![]() chiquitas in Omaha and sweet, sweet Connie and Little Rock and up all night playing poker with Freddie King. … Took little tidbits of what was going on on that tour: 4 a.m. That was my formula, and that’s when I wrote the song. So I figured, well, I’ll take a swing at writing a hit song - verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus out. Radio was changing from being an FM underground format to hit radio, so you had to write three-minute songs. “We used to do two albums a year, two tours a year,” he said. The song came in the early 1970s after a difficult stretch for the young band. I put up my hand, and I got the job.”īrewer is the writer and singer of Grand Funk Railroad’s most recognizable hit, “We’re an American Band,” which is something of a calling card for the group. It was all girls in the drum section, and I hated clarinet. And they needed a guy to carry the bass drum, to walk with the bass drum in the marching band. One day the band instructor was looking for guys to go back to the drum section because marching band season was coming, and it was all girls in the drum section. I worked my way up to first chair and then down to last chair because I just hated it. But then I played clarinet for probably a couple of years. And we used to do Peter Gunn at lunchtime in the gymnasium, so that was my guitar time. I used to have a band called the Red Devils, and it was me on guitar and a drummer that just had a snare drum and a cymbal, and a trumpet player. “In elementary school, I played some guitar. He learned how to read music on the instrument, and that early introduction took him to the clarinet in the junior high band. I just had to do rock ‘n’ roll from that point on.”īrewer’s instrumental journey began like many other children: with a tonette, which is essentially a small flute. “I got bit by the rock ‘n’ roll bug when I saw Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show doing ‘Blue Suede Shoes.’ I must have been probably 4 or 5 years old when that was going on. “But really I’ve always been a rock ‘n’ roll guy,” Brewer admitted. His father was a swing band player, and he showed the budding musician how to sit behind a drum kit. Growing up, Brewer would listen to rock ‘n’ roll and some big band music. We appreciate the music, and we get out on stage and have a good time.” “It’s kind of like R&B pumped up on steroids,” he said. In their hearts, their all R&B fans, and Brewer identifies the band’s output as a mixture of rock and R&B. I hate to brag, but I’ll brag.”īrewer said the current lineup of Grand Funk Railroad, which has been together for several years, features members who have a similar taste in music. Everybody wants to hear ‘Footstompin’ Music’ and ‘Rock & Roll Soul,’ ‘We’re an American Band,’ ‘Some Kind of Wonderful,’ ‘Loco-Motion,’ ‘I’m Your Captain / Closer to Home,’ ‘Inside Looking Out,’ as well as few new things that we work into the show. “We do a high-energy Grand Funk Railroad rock ‘n’ roll show,” Brewer said in a recent phone interview. In 2019, they will reach the 50-year mark for years on the road. The band’s hits are numerous, including “We’re an American Band,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “The Loco-Motion” and “I’m Your Captain / Closer to Home.” The strength of these hits has kept them touring throughout the years, and there are no signs of stopping. Rounding out the present-day grouping are singer Max Carl (38 Special), lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (KISS) and keyboardist Tim Cashion (Robert Palmer). The band in 2018 includes original founding members Mel Schacher on bass and Don Brewer on vocals and drums. Grand Funk Railroad, the quintessential American band, are still going strong almost 50 years after they first debuted. ![]() Photo courtesy of Jim McGuire / Provided by Ann Leighton Media with permission. Photo: Grand Funk Railroad continue to play music almost 50 years after the band’s founding.
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