Grand Funk (Mel Schacher)

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:12 pm

I had been following Mark Farner for a while a few years ago. He came out with an album after he became a Christian. He did a song called Judgment Day Blues. It is pure Grand Funk!

Anyways, I had heard a rumour that GF was touring again, wondered how a good solid Christian could play in a party band, but never bothered to check it out. Well,I checked it out today. Farner is not part of the group. I went here and checked out the sound. If you have patience, watch the whole video as they play snippets from a lot of old songs. And, yes, Mel still playin thru an Ampeg. Now I have to google Farner and see what he is up to. On the solo album he did a bit of a play on words(he called it Closer to Home). He also rewrote the lyrics to Some Kind of Wonderful for that album....

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:14 pm

I just realized I may have stepped out of bounds. Mel didn't play Rics... Sorry. Please delete post.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:15 pm

And on top of that, I didn't post the link.

http://www.grandfunkrailroad.com/video.htm

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:35 pm

I am an ordained minister and I play kick *** rock and roll ... I don't have a problem with that ... there are a few songs I won't play ... but we all have that list ...

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:36 pm

Great video. And that Zon sounds excellent.

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:38 pm

Oops, wrong thread!

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:39 pm

I was referring to the party aspect, not the songs!

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:44 pm

I play what's pretty close to a Geezer line in one of our praise tunes! It just seems to work! I always tell my Christian friends that Black Sabbath wasn't Satanic. They were more of a post Armegeddon type band. Ironman, War Pigs, etc. They did some tongue in cheek Satanic stuff but nothing serious!

I should also say that that is my only gig. I'm trying to put together a Gospel Blues Band.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:53 pm

War Pigs is a great song, I don't know that much about Black Sabbath but I really like that song.

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 4:57 pm

"Booze and ladies - keep me right." My favorite GF line that alsways gives me a giggle.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:09 pm

I find War Pigs to be a boring song ... Iron man is funny ... it is sooo over the top ... it is like a cliche ...

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:29 pm

War Pigs actually has some really cool parts in it. Taken in the right context (when it was written) it was a protest song.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:32 pm

Charly, Mark Farner is touring without GF, he was just here in Michigan a few weeks ago. He is opening for....darn it, I forget!

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:40 am

gingko!

rickenrocker · Post by **rickenrocker** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:39 am

LOL, funny that someone should mention Mel Schacher. I was just thinking of him the other day.

I was a big fan of GFRR during their heyday, but if someone were to ask me to name the three worst bassists of all time, Mel would be near the top.

1. Bill Wyman of the Stones
2. Mel Schacher of GFRR
3. Michael Anthony of Van Halen

Of course, I could be wrong, so if you can name any bassists that are worse than any of these guys, feel free to do so (this oughta be fun). My list doesn't include any of the current generation of lamers.

In all fairness to Mel, he has grown up now, and somewhere along the way he actually learned to play his bass and adjust his amplifier. He did a respectable job with Farner on GFRR's 1997 Bosnia album, although the album didn't capture the energy and magic of the early GFRR (which I saw in concert several times).