Graham Central Station

Graham Central Station was an American funk band named after founder Larry Graham (formerly of Sly and the Family Stone).^[1][5] The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often colloquially called Grand Central Station.

Graham Central Station
Band founder Larry Graham in 2013
Background information
Origin	Oakland, California, United States
Genres	Funk[1] progressive soul[2]
Years active	1973–1979, 1997–1998, 2012
Labels	Warner Bros., WEA, Star Maker, P-Vine, Rhino
Past members	Larry Graham David Vega Hershall Kennedy Willie Sparks[3] Patryce "Chocolate" Banks[4]

History

Origins

The band's origins^[4][6][7] date from when Santana guitarist Neal Schon formed the band Azteca in 1972 along with Larry Graham (bass guitar) and Greg Errico (drums), both from Sly and the Family Stone, and Pete Sears (keyboards), from Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. Santana bass guitar player Tom Rutley moved into the bass spot with Azteca. That band, like Santana with heavy Latin influences, eventually morphed into Graham Central Station, while Schon formed Journey.^{[citation needed]} The invention of electric slap bass is attributed by many (including Victor Wooten and Bootsy Collins) to Graham, which influenced many musical genres, such as funk, R&B and disco.^[4]

Highlights

In 1974, they released the single "Can You Handle It?". It peaked at number 9 on the R&B charts^[1] and number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100. Graham Central Station's biggest hit was "Your Love", which charted at number 1 on the R&B charts in 1975.^[1] The same year they issued a cover version of the Detroit Emeralds 1972 hit "Feel the Need in Me".^[7] It reached number 18 on the R&B charts and this would be the bands only hit in the UK peaking at number 53.^[8] The group also integrated gospel music into their repertoire, and played with the dichotomy between the funk/rock star image and the "sanctified" gospel group image. Some of their recordings feature the Tower of Power horn section.

In 2011, Graham Central Station opened for Prince on Prince's "Welcome 2 America" tour.^[9]

Members

• Larry Graham – vocals, bass, guitar, clavinet, organ, piano, drums, percussion
• Lenny Williams – vocals
• Patryce Banks – vocals, electric funk box (Maestro Rhythm King), tambourine
• Ashling Cole – vocals, electric funk box (Maestro Rhythm King)
• Tina Graham – vocals, electric funk box (Maestro Rhythm King)
• David Vega – vocals, guitar^[10][11]
• Gail Muldrow – vocals, guitar, electric funk box
• George Johnson – vocals, guitar
• Wilton Rabb – guitar
• Freddie Stone – guitar
• Gemi Taylor – guitar
• Hershall Kennedy – vocals, clavinet, trumpet
• Robert "Butch" Sam – vocals, piano, organ
• David Council – vocals, keyboards
• Jimi McKinney Jr. – vocals, keyboards
• Rose Stone – vocals, organ, electric funk box
• Cynthia Robinson – trumpet
• P. CaboOse – tenor saxophone
• Jerry Martini – saxophone
• Dennis Marcellino – saxophone
• Willie Sparks – vocals, drums
• Manuel Kellough – drums
• Noel T. Closson – drums
• Gaylord Birch – drums
• Brian Braziel – drums
• Milt Holland – percussion

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions		Certifications	Label
		US [12]	US R&B [13]
1974	Graham Central Station	48	20		Warner Bros
	Release Yourself	51	22
1975	Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It	22	4	US: Gold[14]
1976	Mirror	46	7
1977	Now Do U Wanta Dance	67	12
1978	My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me	105	18		WEA
1979	Star Walk	136	44		Warner Bros
1997	By Popular Demand	—	—		P-Vine
1998	GCS 2000 (produced with Prince)	—	—		NPG
2012	Raise Up	—	65		Moosicus Records
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Live albums

• Live in Japan '92' (1992) Star Maker – manufactured by PIA Corporation & Edoya Records Inc. (Tokyo, Japan)
• Live in London (1996) – Funk24 (London, England)
• Can You Handle This? (2003) – Kezar Stadium – 1975, Big Fro Discs (Japan)

Compilation albums

• The Best of Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Vol. 1 (Warner Bros, 1996)
• The Jam: The Larry Graham & Graham Central Station Anthology^[7] (Rhino, 2001)
• Greatest Hits (Rhino Flashback, 2003)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions
		US R&B [8]	US Pop [8]	UK [8]
1974	"Release Yourself"	56	―	—
	"Can You Handle It?"	9	49	―
1975	"Feel the Need"	18	―	53
	"Your Love"	1	38	―
	"It's Alright"	19	92	―
1976	"Entrow (Part 1)"	21	—	―
	"Love"	14	—	―
	"The Jam"	15	63	―
1977	"Now Do-U-Wanta Dance"	10	—	―
	"Stomped Beat-Up and Whooped"	25	―	―
1978	"Is It Love?	65	―	―
	"My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me"	18	―	―
	"Star Walk"	85	—	—
1979	"(You're a) Foxy Lady"	37	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.