Mark, Don & Mel have said in interviews and also
to many fans, that the majority of their songs were
worked up in jam sessions by all three members. Mark
would usually record these jams on tape and if he liked
the music, he would come up with lyrics to the song.
Now, Mark got the writing credit for the majority of
Grand Funk songs, but I've heard that many times, Don &
Mel would also come up with some lyrics for those
songs as well. Since Mark Farner was the front man of
GFR, and he received the same concert share as Don &
Mel, I believe the agreement they made early on was
that Mark would receive writing credit on the majority
of Grand Funk songs. Even if Don & Mel contributed
to the lyrics. I'm sure you also realize that most
of the songs on the first two Grand Funk albums were
done by the Fabulous Pack. The three Pack songs on the
Anthology album had a differant sound and lyrics were
differant in certain places as well. It is a bit strange
that the song, "Can't be to long" was credited to
someone named Faucet on Anthology, but it says Mark
Farner on the On Time album. <br><br>When it comes to
Mark's solo career, I wouldn't exactly call it a
successful one. None of his solo albums have come close to
gold status. In fact, I believe that most sold around
100,000 copies. The christian record label he was on went
bankrupt last year as well. I know that the auditorium
Mark played at in the Catskills last year is a three
thousand seat building and only 300 people showed up for
Mark's gig. The only shows I hear were Mark draws well
is at fairs that have multi bands on the same bill.
<br><br>As for Mark doing some Grand Funk tunes in his set,
if you look on his website and see the recent
concert list, you'll find that over 90% of his set is
comprised of Grand Funk songs. Mark realizes that there's
not much of a market for his christian music anymore
and most fans that see his solo band want to hear
Grand Funk songs. <br><br>I do agree with Mark on
certain political issues, but he does go a little
overboard, especially on guns. Many GFR fans have questioned
his sanity when it comes to the government as well. I
think he's starting to get the idea too. That's why he
hasn't posted any of his political messages in a while.