Don Brewer

Donald George Brewer (born September 3, 1948) is an American drummer and singer who is a founding member and longtime original drummer of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad.

Brewer was born in Flint, Michigan, on September 3, 1948, the son of Clara Eileen (née Waterman) and Donald A. Brewer, and is a graduate of Swartz Creek High School.

Brewer started his first band, called The Red Devils, at the age of 12. After leaving The Red Devils, Brewer formed another band named the Jazzmasters for whom he played drums and sang. In 1964, Brewer joined former DJ Terry Knight as well as bassist Herm Jackson, guitarist Curt Johnson, and keyboardist Bobby Caldwell and formed the band Terry Knight and the Pack. In 1966, he experienced his first top 40 hit with "I (Who Have Nothing)".

In 1968, Brewer left Terry Knight and the Pack along with bandmate Mark Farner and recruited Mel Schacher, the bassist for the hit band ? and the Mysterians, and formed Grand Funk Railroad. They hired Terry Knight as their manager. Grand Funk Railroad released their first album On Time in 1969 which sold over a million copies. In 1973, Grand Funk released the album We're an American Band, featuring the hit song "We're an American Band". This track, written and sung by Brewer, was the band's first #1 single. Still popular, the song has since been recorded by other artists. In addition to playing drums for Grand Funk, Brewer also provided lead vocals for a number of songs, including the first and third verses of "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1974). Brewer was the baritone lead singer for the group, in contrast to the tenor vocals of Mark Farner. In 1974, the label Qualico released the album Monumental Funk, recorded by Mark Farner and Brewer.

In 1977, following the initial breakup of Grand Funk, Brewer and former Grand Funk bandmates Mel Schacher and Craig Frost formed a new band named Flint, which released one self-titled album in 1978 before disbanding. He also continued in other musical endeavors, including producing for the band The Godz (from Columbus, Ohio) their self-titled debut album The Godz in 1978.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.