Grand Funk Railroad hadn’t had much success heading into 1973. Well, that’s not an entirely fair comment, because 1970’s Closer To Home album sold well enough for the band to be playing – and packing out – venues like New York’s Madison Square Garden and Shea Stadium.
So really, Grand Funk had experienced success, but it wasn’t the type of world-straddling success the Flint, Michigan, trio sought. Proof of that was that they were in debt, primarily because of their manager/ producer Terry Knight. Singer/drummer Don Brewer shakes his head, telling Classic Rock: “We were being sued by Terry, and we knew that radio had changed.”
Grand Funk had logged a minor hit with Rock & Roll Soul, which peaked at No.29 on the Billboard Hot 100 – but it wasn’t enough. “We needed a hit,” Brewer says. “You couldn’t come in and make seven-minute songs, so we knew we needed to write a three-minute song that would get radio play.”
The initial ruminations on what would become 1973’s We’re An American Band, which stormed radio airwaves and turntables alike, were roadblocked by Terry Knight’s vendetta against Grand Funk. “He’d taken all our money, and we were broke,” Brewer says.
Grand Funk’s only option was to tour. And it was during those shows that Brewer came up with We’re An American Band’s iconic line: ‘We’re coming to your town, we’ll help you party it down.’ Looking back on it, Brewer says: “That was the thought I had in my mind. I put all these snippets of things going on from the road, all these stories, grabbed my guitar, and added the chord changes, which was the start.”
But he didn’t have a title. “I didn’t have a tagline. But one day, I was practising the song, and thought:‘We’re an American band…’ I sang it, and it sounded great. It sounded good enough to me that it stuck.”
Brewer’s shot in the dark at a hit song proved to be on the money. But at the time, Grand Funk’s primary writer, frontman Mark Farner, didn’t agree. It’s been said that Farner didn’t appreciate Brewer’s treading on his turf, but Brewer remembers it differently. “We were all brothers in arms,” he insists. “We had a common goal: to come through this, to sink or swim.”
Brewer says that the process between him and Farner went something like: “Anybody got any great ideas?” And that they’d each “bring things in”, and this was “basically the way we were doing things at that point”.
As much as Brewer – and Farner – liked We’re An American Band, the drummer admits that when Grand Funk went into the studio to record it they had no inclination that they’d hit paydirt.
Brewer and Farner might not have, but producer Todd Rundgren did.
“With Todd working on that album, the people at the record label, Capitol, were chomping at the bit,” Brewer says. “They wanted us to produce product right away. Todd played them what we were working on, and the guys from Capitol were jumping up and down [laughs]. We played them We’re An American Band, and they were screaming and yelling, like: ‘Oh my god, that’s great. It’s great!’ I said: ‘Really? You guys really like it?’”
At the time, Brewer thought We’re An American Band was “just another song”, but says that Rundgren and the executives at Capitol Records knew better. “They were yelling: ‘That’s a hit! and they wanted it released right away.”
So it was. Grand Funk’s album We’re An American Band was released in July 1973. With its gold foil cover and anthemic title track (which would hit No.2), it took off like a rocket, going gold in the US within a month.
“It marched right up to Number One,” Brewer says, smiling. “It was just that kind of song. I didn’t realise it at first, but after driving home from my house one night it came on the radio, and I just couldn’t believe how good it sounded. Not just good, it was the sound of a hit record.”
Grand Funk might have had a hit, but all wasn’t well. Farner wasn’t happy with Rundgren’s slick production, nor was he liking that Brewer had stolen his thunder. He also hated that the band’s power-trio dynamic had been broken up by newcomer Hammond organist Craig Frost – who by the way was all over We’re An American Band. “It didn’t matter,” Brewer said. “We needed to make a transition. We made six records, and it hadn’t worked.”
According to Brewer, though, Farner’s ego wasn’t as bruised as some say. “Everybody was gung-ho,” he says. “We were on the same page. At that time, there was no: ‘Oh, Don’s singing too many songs’, or ‘He’s writing too many songs.’”
Despite Brewer’s recollection, Farner didn’t stick around for much longer. He didn’t agree with deviating from the power-trio format, and didn’t take to being thought of as anything less than the motor that drove the proverbial engine.
We’re An American Band took Grand Funk to the next level, but it was the beginning of the end, leading to their disbandment in 1976, just three years after the album took the world by storm. But at the time, it meant the world. “It was our peak,” Brewer says. “It was exactly what we needed.”
Beyond We’re An American Band’s status as a classic rock radio staple, and the fame and fortune it provided, when Brewer looks back, the personal meaning sticks out most. “When I wrote that song, I wasn’t trying to wave a flag. The song just has energy. I’m proud of that.”
A sheepish smile creeps across Brewer’s face before he admits: “Everybody has great memories when it comes to that song, you know? I look back, and if we’d stayed where we were as a trio, or not done what we’d done, we wouldn’t have made it. Without We’re An American Band we wouldn’t have continued and wouldn’t still be selling out audiences today. So I’m very proud of that.”
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