Grand Funk Railroad was one of the first groups I attached a hardcore allegiance to. Even though I was too young to have seen them live in their prime, the original trio of Mark Farner, Don Brewer and Mel Schacher held tremendous sway over my musical vocabulary in the early 70s, alongside Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. While my tastes have evolved and changed, I still find myself returning to GFR as a sobering reminder of what got me into music in the first place. Clearly, to paraphrase Homer Simpson, the wild shirtless lyrics (and raw guitar) of Mark Farner, bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher, and competent drum work of Don Brewer are embedded into my brain and won’t let go.
In the late 90s, Farner, Brewer and Schacher reunited, and I saw them twice. Their playing and singing skills were untainted, and there was hope they would record new music and carry on. It was not meant to be. Business issues and a breakdown in the relationship between Farner and Brewer/Schacher led to a split in 1999 that lasts to this very day. While it is inconceivable to any hardcore fan that Grand Funk could exist without Mark Farner, Brewer and Schacher didn’t flinch when they hired three replacements and continued playing fairs, casino and corporate events. Farner stepped back and has been towing the line for his own legacy ever since.
At this point in time, it’s hard to speculate whether a full-on Grand Funk Railroad reunion is even plausible. While Farner is receptive to the idea and has extended an olive branch to the others, he continues recording and playing live when he can. For the Summer of 2014, he joined the Happy Together tour with Flo & Eddie, Chuck Negron (formerly of Three Dog Night), Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, and Gary Lewis & the Playboys, for a three-month road trip. I caught the show at the Orange County Fair (see my review), and when Farner hit the stage, I was pleased to see he could still play guitar, sing and move as well as he did back in the 70s. I spoke with him prior to that performance, and sensed a real hunger for some unfinished business — with or without Grand Funk. Based on that and everything else he said in the following interview, something tells me we haven’t heard or seen the last of Mark Farner.
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Hi Mark, how are you?
I’m well and proud to be sucking air.
(Laughs) That’s good to hear. You’ve been on the Happy Together tour since June, for a three-month tour. How’s it been going?
It’s been going great. The troops get stronger with every show. People love what they’re seeing, love what they’re hearing. We’ve had nothing but rave reviews and happy people. That’s really our job description: Making people happy and putting smiles on their faces.
And you have a pick-up band with this tour?
It’s a core band that supports each act. The Detroit Wheels are not here but he’s still Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels because he owns that trademark. And Gary Lewis & The Playboys — The Playboys are not here, but he owns the trademark, so he can use that. It’s the same band. There’s five main acts on this bill — Flo & Eddie, Chuck (Negron), myself, Mitch and Gary. These guys are really good musicians and they’re fans — they love our music, which really helps. You get guys up there that love what they’re doing and they’re going, “I’m on stage with Chuck Negron, forget about it, I’m singing backgrounds…” You know, you can tell they’re having a good time. I believe when the band is having a good time, there’s no way around it — the audience is going to rock (laughs).
Obviously, they know Grand Funk songs. I heard about some of the songs you’re playing, one of which is “The Loco-Motion.” That was a big hit for you, and as I’m sure you know, Gerry Goffin recently passed away. Did you ever talk to him about it? Did you ever get a message? Certainly, he made a few bucks from it (laughs).
He sure did. No, but I admired him and Carole, the writing team, you know…a husband and wife, there’s just something about that that’s beautiful in the first place. They could do anything together, and to write a hit song like that. Little Eva took it Number One first. She was Carole King’s housekeeper. When they were writing this tune, she was in the back of the house singing, “Everybody’s doing…” Carole heard her voice on it and said, “Oh my God, you have to sing that song,” and took her Motown and got her a contract and released a Number One.
And you took it to Number One as well.
There was some gal who took it the Number One in the 80s too. (Editor’s note: Mark may be referring to Kylie Minogue, who recorded the song in the 80s and took it to Number One in Australia). That’s three releases and they all went to Number One. It’s a great song.
Are you doing it tonight?
Oh yeah (laughs).
And “Some Kind Of Wonderful,” I heard you’ve done that. And I understand you’ve done “We’re An American Band.” Is that right?
Yeah, the drummer sings it. Just like the drummer in that other band (laughs).
Yeah that other band (laughs). I understand you wrote the drum intro to “We’re An American Band.”
I did. That drummer, he did not own a cowbell. I said, “Dude, you’ve got to get a cowbell.” He brought some cowbells into the studio, and I picked the one that didn’t go tink, tink, tink; I picked the one that went, TANK, TANK, TANK! I said, “That’s it. You have got to use that one.” The music too, I wrote all that. Don came to me and he said, “You know, I’ve never had 100 percent writing credit on a song, do you mind if I have it on this one?” And I said, “Go ahead,” because I’m a nice guy. I am. I’m not going to let whatever happens as a result of that bother me because that will put a little distortion in my life. I want my life clean and pure and I’m staying true to my heart, and true to love and forgiveness.
There you go, that’s cool. Are you doing “I’m Your Captain”?
Yes, absolutely. Closing with it and always dedicating it to our troops and the vets. They’re people that don’t get good care-taking and they don’t get much attention. When Michael Jackson died, My God, every time you turned on the TV; one of our troops dies, nothing. The powers that be…they’re strange to me (laughs).
No kidding, you and me both. You have a new song called “Take You Out.” Are you doing that tonight?
No, this is just the hits from the era that they came from.
Do you have plans on going out on your own after this tour and playing that song?
Yes, absolutely, we have dates that we’re going go do and that song’s going to be in there.
And maybe working on an album?
Working on a record. We can’t afford an album. I found out it’s too damn expensive. We don’t have enough money to go do an album. Our son takes a lot of the money that we make. It takes a lot to keep him up. We spend thousands every month on him (Editor’s note: Mark’s son Jesse suffered a fall in 2010 and is paralyzed from the neck down). But we’re catching up, and we’re learning how — with him because he’s learning as well — about being a quadriplegic.
I have a lot of plans I’d like to see for his sake and some of his buddies — they come over and they have power chairs. They like to go in the woods, but it’s kind of hard in a power chair, so I’m going to put a boardwalk down and they can go out in the woods and they can go down to the stream. I got a bunch of guys who are going to put it in for me too. I’m going to try to get Home Depot to make a little contribution because they do charitable stuff.
I do have to ask: Has your relationship with Don and Mel thawed at all? Do you ever talk?
The last time I talked to them, they were both bitter. And I told them, “You guys are not doing the trademark any good. It’s dropping, the value of the trademark is going down.” I said, “to increase the value of that trademark, and as a shareholder in this corporation, I recommend that we go back out as a band and give the audience and the fans what neither one of us can do separately.” They passed on it every time. It’s like Don…he just hates me and it’s a personal thing. But it’s OK. I have to forgive because if you can’t forgive that kind of stuff, they’ll eat your lunch. They didn’t make me; the Lord made me and gave me my path.
Are there any plans for any Grand Funk releases, DVDs, anything like that?
No. A lot of people ask about the Shea Stadium show, but they (Don and Mel) being two-thirds of the corporation that controls that film, they don’t want to have it released because guess who the front man in that film is? They’re trying to present the Faux Funk, F-A-U-X. It’s too bad. People come to me and say, “Those other guys, we thought you were going to be…” A lot of people have sent emails: ‘We went to see you, and they don’t have the energy and they don’t have, you know…” But it’s OK. It is what it is.
So, what if you got into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, which you definitely deserve. Would that open the door for a reunion?
You know the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame is very political, as you can tell by who’s in there and who isn’t. It’s not about popularity and any real numbers, which it should be based on, I think. It’s based on: “Did you get that brown ring around your mouth.” (laughs).
We recently lost the great Johnny Winter. Did you ever jam with him?
No. I met him once briefly. I know Edgar. I’ve jammed with Edgar — he’s good people.
I thought you might have crossed paths with Johnny at a late 60s festival or something.
“The Leland Mississippi Blues” — that’s one of the first leads that I learned off Johnny Winter. His playing style and tone of his guitar captured my attention, so I had to learn some of that.
