Terry Knight and the Pack
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Hailing from the Flint, Michigan, Terry Knight and the Pack achieved semi-legendary status during their short formation between 1965 and '67.
Previous DJ sensation and indefatigable self-promoter Terry Knight fronted the act as singer and songwriter. Don Brewer and Mark Farner played drums and bass, respectively. Curt Johnson supplied fuzz guitar solos while Bobby Caldwell provided melodic keyboards.
A quintessential garage band, TK&TP openly imitated best-selling rockers of the mid-'60s, especially the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Due to the band's lack of refinement and Knight's compositional idiosyncrasies, much of their material transcends its inspiration to qualify as lost classics of the Nuggets era.
Six of their nine 45s made regional Top 40s throughout Michigan, Ohio and New York, with two of them - "Mister, You're A Better Man Than I" (orignally by The Yardbirds) and "I (Who Have Nothing)" (a cover of a Ben E. King song) - hitting the national charts. "I (Who Have Nothing)" went to #46 and earned the band an appearance on Dick Clark's television program Where The Action Is.
Memorable tracks by the band include: "This Precious Time" (composed and produced by P.F. Sloan), a proto-metal version of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and several Knight originals: "Numbers," "A Change On The Way" and "Love, Love, Love, Love, Love" (later covered by Detroit roots rockers Brownsville Station).
TK&TP were mainstays on Cleveland's TV rock & roll showcase, Upbeat. In addition, they opened regional gigs for the Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five and The Yardbirds. Michigan newspapers lavished praise upon the band, with extensive coverage by Lorraine Alterman (later of The New York Times).
After their second LP, Reflections, Knight left the band to pursue a frustrated solo career as producer and singer. The Pack continued without Knight with even less success. The band was largely forgotten until Farner and Brewer formed the nucleus of Capitol Records' best-selling act of the early '70s, Grand Funk Railroad, initially managed and produced by Knight.
All recordings by Terry Knight and the Pack have been out of print since 1973, except for "I (Who Have Nothing)" which is included in the Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 box set.
Only one "best of" compilation was released in late 1972 by ABKCO Records as the 2 LP set "Mark,Don and Terry 1965-67" inspired by the Grand Funk Railroad 2 LP set "Mark,Don and Mel 1969-72" released earlier that year on Capitol.The ABKCO-released album was later re-packaged in 1973 as "Funk Out." both albums considered collectors albums after being dropped from the ABKCO catalog
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