It documents a show Farner did with his solo band in the South American country's capital of Santiago. And I think that that, in itself, is more of a testimony to my other two cohorts in Grand Funk than my beating them over the head with the word of God.Artwork: Mark CramerFormer Grand Funk Railroad frontman Mark Farner will release a new live DVD called From Chile with Love on April 6. Man, we spent millions of dollars in the pursuit of happiness, and found out you couldnвЂ™t buy it. вЂњItвЂ™s sad that people have to get shocked into it sometimes, but thereвЂ™s so many other distractions in life that we were tied in with. (Drummer Don) Brewer called me one time and said, вЂSo you think I ought to repent, eh, Farner?вЂ™ He was joking around, but you canвЂ™t help but think-if youвЂ™ve lived enough years, as we have, and gone through the things we went through and some of those close calls on the airplanes-about God and what youвЂ™ve done with your life. вЂњI was sitting there with my two boys at the house, crying in my beer, and I just said, вЂWell, Lord, IвЂ™m gonna try to find you,вЂ™ and I started looking for God again,вЂќ said Farner.ДЇarnerвЂ™s former partners havenвЂ™t found the same answer, but вЂњI donвЂ™t try to lord it over anybody. A second and final band breakup in 1983 preceded the breakup of FarnerвЂ™s marriage-paving the way for the desperation that led to his conversion.

The trio got back together in 1981 for the first of two reunion albums.

Grand Funk disbanded in 1977, and Farner recorded two largely ignored solo albums. вЂњThose people recognize the spiritual connotations of a few of the songs, like вЂIвЂ™m Your Captain'-it was always there, the searching, wanting to do something good, wanting to find the answers just like everybody else.вЂќ We were more of a peopleвЂ™s band and didnвЂ™t get a lot of AM air play then. The die-hard Grand Funk fans who come to see me are the ones that started off with us back in вЂ™69, вЂ™70, вЂ™71, when Grand Funk was a band that wrote about issues that were pet peeves of our generation-ecology, the Vietnam War. вЂњAs a matter of fact, for the most part, people felt that it was just a matter of time. Surely, though, some of the longtime devotees must be shocked to find out that one of the original heavy-metal stars-whose previous solo album was panned in the Rolling Stone Record Guide for its вЂњnaive politics and cheap hedonism'-has turned spiritual? WeвЂ™ve sold hundreds of the new album on the road-to Grand Funk fans.вЂќ And I havenвЂ™t had anybody come up and tell me they didnвЂ™t like the new stuff. вЂњBut I want to be able to play my new (Christian) stuff and get their reactions to it. And I donвЂ™t want to rob them of any of those memories. with the top down on the convertible or wherever they were during that. вЂњWhen people hear songs from an era, they tend to go back to when they were out on a date or driving down the back roads at 100 m.p.h. вЂњThe people who come to hear (the oldies) are getting some satisfaction as far as being able to relive a memory,вЂќ said Farner. Whether touring as part of the recent вЂњSuper вЂ70s FestвЂќ or hitting the club circuit on his own, Farner mixes the hits from Grand Funk-which was the first rock group to be awarded 10 consecutive platinum albums and which sold more than 25 million albums during its 1969-75 reign-with explicitly Christian material from his new solo album, вЂњJust Another Injustice.вЂќ вЂњBut there are some songs I absolutely wouldnвЂ™t do.вЂќ вЂњWe do вЂFootstompinвЂ™ Music,вЂ™ вЂAre You Ready,вЂ™ вЂLoco-Motion,вЂ™ вЂSome Kind of Wonderful,вЂ™ вЂCloser to Home,вЂ™ вЂHeartbreaker,вЂ™ вЂBad Time'-those songs donвЂ™t have any evil connotation to вЂem, and they donвЂ™t tell people to go out and get loaded,вЂќ said Farner by phone from El Paso, Tex.

Mark farner some kind of wonderful