Never Number One: Grand Funk Railroad

This portrait of Grand Funk Railroad appeared on the cover of "E Pluribus Funk," which was released in a package shaped like an oversized coin.

Although they managed a #1 single (“We’re an American Band,” 1973), the fact that Grand Funk Railroad never had a #1 album is surprising, given that they sold ‘em by the boxcar load during the first half of the 1970s.

In 1970 alone, Grand Funk Railroad charted three albums; two of them, Closer to Home and Live Album, were certified double platinum, with sales of over two million, although they reached only #6 and #5 respectively on Billboard’s national album chart. The band did the #6/#5 shuffle a second time with the 1971 albums Survival and E Pluribus Funk.

The 1972 album Mark, Don & Mel, a two-disc compilation of early tracks, missed the top 10, but the late ’72 release Phoenix didn’t. Then, in the summer of 1973, We’re an American Band blasted to #2, kept from the top by the Allman Brothers Band‘s Brothers and Sisters. (It was the first album to officially bear the group name Grand Funk, as distinct from Grand Funk Railroad.)

From that point on, Grand Funk’s Top-10 albums were powered by major hit singles, which hadn’t been the case before We’re an American Band. Shinin’ On contained two; All the Girls in the World Beware!!! contained two more. The latter was the final Grand Funk album to reach the Top 10.

Grand Funk was never a critical darling, but they could laugh about that all the way to the bank. Here’s some vintage video of “Closer to Home” at Shea Stadium in New York City in 1971, a show at which they broke a record for fastest sellout that had been set by the Beatles.

Read about more songs, albums, and artists who were Never Number One.