Terry Knight - Grand Funk Railroad

Grand Funk Railroad

Still working as a producer with Capitol, Knight renewed his connection with two former Pack members, guitarist Mark Farner and drummer Don Brewer. Knight encouraged the two to add a new bass player and become a "power trio" along the lines of Cream. The group quickly added former Mysterians bassist Mel Schacher and changed their name to "Grand Funk Railroad." While becoming their manager-producer, Knight helped steer the trio to international fame, beginning with his getting them onto the bill---for free---at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival. This live performance convinced Capitol to sign the trio. For the next two years, Grand Funk Railroad became the most popular rock attraction in the United States despite mixed critical reviews that Knight cannily exploited as part of their appeal; he also discovered and produced the Fort Worth, Texas group Bloodrock, who hit the Top 40 in early 1971 with the unlikely death anthem "D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival)."

Between Grand Funk and Bloodrock, Knight racked up an unprecedented eight gold albums while simultaneously waging a war of words with Rolling Stone over the magazine's frequent pannings of the two acts. But by early 1972, both Grand Funk and Bloodrock had severed their professional relations with Knight. In Grand Funk's case, it involved court actions that kept the band tied up for almost two full years; they'd demanded full royalty accounting and accused Knight of double-dipping as manager-producer while the trio hadn't been getting all the monies they'd earned. For his part, Knight would claim the band had had only three months left on their contract with him when they first took him to court and could have been free with half the legal aggravation; the trio ultimately won their separation from Knight but at heavy cost, before adding keyboard player Craig Frost and continuing a successful recording and touring career through 1976.