Reminiscent of those live country radio broadcast from the 1950s, Commander Cody’s “Lost In the Ozone” opens Live In San Francisco 1971. Taken from an evening that Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen played San Francisco’s KSAN’s “underground FM” station, Live In San Francisco 1971 captures the eight-piece band at the peak of their powers.
Andy Stein’s fiddle-led “Faded Love” instrumental allows for a much tighter meeting of the band, featuring a simple bass and snapping snare. “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke,” features the Commander’s vocal, guitarist Bill Kirchen’s clean riff train-in-the-distance picks offs, and the whole band offering up harmonies. Billy C. Farlow (who truly has the more distinctive pipes) sings lead on “Wine Do Your Stuff.”
The band’s top 10 hit, a cover of “Hot Rod Lincoln,” chunks along as expected, with Stein and Kirchen as upfront as is the Commander’s vocals. The band just cuts up around “Gone, Gone, Gone,” This one is just so much fun with Stein’s sax and Cody’s piano playing running around the vocall. Once again Kirchen shows what a master of understatement he is when he leads the band in probably their rumblin’ best rockabilly moment, “Home In My Hand.” Bruce Farlow slinks his harmonica on this one as much as Kirchen leads.
“Sea Cruise” ends the set with a pretty faithful reproduction. Considering what was happening around this time in the Bay Area — rock and “psychedelic” bands playing and recording around town — the countrified vibe of George Frayne (Commander Cody) and His Lost Planet Airmen present a rather unique sound. That sound is preserved on Live In San Francisco 1971, available on CD, as well as on vinyl, from Sundazed Music.
~ Ralph Greco
