Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad logo
Background information
Also known as	Grand Funk
Origin	Flint, Michigan, United States
Genres	Hard rock, blues rock
Years active	1969–1976, 1981–1983, 1996–present
Labels	Capitol, MCA, Full Moon
Website	www.grandfunkrailroad.com
Members	Don Brewer Mel Schacher Max Carl Tim Cashion Bruce Kulick
Past members	Mark Farner Craig Frost Dennis Bellinger Howard Eddy, Jr.

Grand Funk Railroad, sometimes shortened as Grand Funk, is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s, touring extensively and playing to packed arenas worldwide. David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine once said, "You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!" Known for their crowd-pleasing arena rock style, the band was well-regarded by audiences despite a relative lack of critical acclaim. The band's name is a play on words of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a railroad line that ran through the band's home town of Flint, Michigan.

Originally a trio, the band was formed in 1969 by Mark Farner (guitar, vocals) and Don Brewer (drums, vocals) from Terry Knight and the Pack, and Mel Schacher (bass) from Question Mark & the Mysterians; Knight soon became the band's manager, as well as naming the band as a play on words for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, a well-known rail line in Michigan. First achieving recognition at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival, the band was signed by Capitol Records. After a raucous, well-received set on the first day of the festival, the group was asked back to play at the Second Atlanta Pop Festival the following year. Patterned after hard rock power trios such as Cream, the band, with Terry Knight's marketing savvy, developed its own popular style. In August 1969 the band released its first album titled On Time, which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record in 1970.