Sunday, November 8, 2009

Name-Droppers: We're An American Band


Grand Funk Railroad: We're An American Band

[purchase]

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...


Bluesman Freddie King, who toured on the rock circuit for much of his career, died in the mid seventies, but his stirring combination of open-string Texas blues and the "raw, screaming tones" of West Side Chicago blues lives on in the work of bluesmen from Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughn. Meanwhile, post-blues rock band Grand Funk Railroad's anthemic, stadium-rockin' take on the quintessential touring band experience is said to be based on a true story of hanging with King backstage, presumably at some double-bill or festival, and I love the montage that plays in my head when I hear the lyric.

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