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Grand Funk Railroad: Mark Farner (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Don Bewer (vocals, drums); Mel Schacher (bass). Recorded live at Jacksonville Coliseum, Jacksonsville and W. Palm Beach Civic Auditorium, Palm Beach, Florida on June 23-24 1970. Originally released on Capitol (633). Includes liner notes by Steve Roeser. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Though their reputation hasn't survived as well as some of their contemporaries, Grand Funk Railroad were one of the biggest American bands of the early 1970s. Caught in full flight on this live album, the band that brought Cream's power-trio concept to the U.S. stadium circuit can be easily identified as the link between Woodstock-era blues-rockers like Ten Years After and the heavier rock bands of the '70s. Singer/guitarist Mark Farner is the focal point, as his wailing vocals and fret-burning guitar licks take center stage throughout. Bassist Mel Schacher and drummer Don Brewer provide muscular support without venturing into showoff territory. At this point, the band's songwriting acumen was still in a developmental stage (it would come to full fruition within the next couple of years), so many of the songs feature extended jams built around simple-but-effective blues-based riffs, but Grand Funk's bag of tricks wasn't entirely devoid of catchy choruses (the soulful "Heartbreaker") or smart cover tunes (the Animals' "Inside Looking Out"). The band's LIVE ALBUM is a definitive statement not only of what they were about, but of the early-'70s mainstream rock scene as a whole.
