Grand Funk Railroad: Aimless Lady

If you were one of the many who did not listen to the B side of your 45 rpm singles, shame on you as you often missed some good music. Today’s Friday flipside, “Aimless Lady,” comes from 1970 and was flip of Grand Funk Railroad’s hit “Closer to Home.” The song also appeared on the LP “Closer to Home.”

It is classic Grand Funk and features a searing guitar lead from front man Mark Farner. My copy of this single was pressed out of round so the song speeds up and slows due to the hole being drilled off center. It’s noticeable in Capitol Record’s target label style of the day. Since I bought my copy used at a flea market in 1971, I couldn’t take it back – nonetheless, I could still enjoy “Aimless Lady” off my copy of the LP.

If I remember correctly, I got several bad pressings of both LPs and singles from Capitol Records during this period. I’m not sure which pressing plant was responsible, as they had several including Los Angeles, CA; Scranton, PA; Jacksonville, IL; and Winchester, VA.

Some of the albums and singles I own from that era have bits of filler that bubbled up in the vinyl and cause surface noise. Being a mere teenager at the time, I didn’t know you could return a record to the store – so I am stuck with some of these. Ah, yes – youth is wasted on the young.