Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

The nucleus of this 70's hippie honky tonk revival group originally formed circa 1964 in Ann Arbor Michigan, but really took off into outer space when they relocated to Berkeley Ca in 1967 where they opened for other popular psychedelic blues rock heavies of the era including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane & The Doors. The group played an authentic Texas saloon pleasing sound that paid tongue in cheek tribute to lonesome cowboy & pill poppin' trucker songs, as well as popular counter culture pastimes like smuggling cocaine & smoking weed.

Most vocals were handled by harmonica player Billy C Farlow, but Pianist George Frayne adopted the stage persona of Commander Cody and still performs under this moniker. Other original band members included guitarist John Tichy, guitarist Bill Kirchen, Andy Stein on fiddle, Buffalo Bruce Barlow on bass, and the West Virginia Creeper on Peddle Steel.

Within a few years of moving to California they were signed to Paramount Records, who issued three well received and now influential classic 70's country rock albums. Their 2nd single, a cover of an old 1950's country song Hot Rod Lincoln became a big hit in 1971 and sold nearly a million copies. At the peak of their popularity in 1974, they moved onto the more artistically open minded Warner Brothers label. The group toured extensively, and were amongst the most popular live rock groups of their day, directly influencing the burgeoning British Pub Rock scene.

You can also see Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen or Commander Cody on Last.fm.

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