Today is Mark's birthday. He turns 60 and it's hard to believe that I have been listening to his music for almost 39 years!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Grand Funk Railroad' s Mark Farner is 60
Today is Mark's birthday. He turns 60 and it's hard to believe that I have been listening to his music for almost 39 years!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Scarlett Johansson Montage : "I'm Your Captain" : Grand Funk
YouTube - Scarlett Johansson Montage : "I'm Your Captain" : Grand Funk
Now if they could do just the same thing with Marissa Miller......
Now if they could do just the same thing with Marissa Miller......
Thursday, February 21, 2008
E-mail from Doug
Gary,
hey, i just wanted to send you a note of thanks, albeit belatedly, for the nice blogs you posted on your site. i can't remember if you sent them to me or someone else, but it was very nice to read such kind words. i'm assuming you saw the youtube footage of mark from the farewell concert, which turned out to be this very cool, feel-good kind of event, the likes of which i never saw much in flint. well, at least we know it can happen there now!
i'm getting settled in to el paso. been here a month. living back home with my mom, brother and son. it's like being in a dorm. it's weird after 30 years on my own to move back home, but it's for the right reasons, namely helping her and my family. i am starting to do some freelance stuff for the grand rapids press, el paso times and a site called soultracks.com. i hope to get a blog going here pretty soon. any suggestions on that ... like where i should be posting it, etc.?
Doug
Friday, February 8, 2008
Virtual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Farner Fans,
(From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2/07/08)
Apparently, this town isn't big enough for two rock 'n' roll halls of fame, even if one of them is only virtual.
WNCX FM/98.5 recently announced plans to launch a Classic Rock Hall of Fame on its Web site. When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum caught wind of this last week, it fired off a cease-and-desist letter to the local classic-rock radio station.
WNCX began taking votes for inductees Friday, along with suggestions from listeners for another name for its cyber shrine
"They've come up with hundreds and hundreds of names," said Bill Louis, the station's program director and midday disc jockey.
"The average person has put more thought into naming this hall than they have their own children, and we love them for that," Louis said.
Asked when the station hopes to rechristen its pantheon, he replied: "ASAP — if that's not trademarked."
The name "Classic Rock Hall of Fame" was too close for comfort for the Rock Hall.
"The museum must protect our trademark," said Todd Mesek, the Rock Hall's vice president of marketing and communications.
Three years ago, the museum filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against another online enterprise. The Jewish Rock & Roll Hall of Fame regrouped with a "Challah Fame" at www.jewsrock.org, after reaching an out-of-court settlement.
You can vote at www.wncx.com to get your favorite rockers on WNCX's honor roll.
and from me, log in & vote your favorite groups....don't pass 20 though or your vote won't be counted and don't forget GFR on your check list and Mark Farner as your write in. Do it!!
It's Official: Piano Man Plays Shea (but no Grand Funk?!?!)
It's Official: Piano Man Plays Shea's Last Call (Loge 13)
Joel used to know how to rock somewhat and has a sense of history. If he’s smart, he’ll do a medly of Beatles and maybe bring out some Shea rock veterans like Grand Funk’s Mark Farner to do a 45–minute version of “I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home.”
It has been a rumor for months but now it is official: Billy Joel will perform the last concert in Shea Stadium history.The show will be held July 16, the day after the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.
Joel used to know how to rock somewhat and has a sense of history. If he’s smart, he’ll do a medly of Beatles and maybe bring out some Shea rock veterans like Grand Funk’s Mark Farner to do a 45–minute version of “I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home.”
It has been a rumor for months but now it is official: Billy Joel will perform the last concert in Shea Stadium history.The show will be held July 16, the day after the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.
Tickets go on sale Feb. 16. Are season ticket holders getting a first chance at seats? Unknown.
The concert is being called: “The Last Play at Shea, From the Beatles to Billy”
We have been celebrating Shea Stadium’ illustrious rock and roll history since the launch of Loge13.com. Ever since the Beatles essentially invented the stadium concert, Shea Stadium has played host to most of rock and roll’s elite. The Stones. The Who. The Police. REM. The Clash. Janis Joplin. Poco. Grand Funk Railroad. We’re talking hallowed ground.
Is Billy Joel the best choice? He is a local boy (although I think he’s a Yankee fan). He will be the only person to ever play both Yankee and Shea Stadiums. However, Joel has mostly hung up his rock & roll shoes the past dozen years. Mets brass better make sure Billy doesn’t just do a set of his latest classical compositions.
Joel used to know how to rock somewhat and has a sense of history. If he’s smart, he’ll do a medly of Beatles and maybe bring out some Shea rock veterans like Grand Funk’s Mark Farner to do a 45–minute version of “Closer to Home.”
Thursday, January 31, 2008
32 Years Ago Today/Tonight
Columbia, SC January 31st, 1975 Gary Eaton 843-871-1560
Thirty two years ago high school buddy David Wooten and I rode a Greyhound bus to Columbia, SC to see Grand Funk. We arrived at the Carolina Coliseum just as Eric Burden was finishing his set. We had no idea how we were getting home but in the 15-20 minutes before GFR hit the stage, David had made arrangements with some people behind us (I think they were in the Navy) to ride home with them. I had two cameras with me, my Canon TL-b and David's Minolta SRT-101. A few songs into the show, I walked down to the floor and shot some photos. Back then we used film, Ektachrome 400 to be specific. It was a great concert, highlights being "I'm Your Captain", "The Railroad" and "We're an American Band". Click on the link above for some more photos.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Those were good days
To preface a review of Black Mountain’s In The Future with another storm based set up would be redundant, even though the conditions of this evening would deem it mighty appropriate. No matter, all weather analogies shall end with mentioning of the album’s opening track, “Stormy High”, a galloping banger that echos back to Grand Funk Railroad’s “Sin’s A Good Man’s Brother”. It offers up that intoxicating urge to keep your feet firmly planted while nodding your head up and down in unison with every other long hair in the room.
How many copies...................
Just how many copies of an album do you need? When it comes to Grand Funk Railroad's album "Closer To Home", six??? I bought the original album in 1970, the cassette shortly thereafter. Then, I had to get the 8-Track. I just love how they chopped "Nothing is the Same" in half to fit on channels 1 & 2. When CDs were invented, I bought the CD, then I had to get the "official" release in 1995. I then bought the remastered version in 2002, complete with bonus tracks. I may have another copy laying around somewhere......plus I think I keep a copy in my camera bag next to the wide angle lens....
Monday, January 7, 2008
Doug Pullen gets "Closer To Home"
That's Doug in the middle, Mark Farner on the left and Mark's longtime friend Mark Bowsher on the right.
I met Doug back in 1996 when GFR played their 10 city mini-tour. We've kept in touch over the years and I talked with him back in November when he told me he was leaving the Flint Journal to go back home. He always kept me up to date about Mark and the other two guys, and sent me an e-mail high 5 when he read my review of Don and Mel's show last November. I will miss reading his stuff, he and I felt very much the same way about the Flint 2 version of Grand Funk. Back in 2001, he was verbally abused by the fans of Don & Mel's new band because he gave a not so glorious review of their show in Detroit. One of the Cyberfunkers even wanted to "hunt him down". He pissed off our favorite drummer at least once or twice. Doug's voice sounds nothing like the way he looked. I pictured someone similar to Jackson Browne but was surprised to find out he looked more like Randy Bachman with a goatee. I never realized until November 2007 that we've experienced the same loss of family members. Both my parents are gone, my younger brother died in 2006 and Tito (our dog) passed in December of 2006 after 17 years. I got divorced in 2003. But, neither of us shared those stories with each other. We just traded little tidbits about Mark and GFR. Doug sent me a newspaper spread the Flint Journal did back in 1996 when the Funk were just starting to tour again. I called him when Mark wanted to use one of my photos, and he was one of the first people I called after I got the phone call from Mark in July of 2006. We could have been best friends I think, if we lived closer to each other, but I was content to just have someone to call when I wanted to chat about GFR. I'll miss him at the Journal but I'm sure we'll talk soon. Best of luck Doug, you deserve it.
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