Grand Funk’s ‘Gold’ Record Actually Became A Gold Record
We’re An American Band Album Cover
Welcome to ‘Behind The Cover.’ This is a special feature brought to you by Pure Music Manufacturing and explores the music and story behind many of the most recognizable album covers in the music world.
American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad released their seventh studio album on July 1973. It was titled, “We’re An American Band” and was credited to just Grand Funk. In less than a month after it was released, the RIAA gave the album the gold certification. The disc produced two singles, ‘We’re An American Band’ and ‘Walk Like A Man.’ The title track peaked at the top spot on the US Billboard Hot 100, reached #4 on Canada’s RPM Top Singles chart and #87 on the Kent Music Report in Australia. Both singles had the odd distinction of being sung by the band’s drummer, Don Brewer.
The album artwork was prophetic in a way. It appears in a gold colour with just the band name and album title in black. When it was originally released, the cover was also wrapped in gold-coloured foil on the outside. Plus, the first run of pressings saw the disc pressed in a clear, dark yellow vinyl. Everything about the album appearance hinted at this being a gold record and the coloured vinyl helped to solidify that visual in the minds of those who played the disc on their home stereos.
Even the first single, ‘We’re An American Band’ was pressed in the same clear, dark yellow vinyl to symbolize a ‘gold record.’ Frequently, a special release such as this is usually reserved for just radio stations but this particular single was released to the general public with the gold-coloured vinyl. Although there has never been a full explanation from the band as to why they chose this approach, it did become an effective marketing tool. It was easy to spot on record store shelves and was most likely referred to by many as “that gold record.”
As an added bonus, labels on the album provided valuable instructions. Located above the side numbers were the words “play at full volume” and there were a total of four stickers included in the package. Two were blue, the others were red and they featured the Grand Funk ‘pointing finger’ logo. Plus, the word ‘railroad’ does not appear on any portion of the packaging to assist with the ‘new’ rebranding of the group as Grand Funk rather than Grand Funk Railroad. Well, that is if you don’t count the title of the first song on side two. The album has been re-released frequently and was recognized by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers for its unique packaging and is listed in their top 200 list.
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