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Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier
That's a pretty good article but I'd say the real reason why Grand Funk Railroad aren't remembered in the way as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are is that 1) They failed to evolve musically as the above three bands did (they tried though) 2) Once they became huge they were happy putting out average material. 3) They had their second chance with Todd Rundgren but once he went they lacked direction again 4) They were an American band playing heavy rock, meaning that they were treated like a latest fashion, rather than part of American musical culture like say the Beach Boys etc. 5) The American music scene of the 1970s was far less accepting of heavy rock as a whole than the UK one, despite the fact that the big three British bands were selling by the million there (the US still had a fixation with British bands in the 1970s) Apart from Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper the US was starved of popular heavy rocks in the early to mid 1970s.
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I don't really think that Black Sabbath can be used as a example of a band that evolved unless you count when Ozzy left and other singers took over. Their first second third and fourth albums all sounded pretty similar in my opinion. As for Grand Funk not evolving. They chose to do cover songs which most bands when they became huge would never have entertained that idea. They also added a organist by the time Phoenix came out which totally evolved the band's sound. In the grand scheme of things they made some great albums and some terrible ones, but in all there was 13 actual albums, 4 live albums and 25 singles ( really?) They have left their signature on the American music scene for anyone who chooses to find out about them.