In 1968, Max Gronenthal was a senior at Norfolk Catholic High School who dreamed of being a basketball star.

When he got recruiting letters from a small college in Kansas and a small college in Iowa, he proudly presented them to his coach, Don Kelley.

“I took them to Coach Kelley and he said, ‘Max, I don’t think you’re good enough to make a living playing basketball. I think you’re good enough to make a living playing music,’” Gronenthal said. “That crushed me. But it was the best advice he could have given me.”

Kelley proved to be prophetic. Gronenthal has had a 30-plus year career in music, from playing with regional favorites The Chancellors and joining the legendary Tommy Bolin in his early days to fronting Grand Funk Railroad today.

“It’s been a long time,” Gronenthal said in a telephone interview from his Arizona home. “I used to think, ‘I deserve more than this.’ Now I’m thinking, ‘How did I deserve all of this?’”

Tonight, Gronenthal will be back in Nebraska to help raise funds for his old coach. Kelley, who coached at Lincoln’s Pius X after leaving Norfolk Catholic, had a heart transplant late last year and lost his son Shawn to cancer in May — and the family is dealing with thousands of dollars in medical expenses.

Gronenthal will play a solo/vocal and piano set, then join the Smoke Ring for a set of soul and R&B classics at the Kelley Family Fundraiser at the Pla Mor Ballroom, 6600 W. O St. The evening, which also includes classic rock from Lincoln’s Strange Medicine, will start at 7 p.m. Admission is $10.

Over his four decades in the music business, Gronenthal has sung on records by Rod Stewart, Elton John and Bonnie Raitt, led a great ’80s R&B band called Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, recorded solo albums, fronted both .38 Special and Grand Funk Railroad and seen his songs recorded by artists that include Bette Midler and Garth Brooks.

He attributes his longevity in part to luck. But he’s also found a way to keep working when many musicians of his generation have moved to the sidelines.

“I think part of it is that I’m a pretty flexible musician and I can adapt myself to different situations, instrumentally, vocally and psychologically,” Gronenthal said. “I learned some of that signing backing vocals for 10 years in L.A. I can sing jazz, soul, rock and, I wouldn’t say classical, but legitimate music, and pull it off. I think people recognize sincerity and people recognize that when I do it.”

Gronenthal has had 60 songs published and many of them have been recorded by some of the great singers of the era.

“Hearing Aaron Neville sing a song you’ve written is just a rush,” he said. “Hearing Joe Cocker sing your song, then do a little flourish and you can go ‘that’s my riff’ is amazing. And it’s always great to hear the women sing your songs. It’s different, a woman doing a man’s song.”

Among Gronenthal’s career highlights are the times he shared a stage with one of his early heroes. He’s performed with Sam Moore of the legendary soul duo Sam and Dave and, when he was fronting Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, he once joined the Godfather of Soul on stage.

Blown away that he was swapping verses with James Brown, Gronenthal got an even bigger thrill when the show came to a close.

“At the end of the night, he put his cape on me,” Gronenthal said. “It’s hard to envision anything cooler than that happening to a white kid from Nebraska who grew up singing James Brown songs.”

Since 2000, Gronenthal has brought his blue-eyed soul vocals to Grand Funk Railroad. The ’70s-rooted band has a steady touring schedule. But since the musicians are in their 50s and have had their fun on the highway in vans and buses, they travel far differently these days.

“The common feeling among musicians my age is, ‘We’ll play for free, but you have to pay us to fly around on airplanes and sleep in hotels,’” he said. “We’ve got a real tight organization with Grand Funk. It’s a five-piece band and two road guys. We fly in to play, meet up at a hotel at the airport, go play the show and fly home. It’s kind of like a gentleman’s rock band. It’s a real good job.”

Grand Funk plays about 40 dates a year, with a day in and day out for each gig. That leaves Gronenthal plenty of time to spend with his wife and his three children, two of whom are still at home. But his commitments to the band nearly made it impossible for him to return for tonight’s fundraiser for his coach.

“We had a gig for this weekend,” Gronenthal said. “I really didn’t think I’d be able to come back. But things get cancelled here and there. Now I’m going to be there. I played four years of basketball at Norfolk Catholic. When we were seniors, I think he (Kelley) was 29 years old. There was a lot of sympatico there. He was just a great mentor, on and off the court.”

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.