Mel Schacher

[Tom Howland]

Monster tone on those early Grand Funk albums.
They rocked hard.

 

[Rockmusician]

I have always been a Grand Funk Railroad fan. I was fortunate enough to do some shows with and get to know Mark Farner a few years ago. His former manager is still one of my best friends. It's too bad that Mark, Mel and Don can't work things out and go back on tour.

 

[alexofc69]

I love Mel! I love/d his tone!!!! gonna have to put on some GFR now!

 

[hrodbert696]

"I'm Your Captain" was a tune that I set out to learn when I was ready to start learning real bass lines. Nice quick riffs, nothing really complicated, but fun to play and a really nice sound. Schacher, to me, is kind of the Alec Guinness of bass players -- he's not a Pastorius or a Chris Squire, the way Guinness wasn't Lawrence Olivier, but he's an excellent craftsman.

 

[GaryLC]

Mel RULES!

ARE YOU READY? and INSIDE LOOKING OUT from the black live album.............

Yeah, a big plus 1!!!! I grew up being obsessed with GFR, a high school band I was in must have done a couple dozen sings by them. We would always open with "Are You Ready", and go right into "Paranoid"....just like the live album. "In Need" was great on that album too....

 

[bigtexashonk]

"Got This Thing on the Move" - Red LP RAWKS!!!

 

[GaryLC]

"I hear my baby knockin....at my front door...

 

[tjh]

Now for some Mel Schacher trivia .......

What was the name of an earlier band that Mel recorded a hit with ??

.... and what was the name of that song ??

... this thread is bringing out the old-timers ...

 

[jakyllo@charter]

? and the Mysterions. Song "96 tears"

 

[plangentmusic]

Mel defined the big bass sound in a trio setting. He was melodic, grooving and filled the gaps perfectly.

By the way -- Grand Funk Railroad at Randalls Island. 1970. I was there. And amazing show. On the bill was Jethro Tull, Steppenwolf, Mountain, Ten Years After and Jimi Hendrix.

Grand Funk blew them all off the stage.

 

[G On Bass]

I fiinally broke down and bought a bunch of the GF/GFR stuff the other day to replace my vinyl.

Mel is reason I must always have one passive bass with flats.

 

[themarshall]

"..the bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher..." - Homer SImpson

 

[73jbass]

My biggest bass influence!!

 

[jerry]

I definitely played a lot of Grand Funk and Mel's lines in my little start-up bands in basements and garages when I started playing almost 40 years ago. Great stuff!

 

[Alkali Ike]

I have to dredge up this old thread because I was on a road trip today and had the car radio playing loud and they played Closer To Home (I'm Your Captain) which I haven't heard since I took up bass as a hobby. Well I cranked it up REAL loud and it hit me: This is why I took up bass! Mel Schacher DRIVES that recording! Holy cow. What a bassline and awesome tone. He must have been in the Red Zone on the VU meters the whole time! Love it. Pure awesomeness for bass lovers.

Now back to some other newer thread...

 

[nicechuck]

Mel was my biggest influence for many years, I learned to play every line he and Mark played on every song thru the Survival album and have all those on cd now. Heartbreaker was my favorite song for years. Can't even imagine what Grand Funk Railroad would've sounded like without those bass lines.

 

[JimmyM]

Now for some Mel Schacher trivia .......

What was the name of an earlier band that Mel recorded a hit with ??

.... and what was the name of that song ??

... this thread is bringing out the old-timers ...

Mel didn't actually record 96 Tears with ? and the Mysterians. Frank Lugo was the bassist on that session. Mel was brought in briefly after their heyday.

 

[Remus_Redbone]

I Come Tumblin' (down, from the darkness, I stretch my arms out to reach the sound). That's a cool bass line.

 

[Guiseppe]

I just blew up a living room speaker w/ "Walk Like A Man"...great tone, AMAZING drive, and it just makes the song move. GFR wouldn't have been anywhere near as good a band with some other player.

Also: GFR needs to be played LOUD. It just does

 

[Guiseppe]

Mel defined the big bass sound in a trio setting. He was melodic, grooving and filled the gaps perfectly.

By the way -- Grand Funk Railroad at Randalls Island. 1970. I was there. And amazing show. On the bill was Jethro Tull, Steppenwolf, Mountain, Ten Years After and Jimi Hendrix.

Grand Funk blew them all off the stage.

Love that lineup. But GFR was a MONSTER in that period, I cant imagine anyone following their set!