I was *so* hoping that this song and album would be mentioned in your Todd Rundgren series - as will likely be revealed elsewhere on Substack in the coming weeks, I am a *huge* fan of Grand Funk. More specifically, Grand Funk Railroad and their first 5 or 6 (pre-Todd) albums, which I grew up with as an impressionable teenager, and have remained dear to me 50+ years later - pretty much the greatest Big Dumb Rock ever, in my opinion.
Which is not to say that I don't also love "American Band" and "Shinin' On" - I was also well into *huge* Todd fandom by the time those albums came out, and was very pleased to see Todd's positive comments about the band, not to mention GFR's resurrection and mainstream success following the debacle(s) with ex-manager Terry Knight. The band sold millions of albums under his management and 'production' but as you mentioned, were berated and trivialized by most rock critics (though not Lester Bangs!), and once Todd took the production reins their credibility increased and their popularity soared with mainstream AM radio airplay as opposed to just FM album rock stations.
Todd has always been complimentary about Grand Funk as people and musicians, and after he produced them Frank Zappa also did on of their albums, not as successful but also adding to their credibility. Great that you mention Lynn Goldsmith - an important behind-the-scenes mover & shaker, not to mention a great photographer and graphic designer. She came up with the elaborate '3-D' jacket for "Shinin' On" as well as the "American Band" package. Oh, for the huge record company budgets and glorious excess of the the 1970s. . .
Thanks for that birthday greeting and the comment, Hugh! I'm so glad to hear that you're a long-time and devoted GFR fan.
I did a lot of reading on the band last night and was appalled by the Terry Knight story. I'm thinking of doing a series of posts on nefarious managers in the rock world as there are so many and they used a range of outrageous tactics. Some might consider him a brilliant impresario in some ways but he appears a nightmare in most ways, including stealing their money and rights. But then there's another band coming up in tomorrow's post who faced a similar fate and suffered even more. Rock and roll was a rather treacherous business back then!
As you say, thank goodness for Creem and Lester Bangs, who bucked the mainstream received wisdom. You gotta give Michiganders a lot of credit for often being the stalwarts against homogenizing and elitist tendencies in mainstream culture and standing up for working class issues and preferences, including 'big dumb rock'.
Lynn Goldsmith is such a character and so interesting. Didn't know about Frank Zappa producing them -- cool!
I know! I didn't know either and was really surprised to find out. He had his finger in a lot of unexpected musical pies back then. He seemed to really like the challenge, like taking on Meat Loaf when no one else would take him on and producing the 7th-ranked best-selling album of all time, Bat Out of Hell -- 43 million estimated sales to date, 22 million certified. Absolutely astonishing.
Happy Birthday! Ok, some random thoughts...GFR were of course part of our high-school era soundtrack, though I have to say this is the first time I've heard them classified as dance music! My college roommate Marco, who was Black, used to laugh at how white folks sat out the Motown stuff and then got up to dance to Bob Seger and GFR. Like the bit on Lynn Goldsmith-- she wasn't content to be a muse, but made things happen! (The irony, given that you mention Patti Smith, is that Smith went to New York specifically planning to be an artist's muse, and was pushed into recording her own stuff!). Personally, I think Rundgren was much better as a producer than as a singer-songwriter, and if more people knew that side of him he'd be viewed quite differently.
Not only do we dance to Bob Seger and GFR, we do 'dad dancing' with the white man's overbite (as Billy Crystal made famous).
I didn't know about Lynn Goldsmith, and she seemed to know everyone and have her fingers in everything. She also seemed/seems like so much fun. Someone I think it would be cool to hang out with.
Todd certainly has a lot more hits on the producer side, but he's got a very devoted following as a singer-songwriter with people who enjoy his unpredictable artistic pathway.
I've only learned about Rundgren's production chops through some of the writers here including you; before that I only knew him through his hits, and I suspect that's true for a lot of fans. So it's great that you're bringing his bigger picture to us.
Thanks for saying that. I have heard Todd in interviews say that people come to his concerts thinking he stopped making music back in the 70s and expecting to hear only his pop hits. I have to say that I didn't know about his producing and musical experimenting over decades. So it's been a learning experience for me as well, and it only happened because a subscriber asked me to do a post on The Nazz. Reading his autobiography to answer that request, my mind was blown and I decided to do this series of posts. And he's quite articulate and funny in interviews, so it's been fun rather than a slog.
Yes, possibly because they'd fired their manager and were embroiled in legal action with him, but who knows if Todd Rundgren also had that kind of effect as well (looking at some of his own lyrics).
Great read, Ellen!
Thank you, Joe! That's such a compliment coming from a wonderful writer like you.
Happy birthday, Ellen!
I was *so* hoping that this song and album would be mentioned in your Todd Rundgren series - as will likely be revealed elsewhere on Substack in the coming weeks, I am a *huge* fan of Grand Funk. More specifically, Grand Funk Railroad and their first 5 or 6 (pre-Todd) albums, which I grew up with as an impressionable teenager, and have remained dear to me 50+ years later - pretty much the greatest Big Dumb Rock ever, in my opinion.
Which is not to say that I don't also love "American Band" and "Shinin' On" - I was also well into *huge* Todd fandom by the time those albums came out, and was very pleased to see Todd's positive comments about the band, not to mention GFR's resurrection and mainstream success following the debacle(s) with ex-manager Terry Knight. The band sold millions of albums under his management and 'production' but as you mentioned, were berated and trivialized by most rock critics (though not Lester Bangs!), and once Todd took the production reins their credibility increased and their popularity soared with mainstream AM radio airplay as opposed to just FM album rock stations.
Todd has always been complimentary about Grand Funk as people and musicians, and after he produced them Frank Zappa also did on of their albums, not as successful but also adding to their credibility. Great that you mention Lynn Goldsmith - an important behind-the-scenes mover & shaker, not to mention a great photographer and graphic designer. She came up with the elaborate '3-D' jacket for "Shinin' On" as well as the "American Band" package. Oh, for the huge record company budgets and glorious excess of the the 1970s. . .
Long live Big Dumb Rock!
Thanks for that birthday greeting and the comment, Hugh! I'm so glad to hear that you're a long-time and devoted GFR fan.
I did a lot of reading on the band last night and was appalled by the Terry Knight story. I'm thinking of doing a series of posts on nefarious managers in the rock world as there are so many and they used a range of outrageous tactics. Some might consider him a brilliant impresario in some ways but he appears a nightmare in most ways, including stealing their money and rights. But then there's another band coming up in tomorrow's post who faced a similar fate and suffered even more. Rock and roll was a rather treacherous business back then!
As you say, thank goodness for Creem and Lester Bangs, who bucked the mainstream received wisdom. You gotta give Michiganders a lot of credit for often being the stalwarts against homogenizing and elitist tendencies in mainstream culture and standing up for working class issues and preferences, including 'big dumb rock'.
Lynn Goldsmith is such a character and so interesting. Didn't know about Frank Zappa producing them -- cool!
Love your comments, Hugh.
This is really eye-opening to me Ellen! I had no idea Rundgren produced GFR! I was a big fan of their songs as a kid.
I know! I didn't know either and was really surprised to find out. He had his finger in a lot of unexpected musical pies back then. He seemed to really like the challenge, like taking on Meat Loaf when no one else would take him on and producing the 7th-ranked best-selling album of all time, Bat Out of Hell -- 43 million estimated sales to date, 22 million certified. Absolutely astonishing.
Happy Birthday! Ok, some random thoughts...GFR were of course part of our high-school era soundtrack, though I have to say this is the first time I've heard them classified as dance music! My college roommate Marco, who was Black, used to laugh at how white folks sat out the Motown stuff and then got up to dance to Bob Seger and GFR. Like the bit on Lynn Goldsmith-- she wasn't content to be a muse, but made things happen! (The irony, given that you mention Patti Smith, is that Smith went to New York specifically planning to be an artist's muse, and was pushed into recording her own stuff!). Personally, I think Rundgren was much better as a producer than as a singer-songwriter, and if more people knew that side of him he'd be viewed quite differently.
Thanks for the birthday greeting, Charles!
Not only do we dance to Bob Seger and GFR, we do 'dad dancing' with the white man's overbite (as Billy Crystal made famous).
I didn't know about Lynn Goldsmith, and she seemed to know everyone and have her fingers in everything. She also seemed/seems like so much fun. Someone I think it would be cool to hang out with.
Todd certainly has a lot more hits on the producer side, but he's got a very devoted following as a singer-songwriter with people who enjoy his unpredictable artistic pathway.
I've only learned about Rundgren's production chops through some of the writers here including you; before that I only knew him through his hits, and I suspect that's true for a lot of fans. So it's great that you're bringing his bigger picture to us.
Thanks for saying that. I have heard Todd in interviews say that people come to his concerts thinking he stopped making music back in the 70s and expecting to hear only his pop hits. I have to say that I didn't know about his producing and musical experimenting over decades. So it's been a learning experience for me as well, and it only happened because a subscriber asked me to do a post on The Nazz. Reading his autobiography to answer that request, my mind was blown and I decided to do this series of posts. And he's quite articulate and funny in interviews, so it's been fun rather than a slog.
The two albums produced by Rundgren (Shining On and We’re An American Band) are excellent. They are by far the darkest GFR albums.
Yes, possibly because they'd fired their manager and were embroiled in legal action with him, but who knows if Todd Rundgren also had that kind of effect as well (looking at some of his own lyrics).
One thing for sure, they would have never made a song like “Carry Me Through” without the Runt. It’s an epic dose of sonic candy.
Have to agree. It has his stamp and fingerprints all over it!