is it incorrect to assume it was Farner's band, he was the guy?
It wasn't only Farner's band. Don Brewer was in there at the start with Mark. It was actually his suggestion they go as a 3-piece. He had an ego and he was a personality. And he was just as important to the sound and movement of the band as Mark. As was Mel. Just about the only bassist that could have played in that band other than Mel would have been Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath. Both men's styles were integral to the music of their bands. Neither band would have been anywhere near as unique without their bass playing. And Schacher's playing enabled both Mark and Don to travel instrumentally the way they did.
Didn't they also at some point go from Grand Funk Railroad to just Grand Funk? What's up with that?
They did actually drop the 'Railroad' for about 4 albums. They did it in the early days, then went back to having the 'Railroad' then they dropped it for 4 albums then brought it back for the 2nd live album and beyond.
The name was a joke, taking off the Grand Trunk Western Railroad.
It reminded me a bit of when Kerry Livgren left Kansas to move to a more religious area, but I don't remember there being bad feelings amongst the members.
There was quite a bit of
unsaid heavy vibes when Kerry became a Christian. For example, Steve Walsh refused to sing some of Kerry's songs because he didn't like their lyrical direction and didn't feel he could sing them with any genuineness. I suspect he partly left because of that. And Kerry being in Christ left a lot of awkward atmosphere among the band. Then when Dave Hope stopped doing drugs and became a Christian too, that really put the cat among the pigeons. And then when John Elefante replaced Steve Walsh and it turned out that
he was a Christian too, well, the writing was on the wall.
I don't know if you've ever read "Seeds of change", the updated version, but Kerry says quite a bit about it there.
In fact, quite a few members of the band played on Kerry's solo album.
Rich and Dave were the only ones not to play on it.
I think at the time, Robbie, Steve and Phil were quite happy to play on it because it was Kerry's solo project and I guess the feeling was, "this isn't part of Kansas' oeuvre" so Kerry could pretty much write what he wanted and it wouldn't really affect the band. But when the lyrics started spilling over into Kansas material later that year, it led to hassles. The band were seemingly happy when Kerry was a searcher with no answers. It was a different matter when he became one that had found. It's interesting that his move to Christ coincided with that of Bob Dylan.
quite a few members of the band played on Kerry's solo album
As an aside, did you ever listen to the band he got together with Dave Hope, AD ? Although they weren't really much like Kansas, I love their first two albums, "Timeline" {which is AD although it's pitched as Kerry's second solo album} and "Art of the state." Some fantastic songs there.
I wrote to Kerry in that period {well, 1987} and he actually replied, which came as something of a surprise to me then.