We’re Coming To Your Town!

Written for Glyn’s Mixed Music Bag #18, where we are asked to write about a song by a group or solo singer beginning with the letter G or H.

As the 60s slipped into the 70s, an American hard rock band was getting started in Flint, Michigan. Known for such iconic rock hits as “We’re An American Band”, “I’m Your Captain” “Some Kind Of Wonderful” and their cover version of “The Loco-Motion”, the guys called themselves Grand Funk Railroad, culling their name from Michigan’s GTWR (Grand Trunk Western Railroad. Originally comprised of singer/guitarist Mark Farner, singer/drummer Don Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher, the band’s style of rock reflected their blue-collar Michigan surroundings. There were no pretensions, no airs …. just sweaty, longhaired grooves and celebratory tunes for days.

Known for a crowd-pleasing arena rock style, Grand Funk toured extensively and played to packed stadiums worldwide and was well-regarded by audiences despite a relative lack of critical praise. Early in their career, they headlined a much hyped free concert in Hyde Park, wowing the audience while being relatively unknown in the UK. They also opened for Led Zeppelin in their home state of Michigan.

GFR split and reunited numerous times; in 1996 all three members reunited for a summer tour in which they played to over 250,000 people, and a slate of Bosnian relief dates in 1997 including several TV performances. In 1998 they did a 65+ date tour listed as one of the top ten grossing tours of the year.

Grand Funk Railroad’s first number-one hit, 1973′s “We’re An American Band”, came seven albums into the band’s career and was literally written around the lines “We’re coming to your town. We’ll help you party down.”

According to songwriter/drummer Don Brewer, the inspiration came from the band’s day-to-day life. “We’re on planes all the time, flying into these towns. I remember looking down at the ground as we’re coming into a city and that thought came to my mind: ‘We’re coming to your town to party it down’ – because that’s what this band does.” Brewer then added more lyrics about the trials and tribulations of life on the road: “Booze and ladies, keep me right / As long as we can make it to the show tonight.” Prior to writing “We’re An American Band”, Brewer had stuck mostly to drumming.

Released on July 2, 1973, “We’re An American Bane” went to #1 on the US chart, and the album of the same name went to #2 on the Billboard 200. The album jacket was originally covered in gold-colored foil; the initial pressings were in clear, dark yellow vinyl to suggest a “gold” record. The album is #200 of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers definitive 200 albums of all time. Grand Funk Railroad has released 14 studio albums and 5 live albums (10 platinum) with sales totaling over 25 million records sold, 10 million of which were sold in 1970 alone.

The band’s lineup in recent years features Brewer and Schacher, as well as former Kiss member Bruce Kulick on guitar, 38 Special expatriate Max Karl on vocals, and keyboard player Tim Cashion, formerly with the likes of Robert Palmer and Bob Seger.

This is “We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad.

Big thanks to Glyn for hosting another week of Mixed Music Bag.

Mixed Music Bag 2024 – Week 18 – Only Happy When It Rains

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