ROCK AND ROLL

MARK, DON & MEL 1969-71

SONG LIST:

RECORD 1 - SIDE ONE:

TIME MACHINE 3:40
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1969

INTO THE SUN 6:25
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1969

HEARTBREAKER 6:30
(Mark Farner - BMI) - 1969

FEELIN' ALRIGHT 4:25
(Dave Mason - BMI) - 1971

RECORD 1 - SIDE FOUR:

INSIDE LOOKING OUT 9:29
(J. Lomax-A. Lomax-E. Burdon-B. Chandler-BMI) 1969

CLOSER TO HOME (I'M YOUR CAPTAIN) 9:58
(Mark Farner - BMI) - 1970

RECORD 2 - SIDE TWO:

ARE YOU READY 3:34
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1970

MEAN MISTREATER 4:40
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1970

T.N.U.C. - 11:45
(Mark Farner - BMI) - 1970

RECORD 2 - SIDE THREE:

FOOTSTOMPIN' MUSIC 3:45
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1971

PARANOID 7:35
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1969

LONELINESS 8:30
(Mark Farner - BMI) 1971

FROM THE BACK COVER:

From the dawn of recorded history, stemming through the lifetimes of every man, woman and child who have walked upon the face of the earth, there have been but a handful whose fate it was to become known as Phenomenon. From their birth came their deeds, and from their deeds, recognition. And few indeed were born to be known in their time by first name alone. There were, of course, literally thousands -- from Einstein to Oswald, from Mozart to Manson, from Hitler to Hemingway -- who burned their family names forever into the pages of history. Discounting those whose last names were either completely unknown or non-existent -- Adam, Moses, Noah, Cleopatra -- the true leaders of each cult, each Phenomenon, have been known by their first name alone. From Peace and War and Innocence and Politics there came Jesus and Napoleon and Twiggy and Mao. And it was this yet unknown energy -- something phenomenal -- which caused an entire world to wake up one day and realize that everyone knew a boy named Elvis! The lost sheep had again found a shepherd. When you hear Ella, the mind says Fitzgerald. But when you hear Elvis, one thinks only of The King. His time came to pass in the fifties. When you hear John, Paul, George and Ringo together, the last names slip silently by as the mind becomes fixed on The Beatles whose era was known as the sixties. It has often been said that Art becomes great not when it is "good" or "bad". But only when it absolutely cannot be ignored. For Mark, Don & Mel, that time came in the years 1969-71. --TERRY KNIGHT March 15, 1972

FROM THE SLEEVES:

GRAND FUNK FIGHTS DRUGS Members of Grand Funk Railroad have cut several 10-second radio spots putting down the use of drugs. The spots are in the form of personal appeals from the group to drug users and are available to radio stations through Capitol Records. A typical message says: "Hi, this is Mark Farner of Grand Funk with a word to my brothers and sisters. A clean world begins with a clean body. Don't pollute yours with hard drugs."

81 JAILED FOR RUSHING POLICE OUTSIDE SHOW ANAHEIM, CALIF. (AP) -- About 400 young persons -- many of them throwing rocks, bottles and boards -- charged a line of 16 policemen standing guard out-side a rock music concert, police said. The policemen were able to keep the youths back and reinforcements totaling 390 officers arrested 81 persons in dispersing the chanting crowd Sunday night. Officers said the young persons were trying to force their way into the Anaheim Convention Center to hear the rock group Grand Funk Railroad, which played to a sellout audience of 10,000. Five offices suffered minor injuries, police said. One set of doors was damaged, and almost all glass on the huge building's west side were broken. Communities drove the young persons from the center by breaking them up into small groups. The concert was stopped. Most of these arrested were booked for investigation of assault after a rock was thrown through the window of a police truck transporting prisoners.

RECORD REVIEWS GRAND FUNK-HYPE
By Alanna Nash
GRAND FUNK: "E Pluribus Funk" (Capitol) Capitol Records is determined to make Grand Funk as big as The Beatles. Aside from sending out a ridiculous amount of press releases on the group, now the company had released a new album on the group's own label with a silver cover in imitation of a US coin. This is as hype as can be, but as high-gloss as the whole package (cover, music, image). But these boys can play and sing rock 'n' roll.

DAILY NEWS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1970 PASSING THROUGH
Girl who already bought tickets for Grand Funk Railroad concert at Madison Sq. Garden, is passed over-head by crowd. Crush of waiting ticket purchasers was so great, it was her only means of exit. Lucky ticket purchasers who had no trouble getting in find getting out almost impossible as rock fans pack Garden lobby.

GRAND FUNK RAILROAD FINKS OUT IN CONCERT
BY GARY CUMMINGS
LIKE THE MEN said, there is no accounting for taste, a sucker is born every minute, and nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. All the axioms are played out in the new release of the Grand Funk Railroad's "Live Album" [Capitol]. The album is poor, frenetic and fatuous, but it received a million seller gold album the day it was officially released. And, the groups concert in New York was sold out less than four hours after tickets went on sale. The live album was recorded July 5, 1970, at the Atlanta Pop Festival, and features Grand Funk's straight ahead set, 1 hour and 20 minutes of unedited, unboosted, untampered-with sound. The restraint in not messing around with a concert performance is laudable, but the material does not merit the care it received.

GRAND FUNK STARTS EURO PERFORMANCES NEW YORK -- On what the group's manager-producer Terry Knight described as a "whirlwind tour", Grand Funk Railroad has left the U.S. to undertake their second personal appearance tour of Europe which coincides with the world-wide release of "E Pluribus Funk", the group's first album release on their own label. A sell-out in advance, the tour began in Denmark on Dec. 3. Six major cities in four countries will see Grand Funk perform live, including Copenhagen (3) and Dusseldorf (4). In Munich (6-7) the group was permitted to perform by civil authorities only on the consideration that two shows be guaranteed. It was only last June when riots rocked Munich after tickets to Grand Funk's concert there sold out in one day and the group was not permitted to enter the city. Their itinerary continues to West Berlin (9), Hamburg (10) and Frankfurt (11). In France, Grand Funk will perform one-night-only in Paris (13) before giving the first live rock show at the magnificent new Palais de Sport in Lyon (16) which seats 10,000. The tour will close in Amsterdam on Dec. 17, at which time Grand Funk will return from the Continent to begin what is expected to be a one-year hiatus from live performances of any kind, "for personal reasons", according to manager-producer Knight. A major announcement is expected regarding the group's future plans shortly following their return to the United States.

GRAND FUNK OTHER ROCK GROUPS ON STAGE Grand Funk Railroad, almost certainly the vilest phenomenon in rock's recent history, struck again Wednesday between a charming performance by Pacific Gas & Electric and a sufficient one by Ten Years After at the Inglewood Forum. Exploiting the distressing fact that the teen-age audience it gears itself toward is incapable of distinguishing either hideous noise from music or perverse exhibitionism from real emotion, Grand Funk deals exclusively in the former in both regards. In teen parlance leader Mark Farner really "gets on," which translated means that he stampedes across the stage a lot, flagellates himself with his hair a lot, screams in a fake Southern accent a lot and attempts to disguise the fact that he's a dreadful player by contorting grotesquely and turning the volume of his guitar up beyond the pain threshold during every excruciation solo. If Grand Funk is indeed the vanguard of "the new culture" as its patrons with much gall and no responsibility delight in suggesting, the old culture is bound to start looking worlds better to many of us.

GIs IN GERMANY TAKE FREE RIDE ON GRAND FUNK WITH HUMBLE PIE
BY BRUCE JOHNSON STAFF WRITER
SCHWEINFURT, Germany (S&S) -- Can you dig it? Grand Funk Railroad, considered the premier group in rock, giving a free concert for GIs in Germany? After four days of hectic planning following the cancellation of the group's Munich concert, due to past rock riots. Grand Funk Railroad and the British group Humble Pie performed an outdoor concert on the airstrip at Conn Barracks here Tuesday. It was quite a bizarre scene as about 7,000 GIs and dependents sat on the plush green grass between runways while the groups played on makeshift stage, 2 1/2-ton trucks were parked so their beds could be used for speaker platforms while tanks 300 yards away illuminated the setting with spotlights. The concert, sponsored by USAREUR Special Services and the 3rd Info Div, started at 8 p.m. under clear skies with Humble Pie playing as the sun was setting behind the stage. It ended with Grand Funk -- guitarist Mark Farner, bassist Mel Shaker and drummer Don Brewer -- receiving a thunderous ovation of thanks beneath the stars three hours later. Grand Funk immediately set a torturous pace and gained momentum for the next two hours. Farner roamed across the stage playing, singing and swirling his long brown locks. Brewer pounded and manipulated the drums with an intensity that included using his head as a drum stick. Only quiet and docile Schacher, expending all his energy on the bass guitar, appeared calm. Their sounds merged into an explosion of immense proportions pushed by 6,000 watts of amplification that has made Grand Funk one of the hottest and loudest rock groups. Last year the group sold more albums and tapes -- 10 million plus -- in the United States than any other artist. This year the Grand Funk expects to gross around $15 million and the group averages $60,000 a performance. Manager Terry Knight, from Flint, Mich., as are his charges, explained the motive behind the free concert for the troops in Schweinfurt: Not Impromis The concert was really not a spur-of-the-moment decision. Last January we indicated to the Pentagon that we would be interested in playing for the troops but we didn't receive a reply. With the Munich date being canceled everything started falling into place. We were glad to do it." Grand Funk, although presently probably the highest paid group, has frequently given free concerts and plans to have another one in London's Hyde Park July 3. Politics has nothing to do with it," continued Knight. "We just want to play for the brothers and sister anywhere in the world. And that includes Vietnam."

TIME FOR GOLD
Grand Funk Railroad received its third gold LP in less than three months for their first album, "On Time." Their publicity, however, will tell you that they played for free at both Atlanta Pop Festivals, the first time having driven to the Hampton, Ga., racetrack hundreds of mile in a rented VW bus, going on stage as the first act in 112-degree heat, exciting the assembled multitudes so much that they were back two days later as headliners; the second year, at Byron, coming on as a featured act at three in the morning, but playing free because they wanted to pay their respects to the people that sent them on their way to rock-n-roll heaven. Their publicity will not tell you (and why should it?) that they were such a terrible bore at Byron that they put me to sleep as I was coming down from a mescaline trip and that, as a consequence, I missed Johnny Winter and the Allman Brothers and then a fantastic (so I'm told) Winter-Allman jam. As you can plainly see, I've never forgiven them -- but that's part of their trip, you know, alienating the rock press and all, so now you know where I stand, blam, blam!

REST OF U.S. RIOTS OVER GRAND FUNK HOT GROUP GETS THE COLD SHOULDER AT HOME
BY MIKE GORMLEY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Grand Funk Railroad is one of the top three rock groups in the U.S. today but you'd never know it from the way they are treated in Michigan. Ever since Grand Funk appeared in the late spring of 1969, they have met with great success throughout the nation, but all that time the people of Michigan have laughed at them or have run the group down. In contrast to the cold reception within the group's home state GFR members Mel Schacher, Don Brewer and Mark Farner are all from the Flint area), the rest of the country is rioting to get to their concerts and fighting to buy their albums. Tickets for Grand Funk Railroad's first solo Madison Square Garden appearance on Dec. 18 were sold out less than four hours after the box-office opened last Monday. An additional show on Dec. 11 immediately was added by the show's promoter and a second midnight concert may take place on Dec. 18. The day tickets went on sale a crowd of fans estimated in excess of 10,000 started lining up at the box office despite mid-thirty temperatures and drizzling rain. There were so many people at the Gardens that those who made it to the box office window had to be carried over the crowd to get out of the building. Grand Funk's albums all have received gold records and two of them have gone on to obtain the rare platinum award. Capitol Records shipped out the largest pre-ordered amount of any one product in the company's recent history. The shipment was the new Grand Funk Railroad "Live Album." Maker magazine's poll for the top groups in England. As a nice touch in this day of rip-off groups who take more money than they are worth, Grand Funk Railroad has requested, and received, lowered prices on the two-record "Live Album." In 1963 the rest of the world laughed at Detroit with its "Stamp Our the Beatles" campaign, making the city look as backward as a house without electricity. This time the whole state is getting the giggle as it ignores a group who have become a major voice in rock music. The 750,000 albums and 250,000 tapes is the largest initial number of any one Capitol product pre-ordered since the phenomenal sales trend of the Beatles was set in the mid '60s, according to Don England, vice-president of marketing for the company. The pre-ordering is 250,000 more than Led Zeppelin III LP, which knocked the Beatles off the No. 1 spot of Melody writer period, with some major exceptions and startling dichotomies. Carole King has sold (by A & M count) 3.7 million albums and 1.6 million of her "Tapestry" album, for a combined dollar volume (in distributor sales) of $15 million. James Taylor has sold nearly as many of his "Sweet Baby James." Still, the best of this new genre remain cult taste: Neil Young, Laura Nyra, Randy Newman. At the other end of the spectrum of this third generational group of musicians is Grand Funk Railroad, a band which got very little airplay on major stations but made it to the top on the basis of live performance -- a very loud, very exciting experience. And it has prospered phenomenally. Funk's six albums have sold over 20 million copies (records and tapes) in their two-and-a-half years on the scene, for a retail value close to $120 million.

MAYSLES FILMING GRAND FUNK SHOWS
NEW YORK -- David and Albert Maysles who were responsible for filming the Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter," are currently in the process of doing the same for Capitol's Grand Funk Railroad. The Maysles, along with a nine man crew have already shot miles of footage covering live performances by Grand Funk with an emphasis on audience response to the group. Filming is being done at the request of group's manager/producer, Terry Knight.
ALBUM REVIEW -- GFR GOOFS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD LIVE ALBUM (Capitol) No matter what anyone says about this two-record "live" album it will probably sell because Grand Funk is happening and it's cool these days to dig what's happening and everyone wants to be cool, right? Well, go ahead and buy it but expect to be bored silly. On top being boring, it's repetitious, especially the drumming of Don Brewer. Mark Franer never approaches the work of other top rock guitarist of today and the only good word to be said is for the bassist Mel Schacher who deserves a better fate and group than this. Nothin' is left out; drum solos, guaranteed to put you to sleep, lyric references to thing like, uh, "nickel bags," and the usual for a group like this, marathon cuts. There are four songs over or near 12 minutes long, only one of which deserves even half of that. "Into The Sun." All is not lost, however, " Heartbreaker: recently released as a single, is listenable and "Paranoid" and "Mean Mistreater" should hold your interest for awhile. All the songs on this album have appeared on one of their three previous LP's and you would be better off sticking with those versions. Must give them credit for one thing, the price for what some companies are getting for two-record sets these days, the price on this one is a rare treat. It's less than $5 if you find the right record shop. --EDD DAVIS

GRAND FUNK IS LOUSY
BY JARED JOHNSON
Grand Funk has continued to be such an unprecedented musical phenomena that despite the worthlessness of its music of its music, a few words need to be said to rebut the countless hype that comes from the manager's office and the record company. * Despite the seeming display of confidence, the press releases reek of desperation. It would be impossible to vindicate Grand Funk Railroad in 50 thick volumes, much less one more in the interminable series of press releases, from New York, and stories on them in teeny-bopper magazines. Frantic are the attempts to single out anything worthwhile about Grand Funk Railroad, the kings of regressive rock. The information opened forth on them abounds in statistics, groveling for some mathematical justification, attempting to overwhelm the reader by sheer numbers, as if to remind someone that one Grand Funk album is sold every four seconds, or that the group sold out Shea Stadium in 72 hours could possibly prove anything more about the worth of their Music. AND it isn't so much that the group is that bad (which it is), but just that it's so incredibly boring! But, of course, comes the escape clause. Grand Funk's adherents have failed dismally at trying to justify its music. So now it is said, it is not the group's music that is of primary importance, but rather Grand Funk is claimed to be of overwhelming significance sociologically and/or politically. Mark Farner has something to say. "No, He really doesn't. He never has. He most likely never will. The group's shallow, superficial, run-of-the-mill lyrics are as devoid of significant content as is the white noise that continues to belch forth from the amplifiers.

E PLURIBUS FUNK ALL OTHERS PAY CASH
E Pluribus Funk, Grand Funk Railroad -- One of the biggest reasons why Grand Funk Railroad is considered by many to be a "supergroup" is due to the fact that their main audience is composed of those in the 12-16 year old age bracket needs to idolize a certain group in order to obtain the most enjoyment out of them. I don't actually know why they chose Grand Funk but I do know that Grand Funk let themselves be carried by this wave of idolization. In fact nowhere is there signs of them putting up a fight. Grand Funk advertisement reveals that the group is indeed playing the role of "supergroup." I'm not saying that this is wrong but all I would like to know is when are they going to stop relying on their ego trips and let themselves be judged solely on what they are trying to do musically. As far as their newest album is concerned, if one listens to it and keeps in mind their motive is to appeal to that certain age bracket, then E Pluribus Funk is really not that bad. The music is obviously heavy and does have a tendency to make one want to move around; however, don't expect anything new on this album. The themes are kind of old and they do not possess anything that has never been done before. The thing one must remember thought is the fact that Grand Funk music is concert music. For example, Footstompin' Music and Upsetter are not exactly masterful cuts but they do not generate some form of rhythm. Perhaps the best cut on the album is Loneliness. Its attempt to blend the orchestra with the Grand Funk drive comes out surprisingly well. Grand Funk must rely on their music because Mark Farner cannot write lyrics. People Let's Stop the War and Save the Land are poor examples of what should be done about the war and ecology. Again the themes are worn out. It seems as though they should be given a "rest" so that they might be revitalized by decent writers. The album is considered a must for Grand Funk fans; however, I wouldn't advise buying it if you don't consider Mark Farner sexier than Mayor Lindsay.

GRAND FUNK TOPS IN NEW YORK POLL Flint's Grand Funk Railroad is staying red-hot. The trio has been voted 'Best Rock Group in the U.S." in a poll conducted by the New York Daily News, among its readers. * Grand Funk's recording company said the trio got 75 per cent of the votes cast. Following the Grand Funk, in order, were the Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Jack on Five, Led Zeppelin, Three Dog Night, The Who, Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, Chicago and Ten Years After.

GRAND FUNK DOES IT AGAIN NEW YORK -- Grand Funk Railroad has been nominated to four separate categories in Playboy Magazine's 1972 Jazz & Pop Poll, thus marking the second consecutive year the Capitol Records' trio has been named in the annual poll. Nominations were for Outstanding Vocal Group; Instrumental Combo; Male vocalist - Mark Farner; Bass Guitar - Mel Schacher. * Members of this year's nominating board were Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Herb Alpert and Nat Hentoff.

100,000 POP FANS ON A FREE RIDE
STORY: JILL PALMER THEY came in their droves to Hyde Park today -- an estimated 100,00 strong -- for the free open air pop concert featuring the American rock group, Grand Funk Railroad. There were hippies, greasers, skinheads, and plain middle class suburbanites cramped together on the grass to listen to the beat music. They wore beads and floppy hats and carried balloons and flags. They started arriving soon after dawn and by the time the music started at noon there were thousands of boys and girls squatting on the grass in the park. Oblivious to everything but the music they sat motionless as the three groups took the stand -- the others were the Humble Pie and Hands, Knees and Feet Park, but there was no trouble and everybody was very orderly. The grass was littered with cold drink stalls, hot dog vans, and ice cream vendors who were all doing a booming trade.

NON TITLED ARTICLE
One group that soaks up a lot of money from teeny-boppers and "heads" is the disgusting Grand Funk Railroad. They fit the mold of trashy music like a deck of cards fits into a poker game. "E Pluribus Funk" (Capitol), their latest release, will take care of the large-bulge-in-the-pockets thing that some people seem to have. I can just picture that same little kid turning the stereo he got for his birthday all the way up and putting on Grand Funk, most likely to bother his mother or something. On the first cut, "Footstompin' Music," all there is , is a bass, an organ playing one chord, and drums that sound like someone fluffing pillow. One thing that typifies most trash music is a dull, repetitious, pounding bass. Grand Funk makes for further proof. As our "young teen" jerks and twists to the droll pounding of his favorite group, Grand Funk, he imagines himself smoking a "J" with Mark Farner and discussing his three chord knowledge of the guitar (which makes the kid's talent equal to dear Mark's). After his mother makes him turn off the record player cause it's getting late. He pretends to go to sleep, only to sneak out the window of his upper-middle class home. Grabbing his love beads ad headband, he strolls on out to the scene on east Colfax. Then, after combing his hair to the wrong side to make it look longer, he goes from freak to freak whispering "D'ya. And it's supposed to impress people that Grand Funk sold 15 million records in the last two years. To whom? Little teeny-boppers who look at music the way a baby looks at a skipping rope. The quality of the music has nothing to do with record sales; record sales most certainly don't make the quality of the music on the album any better. So many musicians like Paul Parrish and Allen Thomas are extremely talented, but aren't making it. At least the teeny-boppers have something to musically suck their thumbs with Grand Funk.

RECORD OFFICALS PUZZLED BY GRAND FUNK'S SUCCESS
BY ROBERT HILBURN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
LOS ANGELES -- Despised by critics and ignored by radio stations, the staggering success of Grand Funk Railroad is the most intriguing rock 'n' roll phenomenon in recent years. At least, that's what the group's manger, Terry Knight would have you believe. While no one in authority in pop music -- from record company executives to rock critics -- sees any value or permanence in the group's loud music or frantic stage act. Knight suggest Grand Funk is the group most in touch with today's youth and the fact that most people connected with the record industry, including the Under-ground Press, don't recognize it shows how far out of touch these people are from the youth. * FASCINATING. But is it valid? Certainly, Knight and Grand Funk have some impressive statistics to underscore the depth of their support. Earning some $40,000 a concert and selling 10 million record last year, the record trip from Flint, Mich., earned five million in 1970 and, according to Knight, should earn twice that amount this year. * More than 15,000 fans lined up at 2 a.m. one day last winter to buy tickets for the group's two Madison Square Garden concerts. Similarly, all of the 18,600 tickets for Grand Funk's concert at the Inglewood, Calif., Forum were sold so fast that a second concert was added. * While success stories are not infrequent in rock, the rapid rise of the group in light of total lack of critical support and radio airplay is rather unique. Even some key people at Capitol Records, Grand Funk's label, are puzzled by the group's popularity and can't view it as anything more than temporary. Los Angeles radio station KRLA, which cosponsored the two Forum concerts in conjunction with Concert Associates, doesn't play Grand Funk records. The Underground Press, which prides itself in being close to the pulse of young, can't stand Grand Funk's music. Still, the crowds keep coming. There is near hysteria at Grand Funk concerts. THUS, while most people shake their heads in equal parts dismay (over the group's success) and disgust (over what they feel is a total lack of artistic merit in the group's music), Knight, the 27-year old mastermind behind the trio (consisting of guitarist Mark Farner, bassist Mel Schacher and drummer Don Brewer -- all just out of their teens) -- has his own explanation. "There is one thing special about Grand Funk that allows it to sell out Madison Square Garden for two shows -- 43,000 tickets -- in eight hours even though it never had a hit single in New York and only two stations in town ever play its records," "It's got something that its competitors don't have. Creedence doesn't have it. Sly doesn't have it. Zeppelin doesn't have it. You have to go to people like Presley, The Beatles, The Stones and Sinatra to find it. The thing about those people and Grand Funk is that they are more important sociologically then they are musically. GRAND FUNK says something to its audience that no other rock group says today. That's what makes it a phenomenon. It is saying to its audience that we are part of you. We are your voice." While this may be a rather questionable piece of analysis. Knight is serious about it and he is pleased to pursue it deeper. "The two things that helped most win Grand Funk were the breakup of the Beatles and Akamont. When the Beatles left, there was a leaderless generation. The Stones were still around, but Akamont hurt them. It showed that the Stones were fallible. There was Mick Jagger in front of thousands of his people and he was helpless to stop the violence. "So young people didn't have anything to turn to. They were depressed. They didn't have Bobby Kennedy any more. They didn't have Martin Luther King. They didn't have their parents. They didn't have a government. They didn't even have a country in some cases. People were telling them "love it or leave it." "THERE were all sorts of doubts and fears. They saw their friends going to jail for possession of marijuana. They saw Vietnam. They didn't have any leader. Creedence didn't have a charismatic leader in its group. People were too wrapped up in prejudice to let Sly lead. "So Grand Funk became a leader for them. It gave them something to believe in. Everything was against Grand Funk, just as everything was against these kids. Even Rolling Stone was against them. It made them rebels. If Grand Funk, could overcome it all, they could, too. It offered the kid's a hop and an escape." * Obviously, Knight's attempt to parallel positions of the Grand Funk and Presley-Beatles-Stones is hardly conclusive. There are numerous groups like who have become sudden hits, sold millions of records and packed concert halls. It is difficult at any one point in time to separate the temporary from the permanent. More recently, Iron Butterfly overcame bad reviews and no radio air-play to become one of rock's top selling groups and major concert attraction. But Iron Butterfly's sales have dipped sharply and the group will play the 3,300 seat Santa Monica (Calif.) Civic Auditorium on its next visit to Los Angeles rather than the 18,000-seat forum, scene of it's last concert. It seems certain that Grand Funk would be relegated to the category of Herman's Hermits and the Dave Clark Five if any vote were conducted today among rock industry personnel. But, it isn't, of course, the rock industry personnel that ultimately determines the permanent versus the temporary groups. It is the public that must make that choice. And, while most disagree with him, only history will be the ultimate judge of Knight's assertion.

GRAND MISTAKE!
It seems Grand Funk Railroad recently, departed New York's JFK International Airport for Copenhagen in route to their sold-out European tour as a duet, rather than an trio. Seems drummer Don Brewer forgot his passport! * After hastily placed telephone calls to the State Department in Washington, D.C., Brewer decided to avoid taking the chance of being sent back from Denmark and rode Grand Funk's leer jet back to Flint, Michigan. * According to friends, when Brewer learned he had to return to Flint, he just laughed and said "Well, it's not Copenhagen but it's home." Grand Funk was reunited when their 6' 4" drummer arrived in Scandinavia 24 hours later. Their tour will close in Amsterdam on December 17, at which time Grand Funk will return from the Continent to begin what is expected to be one-year hiatus from live performances of any kind, "for personal reason." according to manager-producer Knight. A major announcement is expected regarding the group's future plans shortly following their return to the United States.

FUNK DATE ALMOST FREE RIDE
NEW YORK -- Grand Funk Railroad's solo concert at Shea Stadium, July 9, was originally intended to be a free concert, but expenses in excess of $100,00 ruled this out, announced Terry Knight, manager-producer of the group. The Stadium concert is being promoted by Sid Bernsteir, who also promoted the last solo date at the 55,000 seat-facility -- The Beatles in 1965.
SHOW BITZ: Note the quote from Mark Farner, Grand Funk Railroad, who chugged of with Best Rock Group in the poll: "Please tell all our Brothers and Sisters how grateful we are to them for voting us Best Rock Group in the U.S. The Critics might not be happy, man, but we sure are. That's the real power of the people." IS THIS ANY WAY TO RUN A RAILROAD? Daniel K. Mitchell, acting assistant superintendent of mails at the U.S. Post Office, Flint, Mich., would like Capitol Records' Grand Funk Railroad to pick up its mail. Four bags of Grand Funk fan mail recently arrived at the corner of Harrison and East Union Sts. in Flint. That's the freight office of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. They haven't had a hit in years.

NON TITLED ARTICLE
The fact is that Grand Funk Railroad are Stars, and they have become stars by doing everything in the right place at the right time. They know how to move as stars, how to dress as stars, how to relate to an audience as stars. And more importantly, Terry Knight knows how to package them as stars, so that even if they never have another word written about them in the underground press, they'll be on top forever. Even to something as small as the liner notes on their last album, "Closer To Home" (Capitol), he has it down: "They are three who belong to the New Culture setting forth on its final voyage through a dying world . . . "Abbie Hoffman, who has a lot more in common with Terry Knight than either of them would probably like to think, couldn't have done any better. And thought they may seem like it, Grand Funk Railroad isn't the first to pull off such a thing. Back in 1959, the Chancellor label out of Philadelphia gave us such greats as Frankie Avalon and Fabian forte. Jan and Dean had their finger on the public's pulse in the good ol' surfing days of 1963. Blue Cheer showed us what hard music was all about following the emergence of progressive rock. and now, just about when we needed him, Terry Knight is here to show us all the way back home. NON TITLED ARTICLES There is also a group of bands, led by Grand Funk, that is leading record companies to believe that air play may not be the ultimate sales tool. Managed and produced by Terry Knight, Grand Funk rocketed from obscurity to monumental success in less than 18 months by virtue of deft promotion and a stimulating live performance. Its records, although good, have never been able to capture the frenzy and excitement of the live show -- notable both for being extremely loud and for its ability to sell out a Shea Stadium, as it did this summer in New York. For a group that has rarely had an AM hit, Funk's record sales -- now over 20 million -- are beyond belief. (Black Sabbath, a group cut from much the same cloth, is right on its heels in terms of popularity and sales). Whether Grand Funk is an exception, A fluke. MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NYC -- GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. Many have called them the hype group of the decade. Others have called them the great musicians.