<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spoiler alert: \u00a0I am a Mark Farner fan and like Homer Simpson professes in the <\/span>Homerpalooza <\/span><\/i>episode, I have a special spot in my heart for the, \u201cWild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner\u201d and his body of work with Grand Funk Railroad. \u00a0I watched some interview clips with Farner recently where he mentioned the Simpson\u2019s reference and called it \u201cone of the greatest things that happened in my career.\u201d \u00a0As a young \u00a0musician, I held a lot of musical artists on the same plane as the astronauts I watched rocket into space. \u00a0They were larger than life, almost mythical beings who were living the dream. \u00a0It took me a lot longer to realize that they were also real people. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark Farner blew out a knee in high school thus ending his football and track career. \u00a0\u00a0His firefighter father was killed in a car accident when Farner was nine, so it was up to his mother to find a way to channel all that pent up energy when he could no longer play sports. \u00a0She rented him an acoustic guitar and six lessons. \u00a0His guitar teacher had health issues that limited young Farner to only four lessons, but by then, the seed had been planted and he began to put his youthful energy into playing music. \u00a0By his own account, Farner had an altercation with a teacher and was \u201claid off from high school. \u00a0I tried to finish with night school but it was interfering with my music gigs. \u00a0My mom and stepdad were good about it and told me to make my own choices. \u00a0Guitar seemed to be a better vehicle for a career in music than the tuba I played in the school band.\u201d \u00a0Forty plus years down the road, it seems to have worked out even though it has been a career filled with high peaks and low valleys.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Farner mentions the lessons, both good and bad, that he learned from hooking up with Terry Knight and the Pack and Dick Wagner (The Bossmen, The Frost, Alice Cooper). \u00a0Knight took Farner on the road, first as a bass player even though he had never played bass before. \u00a0Farner and future Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer continued with the Pack after Knight departed. \u00a0It was partly at Knight\u2019s suggestion that Brewer and Farner formed a power trio like Cream. \u00a0\u00a0The foundation of GFR was firmly in place with the addition of Mel Schacher (? and the Mysterians) on bass. \u00a0Those were the positives Knight brought into Farner\u2019s life. \u00a0The negatives came from the less than optimal business contract he had them working under. \u00a0It eventually boiled over and as Farner himself now admits, they pushed all the wrong legal buttons and broke their contract with Knight. \u00a0\u00a0The lawsuits that this breach of contract generated gave Knight a large pay off and the band realized after the fact they should have just hunkered down for a few months until the contract ended. \u00a0This was Farner\u2019s first lesson in the deep legal end of the music business pool. \u00a0\u00a0Sadly, it would not be his last.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Farner\u2019s time with Dick Wagner was more productive. \u00a0He learned at the master\u2019s knee and it was Wagner that encouraged him to start writing his own songs. \u00a0His first effort (<\/span>Heartbreaker)<\/span><\/i> became a GFR standard and Farner has played it more than forty years with his various bands. \u00a0Musically, GRF was loud and bombastic, but they also wrote a bevy of hard pop tunes that took them from the level of cult band to a chart topping, platinum album selling tour de force. \u00a0Their triumphant show at Shea Stadium sold out faster than The Beatles and they rocked the house so hard that they literally rocked the stadium. \u00a0Film of the bleachers bouncing up and down leads one to believe there must have been some thoughts along the lines of, \u201cDo we end the concert and risk a riot or hope that the stadium holds together?\u201d \u00a0This was the highest peak of their early career. \u00a0Even if it is a long way from the pinnacle to the pit, GFR found it can be a mighty quick trip when a band begins to have internal problems. \u00a0The band broke up in the late 1970s and then came together for a couple of albums in the early 1980s with Dennis Bellinger (Rusty Wright Band) filling the bass slot. \u00a0This modestly successful semi-reunion was followed up by another three year reunion of the classic line up. \u00a0The entry in Wiki simply says, \u201cAfter 1998, Farner returned to recording as a solo act,\u201d but this short passage pretty much glosses over the bigger picture.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to Farner, Brewer convinced him that it would be better to have each band member sign on to be one third of a corporation that would handle all of their business affairs. \u00a0He calls what happened next being \u201csucker punched\u201d by his former friend and drummer. \u00a0Farner suddenly found himself outvoted 2 – 1 by Schacher and Brewer which ultimately lead to him being fired from his own band. \u00a0He ignored several court orders to \u201ccease and desist\u201d using any promotional materials connecting him to Grand Funk until he had the letter of the law spelled out to him by a judge: \u00a0\u201cStop or go to jail!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the midst of all the band turmoil, Farner and his wife separated for a time due to unspecified marital discord. \u00a0While separated, they both found their Christian faith reawakened, leading to a reconciliation that lasts until this day. \u00a0Farner\u2019s youngest son Jesse took what Farner calls \u201ca bad fall\u201d in 2010 and was left a quadriplegic. \u00a0\u201cWe wanted Jesse at home because in the long run, we will be the best <\/span>caregivers for him; and both Lesia and I are committed to that responsibility like any good loving parents would be.\u201d \u00a0To add to his trials, Farner suffered a heart attack that required him to have a pacemaker implanted (\u201cI died twice and they brought me back,\u201d he says). \u00a0The Mark Farner story begins to sound less like living the dream and more like just surviving day to day. \u00a0Through it all, Farner remains fiercely devoted to his family and says he has forgiven his former bandmates. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How are the prospects for another reunion? \u00a0Says Farner: “Those guys keep turning me down every time I say, ‘Why not put the band together for the fans, while we’re all still sucking air?’ I remember with the Beatles, I really wanted to see those guys. I kept thinking, ‘Why not bury the hatchet and do it for the fans?’ I can see, from being that fan, that the Grand Funk fans would dig it if the three of us bury all that crap and get out there and do it for the fans. \u00a0I’ve been rejected every time. I don’t like to sound gloomy, but it doesn’t look very good.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many fans feel that without the man who wrote 90% of their hit songs, GFR is a glorified cover band. \u00a0How this will play out in the future is anybody\u2019s guess. \u00a0For now, GFR fans can hear some of their tunes with the Brewer\/Schacher version of GFR and others with Farner\u2019s own N\u2019rG Band. \u00a0I recently noticed that the Rusty Wright Band had relocated to Florida without Dennis Bellinger on bass. \u00a0I was pleasantly surprised to see that he has reconnected with Farner and is currently touring with him. \u00a0Maybe Dennis will put in a good word with Mark and get the band to the western U.P. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The last burning question for GFR fans: \u00a0Will they ever make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? \u00a0Again, only time will answer this question but other bands with discordant histories (KISS being a prime example) have been voted in. \u00a0Whether they are enshrined or not, I walked away viewing Mark Farner as a regular guy with regular problems who just happens to make great music. \u00a0Maybe there should just be a hall of fame for people like that. <\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video – I don’t usually post concert length videos but this just seemed to fit – note our buddy Dennis Bellinger late of the Rusty Wright Band on bass and vocals. \u00a0 It is also worth noting the smile on Farner’s face – do you think he still enjoys performing? \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>