Wednesday, June 17, 2015

George Frayne (Commander Cody)

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.



Friday, February 13, 2015

Jerry Eubanks



Jerry Eubanks (born March 9, 1950) is an American musician best known as the original saxophonist, keyboardist and flautist for the The Marshall Tucker Band.

Jerry Eubanks, a sax player by trade, was asked by Toy Caldwell if he knew how to play flute... and although he didn't, that didn't stop him from answering Toy's question with a resounding "hell yeah!" He set out to learn real quick, and thus the addition of the instrument that made MTB's sound unique from all other southern rock bands was made. Jerry was a mainstay in the band from 1973 - 1996. His flute and sax solos were, along with Toy's guitar licks, the signature of the band. After 25 years of life on the road, he enjoy a life of leisure in Spartanburg with his wife and children, and plays in a band called the Lipnikkies.

In addition to his playing, Jerry wrote or co-wrote several of the band's songs, including:

"Windy City Blues" with Doug and George from Long Hard Ride
"Life in a Song" with George on Carolina Dreams
"Everybody Needs Somebody" on Together Forever with Doug & George
"Dream Lover" on Together Forever with George
"Disillusion:" with George on Tenth
"Long Island Lady" with Doug on Just Us
"Blood Red Eagle" on Greetings From South Carolina
"Tan Yard Road" with Rusty on Still Smokin'

Jerry (Far right with MTB)