The band’s sixth album, E Pluribus Funk, released that November, reached No. Knight, however, still saw Grand Funk Railroad as his gravy train as 1971 ended. As rock critic Robert Christgau wrote at the time, “it was the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end.” This crowning achievement, however, also started the cracks that soon derailed Grand Funk Railroad’s meteoric rise to super-stardom. Nearly two years to the day from their Atlanta debut, Grand Funk Railroad became the first band since the Beatles to play Shea Stadium - and they sold out Shea in 72 hours, faster than the Beatles did. The stunt unexpectedly benefited from a New York City workers strike that caused the billboard to stay up several months after it should have been taken down. His most audacious one was having a 60-foot Times Square billboard advertising Grand Funk’s 1970 Closer to Home album that cost an estimated $100,000. The onetime singer also was not shy about attention-grabbing publicity stunts. In fact, he seemed to revel in antagonizing them and he used the negative-to-vicious reviews ( Rolling Stone called them the “worst band in the world") to promote Grand Funk as a the “people’s band.” Unlike most managers, Knight didn’t try to befriend rock critics. He kept Farner, Brewer and Schacher away from the press and handled the interviews himself. Knight produced their albums, helped write the songs and even designed the album covers. Once described as someone who “ fancied himself as the Colonel Tom Parker of the '70s,” Knight took a very hands-on approach with Grand Funk Railroad, whom he named after Michigan's Grand Trunk Western Railroad. This arrangement would become more significant later on. The Capitol deal, in fact, was with Knight’s production company, which Grand Funk was signed to. He did manage to score them the opening slot at the Atlanta International Pop Festival on July 4, 1969, which led to the band getting a deal with Capitol Records. Knight initially had little luck interesting record labels in Grand Funk. To round out the power trio, they brought aboard Schacher, an old friend of Farner’s. They were at such a desperate point that they agreed to sign with Knight as their “manager, producer, press spokesman and musical mentor,” even though Farner thought Knight was a chameleon and a con man. Monday – Saturday.Grand Funk Railroad came into being when Brewer and Farner, both struggling to make it as musicians, contacted Terry Knight, the former frontman of their old band the Pack. Tickets can be purchased from Sterling Ventures by phone or at their Box OfficeĢ8912 Roadside Drive in Agoura Hills, 10 a.m. With regard and respect to the safety of our patrons, large bags are not permitted. Under 18 Must Be Accompanied by a Paying Adult.He’s a true family man with five adult sons, and he’s a caregiver. Mark is as real as they get: he’s a husband, a father, and grandfather in his fourth decade of marriage to his wife Lesia. At age 70, Farner commands the stage with the same intensity and outpouring of love as he did during the summer of ’69 and his fans are still flocking to see “The Captain.” The rock patriot’s synergy and open heart still come through in epic hits that defined a generation including: “I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home),” “We’re An American Band,” “Heartbreaker,” “Bad Time To Be In Love,” and recut covers of “The Loco-Motion” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Being viewed as a “Rockstar” is only one facet of the legacy of this Michigan-born son. Legendary all-American frontman and guitarist Mark Farner was the engine that pulled the Grand Funk Railroad repeatedly to the top of the charts, and today he’s a platinum recording artist 30 times over.
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