Monday, July 19, 2010

Grand Funk Railroad

I read a great article about GFR in an Uncut magazine that Kim's brother left for us to read. I didn't know that their big break was agreeing to open the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 4th, 1969 by playing for free. They were such a hit that the organizers asked them to stick around and play the next 2 nights higher up the bill, but still for free. They also crashed on their way to Atlanta and were soldering up their amps before going on. Their Shea Stadium gig in 1971 sold out 14 times faster than The Beatles did in '65. Their agent Terry Knight—a typical scheming shyster—did a lot for them, but also screwed them to the tune of taking 16% while the band had to split 6%. But they went on to record the biggest selling albums, with Todd Rundgren at the controls, and even had Zappa producing their last album. They sure are fun to watch live.

1 comment:

Brass Pear said...

Wow, the scene from 45 seconds on with the bleachers rocking up and down is awesome!!!