Graham Central Station

Thumpin' and pluckin'

Graham Central Station is the funk band led by the bassist Larry Graham, formerly of Sly and the Family Stone, a name that puns on Grand Central Station. Graham was born Larry Graham Jr. on August 14, 1946 in Beaumont, Texas, and is credited with pioneering the slap bass technique, thumping and plucking; he explained it in a 1980s television appearance. After leaving Sly and the Family Stone in late 1972, he agreed to produce a band called Hot Chocolate, or Hot Choc'let, led by Patryce Banks, then joined it and renamed it Graham Central Station in 1973; Wikipedia's band page, citing I Rock Jazz, says instead that at a San Francisco club the audience urged him to join the last song, after which he replaced the bassist and the group was renamed. The origin is given as Oakland or San Francisco.

Graham Central Station (January 1974, Warner Bros.) was produced by Graham and Russ Titelman and recorded in 1973 and 1974 at Wally Heider in San Francisco, Record Plant in Sausalito and Warner Bros. Studios in North Hollywood; Release Yourself followed in September 1974, with the Tower of Power horns. Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It (July 1975) reached 22 on the pop chart and 4 on the R&B chart and went Gold, with "Your Love" (number 1 on R&B, 38 pop), "The Jam" and "It's Alright". Later albums were Mirror (1976), Now Do U Wanta Dance (1977), My Radio Sure Sounds Good to Me (1978) and Star Walk (1979). Graham received the NAACP Image Award for outstanding male artist in 1979, entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 with Sly and the Family Stone, and Rolling Stone ranked him seventh among the 50 greatest bassists in 2020.

He toured with Prince from 1997 to 2000 and co-created GCS 2000 (1998, NPG Records); By Popular Demand (1997) and Raise Up (2012, Moosicus) are the later albums. The band opened for Prince's Welcome 2 America tour in 2011 and played the Clapham Grand in London in September 2012, where The Arts Desk gave three stars. A Kezar Stadium recording from 1975 came out as Can You Handle This? in 2003, and the 1974 debut was reissued in 2024 on Rhino's Quadio Blu-ray Audio. "Feel the Need" (1975) was their only UK chart entry, at 53.