More then the title says…
Written: Mar 07 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Insightful… CD included and great pictures
Cons: Availability limited. Kind of hard to find unless you want to go on the Internet
The Bottom Line: GFR and/or Mark Farner fans will enjoy this book. Some may find it too short, and in some ways it is, but it still is worth the price.
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| Ybo's Full Review: From Grand Funk to Grace: The Authorized Biography... |
After reading Aunt Bee's book "The American Band the story of GFR" a couple of years ago I was looking forward to Mark's book filling in the spaces. Where the former book took on the more musical side of GFR, Mark fills in a lot of what it was like BEING in GFR. He answers questions, and brings up a few with it.
The book starts off though long before GFR, Mark as a child, how his father died tragically when he was 9 years, his siblings, the influence of his mother and other family members on his life and music. Mark came from a musical family. Seemed almost every one played an instrument or sang.
Mark describes when he first started playing guitar, getting kicked out of school and then joining the Pack where he met up with Don Brewer and Terry Knight. There are interviews with Mark's siblings, friends and relatives.
The book goes into detail on his Pack days and then into the early GFR days of playing in a rented hall. It didn't take long though for the trio to hit it big at the Atlanta Rock festival.
The best interviews in the book are the ones the Roadies tell. They are funny and not at all what you would think a "party" band would be into. This of course dose not mean Mark and his band mates were squeaky clean. Mark does tell of his marijuana use over the years, his failed marriage, his relationship with Donna Hall the back up singer for Wet Willie the band that traveled with GFR during one of their later tours and the child she had which he didn't even know about for several years and did not even meet until recently.
His love story of meeting his wife Lesia when he was in his late 20's and she only 15. The two hit it off though and Mark married Lesia when she was 16. They had it rough and go into detail of the how they split but were brought back together when they both "found Jesus" on the same day, and have been happy since. The "grace" part of Mark's book comes into big play from here.
The book does go into detail about the GFR breakup and Mark's career after that, mostly he set his mind on farming before going more into Christian music, and his accomplishments there.
The GFR reunion is also written about and how that ended on a bad note much the same as first time.
Since then Mark has concentrated on his solo career, which he seems happy doing.
The book is chocked full of pictures, discography, and a bonus CD of music never released by Mark. If ordered through his web site, Mark and the author Kristopher Englehart will autograph each copy.
My only big problem with the book was the lack of interviews with Mark's first wife, Cheryl and his former girlfriend Donna Hall. Both are mentioned and talked about quite a bit in the book, but neither are quoted. The book is also hard to find outside the Internet, although the bigger book stores may have it.
There has been an updated edition since the book was put out about a year ½ ago, but it only includes a few pictures and an updated discography. If you have the original book it's not worth paying up to $25 for this one.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read much as Aunt Bee's was. If you love GFR or are a Mark Farner this is a must have.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Ybo
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Member: Yvonne Graf
Location: Farmington, Minnesota
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
The good times are better then the bad times are bad.
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