Some kind of wonderful: Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad will play Cherokee Jan. 10.
File photo
In the 1970s, Grand Funk Railroad was one of the bestselling American rock bands on the planet. To that, in 1971, the Flint, Michigan, trio broke the Beatles ticket sales record at New York’s Shea Stadium, a feat coinciding with GFR having six platinum albums and seven gold within the original lineup’s short tenure (1969-1976). Oh, and another thing — the songs still rock, too.
Beyond the massive radio success of hits like “We’re an American Band,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Shinin’ On” and numerous others, there’s just the sheer sonic awe and majesty of “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” with the album version clocking in at 10:09. In truth, one of the great joys in life is cruising down some backcountry road, windows rolled down, the stereo cranked with “I’m Your Captain” echoing out of the speakers. Try it sometime.
Now, some 57 years since its formation, Grand Funk Railroad remains a vibrant touring act, these days led by two of its founding members, drummer Don Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher. In a previously unpublished interview conducted several years ago, The Smoky Mountain News caught up with Brewer on the legend and legacy of one of classic rock’s marquee acts.
Smoky Mountain News: What do you think about Grand Funk Railroad crossing the 50-year mark?
Don Brewer: You know, when we first started out, I never had any idea that I would still be doing this. I didn’t look much past my 40s. When you’re in your 20s, you think that everybody in their 40s is about dead.
SMN: Especially when you guys first started, it was the whole, “Don’t trust people over 30” thing.
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DB: Oh, sure. I mean, it’s amazing I’ve been able to do really what I’ve loved doing. I got bit by the rock-n-roll bug when I was just a little kid. I saw Elvis Presley on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and I got bit by the rock-n-roll bug right then. So, it was all about getting a band together and all that stuff. That’s all I wanted to do, and I’ve been able to do it my whole life.
SMN: How has the music of Grand Funk held up, sonically and lyrically?
DB: A lot of the stuff we did, the first four or five albums, was [about] social consciousness. There was a lot of Vietnam War stuff going on. There were drugs, there was “this,” there was “that,” and we were kind of always an anti-drug band. We weren’t really into the whole drug moment. We actually did a couple of charity concerts for a place called the Phoenix House in New York, which was a drug addiction rehab.
[Back then], we had FM underground radio, [where] we were able to create seven-minute songs, eight-minute songs. It didn’t really matter, you know? FM then changed in 1972 to being a “hit format.” And we had to start producing hit records, making everything three minutes or three minutes and 30 seconds long.
That’s when we started putting things out like “We’re an American Band,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “The Loco-Motion,” those kinds of things. The whole thing kind of changed according to radio, and we did care about being on the radio.
SMN: What is it about the “power rock trio” that sets it apart from other formations in rock bands?
DB: Well, we put it together based on Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and Blue Cheer. And they were blues bands that just cranked it up and put it on steroids. We were [Terry Knight &] The Pack before Grand Funk. We were kind of a Detroit R&B band. And so, we took our R&B stuff and cranked it up on steroids. And the reason [the power rock trio] is cool [is] because you’ve only got three guys and people aren’t stepping all over each other’s toes. And if you’re in that jam kind of format, everybody’s filling up space — you can’t hide behind anything, it’s all right out there, you’re totally exposed.
SMN: I recently did an interview with Wayne Kramer of the MC5, and they just got nominated once again for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They should have been in there years ago, same thing with Grand Funk. Why is Grand Funk Railroad not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? (Editor’s note: Since this interview, the MC5 were finally inducted into the hall of fame.)
DB: It’s a political deal. Rolling Stone magazine controls the hall of fame. All of the groups and all of the artists that were always Rolling Stone darlings are in there. And they’re kind of running out of people to go to anymore, so maybe [Grand Funk Railroad] eventually. [Laughs].
But, we were never one of the Rolling Stone darlings. They hated us. They hated our manager, Terry Knight. He would flip’em off and he would ban them from our interviews. He just totally had no respect for Rolling Stone whatsoever. His philosophy was, “Bad publicity is good publicity.”
And so, we’ve been on the low rung of the totem pole when comes to that kind of stuff. And I presume it may be the same for many more years. But, [the hall of fame has] started to ease up — they finally let Kiss in.
SMN: What has a life performing — creating music, traveling the world, and meeting all kinds of people — taught you about what it means to be a human being?
DB: I’m truly blessed. I’ve been able to do this my entire life, and I’m still doing it. I get out onstage on start singing these songs — “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” — and you see grandparents and parents and kids and grandkids that all know the words to your songs. And that’s like, “Wow, that’s truly amazing.”
When I was kid in my basement in Swartz Creek, Michigan, putting my first band together, that’s what I dreamed of, you know? But, I never really dreamed it would happen. And so, yes, it’s pretty amazing.
Want to go?
Classic rock icons Grand Funk Railroad will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at Harrah’s Cherokee Resort Event Center.
Originating from Flint, Michigan, in 1969, this top-selling American rock group of the 1970s is “comin’ to your town to help you party it down,” with hits like “We’re an American Band,” “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” “The Loco-motion” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.”
Tickets start at $44.20 per person. For tickets, visit caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
