The Grand Funk Railroad saga is one of unparalleled highs and lows. In the 1970s, they became one of the biggest bands on the planet. Unfortunately, a short-lived, end-of-the-century reunion between the three principles — Mark Farner, Don Brewer and Mel Schacher — lead to an acrimonious split that has yet to heal. To this day, Brewer and Schacher carry the Grand Funk banner with shows at casinos, county fairs, and the occasional bar mitzvah. And what of Mark Farner, the group’s original lead singer, guitarist, keyboardist, and primary songwriter? While continually playing out on his own, he finally made the commitment to step into the studio to record an album he calls Closer To My Home.
This is Farner’s first album of mostly new material since 2006. “Mostly” because there’s a 55th anniversary re-recording of “I’m Your Captain,” arguably Farner’s greatest song. It’s hard to beat the original Grand Funk Railroad version, yet Farner and his team, which includes producer, singer and guitarist Mark Slaughter, deliver a modern tribute to one of rock’s most iconic anthems. At the center of it all is Farner’s voice — a bit seasoned, largely untarnished by age or lack of care. Yes, at 75 years old, that classic howl and woo is still putting out fires, setting off car alarms, and calling for brotherhood and unity.
Don’t expect the youthful, “shirtless” raw angst of those early GFR records nor the Top 40 sheen of the later ones on Closer To My Home. Farner isn’t about to reinvent the wheel and lead a new musical movement. But he can still rock and sing with the best of them. Despite the lack of umph from the drum programming on “Anymore,” it’s a song rich with melody and harmony that Farner’s voice easily slips into. Add some horns and a snappy guitar line, and “The Prisoner” is another accorded vehicle for the singer.
“Same Game” is a slappin’ mid-tempo rocker with an infectious hook and edge for Farner to wrap his vocal and guitar around. It’s liable to become a strong favorite, while both “Façade” and “Real” carry all the earmarks of bona fide hits, albeit a few decades removed. Call it a full batch with the crunchy and courageous “Surveilling US” all questioning the establishment — something Farner famously did during the Vietnam era. The man’s beliefs may not align with everyone’s, though it’s hard to resist how refreshing and unpretentious his individualist, rebellious ideas come across. In this day and age, who can blame anyone looking for rock and roll with grit and conviction.
There’s room enough to get woozy and weepy on slower numbers like “OH Darlin’” and “Tiny Fingers.” The CD features another tear-jerker in “Friends Forever,” a bonus track that Farner previously recorded with Jim Peterick of Survivor. It may not suit old-schooler’s tastes, despite a certain amount of tenderness and toil the singer of GFR classic smoothies like “Mean Mistreater,” “Loneliness,” and “Bad Time,” their last Top 10 hit from 1975, has always kept in his arsenal.
Closer To My Home mightily mitigates the lack of new material from the Grand Funk camp in over 40 years. Maybe it takes an album like this, plus a long overdue induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to get the original GFR trio back together. As the peril of time and circumstance make that possibility less than likely, we can rejoice in the fact that Mark Farner still that has a strong dose of “rock and roll soul” to share with the world. All you have to do is “tell everybody you know.” The rest will take care of itself.
~ Shawn Perry
