the > song Queen Bee was also in the movie Heavy Metal. Just wanted to remind some > that may have forgotten. The last time they played with Mel and Frost was in > 76. Yes I know it was not Mark, Don & Mel. But those 2 lps kicked butt. I'm sorry but I have to disagree! GFR has NOT been together for over 20 years because Mel was not with them in the 80s. It simply is NOT GFR without Mel! I don't consider "Lives" and "What's Funk" GFR. Just a die-hard fan, Phil ------------------------------ From: Phil Catalano Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 19:06:00 -0600 (MDT) Subject: LA!!!!!!!!!! Well folks, here's my TOTAL LA experience. Hope it's not too long winded...but it is...I just couldn't help it... Mick was suppose to land in Colorado Springs (where I live) around 11:00 p.m. Thursday night and then we were suppose to catch the LA flight on Friday morning about 11:30. Well, Mick calls me up about 7:00-8:00 p.m. my time and tells me the flight has been delayed by about 4 hours due to nasty weather! I immediately start flashing back to last Thu when I was trying to get to NY and was hosed by the nasty weather out here! Of course I couldn't post to roadkill to ask everyone to start singin' and prayin' for our fellow brother because I was at home and my email is here at work. So, I started silently freakin' out thinking of all the worst possible scenarios. So, I immediately called Mike Butler to tell him what was going on because we had Mike's tickets to the show. If we didn't make it, Mike was hosed!! So Mike and I came up with several backup plans in case Mick and I got stranded. Well, Mick finally landed here in Colorado at 3:30 a.m.!! Once again, another sleepless night! So now, only two more flights (we had to connect in Phoenix) and we'e in LA! Well, we made it out "On Time" Friday morning and got into LA right "On Time" at about 2:30. We got to the hotel by about 3:30. Mick immediately called Donna/Alan's room while I checked in. She said they'd be down along with Mike Butler and wife in a few minutes. We had thought that Mike was going down to the Derby really early to hold down the fort. Well, I guess his water pump had other plans...Doh! Anyway, the six of us met in the lobby and we all introduced ourselves...this was the start of a truly incredible night! We all immediately hit-it-off...everyone was super nice! Mike Butler told us about his misfortunes that morning when his water pump went out on him half way between Vegas and LA! Can you believe the timing of all this?!?! But, like Mick and I, Mike wasn't gonna let anything get in his way. So he made it there a little before us. Now, one of the first things they told us was that Donna got 10 backstage passes that she was to pick up at Will Call. Unbelievable! They adrenalin was already pumping and we were only at the hotel! We then mentioned Robert Bodilys name and Mike said that he was going to meet us at the Derby. So, looks like we had everyone we needed at the time so the six of us piled into Donna/Alan's limo and we started our journey across LA to the Derby. Alan was immediately named "Mr. Limousine Driver". He did an incredible job chauffering us around all weekend. On the way to the Derby we all exchanged Funk storys and whatever else came to mind. And Donna did an incredible job of keeping Alan on track while babbling the whole time. Something that must be experienced! She never missed a turn or a sentence! So, we finally make it to the Derby I think around 5:00? When we walked in the Funk roadkill table was already about 10 or so strong! We were greeted by Steve Lisuk and his wife and his brother and everyone else. There's no way I can remember everyone's name (Mick might have wrote all the names down?). Once again, we were all introduced and we immediately "clicked"!!! Everyone was great! So for the next two hours or so we proceeded to consume large amounts of alcohol and trade all kinds of Funk stories. I must say that Steve Lisuk had us all beat. He grew up with Mark and had alot of old stories. Man, I could've listened to him all night! What a great guy! And there were alot of pictures being taken by several different people. Hopefully they'll come out halfway decent so they can be posted on the websites! Somehow, I always seemed to be there when Steve's wife was taking another picture?? And I'm not the photogenic type! Sorry! Hope I didn't ruin any of the pictures! After a couple of hours we needed to get on the road to the Greek (right up the block) so Donna could pick up the VIP passes. I think it was about 7:00 by this time. Showtime was 7:30. So we get to the Greek and of course Donna has some kind of special parking also so we got to park pretty close. By this time everyone was absolutely psyched. There were Grand Funk fans all over the place...Oh What A Feeling!! Well, Donna goes to get the passes and she comes back with some good news and some bad news. The good news was that she got the passes but the bad news was that there were only 4, not 10 as promised. Well, I didn't really care because I had the unbelievable opportunity last week to meet the boys in the band after the show. As long as Donna got to meet them, that was all that mattered at the time. So we all walk in with our Funkengrueven Ts on and who spots us but David Fishof!!!! I believe it was Mike Butler who initially talked to him and then the rest of us went over there. He seemed really nice. Well, of course him and Donna are on a first name basis so she explains the 4 pass vs. 10 pass dilemma and he immediately fixed that!! No questions asked. He walked over to somebody, I think with Donna, and had them write down Donna's name + 9!!!!! Unbelievable! I think we were all in shock (or is that schac) at this time. I know I was. I was gonna have another chance to meet the boys in the band...UnFunkenBelievable! Well, by this time it was time to get to our seats. So we all split up and went to our seats and said we'd meet back at a certain place after the show. Mike Butler, Mick and I got to our seats and I would say the place was about 1/2 full? I thought we had pretty good seats. We were in the second section, 4th row to the left of the stage. To say the least, the crowd was a little restless! We were talking to alot of the people around us, most of them die-hard fans who didn't have a clue about the net or about what Grand Funk was up to. So it was nice to be able to update some of these Folks with some real info! And of course the Funkengrueven Ts were a hit once again. And by the way, up until this point the place was selling absolutely NO T shirts?!?!?!? At the Beacon you couldn't swing a dead cat (Mick) without hitting a t-shirt stand. I didn't understand this?!?!? By now, there was some guy prepping the audience for the show. I don't think this guy had a clue because he's trying to get a GFR audience pumped. Believe me that is totally unneccesary! Ever been to a Grand Funk show? Ever heard the LIVE ALBUM? Ever heard (the real) Caught In The Act? Believe me we were ready!!!!!!!! So.....the show begins. They started with Footstompin' Music and the crowd was going nuts!!! I know I was!!! Then they played Rock And Roll Soul and then I think the Paranoid/Sins/Limo medeley. After that I don't know the order but I believe it was the same list as the Beacon. Mick wrote down the songs...he'll let us know. But they played them all...Inside Lookin' Out, Heartbreaker, TNUC, Time Machine, Shinin' On, American Band, Closer To Home, Loneliness, Mean Mistreater, Locomotion, Some Kind Of Wonderful, Bad Time, To Get Back In, Aimless Lady. I may have missed one or two? But still nothing from Survival and NO Are You Ready!? :-( Anyway, the show was GREAT! I think it was better than the Beacon. The sound was certainly better but it was still not loud enough. It got a little louder throughout the night but certainly not enough. Slash came out and played on Time Machine and The Locomotion. I'd much prefer Farner's lead over Slash's on both of these tunes but oh well, I'm a huge Farner fan!! Imagine that! If I remember correctly though I think Farner and Slash dueled just a tad on Time Machine? Everyone else correct me if I'm wrong. And I know you will! Billy Preston played keyboards on a few tunes, can't remember which and Alto Reed played sax on a few that I can't remember either...must've been the beer and lack of sleep and my age and the drugs in the 70s. Some of the highlights of the show, for me, were Loneliness, Closer To Home, Inside Lookin' Out, TNUC and Some Kind Of Wonderful...Yes SKOW because of the way Brewer did it. He comes out to the Mike and stands there bangin' his sticks and singin' acapela (sp?). The place was going nuts! He could've sang Mary Had A Little Lamb for all I cared and I would've still loved it...I'm a huge Brewer fan!! Imagine That! And yes, I'm a huge Mel fan also!!! I guess you could say I'm a huge Grand Funk fan. Duh! The vocals were awesome the whole night! These guys can still sing! And Farner did Mean Mistreater on a Grand piano again! Awesome! Farner's guitar sounded great again! That boy can play some tasty lead!!!!! Brewer missed his sticks again when he tossed them up during his solo. At the Beacon he missed 3 out of 4. This time he missed either 2 or 3 out of 4? Again, help me out folks. I'm too brain dead to remember all of these details. By the end of the show the place looked pretty much full. Yeah, there were empty seats here and there but there are always no-shows. I looked around several times and the whole place was rockin'!!! This brings me to the only dissappointment of the show (really has nothing to do with the show itself)...People kept sitting down??? They did the same thing at the Beacon? What's up with this? When did you ever go to a Grand Funk show in the 70s when anyone sat down? I don't care what they were playing, you DON'T sit down at a Grand Funk show. Maybe it's our age? I don't know? I would say people sat down for about maybe 1/2 of the show. Other than that is was UnFunkingBelievable! I'm sure I'm probably leaving out some stuff that I can't think of right now. But others will hopefully fill in the holes. Oh I just remembered, Farner almost tripped over a monitor or something that was sitting on the stage behind him. He was strutting backwards and bumped into this thing like he didn't know it was there. It was like, where did that come from. I'm sure it was there the whole show though? Anyway, it looks like he got a little pissed and he shoved it back further with his foot. During the intermission I had the pleasure of talking to Sunny Quinn and Deanna Schacher again! That was great. They new me from the Beacon. I guess you can't forget a nose like this! We talked about the Leno show and Letterman and the Beacon last week and I made sure I let them know that I'd see them after the show once again...thanks to Donna!!!!!!!!! So now the show's over and the whole atmosphere of the place was great. You could tell everybody loved the show. Except of course for our buddy Stanley! My throat was killing me by this time from all of the screaming and singing I did throughout the show. I could barely talk but of course had to talk more Funk with all of the fans! So next we all meet back at our meeting place and head for the VIP Party! man were we on a high at this time. It just kept getting more and more intense as the day and the night went on, starting from like 3:30 this morning when Mick got in. I was about to explode! Anyway, we walk in through this door and there's a full blown party going on..Unbelievable! I could immediately smell food so I thought to myself, wow, this is a REAL party with catered food and everything...I've been blessed. We immediately headed for the food and chowed down for a few minutes. Then we found our way to the OPEN BAR! It's still getting better right when you think it can't get any better than this! So, we grab a couple of beers and we start BSing with folks at random and whatya know, we start talking to Mel's niece! What are the chances of that? She referred to him as uncle Mel a couple of times. Well I asked her if she could introduce me to him later on because I didn't get a chance to meet him at the Beacon. She said no problem. After that we all just started mingling and the atmosphere at this party was just too much. I really don't know how to explain it other than that it was a Grand Funk party and you knew the boys were lurking around somewhere! And I would say there were a couple hundred people there. Thought we'd see some celeberties (being in LA) but we didn't. At least I didn't. So now I'm hangin' out talking to some babe who was a freelance photographer or something like that and some guy she was with who was a freelance write, like our buddy Stanley. They both absolutely loved the show! So I asked him if he was gonna review the show and he said yeah. So I signaled with my thumb up and down and he gave it the thumb's up!!! I then told them about our buddy Stanley and they couldn't believe it. Well, as I'm talking to the good witch of the North (her name was Glenda) Mel goes rushing by with somebody else? You could see he was in a rush so there was no way to talk to him right there. It was kinda like...who was that masked man? Well then I look over a few feet away and there's this chick standing there holding one of those Velano (sp?) guitars that Mark was playing for American Band and Shinin' On. So I go over to her and ask her if that is THE guitar that Farner used to play and she says YES! Alright, start pinching me because this night is just getting better and better! She turns it over and says that Mark scribed his name on there and the guy who owns the guitar is going to get Don Brewer right now to come and scribe it too! So in the mean time I ask her if I can hold the guitar and she says YES! Unbelievable, I'm standing there strumming one of Farner's old guitars! And by the way that thing weighed about 100 lbs. The action on it was fantastic though and it had alot of frets. My guitar only has about 21 and this one had to have at least 24 and it was cut out so that you could reach all of them with ease and then some! So, I'm holding this thing and here comes the owner with the scribing gun and Don Brewer! So now Don's standing there scribing something on the back also. He wrote something funny and now I can't remember what it was. This guitar had been stolen at some point in time and what this guy was doing with it I don't know? I didn't get that story. But the way they could tell it was the original was that Mark pointed out that he had drilled this little hole right were the neck meets the nut on the back of the guitar. I can't remember why he had drilled the whole but there was a reason. So of course we took pictures with this guitar...I hope they come out! After Brewer was done this guitar was getting passed around to everyone. What a sport this owner was!!! Yet another incredible Grand Funk fan! Well, we talked to Brewer for a little bit...what a great guy!!! And here comes Mel again walking right by me. I just happened to be in a great spot. He's walking by (rushing again) and I said "Mel, I tried to meet you last week in NY but we ran out of time". So he looks back and says "What's your name?" So I told him Phil and he says "OK Phil I'll catch up with you in a bit". What a great guy!!! And catch up with me he did, along with his niece from before. And I was kidding around with them asking them what's there relation, just to make sure she wasn't BSing. So he said something like she's my brother's kid or whatever. Again, can't remember details! I think it was a combination of me being on cloud 9 and the alcohol. I was just in a dream land. Time to pinch (or punch) me again to see if this was real. And then here comes Sunny Quinn with Donna and she's walking Donna over to Mark Farner to personally introduce her! Can you believe this? So I followed them over there to witness this historic event. And I think I saw Donna's knees buckle as she was introduced. And then to top it off, Farner gives her the hug of her lifetime. They must've embraced for like 10 minutes...well OK, maybe 10 seconds. But I bet it seemed like an eternity for Donna! And who deserves it more than her. Mick was trying to take pictures at this time but there were too many people around getting in the way. I don't know if he ever got to take the picture or not? I hope so! Anyway, right after this the boys were pretty much herded up and led away. As they were leaving we all told them how much we loved them and to please come back, blah, blah, blah! Mel said they'd be back! So, LA look forward to that! So then (it's not over yet) we get our crowd together and walk outside and there are the boys getting ready to get into their van. Yes van, not limo! And some guy had some old psychadelic poster from like '69-'70 (A really AWESOME poster) and the boys were signing that for him. So as they got into there van we were still telling them how much we loved them and all that. Then as they drove by us we were all screaming and waving and they were waving right back. Well, we went back to the Derby and met up with everyone else again and of course talked about the show and the party and whatever else. We were still all in shock! This was truly one of the best times of my life. Last week at the Beacon I thought it couldn't get any better. Well, if you can believe it, this experience blew that one away!! It was the chance of a lifetime and thanks to Donna, it turned into reality...I think?! Well, if you're still with me, thanks for listening! I hope I didn't bore you to death! Funkin' Phil - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= Phil Catalano phil.catalano@mci.com - --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= ------------------------------ From: Sam LeMaster Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 22:01:29 -0400 Subject: GFR die hard fan Paul I am also a die hard fan. I have been a fan every since 1970. I have everyone of their lps. I even have all the Mark Farner solo stuff and I have the Flint lp. I love all of it . I think Lives and Whats Funk? rock!. Yes I agree it was not like the old GFR with Mel. And yes I did miss him being there. I am a true fan, I love all of it. Anything to do with the guys I have. I collect it all. Did not mean to upset anyone just wanted to point out that Mark and Don was together as Grand Funk in the 80's. And that they were putting out some great music. Dennis didnt do a bad job. He's no Mel but at the time I was just glad they put out something good. Well thats about all I have to say. Peace! ps My favorite album is the Live Album. favorite song is Paranoid. I wore the grooves out on the record. And thanks to one of the guys on the list here I got a new copy of it on CD. Later... ------------------------------ From: brad412@BLomand.Net Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 21:31:27 -0500 Subject: Re: Bootlegs Didn't The Grateful Dead make most of their money off the road? They probably didn't care if their audience taped their shows because it actually helped sell concert tickets. Grand Funk might not be in the same position to allow free taping. Moreover, Grand Funk probably made a large percentage off their total record earnings off the first "live" cd. I bet they won't be inclined to "give" it away for free. Brad At 06:06 PM 5/5/97 -0400, you wrote: >Well everyone is talking about bootlegs. The Grateful Dead let their fans >have a tapers section. And it never hurt them at all. They encouraged it >for over 30 yrs. Hmmm Just a thought. >All their shows were always sell outs and their albums sells were always >good. Maybe GFR ought to think about doing the same thing, couldnt hurt. >I think it would just make them that closer to their fans. Just thought I >would throw that out there. > > > Keep Shinin On > > Sam > > ------------------------------ From: bluetuna@webtv.net (Rand Kelly) Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 19:42:34 -0700 Subject: Re: Mark's Messenger guitar Hi Donna, Thankx for taking time out of your busy day to respond to me. It is perfectly fine by me to repost at a later date. I guess you and I are the only KING'S X fans around here, They have much in common with GFR. 3 piece band oozing talent and being ignored by the industry. It boggles the mind. Just a little update for you. They are also in the process of finding a label that will back their vision; not just what sells. A final cd on atlantic is going to be a best of( the band has decided to pick the tunes voted by the fans on the internet, now is that cool, or what?) With 3 new songs and a 10min. live track(over my head) from Woodstock 94+ remastered versions of said tunes. And Ty Tabor is going to release a solo cd: Naomi's Solar Pumpkin any day. Now I don't want to burn the "Post Toastees" out with King's x but I would like to tell all of you when I saw them in Aug,96 For the 2nd encore they played a cover (they didn't run out of their own, not with 6 cd's out)version of GFR- I'M YOUR CAPTAIN! Everybody knew the words and you could tell they are MAJOR FANS OF GFR they put so much passion into this and the repetitive ending was like being at that Beatles/Hey Jude thing truly MAGICAL. God Bless you all. Rand Kelly ------------------------------ From: Brad Durham Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 21:38:20 -0500 Subject: Theaters According to Grand Funk's booking agency, the band has decided to play only theaters this summer. The San Diego Fair was booked before this decision became final. So, it doesn't appear as though Grand Funk will be playing at festivals or amphitheaters. Does anyone have any thoughts regarding this conceptual change in direction? Would you rather see the band in a small theater (in the summer) or outdoors? Brad ------------------------------ From: bluetuna@webtv.net (Rand Kelly) Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:06:42 -0700 Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: Thanks/wait-a-minute] Trios of the past and present: ELP The Nice James Gang Triumvirat 3 Beck,Bogert,Appice KING'S X God Bless You all, Rand Kelly ------------------------------ From: Bugsy41157@aol.com Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 23:18:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Fwd: [Fwd: Re: Bootleg GFR sold at Detroit.] - --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Re: [Fwd: Re: Bootleg GFR sold at Detroit.] Date: 97-05-05 23:15:00 EDT From: Bugsy41157 To: einar@rfci.net Hey Funkola, Make that two copies instead of one. If I do hard time for it, at least I can listen to Grand Funk while I'm there. Bugsy...Alrighta! PS Hey Mick & Phil, you rat b______s have all the luck! Good for you! ------------------------------ From: bluetuna@webtv.net (Rand Kelly) Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:21:04 -0700 Subject: RE: Fave Bands of This Funkhead STARCASTLE? I love this band. I have all 4 lps and the self-titled on cd. God I wish they would get Fountains of Light/Citadel on disc. It is supposed to happen along with the new one titled RETURNING DELIRIUM when? And the Starcastle virtues are all swept away. sorry but I'm listening for the 2nd time in a row to the JT tribute cd on Magna Carta and it's great. But by now I'm sure you know that Real to Reel is reely different than the proggy first 3. I can''t listen to it at all. Yes, I do remember them. God Bless You all. Rand Kelly ------------------------------ From: bluetuna@webtv.net (Rand Kelly) Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:27:00 -0700 Subject: Re: Fave Funkheads Bands BOA-Live Raunch 'n Roll on cd. Has anybody ever seen this? I have a good friend who would really love to get it. God Bless You all. Rand Kelly ------------------------------ From: thesonics@earthlink.net (Jay Siekierski) Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:27:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: RE: Fave Bands of This Funkhead Any Funky remember FAITH? Jayola BTW: why is that new FUNKETTE Joanna quiet? The Sonics:The All Music Site! Closer To Home & Shinin' On! Music Editor: Jay'Sonics'Siekierski http://home.earthlink.net/~thesonics/ ------------------------------ From: Donna Wightman Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 20:44:22 -0700 Subject: L.A. PART 1 Hi all, Finally got through all the e-mail. People are sending me stuff like crazy to put up on the site! The Tonight show really gave them the publicity they needed because I am hearing from people who have never been to my site before, and they are telling me they saw the boys on The Tonight Show and then got on the Internet to see if there was anything on GFR. Anyway, I wanted to send this to roadkill first before I put it up on the site. I am going to divide it up into 4 parts, so that you can read what you want, and also for those whose e-mail programs will only download a limited amount of text. It will be as follows: PART 1: Preshow and background up until the Derby. PART 2: The Derby and the Show PART 3: The Aftershow Party PART 4: Post show and party PART 1: Well, as most of you know, Don Brewer's wife Sunny Quinn had e-mailed me a couple of times within the last month or so. The Monday after the Detroit Show, I finally built up the nerve to e-mail her and ask if there was any way I could get back stage passes. I told her that I felt strange asking, but would kick myself for years if I didn't. I didn't even know if she would get the e-mail in time, as the tour had already started. She did e-mail back that Tuesday (before the NY show) and said she would talk to David Fishof and pull some strings for me. They wouldn't be able to get back to me until after the NY show though. So, I sit and wait. Finally, on Tuesday (after the NY show) she e-mails me and says that she thinks they are going to give me 4 passes, but I'll have to wait for Fishof's people to contact me. (Remember, this is 3 days before the Greek show). Fishof also e-mails me that night and tells me to call someone in his office in New York for schedule updates, etc. He does say he was looking forward to meeting me in L.A., but no mention about passes. I'm trying to not get my hopes up too high at this point, but decide to call his office the next morning. Wednesday: I call his office and talk to a guy and he says that he will Fax me the tour schedule (I still have not received it) and says that I can pick up the passes at the Will call window. At this point, I only have 4, and so I am going through this dilemma of "Who should I give the other 2 too?" Thursday morning: I get to work, and someone from Fishof's office called for me. I call back, and the woman asks "So, how many VIP passes did you need?" I ask, "How many can I have?" She doesn't want to give me a number, and I start rambling on about our Internet group, etc. She asks me again, "How many will you need?" So I blurt out "10?" She says, "Oh okay, I thought you were going to say 50." So I say, "I can have more than 10?" And she says, "No, 10 is okay." (Hey, I've never begged for backstage passes before you guys!) Anyway, I'm happy now, 10 of us can get backstage. Thursday night: Steve and Carol Lisuk drop by our house on their way down to the show. We hit it off instantly, and talk about (what else) Grand Funk. They shared stories of when they lived in Michigan and knew the boys before they were famous. It was amazing and we were having such a great visit that the time just flew by. They still had a long drive ahead, and Allen and I had decided we were going to leave that night, so we said goodbyes and plan to meet at the Derby the next afternoon. I drove all night and let Allen sleep, and we arrive in L.A. at 6am. Get to the hotel and get a couple of hours of sleep. Friday 11:00am?: Mike Butler calls and says he's stuck out in the middle of the desert with a broken water pump, and is about to have a nervous breakdown. He says the good news is that a mechanic was on his way to fix the truck, but wasn't sure what time they would get in. I say, don't worry, everything will work out and then tell him about the VIP passes. He tells me I just made his day, and that he and Sharon will hitchhike there if they have too! He also mentions that Mick was having trouble getting out of NY and so he didn't know if he even made it too Phil's in Colorado. Somehow I knew it would all work out, that we all couldn't have gone through all of this for it not to. 12:00pm-1:00pm?: Steve and Carol call and say they are down at the Derby. Steve says that they had been up at Griffith Point Observatory (which is right above the Greek Theatre) and they heard the sound check. They said it sounded GREAT and couldn't wait for the show. They also said that afterward they drove down to the Greek parking lot and saw the boys get into the van heading off to tape the Tonight Show and got a picture of them. (Steve, correct me if I got any of this wrong.) 1:00pm-3:30pm: Getting ready for show and waiting for Cat bros and Butler's to call. Starting to worry a bit and watching the clock. 3:30ish: Hotel phone rings. A voice sings "Are you reaaaaady?" It's Mick. They just got in. Other phone line rings, I tell Allen to get the other line. He says it's Mike Butler, he and Sharon just checked in and to call him back when I get off the line with Mick. Cat bros will be ready in 15 minutes tops and we'll meet down in the lobby. I call Mike, he says same. Mike, Sharon, Allen and I ride elevator down together, we see 2 cool cats standing there waiting. Jump in limo (well, it's a towncar really) and head for the Derby. Traffic isn't too bad. We talk about the show and the VIP passes. 6 conversations going on at once with everybody understanding them and sparks flying off the car from the electricity inside! Continued in PART 2....... ------------------------------ From: bluetuna@webtv.net (Rand Kelly) Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 20:47:53 -0700 Subject: Re: GFR/LENO/ETC. Hi Stan, thanks for the inquiry but if you read my post a little closer I said; " dust off my CASSETTE copy of On Time" We are so into cd's these days it's understandable. It still sounds pretty good with my 100w Sony amp and some TREBLE. I crank it in the car too. 10 years ago pre-cd player I had the itch to order everything by GFR and was tired of the way US vinyl was being intentionally produced to sound progressively worse with every purchase. i/e. BOSTON-Third Stage was horrible and I returned it for another and it was worse. I decided that would be my last lp made in usa. Also have theory they did this to shove us into cd's. So I got OT,RED,CTH,LA,CITA on CAPITOL TAPE no dolby which is good. So there you have it. God Bless You all. Rand Kelly ------------------------------ From: MASAAC@aol.com Date: Tue, 6 May 1997 00:06:05 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: leno I'm willing to trade a copy of Cincy 70 and "In The Studio" of Mark Farner for a copy of Leno.... E-mail if you're interested.... MASAAC @ aol.com ------------------------------ End of grand-funk-digest V1 #52 *******************************