Grand Funk Railroad v. Foghat: Taking Sides in the Buttrock Smackdown

Therefore, by virtue of nothing in particular, I side with Black Oak Arkansas. (Feel my cred!)

Y'all did know that FZ produced Grand Funk's last studio record, yes? (Todd Rundgren produced two Grand Funks, FWIW).

hmph. and here i thought you were "down." and i was gonna offer you to hang out behind my desk at work one day and crank the oak while we ogle. ;)

It's amazing! :-)

the best part of foghat ran down savoy brown's leg

Now THIS is criticism.

Shame on you all for taking so long to post it. Nick gets a free beer.

I need to get that '71 Live cd myself..

Also I just realized Joseph forget to mention Phoenix in his role call of the best Grand Funk lps up there. That's a great one. Craig Frost's (who had nothing to do with the band Frost, I always have to remind myself) first record with the guys. "Rock & Roll Soul" is one of their best ever songs. It has the great line "..it's kind of funky like an old-time movie." I'm still not sure exactly how old-time movies are funky, but that's a great line.

Hahaha, I get it: Brewer! Beer!

I'll take Mark, Don & Mel, largely 'cause I don't know any Foghat songs other than those on their live LP. "But I just heard them on the King Biscuit Flour Hour!"

DJ Dangermouse should have remixed that with The Black Album to make, uh... whatever black and red makes.

Lonesome Dave also served as "British commentator" on the Fergie/Andrew wedding for a rock station a friend used to work at. R.I.P.

Bump just to say how fucking awesome "Live Album" by GFR is.

Heartbreaker / Inside Looking Out is the best Rock side evah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcCNcgoyG_0

Slow Ride is a great example of a 'bar band' style arrangement where it's pretty obvious they arrived on a perfect structure organically through jamming it out every night. Plus the performance is great. The short version is pointless, however.

Disclaimer: I was in a covers band in college whose repertoire consisted of every song in Dazed and Confused, plus all of Led Zeppelin II.

Grand Funk Live was the first album I ever bought with my own money. Never thought to look for youtube clips before today. Mind = blown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x6chChxzV0

i always thought grand funk was kinda sleepy until i heard grand funk live

That album has all kinds of energy. Some fantastic between song banter as well. Tremendous, underrated, rythm section-those two dudes could play. The "competent drumming of Don Brewer" my ass!

yeah but honestly it's only one i really like, the studio stuff is fine cuz hell i like 70s longhairs throwing down big riff but they sucked at all the fancier aspects of rock and sometimes don't really rock enuff on the studio stuff i've heard

Red Album and Closer to Home have some pretty serious rock moments. "Live Album" is a masterpiece though. three guys just destroying the venue. I'd love to have been at one of those shows, they sounded nuts.

Grand Funk Railroad is in a world of it own. Mel Schacter's bass tone is like the FART OF DOOOM. Their sound is real bassy and dry compared to some of their contemporaries. Farner's guitar is more wirey sounding than say Led Zep or Humble Pie.

You will see Motown rhythm name checked in articles about the MC5, but I think Grand Funk sounds much more 'R&B' and 'funky' by comparison.

On the one hand, they are way over the top with being earnest, but I got the feeling they meant it all goofy or not. We got to get back to the country. My lady is fine. C'mon people Let's stop the War! We're an American Band.

man earl I don't really care much about grand funk but you're really making me miss the days when bands had their own sounds

You will see Motown rhythm name checked in articles about the MC5, but I think Grand Funk sounds much more 'R&B' and 'funky' by comparison.

This is pretty accurate. Grand Funk was heavily penalized by the rock critic oligarchoi, which hated them. And loved the MC5.

The MC5 had virtually no influence on American hard rock. The live album was inimitable. The second album was ruined by Jon Landau's pre-power pop production. And the third album didn't matter.

As for Grand Funk, they went from brutal noise hitmakers to "We're An American Band"-style
hitmakers. They had a string of chart toppers -- "I'm Your Captain", "Rock 'n' Roll Soul" (which charted), "Locomotion," and "Some Kinda Wonderful."

"This is pretty accurate. Grand Funk was heavily penalized by the rock critic oligarchoi, which hated them."

I generally find this to be a plus, in my book.

"fool for the city" is actually kinda classic

I vote for the Funk. Those dudes ruled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEdDi0zw_u0

I've been on a Grand Funk Railroad kick, picking up some of the LPs I never had including Born to Die.

This song "Dues" is pretty killer.

modern rock hits of 1969! maybe grand funk invented grunge/pop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8jMF4SndJw

"Drive Me Home"->"Take it or Leave It" at the end of side 2 of Fool for the City is one of the all-time great endings to a LP.

Overall I like GFR better, less bloozey than Foghat.

that live album from 1970 SLAYS

Grand Funk

I swear this live recording of "T.N.U.C" by Grand Funk Railroad off the later released CD 'Live: The 1971 Tour' cut at Cobo Hall lays out pretty much a hyperactive Minutemen groove and it just goes and goes on.

if all goes according to plan i will be seeing don, mel, and some other guys in a local park on tuesday. i think bruce kulick is one of the other guys.

i love the shit out of the GFR live album from that era (xp). esp ride into the sun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHp-ecwiXz8

that's a killer LP

Grand Funk is just a weird cool band and they could harmonize too. They go all midnight cowboy on this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kN_bjsGJmE

This is quite the jam
http://youtu.be/G7Mmu66buMA

Oh hell yes. That is sweet as hell.

This is another weird modern context Grand Funk song. It's pretty much song about Jesus and birth control. This track wouldn't sonically sound out of place next to say the Doobie Brother's "Black Water".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQO4_p3-DR0

Shinin' On is pretty much top shelf early 70s hard rock. You got the whole mix of vocalizin', harmonizin', riffin' and fat drums. You have to think this tune has been sampled probably a few times. Production is totally effected of it's day but it's excellent. I love the drum sound on the record.

Walk Like a Man is anothe GFR tune that should get more play. "Strut like a cock til I'm 99" classic Stuff

That tune is cool. Grand Funk has got a bunch of good songs. Some filmmaker is going to do a early 70s period piece eventually and probably use just GFR for the soundtrack.

"Shinin' On" appeared as source music in the thing that introduced a whole generation to wild shirtless lyrics, bong-rattling bass, and competent drumwork...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXKmsvRXE4A

Later Grand Funk Railroad often times seems like the precursor to Van Halen/Sammy Hagar's style of rock which is the bed rock of quite a bit of 80s pop metal. There is definitely a shiny west coast sheen to some of the later GFR records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHVp9aGTHa0

"haven't got a whole album that's good all the way thru", had i not heard their classic live album entitled LIVE ALBUM back then

that thing fuckin slams

hell yeah

Was Mark Farner the first rock musician to perform shirtless?

They both debuted in 1969, but perhaps Iggy was the first? And may also be the last?

Jim Morrison never actually did the shirtless thing except in photo shoots, I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX2LRvyM0cE

Charlotte Moorman looking at this and thinking "well, bless their heart"

Serious answer: Little Richard?

^ Came here to say that. Photo evidence suggests early ‘60s, that period when he had short hair.

They came for the Buttrock Smackdown, but they stayed for the reverse chronological history of shirtless rock stars in the 1960s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwqrrpGCD3M

"haven't got a whole album that's good all the way thru", had i not heard their classic live album entitled LIVE ALBUM back then

that thing fuckin slams

a billion times this

One time I was on a cross country road trip with a good friend of mine and we stayed in a Motel 6 in Utah or New Mexico. We had been camping for most of the trip but thought a shower and actual beds would be nice, especially because the room was on the cheap. The next morning I was hanging out on the porch in front of our room while my friend finished packing his stuff for the rest of the trip and some older guy from the next room over came out onto the porch and we struck up conversation. I forget how we wound up on the topic but he started telling me about how he was golf buddies with the drummer from Foghat. Told me to "shoot him a text" if they ever came through my town and I wanted to get back stage. I still have the guy's number but I've never taken him up on his offer. I wonder if it still stands.

IIRC, the drummer of Foghat is the only original member left.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9KpwuhOTtg/?igsh=MW9ramNqZ3Jva2xmYQ==

xpost Elvis Telecom, I believe you are correct, I'm pretty sure I remember the guy I met telling me that

right now we're going to take a step back and we're going to dedicate this song

going to dedicate this song to everybody in here who's putting that Funky smell into the air

we want you to blow some up this way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJrQYHrMNQg

foggin the hat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCr2APDza_I

lolllllllll