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Don Brewer (born September 3, 1948 in Flint, Michigan) is the drummer for American rock band Grand Funk Railroad.

Early life

Don was born in Flint, Michigan on September 3, 1948 and is a graduate of Swartz Creek High School. He joined his first band, called The Red Devils, at the age of 12. His second band was the Jazzmasters, and he performed both drums and vocals for this band.

Early career

In 1964 Don joined a band named Terry Knight and the Pack which brought him national success.

Grand Funk Railroad

In 1968 Don left Terry Knight and the Pack along with fellow bandmate Mark Farner and recruited Mel Schacher, the bassist for the hit band ? and the mysterians, and formed Grand Funk Railroad, a permutation of the name of a Canadian Railroad that also went into Michigan. railroad. They hired Terry Knight as their manager, also from ? and the Mysterians.

In 1974, Grand Funk released "We're An American Band". The title track, written by Brewer, was the band's first #1 single. Still popular, the song has since been recorded by other artists.

In addition to playing drums for Grand Funk, Brewer also supplied lead vocals for a number of songs, as evidenced by the first and third verses of the song "Some Kind Of Wonderful". ¹ Brewer was the baritone lead singer for the group, in contrast to the tenor vocals of Mark Farner.

In 1977, following the initial breakup of Grand Funk, Brewer and former Grand Funk bandmates Schacher and Frost formed a new band, Flint. Flint released one self-titled album before disbanding.

In 1981, Brewer and Farner resurrected Grand Funk for an album that cracked the Billboard albums chart. Two years later, they split again and Brewer joined Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. He also continued in other musical endeavors, including producing for the band The Godz.

In 1996 Brewer, Schacher, and Farner reunited as Grand Funk, and were eventually named one of Pollstar's top-grossing acts of 1998. Farner decided to leave the band at the end of 1998 to resume his solo career. Brewer and Schacher added vocalist Max Carl, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and keyboardist Tim Cashion to the line-up. The newest incarnation of Grand Funk Railroad debuted in 2000, and continues to tour regularly.

In 2000, Don performed as a guest clinician at Modern Drummer Magazine's annual Drum Festival event, where he was honored as one of the most influential drummers in the history of rock.

Don has currently rejoined the Silver Bullet Band for its 2006-07 tour, his first appearance since he played with it during its 1983 tour.

Other Drumming

Don Was featured in Classic Rock Drum Solos, performing a solo from when he and Grand Funk Railroad filled up Shea Stadium.

References

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