The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
That train just rolls on
Grand Funk Railroad, opening for Seger on his farewell tour, shows enduring strength
After nearly 50 years on the road, Grand Funk Railroad keeps chugging along much to the surprise of drummer Don Brewer.
“I can’t believe we’re still going as strong as we are,” said Brewer, calling from his Jupiter, Florida, home. “We’re having the best three years that we had in the past 20. I recently ran into the guys from Kansas, who were talking about the same thing.
“We can’t figure it out. It’s just amazing that we’re still out there and still getting a lot of young people to check out the band.”
That next Northeast Ohio opportunity takes place Dec. 6, when the rock act opens for Bob Seger at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Brewer said for decades the centerpiece of the band’s live show has been its epic song “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home).”
“It’s a big highlight and just a great song,” Brewer said. “It has such a great mood. At seven minutes long, it was never a hit, but it still gets a lot of airplay on satellite radio.”
Among the various Grand Funk Railroad hits, which include “The Loco-motion,” “Shinin’ On” and “Some Kind of Wonderful,” there’s one track that stands out. Of course, that’s 1973’s “We’re an American Band,” which went to No. 1 on the charts.
Brewer said the instant the song was recorded in a Miami studio the band knew it was something special. “Todd Rundgren was in the control room mixing it, and we had some Capitol Records people there waiting,” Brewer said. “We really wanted to release a song before the album was done. They were waiting for it. So we played it for them, and they were jumping up and down.
“I remember asking them, ‘Man, you really like that?’ I didn’t know it would be around for all of these years and be used in car commercials and movies. I never dreamed it, but it is one of those songs. Still to this day, when I hear it come on the radio and I hear that cowbell starts going on and guitar riff, it just sounds like a hit record. It just has that sound.”
The origin of “We’re an American Band” came at an important time for Grand Funk Railroad, which was in the middle of a legal battle with its prior management while also trying to write a shorter, radio-friendly song.
“I took my stab at writing,” Brewer said. “We were flying into towns all over the country. What kept going through my mind was, ‘We’re coming to your town, we’ll help you party it down.’
“I wrote the song about that. I didn’t even have the tag ‘We’re an American Band’ until I finished writing the song. I only know maybe four chords on the guitar and all four are in that song.”
Considering 45 years have passed since he wrote “We’re an American Band,” has Brewer learned any more guitar chords?
“No, I don’t need anymore,” Brewer laughed. “I’m a drummer.”