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IanB wrote:
I also want to know how the band got from 'Are You Ready' to the sub-Todd 'Just Couldn't Wait' in an era when stadium ramalama was at its peak. What were they thinking?
IanB,
Hey, I want to know if they WERE thinking hahahaahaha...(I mean: "Take Me"? "Big Buns"?!!)
If you ever get the chance, view that Los Angeles 1974 GFRR footage, it will provide a lot of clues
I think a lot of it was losing Knight as producer/mentor/hustler -- along with adding Craig Frost on clavs, Mark trading in his Messenger guitar/getting a haircut and toning down the bombast, etc, etc.
I fear it wasn't enough to navigate the prevailing cultural trend of rock'n'roll as big bucks commodity. Plus, 1976 was a horrible year for all rock bands who had formed in the late sixties who were still going strong as airbrushed fantasies, colder and slicker production, cocaine and disco had taken hold as the new values for an era of alienated, selfish indulgence.
But even before that, Grand Funk were already going through the motions, as evidenced on that recent Live 1971 CD (w/ some material from the famous Shea Stadium concert). I love many GFRR studio tracks post-1970, but I feel "Live Album" really did cap off their initial burst in a big way.
Terry Knight, man: I would have loved to have read THAT autobiography, dammit!
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