Grand Funk Railroad
Live: The 1971 Tour

THE REVIEW

Here I am again, Debaserians!

Unfortunately, time is scarce now even to write a review, but I see that there is no shortage of excellent musical highlights (for example the review of the Whitesnake bootleg..!). Anyway, for once I'm choosing to review an official album, given my previous focus on "bootleg & Co."

The album in question is "Live: The 1971 Tour" by a band that has been and always will be fundamental for me, the legendary Grand Funk Railroad; the album is the result of many years of work by an American producer, whose name I can't remember, who intended to release the entire GFR show at Shea Stadium that same year on disc. Unfortunately, not finding all the necessary mixes resulted in this live compilation, if we can call it that, from that fantastic tour; the musical context is quite simple: in 1971 (and there is also a poll that demonstrates this) Grand Funk was the biggest band in the United States, just look at the sales, which were 4 gold records in a single year, and moreover, breaking the Beatles' record at the New York Stadium, shattered in just two days (compared to the Fab Four's 4!!) But let's move on to the album review....

The album is introduced by a short instrumental of "Also Sprach Zarathustra", after which the wild "Are You Ready" takes off, where the three musicians immediately showcase their extraordinary talent; the third track is already a previously unreleased one for that era, we're talking about "Footstompin' Music" which would appear on the next album "E Pluribus Funk": even if not definitive, this version is extremely enjoyable with Mel Schacher truly doing everything with his bass. The next track is one of the band's must-haves, "Paranoid", which, in addition to being very catchy, contains some highly refined solos, especially Mark Farner's guitar solos, who also goes wild on vocals. We leave Detroit's Cobo Hall, where these first four tracks were recorded, to arrive at NY's Shea Stadium, from which comes a splendid performance of the medley "I'm Your Captain/Hooked On Love/Get It Together", the three iconic tracks from their album "Closer To Home". In the background, we can hear the crowd's wild cheers in response to these savage live performances from a band that truly gave their all on stage. We return to Cobo Hall to make way for the interminable performance of "T.N.U.C" (19 minutes of madness!!) where enormous space is given to the drums of the great Don Brewer, who for about a quarter of an hour does everything he possibly can with his drums: EXTRAORDINARY! And since one improvisation leads to another, here is the famous "Inside Looking Out", introduced by a speech from Mark to the crowd, which truly sums up the energy of this band, which for over 15 minutes unleashes long solos and crowd engagements with an audience in constant delirium. At the end of the song, Don Brewer's hoarse "goodnight" leaves space for the crowd's chants calling them back to the stage: could such a show end that way?? Not at all, and indeed the band returns on stage for two more encores: the first, from Shea Stadium, is the Stones' cover "Gimme Shelter", while the last track on the setlist is the furious "Into The Sun": both tracks are about 8 minutes long, just for a change.....

In essence, this album should be seen as a revisitation of the "Live Album" from 1970, enriched with more classics... I still feel like saying that it's an album every rock enthusiast, the kind made with guts, should get. After all, 15 euros for 80 minutes of good music isn't even too much..........

SEE YOU SOON, ADIOOOOOS!!