![]() In less than two years they have made five albums, each of which has sold over a million copies - the last two on the day of their release. Who can dislike a success story? Grand Funk Railroad is the biggest American rock group in history. I reach my seat as the lights go down and - the speakers blast out the opening chords of Strauss’ Thus Spake Zarathustra. He’s coming back from the soft drink stand, grinning, with a fresh scrape on his forehead and the jug of wine unsuccessfully concealed under his jacket. On my way to the press box I see Frank for the last time. You can’t see them through the black glass of the car, but they’s in there all right - Mark, Mel and Don, who play the instruments, and producer-manager Terry Knight, the greatest Funker of them all, who plays the whole group though he never takes the stage.ĩ:35 PM. The guards stiffen and look around watchfully, but nobody shows any interest in rushing the boys. The black limousine appears through the outfield gate and rolls toward the stage on its special balloon tires (to protect the grass). The field is separated from the stands by a triple line of wooden police barricades, manned by a continuous rank of uniformed security guards.ĩ:23 PM. Some of the crowd begins chanting “Grand Funk, Grand Funk” at almost exactly the tempo as the audience on the group’s Live Album. The stadium itself is a huge crescent full of people, who give out modest cheers when the Scoreboard spells out “Give Peace a Chance,” “Love Conquers All,” and “Get Funked.”ĩ:12 PM. The stage is made of rough wood and covered with little lights and looks like a fort in a road performance of The Pirates of Penzance. Security guards wearing bright red peace-symbol armbands form a double cordon from left field to the stage. ![]() ![]() ![]() I swallowed some wine - Gallo Rose, like thousands of empty bottles scattered outside - and looked out over the brightly lit baseball diamond, and wrote some notes about this “historic event,” as it said on our tickets - Grand Funk’s big Americano concert at Shea Stadium.Ĩ:50 PM. Ha.” He hit Sparky a punch in the shoulder that keeled him halfway into the next seat. Mencken said of Bach’s music is true of Grand Funk’s as well: Alcohol is its natural solvent.įrank’s friend Sparky from Englewood, New Jersey, took a pull on the bottle of sweet wine and passed it over. ![]()
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