Editing Grand Funk Railroad (section)

=== Mid-1970s ===
In 1974, Grand Funk engaged [[Jimmy Ienner]] as producer and reverted to using their full name:  Grand Funk Railroad. The cover of ''[[All the Girls in the World Beware!!!]]'' (December 1974) depicted the band members' heads superimposed on the bodies of bodybuilders [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and [[Franco Columbu]]. This album spawned the band's last two top-10 hits, "[[Some Kind of Wonderful (Soul Brothers Six song)|Some Kind of Wonderful]]" and "[[Bad Time (Grand Funk song)|Bad Time]]" in late 1974/early 1975.

Although they were highly successful in the mid-1970s, tensions mounted within the band due to personal issues, burn-out, and disputes over musical direction. Despite these issues, Grand Funk forged ahead. Needing 2 more albums to complete their record deal with Capitol, Grand Funk embarked on a major tour and decided to record a double live album, ''[[Caught in the Act (Grand Funk Railroad album)|Caught in the Act]]'' (August 1975).<ref name="auto" />

The double album should have fulfilled the contract with Capitol; however, because it contained previously released material, Capitol requested an additional album to complete Grand Funk's contractual obligation. While pressures between the band members still existed, they agreed to move forward and complete one more album for Capitol to avoid legalities similar to those they endured with Terry Knight in 1972. The band recorded ''[[Born to Die (Grand Funk Railroad album)|Born to Die]]'' (January 1976), but its lower sales (it only managed to reach #47 on the Billboard chart) and lack of hit singles disappointed the group. They began to drift apart, and rumours of a breakup were circulating.<ref name="james113–116,123–127">James (1999), pp. 113–116, 123–127.</ref>

However, Grand Funk found new life from interest by [[Frank Zappa]] in producing the band. Signing with [[MCA Records]], the resulting album ''[[Good Singin', Good Playin']]'' (August 1976), although it netted them some of their best critical reviews ever, yielded little success.<ref name="Larkin" /> After this, a disillusioned Grand Funk Railroad disbanded in earnest in late 1976.<ref name="james130-134">James (1999), pp. 130–134.</ref> Farner recalled what happened then: "Things were disenfranchised within the band. I don't want to speculate about what was going on in Brewer's life—his first wife died, and that was rough—but one day he walked into the studio and said, 'I've had it. I need to find something to do with my life that's more stable.' He was done. He walked out and slammed the door. It was him, not me. Everybody thinks I broke the band up, but it was him."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.musicaficionado.com/|title=Music Aficionado|website=Web.musicaficionado.com|access-date=October 5, 2020}}</ref>