| Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen | |
|---|---|
Andy Stein (left), and John Tichy (right) at the Hollywood Bowl July 21, 1974 opening for the Grateful Dead Photo: David Gans |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Ann Arbor, Michigan United States |
| Genres | Country rock, rockabilly and blues |
| Years active | 1967–1976, and 1997-Present as "The Commander Cody Band"[1] |
| Members | |
| George Frayne (Commander Cody) Steve Barbuto Mark Emerick Greg Irwin (interim) |
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| Past members | |
| John Tichy Billy C. Farlow Bill Kirchen Andy Stein Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow Lance Dickerson Bobby Black Steve Davis (The West Virginia Creeper) Peter Siegel Rick Mullen Rick Higginbotham |
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Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen is an American country rock band founded in 1967. Core members included founder George Frayne, John Tichy, Billy C. Farlow, Bill Kirchen, Andy Stein, Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow, Lance Dickerson, and Bobby Black.
The band’s style mixed country music, rockabilly, and blues, on a foundation of boogie-woogie piano. It was among the first country-rock bands to take its cues less from folk-rock and bluegrass and more from barroom country of the Ernest Tubb and Ray Price style. A pioneer in incorporating Western swing into its style, the band became legendary for marathon live shows.
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Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen formed in 1967 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with Frayne (b. July 19, 1944 in Boise, Idaho) taking the stage name Commander Cody. The band’s name was inspired by 1950s film serials featuring the character Commando Cody and from a feature version of an earlier serial, King of the Rocket Men, released under the title Lost Planet Airmen.
After playing for several years in local bars, the core members migrated to San Francisco (along with the similar Asleep at the Wheel[2]) and soon got a recording contract with Paramount Records. The group released their first album in late 1971, Lost in the Ozone, which yielded its best-known hit, a version of the Rockabilly Hot Rod Lincoln, which reached the top ten on the Billboard singles chart in early 1972. It then moved to Texas;[2] the band's 1974 live recording, Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas features cover art of armadillos by Jim Franklin. The band released several moderately-successful albums through the first half of the 70s. After appearing in the Roger Corman movie Hollywood Boulevard, Frayne disbanded the group in 1976.
John Tichy subsequently earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and became head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York,[2]
"Hot Rod Lincoln", the band's most famous recording, was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2008. The following year Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
Geoffrey Stokes' 1976 book Star-Making Machinery featured Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen as its primary case study of music industry production and marketing. Stokes relates the difficulties the band had recording its first album for Warner Bros. Records. The label wanted a hit album along the lines of the soft country-rock of The Eagles, but the band was not inclined to change its raw-edged style.
Retaining his stage name of Commander Cody, Frayne had a subsequent solo career, touring and releasing albums from 1977 on. He released some later albums under the Lost Planet Airmen name. Recent releases have been as The Commander Cody Band. In addition to Frayne, current members of the band include Steve Barbuto on drums and Mark Emerick on guitar.
Frayne is also an artist. He received a bachelor's in design from the University of Michigan in 1966 and a master's in Sculpture and Painting from the Rackham School of Graduate Studies of the University of Michigan in 1968. He taught at University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and has had his art exhibited at numerous shows.[3] He is a student of cinematography, and has a feature film in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent video archive. His paintings are oversized, and present photorealistic images from popular culture.[4]
George's brother Chris Frayne is credited with the cover art for Lost in the Ozone, Sleazy Roadside Stories, and Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers' Favorites albums. He shared credit with George for the album cover for Aces High, and designed other album covers in the music industry. He also wrote songs, including "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" (on Asleep at the Wheel's album Take Me Back to Tulsa)[5] and produced albums such as Comin' Your Way by John Mooney.[6] Chris died in 1992 of multiple sclerosis.[2] As can be discerned by their art as well as their music, both brothers were interested in hot rods.[2]
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Country | CAN | |||
| 1971 | Lost in the Ozone | 82 | — | 75 | Paramount |
| 1972 | Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favorites | 94 | — | — | |
| 1973 | Country Casanova | 104 | 47 | — | |
| 1974 | Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas | 105 | — | — | |
| 1975 | Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen | 58 | — | 95 | Warner Bros. |
| Tales from the Ozone | 168 | — | — | ||
| 1976 | We've Got a Live One Here! | 170 | — | — | |
| 1977 | Rock 'N Roll Again (Midnight Man) | 163 | — | — | Arista |
| 1978 | Flying Dreams | — | — | — | |
| 1980 | Lose It Tonight | — | — | — | Line |
| 1986 | Let's Rock | — | — | — | Blind Pig |
| 1988 | Sleazy Roadside Stories | — | — | — | Relix |
| 1990 | Aces High | — | — | — | |
| Too Much Fun: The Best Of | — | — | — | MCA | |
| 1994 | Worst Case Scenario | — | — | — | Aim |
| 1996 | The Tour from Hell (1993) | — | — | — | |
| 2000 | Live at Gilley's | — | — | — | Atlantic |
| 2002 | Command Performance | — | — | — | BMG |
| 2003 | King Biscuit Flower Hour Archive Series: Greatest Hits Live | — | — | — | KBFH Records |
| 2005 | All the Way from Turkey Trot | — | — | — | Fa-Ka-Wee |
| 2009 | Dopers, Drunks and Everyday Losers | — | — | — | Blind Pig |
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Country | CAN | CAN Country | CAN AC | |||
| 1971 | "Lost in the Ozone" | — | — | — | — | — | Lost in the Ozone |
| 1972 | "Hot Rod Lincoln" | 9 | 51 | 7 | — | — | |
| "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar" | 81 | — | 87 | — | — | ||
| "Truck Stop Rock" | — | — | — | — | — | Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favorites | |
| 1973 | "Semi-Truck" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" | 94 | 97 | — | 99 | 37 | Country Cassanova | |
| 1974 | "Diggy Liggy Lo" | — | — | — | — | — | Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas |
| "Riot in Cell Block No. 9" | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1975 | "Don't Let Go" | 56 | — | 85 | — | — | Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen |
| "It's Gonna Be One of Those Nights" | — | — | — | — | — | Tales from the Ozone | |
| 1981 | "2 Triple Cheese (Side Order of Fries)" | — | — | — | — | — | Lose It Tonight |
| "Roll The Dice" | — | — | — | — | — | ||