Category Archives: Grand Funk Railroad

Happy Hour 2015-05-23 CRAB Radio Live
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This broadcast continues our journey to the Rockin’ Seventies….

The Doors – 1970.08.31 – Isle of Wight Festival [SBD]

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with Jim Morrison (vocals), Ray Manzarek (keyboards), The Doors 1970-08-29Back Robby Krieger (guitar), and John Densmore (drums).  The band took its name from the title of Aldous Huxley’s  book The Doors of Perception This comusic. rock ncert is at the Isle of Wight Festival, Aug 1970.  For three straight years, from 1968 to 1970, the Isle of Wight, a small island just off the south east coast of England, was the site of major rock festivals attracting some of the biggest names in rock music.  The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival attracted over 600,000 people, making it the largest concert held to that point.  The massive nature of the event also meant that it would be islewight1970the last such show on the Isle of Wight for over 32 years.  In 1971, the British Parliament passed the “Isle of Wight Act” preventing gatherings of more than 5,000 people without a special permit.  The 1970 Festival lasted from 26-30 Aug, with the biggest names performing on the last two days. The Doors‘ whole show was played in almost total darkness as Jim Morrison refused to have spotlights on the band.  Another note about this concert.  The date of this show is often listed as Aug 30 or 31, but research seems to indicate that Aug 29 is the correct date.  Check out this great sounding soundboard recording of the sound of rock as it moved into a new decade.

Grand Funk Railroad – 1974-06-02 – LA Forum [SBD]

The band was formed in 1969 by Mark Farner (guitar, vocals) and Don Brewer (drums, vocals) from Terry Knight and the Pack, Grand Funk 1974-06-02 DVD Cover v.1 and Mel Schacher (bass) from Question Mark and the Mysterians.  After receiving recognition at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Music Festival, they were signed by Capitol Records.  Between 1970 and 1974, Grand Funk Railroad score 8 consecutive top ten albums (7 studio and 1 live) on the Billboard charts, including We’re An American Band, which went to #2 in 1973.  They also had two #1 singles, We’re an American Band and Locomotion GFR– as well as a #3 hit in Some Kind Of Wonderful.  During the band’s heyday, the general perception was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them.  This soundboard recording, one of the very few around, catches them with Craig Frost on keyboards (since he was added in 1972).  This was recorded at the LA Forum on 2 Jun 1974, and is a dvd rip.

The Guess Who – 1974-05-05 – Ambassador Theater, St. Louis, MO – KSHE [FM]

The Guess Who traces its roots back to a band formed in 1958 in Winnipeg by Chad Allan originally called Allan and the Guess Who 1974-05-06 frontSilvertones. In 1962, this was changed to Chad Allan and the Reflections.  At this point the band members were:  Chad Allan (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Ashley (keyboards), Randy Bachman (guitar), Jim Kale (bass) and Garry Peterson (drums).  In 1965, the band changed its name to Chad Allan and the Expressions.  It was in 1965 that they scored their first hit, released under the psuedonym Guess Who?, hoping to mask their identities and create mystique.  However, even after they revealed that they had released the song, the DJ’s continued giving credit to “Guess Who?“, forcing yet another name change.  Guess Who 1974-05-06 backThis is from the end of their Spring 74 tour, and one of the last tours containing the classic (and best) lineup, before guitarists Kurt Winter and Donnie McDougall departed (or were fired from) the band.  Even though a bass amp fries early on, forcing Burton Cummings to adlib a bit, this is by far one of the best Guess Who bootlegs that I’ve ever heard containing many of their classics, including a 20 minute rockin’ American Woman – Truckin’ – No Sugar Tonight medley.   As mentioned earlier, due to the mishap with the bass amp, Artificial Flowers and Sour Suite were played as solo piano pieces by Burton.

Led Zeppelin – 1975-02-13 – Nassau Coliseum, Nassau, Long Island NY [SBD]

Led Zeppelin was an English rock band formed in London in 1968 by Jimi Page (guitar), Robert Page (vocals), Led Zeppelin 1975-02-13 frontJohn Paul Jones (bass and keyboards) and John Bonham (drums).  The band’s heavy, guitar-driven sound was deeply rooted in psychedelics and blues and  earned them recognition as the forefathers of heavy metal.  This concert was a soundboard recording at the Nassau Coliseum on 13 Feb 1975.  When Led Zeppelin launched their North American tour, it had been almost 2 years since their last tour, the longest break from performing that the band had taken at that point in their career.  The tour had a bit of a rocky start, as guitarist Jimmy Led Zeppelin 1975-02-13 backPage was suffering from a broken finger that forced him to use a three finger playing technique during many of the early shows.  In addition, Robert Plant got a bad case of the flue early in tour, causing the cacellation of one show and negatively affecting his singing during several others. The band also needed to work out the kinks associated  with incorporating new material from their soon to be released Physical Graffiti.  When they reached NY in Feb, however, the band seemed to have overcome all these issues, playing as powerfully as they ever had.

 


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Happy Hour 2015-02-28 CRAB Radio Live
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Triumph – 19 Aug 1979 – Agora Ballroom, Chicago, IL

Triumph was formed in 1975 in Toronto, Canada and were often billed as ‘The Other Rush’.  After the trio Triumph - 1979Frontgot together, they took Canada and the US by storm.  Triumph has received 18 gold and 9 platinum awards in North America.  Triumph’s first concert was Simcoe High School in Sept 1975 and by Aug 1978, they were headlining at the Canada Jam Festival, playing before 110,000 people.  They quickly signed with Attic Records and RCA (serving Canada and the US, respectively).  Their first self-titled album was released in 1976, but was renamed to In The Beginning later.  This concert was in support of their third album, Just A Game, which was released on 30 Mar 1979.  Their first gold award was for this album, and Triumph - 1979Backwas just two days later on 1 Apr 1979.  This was NO April Fools joke, either.  This album contained their first big hit, Hold On, which rose to 38 in the Billboard 100.  More significantly, this album also contained Lay It On The Line, which has become the most widely played and recognized song in Triumph’s career in spite of their unpopularity with rock critics.  Rolling Stone reviewers labeled them ‘a faceless band’.  Regardless, they are amongst a few other Canadian bands that have achieved stardom.

 

 Wolfmother – 15 Oct 2005 – Auckland, New Zealand

Wolfmother was formed in 2004 as a power trio.  They quickly were noticed and signed by an AustrailianWolfmother_closeup record label, Modular Recordings, and released their debut self-titled EP.  The band moved to L.A. and began work on their self-titled LP, which was released Oct. 2005.  The album entered the ARIA albums chart at its highest point, number 3 and remained on the chart until 2007, at which point it had been certified platinum five times.  This bootleg was the day before the release of that album.

 

Rush – 1980 – St. Louis

Rush is a Canadian hard rock power trio formed in August 1968 in Toronto, Ontario by Jeff Jones RUSH-ST LOUIS 80-REMASTER EDITION-FRONTfr(bass guitar, lead vocals, and keyboards),  Alex Lifeson (guitar, backup vocals), and John Rutsy (drums and percussionist).  Geddy Lee replaced Jones before their second performance.  Immediately after the release of their self-titled debut album, and two weeks before the start of their first US tour, Neil Peart replaced Rutsy due to health issues stemming from Rutsy’s diabetes.  Their first concert,  August 14, 1974 was opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann before an audience of 11,000.  In the late seventies, Rush began to become inspired by progressive rock bands such as Yes and King CrimsonRUSH-ST LOUIS 80-REMASTER EDITION-BACKThis concert was for the tour for the album Permanent Waves and was a shift in style for Rush.  It contained shorter songs such as Freewill and The Spirit of Radio to promote more radio airplay and helped to propel it to become their first top five album to date.  Rush was well on their way to achieving the peak of their popularity which occurred in 1981 with the release of Moving Pictures.  The lyrics of that album’s Tom Sawyer were written by Toronto band Max Webster’s lyricist, Pye Dubois during a collaboration with Rush.


 

Grand Funk Railroad – 23 Dec 1972 – Madison Square Garden

How can one mention power trios without including Grand Funk Railroad in the conversation?  GFR_In_Concert_19721972 was a time of change for Grand Funk.  They fired Terry Knight in early 72 sparking a lengthy court fight.  At one point, Knight seized their gear before a Madison Square Gardens concert (probably this one).  They added Craig Frost on keyboards and released Phoenix with him.  Eventually, they would return as a power trio again…..  They replaced Knight with Todd Rundgren and the result was their two #1 hits, We’re an American Band and The Loco-motion from their next two albums.

 


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Next week’s broadcast, 07 Mar 2015 will air starting at 8 PM Eastern time, and will include:

TBD.

 

Happy Hour – CRAB Radio Live 2015-01-24
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This broadcast was billed as:   Four concerts in four hours…..

The first concert segment was Aerosmith, Boston 29 August 1975.  This was broadcast initially on the Aerosmith BostonKing Biscuit Flower Hour on WBCN in Boston.  Aerosmith, “The Bad Boys from Boston”, formed in Boston, 1971.  Originally, Joe Perry (guitar) and Tom Hamilton (bass) were in the band Jam Band.  They got together with Steven Tyler (vocals/harmonica), Joey Kramer (drums), and Ray Tabano (guitar) and Aerosmith was born.  They replaced Ray Tabano with Brad Whitford, and were signed to Columbia records in 1972.  This concert was the Toys in the Attic tour, which broke the band into mainstream popularity.  Their first five albums have attained multi-platinum status.  Joe Perry and Brad Whitford left the bandAerosmith 1975 in 79, and Aerosmith basically floundered through a couple albums until their return in 1984.  Aerosmith is the best selling American rock band of all time, selling more than 150 million albums.  They have also scored four Grammy Awards and ten MTV music video awards.

The next concert segment was the Scorpions, Complete Munich 1993.  This was an FM broadcastscorpions-93complete from Munich, Germany and includes Michael Schenker on stage.  The band was actually formed in Germany in 1965 by Rudolf Schenker (rhythm guitar), Karl-Heinz Vollmer (lead guitar and backing vocals), Achim Kirchoff (bass), and Wolfgang Dziony (drums).  Rudolf handled lead vocals during this period.  Things really got moving when Rudolf’s younger brother, Michael (lead guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals) joined the band in 1970.  In 1972, the band recorded their debut album, Lonesome Crow.  It was during that tour that thescorpions-93complete1 band opened for a rising Brit band, UFO.  It was toward the end of the tour,  that UFO convinced Michael Schenker to ‘jump ship’ and join them.  Uli Roth stepped in to finish the tour, but this led to the band’s breakup.    Rudolf eventually joined Uli’s band, Dawn Road, and brought Klaus Meine along.  This ‘new’ band decided to adopt the Scorpions name since they already had a following and an album record release.  The next segment in the broadcast was Grand Funk Railroad, 1974 live at the LA Forum.  This is a soundboard recording, soGFR LA Forum it’s quality is very good.  Rolling Stone magazine once said, “You cannot talk about rock in the 1970’s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!”  There is a lot of truth in that statement, for sure.  The band formed in Flint, MI in 1969 originally as a power trio.  Mark Farner (guitar, vocals) and Don Brewer (drums, vocals) from Terry Knight and the Pack along with Mel Schacher (bass) from Question Mark & the Mysterians became GFR.  It was Terry Knight, who became their manager, who named the band as a play on words about the “Grand Trunk Railroad”, a well-known rail line in Michigan. The band’s initial recognition came at the 1969GFR Forum Atlanta Pop Festival July 4 & 5.  After a highly charged set on the first day, they were asked to come back the following year.  Capitol records immediately signed the trio.  In 1971, the band fired Terry Knight which sparked a lengthy legal fight.   In 1972, the band had attempted to attract Peter Frampton of Humble Pie, but instead added Craig Frost (keyboards).  This sparked a shift from GFR’s ‘garage band’ to a more rhythm and blues and pop rock oriented style.  Although highly successful in the mid 70’s,  tensions continued to grow due to personal issues as well as burn out.  The band continued to head towards theirGFR breakup in 1976.  They reunited in 81, with Don Bellinger replacing Schacher until they broke up again in 83.  The bands original members reunited again in 96.    Farner was eventually forced to quit the band due to contractual issues, and a couple years later Don and Mel recruited Max Carl, Bruce Kulick, and Tim Cashion (of .38 Special, Kiss, and Bob Seger, respectively) and continue to perform  45 shows annually.   TheACDC Paris Front final segment of the broadcast was ACDC, Power Outage in Paris, 1979, a soundboard recording.  This was recorded at the peak of their popularity thus far, and just a couple short months before Bon Scott died.  This was the Highway to Hell tour, and was at the Pavillion, in Paris France on 9 Dec 1979.   There has been a long road sprinkled with many albums between then and now, but it appears that ACDC has lost yet another of its founding fathers.  Malcolm Young has retired due to dementia with nephew Stevie Young picking up the ACDC Paris Backrhythm guitar duties on the new album, Rock or Bust as well as the tour.  ACDC also came very close to losing drummer Phil Rudd as well due to allegations of attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill, as well as possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.  The murder and threatening charges were removed the following day, but his future is still uncertain.


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Next week’s broadcast, 31 Jan 2015 will air starting at 8 PM Eastern time, and will include:

(FOUR concerts in FOUR hours – This time, a spotlight on female bands.)

Vixen – Live at Music Hall – Koln, Germany 19 Feb 1991

The Runaways – Live at the Agora – Cleveland, OH 19 Jul 1976

Girlschool – King Biscuit Flower Hour – Nashville, TN 12 Jan 1984

Heart – California Jam II – Ontario, CA 18 Mar 1978

(I know Heart isn’t all female, but absolutely has to be included due to the work of Ann and Nancy Wilson.)