Hidden Treasures - Mark, Don and Mel (and Craig if you wanna get technical)

Time to take a break from the chaos of the May challenge... You know, step back, collect your thoughts and then go back in for the next leg of the race. So I offer you up 4 tracks from a band that doesnt get much attention on this site...

Grand Funk Railroad A.K.A. Grand Funk

More influencial music from my brothers collection really. He is still a huge Funking fan. While he loves the early stuff, and who can blame him, I'm going to focus in on the 4 albums released from '73 to '76. These are more my style, with all the benefits of the technology of the times. Hey nobody could ever pass up a Quadrophonic 8-track! Besides analog recording in the mid to late 70's still beats all this digital stuff of today! ... But I digress ... This band is top to bottom killer! Your colleciton is missing out if your missing any one of these.

PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/avul780l

	Grand Funk We're An American Band 1973 1 - Creepin' We're an American Band was the group's first collaboration with producer/engineer Todd Rundgren. Rundgren and the band recorded the album at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida on June 13–15, 1973. Rundgren would go on to produce the band's next album, Shinin' On, before the band switched to Jimmy Ienner. The album's original issue, as well as of the "We're an American Band" single, was on translucent yellow vinyl, symbolic of a "Gold record." The album labels, above the side numbers, instructed listeners to play "at full volume." It included four stickers (two blue, and two red) with the Grand Funk "Pointing Finger" logo. Emphasizing the shortening of the group's name, the word "Railroad" does not appear anywhere on the album sleeve, liner, or vinyl record, except as the title of the first song on side two of the album.
	Grand Funk Shinin' On 1974 2 - Little Johnny Hooker Although not as successful as its predecessor, We're an American Band, it peaked at #5 in the US and was certified gold, and its first single, a cover of "The Loco-Motion" topped the U.S. charts. The original cover was done in bi-visual 3-D and included the required blue and red lensed glasses to view it. The title song was featured in The Simpsons' 7th season episode "Homerpalooza". A Quadraphonic mix of the album was available in the Quadraphonic 8-Track cartridge format.
	Grand Funk All The Girls In The World Beware!!! 1974 3- Good & Evil The recording engineer on the sessions was Shelly Yakus with assistance by Kevin Ayers and Rod O'Brien. The album's producer was Jimmy Ienner. Ienner worked with many pop and rock musicians including Three Dog Night, the Raspberries, and the Bay City Rollers, among others. The album's artwork originated from a concept by Lynn Goldsmith and Andrew Cavaliere, which included taking the faces of the band members and manipulating them onto the bodies of famous body builders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu. The body builder photos were used on the front and back of the vinyl sleeve cover, and were printed on the disc labels. The inside sleeve included an illustrated poster of the body builders surrounded by a crowd of females.
	Grand Funk Railroad Born To Die 1976 4 - I Fell For Your Love The album's title is considered to be one of the group's more somber, straying away from the upbeat and cocky attitude that was so prevalent on previous albums, such as All the Girls in the World Beware and focusing on darker musical and lyrical content concerning death, politics, and personal relationships. The more upbeat pop single, "Sally", released on 3 April, was written by Mark Farner for his then love interest, the actress/singer Sally Kellerman.

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Permalink Reply by Scott on May 9, 2014 at 10:31pm

Don't be jealous of my mad WIki skills! I cant even tell how fast I Cut/Copy/Paste, haven't found any who can clock it - yup its that fast!!!

Oh yeah... thanks for listening even if you didn't like it and skipped around all over the place and then typed up some random thoughts to refute RJ's weird associations!