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We're an American band…
We're an American band…
We're coming to your town, we'll help you party it down.
We're an American band…
Simple and direct words, a poor and essential cover. This is how one of the best albums ever made under the USA brand presents itself, from one of the last bands that filled American stadiums in the '80s. Grand Funk was born as a hard-blues group under the name "Grand Funk Railroad," thanks to the lead singer and guitarist Mark Farner, bassist Mel Schacher, and drummer Don Brewer, three excellent musicians who are all too often forgotten. Later, keyboardist/singer Craig Frost also joined them, bringing a hard rock vibe to the group.
The band is famous more than anything for its spectacular live performances, to the extent that critics granted them the title of "loudest band in the world". “We're An American Band” is an album easy to listen to, direct, and immediate, talking about parties, women, alcohol, and life "on the road," opening with the title-track, a fantastic self-celebration of a kick-ass band, whose rhythm has the power to engage us from the first notes. The track, written and sung by the drummer, quickly becomes one of the cornerstones of the band, essential in the subsequent concert setlists. The compelling rhythm is also present in " Stop Lookin' Back,” where the guitar and bass phrases intertwine in an alternation of melodic lines, colored by organ accents and cymbals, with a small final drum solo, a pearl set in the song's gold.
After the questionable episode of "Creepin,” it arrives at the stunning "Black Licorice,” one of the most overwhelming tracks on the album, which can be listened to at the highest levels, where Frost gives vocalizations worthy of Ian Gillan in his golden days, and a keyboard solo that has nothing to envy from John Lord in sound and ability; at the end of the track, comparable to a collective explosion, the band lets us breathe again, with a slow but intense piece, "The Railroad,” where the voice of the great Mark Farner is finally recognized, with his American accent and warm timbre, sealed by the choral part. For every lover of the electric bass, played rhythmically and syncopatedly, "Ain't Got Nobody” is a real gem, one of those songs I would listen to endlessly, without ever getting tired... "Walk Like A Man” is a nice track, surpassed only by "Loneliest Rider,” the most moving track on the album. Mark Farner, whose grandmother was Indian, wrote this song as a dedication to the ethnicity that had always been a victim of persecution by white settlers.
Among the bonus tracks, the songs "Hooray” and "The End” (where a Deep-Purple-like influence is perceivable) are of excellent level; they should have been part of the original album. The All American Band par excellence released this album in 1973, and it remains one of the most beautiful in their entire discography, unfortunately little known.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 We're an American Band (03:28)
Out on the road for forty days
Last night in Little Rock put me in a haze
Sweet, sweet Connie, doin' her act
She had the whole show and that's a natural fact
Up all night with Freddie King
I got to tell you, poker's his thing
Booze and ladies, keep me right
As long as we can make it to the show tonight
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're comin' to your town
We'll help you party it down
We're an American band
Four young chiquitas in Omaha
Waitin' for the band to return from the show
Feelin' good, feelin' right and it's Saturday night
The hotel detective, he was outta sight
Now these fine ladies, they had a plan
They was out to meet the boys in the band
They said, "come on dudes, let's get it on"
And we proceeded to tear that hotel down
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're comin' to your town
We'll help you party it down
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're comin' to your town
We'll help you party it down
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're comin' to your town
We'll help you party it down
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're an American band
We're comin' to your town
We'll help you party it down
We're an American band
We're an American band, wooo
We're an American band, wooo
We're an American band, wooo
03 Creepin' (07:04)
Hey, everybody won't you lend me your ear,
There's something to fear, it's here, and that's clear.
Men gettin' rich off rapin' the land,
I can't understand, why we don't take them in hand.
Woah, oh ... Lord, I don't want to be their fool no more.
I don't want to be their fool no more.
Open eyes, but you're sleepin',
You best wake up 'fore tomorrow comes creepin' in.
'Fore tomorrow comes creepin' in.
Feel that our lives are in the hands of fools,
Loosin' their cool, it's us that they rule.
Too many people sittin' dead on their ass,
They ain't got no class, people, this time must pass.
Woah, oh ... Lord, I don't want to be their fool no more.
Hey ... I don't want to be their fool no more.
Open eyes, but you're sleepin',
You best wake up 'fore tomorrow comes creepin' in.
'Fore tomorrow comes creepin' in.
Woah, oh ... yeah, tomorrow comes creepin'.
Oh ... hear me cryin' 'cause the people like me,
That long to be free, are not actually.
Please everybody won't you hear this song,
Help a country that's wrong, to someday be strong.
Woah, oh ... Lord, I don't want to be their fool no more.
No! Lord, I don't want to be their fool no more.
Open eyes, but you're sleepin',
You best wake up 'fore tomorrow comes creepin'.
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Creepin' ...
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
Tomorrow comes creepin'.
04 Black Licorice (04:47)
Whooo ... wheee!
You there, comin' up the stair, the feelin' is ice-blue cold.
Shake, it's more than I can take, I'm startin' to lose control.
Watch out, what's that noise, there's somebody at the door.
It must be Black Licorice, she come back to make me cry some more.
Time, ain't on my side, I'm losin' it more each day.
Licorice, licorice.
She's got evil in her eyes, and catnip is her taste.
Licorice, licorice.
She wraps me up in her slender legs, her hot black skin to mine.
Licorice, licorice.
Ple ... ple ...please, don't touch me, oh, I know I'm dead this time.
Oh, oh, yeah ... Licorice, yeah, Black Licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, yeah, Black Licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, Black Licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, yeah, Black Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice.
Licorice, yeah, Black Licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, yeah, Black Licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, licorice, Black Licorice.
Licorice, licorice.
Licorice, woah, Black Licorice.
05 The Railroad (06:12)
Up each morning at five o'clock,
Seem like the noon-day sun ain't never gonna' stop.
The work is hard in a railroad yard,
Hey, hey, gotta' make it today to punch a time card.
Workin' on the railroad.
CHORUS
Oh, you know, the railroad is a mighty good line,
Come on and ride the railroad, one more time.
Oh, you know, the railroad is a mighty good line,
Come on and ride the railroad, one more time.
Dirt and sweat, runnin' down my back,
Workin' on the railroad.
Work all day long up and down the railroad tracks.
Workin' on the railroad.
I'm a God fearing man, and with many I stand,
Workin' on the railroad.
And with God we've been working, all hand in hand.
Workin' on the railroad.
CHORUS
Oh, you know, the railroad is a mighty good line,
Workin' on the railroad.
Come on and ride the railroad, one more time.
Workin' on the railroad.
Oh, you know, the railroad is a mighty good line,
Come on and ride the railroad, one more time.
06 Ain't Got Nobody (04:28)
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
And I don't know why, but I'm startin' to cry.
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
And I can't figure out how I'm gonna' get by.
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
I don't know why, I been down all season,
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
'Cause there ain't no reason for the girl to be leavin' me.
CHORUS
I don't know how I'll ever get by without you.
Nobody, no ... nobody.
I'm startin' to realize my fate.
Nobody, no ... nobody.
I'm ready to make up and give another try to live with you.
Nobody, no ... nobody.
I hope for our love and us, it's not too late ... too late.
Nobody, nobody.
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
Oh, and I don't really think that she'll ever come back.
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
If she don't come back, I'll have a love attack.
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
And my tears are like rain, fallin' down on my face.
I ain't got nobody since she left me.
'Cause I know she's the girl that I'll never replace.
CHORUS
CHORUS
07 Walk Like a Man (04:07)
CHORUS
Walk like a man, and talk like a man.
Walk like a man, hey baby, you can call me your man.
A little girl asked me what am I gonna' do,
When I get old and blue and worn clear through?
And I say by that time I ought to be in my prime,
I'm gonna' strut like a cock until I'm ninety-nine.
I'm gonna' ...
CHORUS
Sometimes I feel it's gettin' late.
In life -- all that settlin' down can wait,
'Till my routine days all seem the same.
Right now, I've got to get on out, I've got to make my day.
I'm gonna' ...
CHORUS
CHORUS
08 Loneliest Rider (05:14)
A long, long time ago there lived an Indian boy,
When he came upon this Earth he brought his family joy.
A paranoid young brave was he, inside his frame was some misery,
He heard the other warriors talking angrily 'bout the white man taking over his country.
CHORUS
What he didn't know, is that some day his ma would be crying.
What he didn't know, is that some day his tribe would be dying.
What he didn't know, is that some day his father'd be gone.
What he didn't know, is that some day he'd be all alone.
None of the stories in the schoolbooks said it, the truth is gone and they're tryin' to forget it.
The history books are all one-sided, the truth is gone and their trying to hide it.
Who had the land 'till we came around? The Indian made his life from the ground.
And what about the boy that this story's about? Where his tee-pee once stood there now is a town.
CHORUS
He was the loneliest rider on the plain.
He was the loneliest rider on the plain.
He was the loneliest rider on the plain.
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