We're an American Band (song)
Encyclopedia
"We're an American Band" (from the album of the same name
) is a 1973
song by the band Grand Funk Railroad
. It was the group's first number one single. Written by Don Brewer
and produced by Todd Rundgren
, the huge chart success of this single broadened Grand Funk's appeal to a much wider audience. The song was also sung by Brewer rather than Mark Farner, who usually took lead vocals.
It is the 99th song on VH1
's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.
, as well as stopping to party with four groupies that sneak into their hotel in Omaha, Nebraska
. The lyrics also mention "sweet sweet Connie", which is the first name of legendary groupie
Connie Hamzy
.
According to rock critic/writer Dave Marsh
in his book, The Heart of Rock and Soul, Grand Funk was touring with the British group Humble Pie
in early 1973. After one performance, the two groups were drinking in a bar when the two groups began arguing over the merits of British versus American rock. Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer
stood up and after bragging about American rock heroes such as Jerry Lee Lewis
, Fats Domino
, Little Richard
and Elvis Presley
, proudly announced, "We're an American band!" Thus inspired, Brewer wrote the song the next morning, and it was the top-selling song in the world by September 1973. A video was also made, showing the band playing the song as well as engaging in activities such as basketball, dirtbike riding and watersports.
The original single was released on gold transparent vinyl.
The song is played near the beginning of the movie Sahara
when the characters are aboard the NUMA ship.
.
This song is a downloadable song for Rock Band 3
.
Electronic rocker Nash the Slash
recorded the song as the implied title track of his 1984 album, American Band-ages, which consists of cover versions of classic rock songs, and also issued it as a single. This version begins with a 1950s jazz-pop arrangement of the theme song from American Bandstand
with a pop vocal group singing the chorus lyrics of "We're an American Band" to that tune, before it abruptly turns into a full electronic rock version of the Grand Funk song. Since Nash plays all the instruments on his records, the lyrics are changed to: "I'm an American band, I come into your town, I'm gonna burn it down". Nash is Canadian.
Autograph
covered the song in November 1985 and had it added to their second album That’s the Stuff in early 1986, replacing the original track #6, which was released in October 1985. The "Up all night with Freddie King
, I got to tell you poker's his thing" portion early in the song is replaced by "Up all night, sleep all day, I got to tell you that's how we play" for unknown reasons, possibly because of King's death ten years earlier.
Poison
covered the song and released it as a single with a music video for their The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock
compilation which peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200. The song was slightly changed replacing the line "And we proceeded to tear that hotel down" with the line "And Poison tore that hotel down."
It was also on the Poison cover album Poison'd.
Kid Rock
covered the song during one year's MTV Video Music Awards
, substituting "We'll help you party down" with "We'll take your panties
down".
Accordion
-based rock band Those Darn Accordions
parodied
this song as "We're An Accordion Band", substituting many of the lyrics with references to famous accordion players such as Myron Florin and Flaco "The King" Jimenez"
. They replace "We'll help you party down" with "We'll help you polka
down".
Jackyl
covered the song for their 1998 compilation release Choice Cuts utilizing Jesse Dupree's unique vocal style.
The Village People
, as well as Phish
, cover the song as part of their live repertoire.
The Hardcore Punk Band Verbal Abuse
covered the song on their Just An American Band LP in 1983.
Singers Aly & AJ have covered this song for Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1
.
We're an American Band
We're An American Band is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, credited as Grand Funk. The album was released by Capitol Records on July 15, 1973 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America a little over a month after its release. Two...
) is a 1973
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
song by the band Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...
. It was the group's first number one single. Written by Don Brewer
Don Brewer
Don Brewer is the drummer and co-lead singer for American rock band Grand Funk Railroad.- Early life :Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan on September 3, 1948 and is a graduate of Swartz Creek High School....
and produced by Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, the huge chart success of this single broadened Grand Funk's appeal to a much wider audience. The song was also sung by Brewer rather than Mark Farner, who usually took lead vocals.
It is the 99th song on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.
Lyrics
Brewer's lyrics are somewhat autobiographical, detailing the band's recent tour and their energetic live performances. In the song, the band mentions traveling through Little Rock, ArkansasLittle Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, as well as stopping to party with four groupies that sneak into their hotel in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. The lyrics also mention "sweet sweet Connie", which is the first name of legendary groupie
Groupie
A groupie is a person who seeks emotional and sexual intimacy with a musician or other celebrity. "Groupie" is derived from group in reference to a musical group, but the word is also used in a more general sense, especially in casual conversation....
Connie Hamzy
Connie Hamzy
"Sweet" Connie Hamzy is an American woman from Little Rock, Arkansas who is best known as a groupie who claims to have had sex with numerous rock musicians...
.
According to rock critic/writer Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
in his book, The Heart of Rock and Soul, Grand Funk was touring with the British group Humble Pie
Humble Pie (band)
Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...
in early 1973. After one performance, the two groups were drinking in a bar when the two groups began arguing over the merits of British versus American rock. Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer
Don Brewer
Don Brewer is the drummer and co-lead singer for American rock band Grand Funk Railroad.- Early life :Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan on September 3, 1948 and is a graduate of Swartz Creek High School....
stood up and after bragging about American rock heroes such as Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, proudly announced, "We're an American band!" Thus inspired, Brewer wrote the song the next morning, and it was the top-selling song in the world by September 1973. A video was also made, showing the band playing the song as well as engaging in activities such as basketball, dirtbike riding and watersports.
The original single was released on gold transparent vinyl.
In film
The song is played as backdrop music during a high school football game in the film Radio.The song is played near the beginning of the movie Sahara
Sahara (2005 film)
Sahara is a 2005 action-comedy adventure film directed by Breck Eisner and based on the best-selling book of the same name by Clive Cussler...
when the characters are aboard the NUMA ship.
In television
- This song was used on ABC'sAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Life on MarsLife on Mars (U.S. TV series)Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC...
with Sam Tyler (Jason O'MaraJason O'MaraJason O'Mara is an Irish actor who starred in the American television network dramas In Justice and Life on Mars. He now appears in the Fox series Terra Nova.- Career :He performed with The Royal Shakespeare Company...
) impersonating Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
while dancing to it. - In an episode of SupernaturalSupernaturalThe supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
, this song was being played out of Dean's 1967 Chevrolet ImpalaChevrolet ImpalaThe Chevrolet Impala is a full-size automobile built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced for the 1958 model year. Deriving its name from the southern African antelope, Chevrolet's most expensive passenger model through 1965 had become the best-selling automobile in the United...
as they drove by the wannabe ghost hunters. - The song is featured in a General Motors commercial.
- The song is featured in an episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
called "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her HomerThe Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" is the season premiere of The Simpsons’ eighteenth season and first aired September 10, 2006. Lisa meets Fat Tony's son, Michael, who does not want to enter the family business of the mafia, but wants to pursue his dream of being a chef...
" as Otto plays the song on his cassette player while ignoring Lisa.
In video gaming
This song was used in the rhythm video game Guitar Hero 5Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles...
.
This song is a downloadable song for Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
.
Subsequent versions
The band Americade covered the song for their 1982 album release American Metal and the corresponding video won "Best New Video" (one of six nominated summer rock videos) on MTV July 3 and 4, 1983 announced by Lindsay Buckingham and VJ Alan Hunter.Electronic rocker Nash the Slash
Nash the Slash
Nash the Slash is a Canadian musician. Though a multi-instrumentalist, he is known primarily for playing electric violin and mandolin, as well as harmonica, keyboards, glockenspiel, and other instruments .Nash worked as a solo artist beginning in 1975, then founded the progressive rock band FM in...
recorded the song as the implied title track of his 1984 album, American Band-ages, which consists of cover versions of classic rock songs, and also issued it as a single. This version begins with a 1950s jazz-pop arrangement of the theme song from American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
with a pop vocal group singing the chorus lyrics of "We're an American Band" to that tune, before it abruptly turns into a full electronic rock version of the Grand Funk song. Since Nash plays all the instruments on his records, the lyrics are changed to: "I'm an American band, I come into your town, I'm gonna burn it down". Nash is Canadian.
Autograph
Autograph (American band)
Autograph was an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California.-Formation:Autograph began in late 1983 originally as a solo project for singer, songwriter & guitarist Steve Plunkett, who had recently left the band Silver Condor, due to his frustration with their lack of interest in recording...
covered the song in November 1985 and had it added to their second album That’s the Stuff in early 1986, replacing the original track #6, which was released in October 1985. The "Up all night with Freddie King
Freddie King
Freddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert...
, I got to tell you poker's his thing" portion early in the song is replaced by "Up all night, sleep all day, I got to tell you that's how we play" for unknown reasons, possibly because of King's death ten years earlier.
Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
covered the song and released it as a single with a music video for their The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock
The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock
The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock is a compilation album from the American rock band Poison, released to celebrate the band's 20 year anniversary. It has sold more than 1 million copies to date in the U.S as of September 2009....
compilation which peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200. The song was slightly changed replacing the line "And we proceeded to tear that hotel down" with the line "And Poison tore that hotel down."
It was also on the Poison cover album Poison'd.
Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
covered the song during one year's MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, substituting "We'll help you party down" with "We'll take your panties
Panties
Panties are a form of underwear, usually light and snug-fitting, designed to be worn by women or girls in the area directly below the waist. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genital area , and a pair of leg openings which, like the waistband, are often...
down".
Accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
-based rock band Those Darn Accordions
Those Darn Accordions
Those Darn Accordions are an American accordion band from San Francisco, California, originally formed in 1989. Their original songs cover a variety of musical genres -- from rock and funk to polka and even swing. Their repertoire also includes occasional covers of popular songs. The band...
parodied
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
this song as "We're An Accordion Band", substituting many of the lyrics with references to famous accordion players such as Myron Florin and Flaco "The King" Jimenez"
Flaco Jiménez
Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is a Tejano music accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. Jiménez's father, Santiago Jiménez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music. He began performing with his father at age seven and recording at age fifteen, as a member of Los Caporales...
. They replace "We'll help you party down" with "We'll help you polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
down".
Jackyl
Jackyl
Jackyl is an American rock band formed in 1990. Their sound has been described as hard rock, heavy metal and Southern metal.The band is probably best-known for its song "The Lumberjack", which features a chainsaw solo by lead singer Jesse James Dupree. On the recording, Dupree alternately revs the...
covered the song for their 1998 compilation release Choice Cuts utilizing Jesse Dupree's unique vocal style.
The Village People
Village People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
, as well as Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
, cover the song as part of their live repertoire.
The Hardcore Punk Band Verbal Abuse
Verbal Abuse
Verbal Abuse is a hardcore punk band, originally from Houston, Texas, but which became successful after moving to San Francisco.Verbal Abuse was started in Houston, Texas in 1981 after singer and songwriter Nicki Sicki quit the band Sick Pleasure and moved to Virginia, then back to Texas when he...
covered the song on their Just An American Band LP in 1983.
Singers Aly & AJ have covered this song for Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1
Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1
Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 is the first studio album by record producer Randy Jackson. The album was released on March 11, 2008. Jackson himself did not sing on the songs on Music Club, but he did produce them all....
.