Artist

Old Grand Funk Railroad Reunion Rumors

When I first started hearing the rumors about a Grand Funk Railroad reunion, I immediately set out on a 'Net quest to find anything I could about the band. I looked here and I looked there, I looked far and I looked near. And what did I find? ...

Nothing!

Okay ... I found nothing very useful. There were a couple of "album" sites that contained listings of the albums; There were a couple of "lyric" sites that had a few (pretty bad) lyric transcriptions; There were even a few "tablature" sites that had guitar chords for a couple of songs. But, nothing substantial and certainly nothing to confirm or deny the reunion rumor.

And then, from out of the blue, someone with a CompuServe account sent me the following "clipping." I hope you enjoy it ...

Grand Funk May Be Back On Track

Detroit Free Press
Metro Final Edition, Page 4D

Wednesday, May 4, 1994
Notes from the music beat ...
By: Gary Graff

There are reports that Grand Funk Railroad -- one of the biggest bands ever to rock out of Michigan -- is about to hit the tracks again. Drummer-singer Don Brewer says it's too soon to be talking about specific dates -- including an already-on-sale July 2 concert at Detroit's River Rock Cafe Summerfest. "We don't have anything booked yet," says Brewer, who's hoping to play music with original bandmates Mark Farner and Mel Schacher for the first time since 1977. "There is no tour, no show, no nothing. There could be, but we don't have any contracts yet."

But Michael Rand, whose Big Bang, Inc., is promoting the July 2 show, says he has a signed contract with North Carolina-based Showtime Productions -- which is soliciting Midwest dates on behalf of Grand Funk's Florida-based tour producer, Rob Friedheim. Friedheim, meanwhile, acknowledges that not all of the necessary contracts have been signed. But he says he hopes to wrap up the formalities within the week.

At best, it seems, there's been a serious communications breakdown that has thrown a bit of a wrench in the band's long-awaited reunion plans. "This is the kind of stuff we don't want," says Brewer, adding that he, Farner and Schacher have not even played any music together yet. "We don't want to go all half-cocked. If we do it, we want to make sure it's done right and that the band is presented in the best possible light and not as a has-been thing."

Brewer says that if the reunion does come together, the trio's intention is to play a summer tour of Pine Knob and Meadow Brook-style amphitheaters. He says the reunion has been brewing since last December, when promoters began approaching the musicians about possibly getting back together.

The interest is understandable; the Flint trio sold more than 20 million records and packed stadiums between 1969-77. Craig Frost, who played keyboards from 1973-77, isn't part of the reunion.

Brewer says now it's just a matter of "trying to put all the ends together and see if it will work out. If it works out, we'll be out there this summer. If it doesn't, it will be called off completely or we'll postpone it and try again in the fall."

Copyright © 1994 Detroit Free Press.
Used without permission.

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Photograph by Lynn Goldsmith.
Photo scan courtesy of Kenny Stevens -- kstevens@iclub.org

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