''We're an American Band'' is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succ ...

, credited as Grand Funk. The album was released by Capitol Records on July 15, 1973 (see 1973 in music) and was certified gold by the RIAA a little over a month after its release. Two singles were released from the album. The first single, " We're an American Band", was released on July 2, 1973 and the second, " Walk Like a Man", was released on October 29, 1973. Both singles were sung by drummer Don Brewer. There is an addition to the band on this release - Craig Frost - who plays the organ, clavinet and Moog. Craig was credited as an additional musician on ''Phoenix'' which was released the previous year. The album cover was originally covered in gold-colored foil on the outside, and the initial run of pressings were pressed in clear, dark yellow vinyl to simulate or suggest a "gold" record. The album has been reissued many times and is currently available in the

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

format. A Quadraphonic mix of the album was available in the Quadraphonic 8-Track cartridge format. The album is #200 of the

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(NARM) Definitive 200 albums of all time.

Recording, production, artwork, and packaging

''We're an American Band'' was the group's first collaboration with producer/

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

. Rundgren and the band recorded the album at

Criteria Studios Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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on June 13–15, 1973. Rundgren would go on to produce the band's next album, '' Shinin' On'' (1974), before the band switched to

Jimmy Ienner Jimmy Ienner ( ; born ) is an American music producer, best known for producing albums for such artists as Bay City Rollers, The Raspberries and Three Dog Night. Biography He went to Stamford (Connecticut) High School and graduated in 1963. He ...

. The album's original issue, as well as the "We're an American Band" single, was on translucent yellow vinyl, symbolic of a '

Gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

'. The album labels, above the side numbers, instructed listeners to play "at full volume". It included four stickers (two blue, and two red) with the Grand Funk "Pointing Finger" logo. Emphasizing the shortening of the group's name, the word "Railroad" does not appear anywhere on the album sleeve, liner, or vinyl record, except as the title of the first song on side two of the album.

Reception

Upon the album's release, ''We're an American Band'' became the band's best received album by critics, so far. Robert Christgau gave the album a B−, his highest rating for a Grand Funk Railroad album at the time (although '' Shinin' On'' (1974) and '' Grand Funk Hits'' (1976) would receive a B and B+, respectively). A modern review of the album by William Ruhlmann for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

stated that the album was a departure from the band's usual material, which was mostly due to Todd Rundgren's production and

Don Brewer Donald George Brewer (born September 3, 1948) is an American drummer and singer. He is the longest serving and only remaining original member of rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Early life Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan, on September 3, 19 ...

's increase in lead vocal work. Ruhlmann also said that the album sounded more professional than their previous ones. It peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200, the band's highest position on the chart, but spent one week at number 1 on the Cash Box, and Record World album charts.

Track listing

Personnel

''Per sleeve notes'' *

Mark Farner Mark Fredrick Farner (born September 29, 1948) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a contemporary Christian musician. Earl ...

– vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, conga; electric piano on "Creepin'" *

Craig Frost Craig Frost (born April 20, 1948 in Flint, Michigan) is the keyboardist for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. He is also known as keyboardist for 1970s hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. He plays organ, synthesizers, and piano. Frost exp ...

– organ, clavinet, electric piano, Moog *

Mel Schacher Melvin George Schacher (born April 8, 1951) is an American musician who is the bassist of the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Early career Schacher was born in Owosso, Michigan, and was raised in Flint, Michigan. He became interested in ...

– bass *

– vocals, drums, percussion

Production

''Per sleeve notes'' *

– producer,

* Francesco Damanti –

* Seth Snyder – assistant engineer * Lynn Goldsmith & Andrew Cavaliere – album design and concept * Lynn Goldsmith –

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* John Hoernle – art direction * Andrew Cavaliere –

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Charts

;Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:We're An American Band 1973 albums Grand Funk Railroad albums Albums produced by Todd Rundgren Capitol Records albums