~~A Christmas Card In Sight And Sound: Mary~~

When asked to contribute a Christmas song to the collection; "A Classic Rock Christmas" Mark wrote the mournfully beautiful song: "Mary" (The Return From Calvary) after becoming inspired by a painting depicting Mary and the "Loss of her baby" at Calvary.

As Jesus' re-birth approaches at Christmastime each year we are born again with him. A gift to ALL of mankind. Mary's return from Calvary may have been sorrowful as Mark expresses gloriously in his vocals.

Mark states on the CD liner: "The reason I chose Mary (The Return From Calvary) is because JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON."

"We commemorate the Redeemer's Birth."

"People speak of His Mother in a religious sense,but in a heartfelt feeling for her as a mere mother of a boy-child, the song begs the question."

MARY(the Return From Calvary) Written,Produced & Performed for you by Mark Farner. (2002) Righteous Rock Music (BMI)
Sit 'a spell, put your feet up, enjoy the slide show by JohninFunk.

Download MP3 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-The-Return-From-Calvary/dp/B001O3MIT8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1260484654&sr=8-1

Read more...

Teaser Video From Joe DiMaggio's Childrens Hospital Charity Rock Ball...Fund Raiser With The Funk Raiser

Here Ye', Here Ye' now performing at The 6TH Annual, 2009, Excalibur Fairy Tale Ball through video; great friends and talented artists, Billy Livesay, Steve Argy, and Mark Farner:

"Fairy Tales Do Come True"

Diamond Angels for Joe DiMaggio's Children's Hospital On Face Book








[special thanks to seasidemusicmgnt for video clips]




In its first five years, the Fairy Tale Ball has raised nearly $1.4 million. The partnership with Ray Imperial's Excalibur Classic brings additional fundraising resources to the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation. The Westin Diplomat is a major sponsor of the Fairy Tale Ball.

The Foundation ( www.jdchf.org) raises money to help underwrite the cost of programs and equipment at the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, the leading children's hospital in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Tickets to the Fairy Tale Ball and its activities undoubtedly will be available next year. This year, the golf tournament costs were $250 per player and pro-am tennis were $1,000 per player, which includes two tickets to the evening activities. It was $250 per person for those just attending the banquet and concert.

http://www.diamondangels.org/
http://markfarner.com

Read more...

Mark Farner's 40 Year's 'a Funkin'

40 Years 'a Funkin' Merchandise!

Limited Edition Jackets
Orders welcomed through December[2009]

Read more...

Mark Farner And Chiodos Craig Owens Croon Poe's Poem El Dorado

Mutual respect of musicianship had brought together two talented singer/song writers. Mark Farner of the Classic Hard Rock Original Grand Funk and the Screamo singing style of Craig Owens with Heavy Metal Chiodos. The highly anticipated result is a track titled "El Dorado" that didn't make it on Craig's solo effort when he decided to release only 7 songs on an EP instead of a full CD. Who knows maybe El'Dorado will land on a CD by another favored band...
Here is:

Craig Owens with Chiodos

Mark Farner with the Classic Original Grand Funk

Craig Owens talks about Mark Farner vocal prowess and the "El Dorado" track he collaborated on with him.



Craig Owens performing acoustic Solo El Dorado, Punk Rock Song and I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I said I'm A Wizard


twitter.com/craigeryowens
https://twitter.com/farner9

Read more...

Presentng Mark Farner With The KEY To Hometown Flint!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee has sent us another listless list of inductee's. And, no surprise, due to politics and swayed opinions, the name "Grand Funk Railroad" is bizarrely missing from the vote. Again and again, year after year, Grand Funk Railroad is missing from the list. But, let's not subscribe to all that nor the magazine Empire that makes the elite committee possible.

"It's better than being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"

In mid-August, as I remember it, standing there off to the side of the red carpet. I heard Mayor Dayne Walling present Mark Farner with an impressive black plaque holding the key to Farner's first hometown of Flint, Michigan. Mark was visibly humbled and proud and had this to say to the film crews and fans there on the red bricks of Flinttown: "It's better than being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. To think that the people of my hometown think that much of me means a lot." [See New's article]




August 14, 2009 Mark Farner receives the Key to the city of Flint for his achievements in music.





The little gold plaque Reads: "Mark Farner, Flint's Rock Patriot"





This dedication took place the day before the Atwood Stadium concert. After dinner the band went to do a night time sound check then, Mark did an awesome interview for Flint's own Kettering University radio station, WKUF 94.3
Find Mark with the Butcher Shop Brother's on the Pod Cast Player, Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/butchershopshow




Mark shakes hands with Mayor Walling. To Mark's right is Flint's hostess with the Mostess, Lynn Sorenson, Flint Revival Committee.

Pics by;
Mary N & Sue T

Read more...

Mark Farner's: "The Most Famous Messenger" Guitar

Labor Day was the last day to check out the "Rock Star's Car's and Guitar's" exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. So,I was on a mission to meet the Messenger! Guitar, that is..like the sign say's: "It was Grand Funk's first guitar voice and was used to record the first three albums"

I walked right past the Kiss costumes. Too much makeup,not enough chords. And sure the cars were cool. I did slow down by Elvis' Caddy, Kid Rock's Ride was all right, Alice's Billion Dollar Babies mobile was interesting but, the lure of the Guitar's behind plexiglass pulled me just around the cordoned corner from Janis Joplin's pretty little psychedelic Porsche. Here hangs the Famous and frazzled stringed-ones in suspended animation. One in pieces, from The Who, it was displayed underneath a likely story from Pete Townshed on how it accidentally got smashed when he tripped, creating a signature Axe Assault expectation to their shows. There was an "H" shape guitar from Ian Hunter, A Checker board guitar along with too many other things to care about from Cheap Trick, John Entwistle's Axe from the "Ox" was an "Awww-Wow" attention grabber but, the one many little boys and Farner Fanaticals stopped to fingerprint the glass in front of was that magical Messenger with the sign reading: "The most famous Messenger guitar in the world" Courtesy of MARK FARNER:



I took a picture of every inch of this unique piece of history so when Mark Farner tells his story [click here for tekky interview] I can refer you to:

"The Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Tone" toggle switch! Built right into the guitar. Reached down and flicked it on during a lead.

"The body was HOLLOW. Sound would get in the "F" holes and just feedback and squeal so, I stuffed it full of foam and put duct tape and masking tape on them then, I did a psychedelic paint job on it, kinda glow in the dark a little bit"

"WHY the Messenger? Because my friend, distributor in Michigan, allowed payments on the $200 dollar purchase! Used it up until '71-'72 right up in there..."

"The neck, actually, you didn't run into any wood until the last fret. That's when the body began, so you could play it, it was the same dimension all the way there so, it was very easy to play, aluminum neck and, inside the body was an A440 tuning fork"






The Messenger Axe that became an instrument of Hard Rock at it's masters fiery fingers at the Atlanta Pop Festival, Shea Stadium and huge crowds in America and Japan!




The taped guitar something to be hold! I hope it gets home safe.




And to the right of the legendary Messenger...The Gibson L5S, we'll save that for another story...stay "In Tune"





~Cruizinsuezin

njc2kmhysv

Read more...

C'Mon Baby Do The Local Motion: Mark's In Flint!

The Eagle has landed...Mark Farner in Flint building up momentum.

Local Farner Fans line up to Meet 'n Greet their hometown Rock legend:

Signing Autographs and talking with friends and neighbors:

Interviews:

Flint Revival Booklet:

Mark Farner will Burst through these Gates and give the "40 Years Funkin'" concert of a lifetime right here in Flint...couldn't get much Closer To Home! See Ya There!

For a list of Flint establishments selling tickets: Tickets at: http://www.flintrevival.com
$15.00 pre-show, $20.00 at the gate

Pics by Mary Newton





MARK IS INTERVIEWED ON FLINT TOWNS "THE BUTCHER SHOP" at 10:00 EST
By RT, producer/host of the "Butcher Shop" Radio show on WKUF-LP 94.3 FM, Flint, Michigan USA.
Yes, the in-studio interview with Mr. Farner will be "LIVE" both terrestrial FM broadcast and streaming audio.
The set time for the interview begins at 10:0pm (EST)

Here is the direct link to the stream:

http://webstream.wkuf.org:6232/

The studio call-in line is (810) 762-9725

Read more...

Mark say's: "Alright" I'm Runnin With The Pack in Flint! [Again]

When Mark Farner's speech at the party to announce the Atwood concert in Flint contained his dream of playing Atwood Stadium, it was clear that this would be a heartfelt genuinely special show. He remarked: "Back in '69 when Grand Funk hit big, I always dreamed of playing Atwood Stadium. Here it is 2009, 40 years later and, I'm gonna play Atwwod Stadium!"

Mark Farner, the engine of the Grand Funk train is building up N'rG...momentum is mounting...the anticipation for this huge scale Flint Reviving event is a breath of fresh air! On August 15TH Flint's Atwood Stadium makes history with the gates opening at 10:00AM. Bands start at 11:00 and play all day until around 6:30 when members of Mark's old bands come to jam and lead into his two hour set! Lets see just who Pack O Mojo are:

In the beginning for Mark Farner , before Flint's Famous Funkman was to be the charismatic conductor of Grand Funk Railroad, we find 1964 with the Genesseians as his very first band.

1965 saw Robin's Hoods (aka: The Derelicts) formed with noted musicians Craig Frost and Mike West.

Through 1965 to 1968 Mark was in and out of such Flint area bands as "Terry Knight And The Pack" and "The Fabulous Pack", "Terry Knight And The Fabulous Pack Part II" with a break for "The Bossman" in 1966 where he met Dick Wagner that later went on to produce the album, play and sing back up vocals of the haunting song "Lorraine" from the [1977] solo album: "Mark Farner"

The Hard Rock Year of 1969, with the edition of stolen bass player Mel Schacher (from ?The Mysterians) just the power trio three; Mark, Don and Mel take the world and Grand Funk Railroad blew us away with their freight train full of Funk!

So you see, the band going on just before Mark Farner: Pac O Mojo are life-long friends and musicians in their own right.




Curt Johnson [guitar] from The Nightwalkers with Mark, The Pack And/Or Fabulous Pack (4/'67-4/'67) Curt also landed the job of Grand Funk sound man during the rigorous touring years.

Dennis Bellinger ( Coolie Group '68 and The Pack [Mark on lead vocals of both bands that Summer]) Grand Funk reunion tour included Dennis on bass 1980 to 1983 when Grand Funk once again, dis-banded

Mark Performs "I'm Your Captain" With Curt And Dennis At Jester's In Flint

The Pack




The Fabulous and the Famous! Let The Funk Fly!

Preceding Pack O Mojo and Mark with N'rG will be local talent drawn from the musical melding pot that is Flint's gift to the Indie world!

Mark Farner and N'rG play that good ol' Axe-Kickin' Grand Funk Rock 'n Roll PLUS, some Farner Flavored, NEW, Funked Up, For The People, For The Flintoids, For The Flint Revival, For 2 hours...For Heaven's Sakes be there!

That's two hours of the Fabulous and the Famous! Rock bands from the Flint area melding pot personally dipped into by Mike Abrahams of "Mikes Triple Grille" in downtown Flint! Get tickets by going to: http://www.flintrevival.com and locally at the MARK FARNER ticket BOX office downtown Flint, at Kearsley and South Saginaw.

Downtown Businessman Tom Z is buying tickets to give away to the unemployed. Stop by his restaurant and ask. Tom has been promoting the concert on his electronic billboard.

Elecro Billboard at: 3010 N Saginaw St~Flint, MI 48505~(810) 787-1111

New Mayor Dayne Walling will be asked to designate a Mark Farner Day and award him the key to City. This will be done a t a 103.9 remote promotion. He will also have a role on stage during the concert before Mark Farner.

The VIP tent is $100 for admission. This gets seating next to the stage, food, under a tent, cash bar and bathrooms near. General admisison seats are $15 advance, $20 day of the event. I'll be there with bells on...Bell bottom jeans that is!

Let's all keep fully hydrated with the special Farner N'rG Stimulus Ade:

Special Thanks to:
Terry Bankert for sharing info from: http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/

Read more...

Fill It Up With Funk Please Or, Rock 'n Roll Soul Slurpee

Tell Ev'rybody ya know'ooo...
You got some Rock 'n Roll Soul...in your SLURPEE CUP!

Yep,the 70's were COOL...
Does not get much cooler than a Grand Funk Slurpee from the 7-11 Carry Out

FILL IT WITH FUNK PLEASE!

Don Brewer and Mel Schacher

"FUNKY STUFF" FLAVOR!

Mark Farner

"Oh Thank Heaven For 7-11"

Pics courtesy of the Sensational Allee Willis blog on:
www.alleewillis.com/blog/category/famous/

Read more...

The Hunk-Of-Funk Now Appearing On Billboards In Hometown

What's Mark Farner UP to these days you ask? Well, IN and Around Flint, Michigan, we'd say he's up to maybe 12 feet or more off The ground! It's Flint's finest marketing Mark with multiple Banners, Lighted Displays, Handbills and Billboards:

Flint's Farmer's Market Banner
Farner Tickets Sold Every Saturday



Raffle Poster
Proceeds To Benefit "Mission Of Hope"Homeless Shelter, Win An Autographed Guitar!
Contact: http://flintrevival.com/



Lighted Displays



Billboards




Photo credits:Terry Blankert



Forty Years Funkin' Collectors T-Shirts available at: MARKFARNER.COM

Read more...

Farner Show's Us~Summer Kind Of Wonderful In Port Huron

July 17th, Friday FARNER SHOW IS; SUMMER KIND OF WONDERFUL~PORT HURON

Guest Blogger; Cruizinsuezin;

Ah Summer concerts...And another great trip to see my favorite musing-musician, soulful singin', guitar slingin', Shaman-showman, Fit as a finely tuned fiddle...the man Ringo Star calls: "Mr. Grand Funk Railroad himself"...Mark Farner!"

Seriously, the crowd goes wild and I am in the front rearing and whinnying like a filly of fifteen again! And since it's the third time around for fifteen, I'm much better at it and enjoying it so much more! Yeah, Mark can make ya feel like that.

But the getting there is always worth the effort and fun too. So I'll start with the multi-tasking I did during the two hour cruise up to Port Huron... I let the time spent driving benefit my concert psych-up ritual. Remember those? I day-dreamed about how my friends and I used to always do concert psych-ups in the 70's man. We'd listen to the artist for days before the concert. We'd play ALL their albums the day of the show. We'd save all the best uh, stuff for this show then,We'd let the build up explode once we'd get in the great groove that only Grand Funk Railroad got us in to. The Funk band would be gettin' down with us as one big communing party as we'd all inhale "that funky stuff" and blew it their way...togetha Forever!

So, with these fond memories to tickle my fancy, I slid "On Time" [Funk's first] into the player and let the music move me as I traveled at 70 Miles Per Hour forward with the 70's retrospection in the rear view mirror. Psychedelia, and music that can never be reproduced in the same righteous spirit. Sadly to me, the innocence before media manipulation is history. The daze of days gone by. Back when peace was our collective agenda...it lives here in the magic sound that Messenger has...What depth of lyrics...What a great voice... And, then the melancholic mist lifted and I realized I'm about to make it to the meet & greet through Mark's "Closer To Home" Fan club! You guessed it...That thought drove my foot to hit 80 MPH as I'm thinkin': "I gotta get there [On Time]" Next thing I know I'm meeting Mark's kind concert concierge "Liz" who hands me a cool "40 Years Funkin'" patch and a VIP ticket! What happens next is not for the squeamish, I know it's not bear baiting season yet but, next was a "howdy do" bear hug from Mark himself! I was still in "shock and awe" when a camera flash went off... Shocked that he'd do that and, "awe it was worth the two hour drive for that! "

Mark Farner concerts are many things if your there to receive.The music has so many timeless and new ideas. It creates this time portal and I adore dancing through it. I always end up grinning like I'm crazy about classic rock 'n roll but, if you sit on your gluteus maximus and watch Mark on the venue's LED screen..it is, and shall always be, your choice which set of cheeks are sore a little later! Let's make a pact to always show this charismatic artist the ut most respect by getting up and shakin' what God gave us while we still can! I wasn't sure I should mention this and the thought that I almost didn't kinda bothers me...Hope you "get it" and I hope I get it right... Mark in announcing he's a Christian from the stage, told us one day he asked, something like this: "God should I cuss?" and the answer was: "I don't give a shit" It was really funny! Thank God for humor, that's where we got it!

At this show and the many I've been to in the past, the guitar playing was seemingly effortless. The Funk tunes flourish with that Parker guitar in Farner's strong hands. It's something I'm so used to I might forget to appreciate it. This night the vocals were behind me and the guitar is most of what I heard....Three guitar lessons and forty-five year's experience flowing through those fingers! And "We The People" are the benefactors of this Grand Funk-straight shootin' guitar'd government. And why does he do it? For the People..for the passion...It's The Same Ol' Feelin' from the Rock Patriot.

Songs that soul soothing voice graced us with are in no particular order here as I tend to live in the moment at these things, blissed out, singing along, ....Oh, I can't relay how Fun these shows are but, here's a few jams that lit me up with that "perma-grin" I like to wear on the weekends; Are You Ready, Aimless Lady, Creepin', The Railroad, Sin's A Good Man's Brother, Badtime, We're An American Band, Some Kinda Wonderful, Locomotion, Same Ol' Feelin', Closer To Home!

It was beautiful man...the voice of Grand Funk Railroad, with the same dynamics the past power trio possessed. When the songs were recorded with the original GFR as a three piece, Mark performs them with just the bass, guitar and drums! True to the sound...True to the way we want to hear it...Loud, proud and powerful...melodic, patriotic and hard rockin'! Any promoters that put Mark on their stage and his great entourage in the side lights will never be sorry...Nicest professionals you'll ever love meeting...For Summer Festivals...Mark Farner is the group we've been waiting to see...Only the original is Summer Kind Of Wonderful

Read more...

Farner Music Is Born In The USA...Forty Year's Funkin'

High Noon and High Temperatures saturated sound and souls back in '69 as Mark, Don and Mel stepped onto the stage and into history on that July fourth at International Speedway in Georgia! With a full head of steam...Grand Funk Railroad moved their audience to a gutsy groove most remember to this day...forty years later!

It was 1969, and Alex Cooley's Festival brain child was born on the same day three guys from the garage band circuit in Flint would choose to make history. The birth of America, July 4th, the birth of festivals in the Southern regions, and the birth of Grand Funk Railroad from this day and forevermore! This was one great and groovy celebration of peace during the Vietnam War trauma. Over 100,000 people witnessed this prelude to the 70's era of epic Rock and Roll. After record execs saw the hold that the "power trio" had over their audience the Funkers were signed to their first record deal...and, the Hard Rock Railroad rolls out; "On Time."

The poster depicts today's Super-Stars that were then upstarts;
[courtesy of; alexcooley.com

]

Indeed a "ticket to paradise"




A festival of Music, Love and Peace
From the Grand Funk album titled:"Survival" Liner notes;
(Even if this story is a bit contrived, it's true to the spirit of the tremendous event)

" I don't think I'll ever forget those expressions as they wiped the sweat from their eyes in disbelief and watched that giant sea of faces,more than 180,000 strong,rise in unison and roar out a thunder of approval so loud that,to this day,they still talk about hearing it down on Peachtree St.,a full ten miles from the site. And I'll remember the look in their eyes when the hush fell over the crowd as Mark asked for quiet,and room for the young mother to give birth to her child on the blanket by the bales of hay near the front row. The next day they saw their first reviews in print- all damning critical prophecies that decreed,along with New Life that hot July day in Atlanta, had somehow come what would surely prove to be the most grotesque of all of Rock's children. Two infants had been born that day,they wrote,and one was named GRAND FUNK RAILROAD. The press gave odds that neither would survive the catastrophe.This album is joyfully dedicated to that child, their Brother, from Mark, Don, and Mel." [TK~~RIP]

[Mark Farner's signature solo move]

Jul 4, 2009 4:59 AM
"OMG !!! I was there!!!!!! I had run away from home and we all rode to Atlanta in an old bread truck. That was my first concert of any kind and my gosh, it was awesome. Well, what I remember of it anyway....if you know what I mean...lol. Thousands of people just wandering...music everywhere....people yelling for "medic" all the time....dirt, mud, jumping in the close by river with nothing on but a smile. When we first got there of course you were supposed to present your ticket and go thru the gate...yeah, like that happened. It was "down with the gate" and some bikers were supposed to be controlling the masses but that didn't work out very well for them. CHARGE !! We were thru and the days began. Unfortunately, I don't recall many of the music acts that played. My mind was just a tad bit on the messed up side. I was there for the whole thing but only remember Jimi Hendrix (barely)...I think it was him anyway. I was pretty out of it and someone kept telling me to get up and listen to him...but I was just laying on the ground as happy as could be. Theres alot more fuzzy memories that I have but won't go into all of those. I just know it was a blast....wish I could go back there one more time. Loved it." [from Kim Z.]



Peace and Love reign in Hampton's International Speedway;

For show info, "Forty Year's Funkin'" merchandise, fan club memberships, music, etc., Visit; MARKFARNER.COM

Read more...