Graham Central Station

Biography

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

Origins

While still with Sly and the Family Stone, Larry Graham came into contact with Patryce Banks. They formed an ensemble called Hot Choc’let aka Hot Chocolate. According to the I Rock Jazz website, Graham intended to build a band around Banks and his role would be that of composer and producer. The band was playing a gig at a San Francisco club and towards the end of the performance, the audience encouraged Graham to do the last song with the band. Things clicked there. This led to Graham replacing the bass guitarist with himself, and the name of the band was changed from Hot Chocolate to Graham Central Station. Due to his involvement with the group, he left Sly and the Family Stone.
The Graham Central Station line up was Graham, Willie Sparks, Patrice Banks, David Vega, Robert Sam and Hershell Kennedy. According to The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music, Vega, Kennedy, Sparks and Banks were from Hot Chocolate.

Highlights

In 1974, the band released the single "Can You Handle It?". It peaked at number 9 on the Billboard R&B charts 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. The same year, they issued a cover version of the Detroit Emeralds 1972 hit "Feel the Need in Me". It reached number 18 on the R&B charts and this would be the bands only hit on the UK singles chart, peaking at number 53. 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.

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, (Rhino, 2001)
Greatest Hits (Rhino Flashback, 2003)