Commander Cody
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen is an American country rock band founded in 1967. Core members included founder George Frayne IV (alias Commander Cody, born 19 July 1944, Boise City, Idaho) on keyboards & vocals; Billy C. Farlow (b. Decatur, Alabama) on vocals and harmonica; John Tichy (b. St. Louis, Missouri) on guitar and vocals; Bill Kirchen (b. 29 January 1948, Ann Arbor, Michigan) on lead guitar; Andy Stein (b. 31 August 1948, New York) on saxophone and fiddle; Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow (b. 3 December 1948, Oxnard, California) on bass guitar; Lance Dickerson (b. 15 October 1948, Livonia, Michigan; died 10 November 2003, Fairfax, California) on drums; and Bobby Black on steel guitar.
The band's style mixed country, rock 'n' roll, Western swing, rockabilly, and jump blues together 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. The band became known for marathon live shows.
