One of the first 45 rpm records I ever bought was "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. I was a mere 11 years-old, but I could tell the band was cookin' and I thought the song's story was funny. I had no idea, however, that the song was an old country classic (written by Charlie Ryan in 1955, then popularized by Johnny Bond in 1959), and I was further clueless that Commander Cody (real name, George Frayne) and his band were playing an important role in introducing roots music to the hippie counterculture. That role - as important as that of Asleep At The Wheel - is largely unheralded, though Cody is still plugging away 30 years later. Over those decades, the Commander and his band have earned a small-but-loyal following with their unique combination of superb musicianship, off-the-wall showmanship, and impeccable taste in music - covering country, rock, and blues classics with equal aplomb.

The members of Commander Cody's troupe found each other at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1967. Like most musical freaks, they found their way to San Francisco where they began plying their convivial, funky sound and eventually scored a contract.. The first four Commander Cody albums (originally recorded for Paramount) are terrific examples of the loosely defined "hippie country" genre - raucous, irreverent, and righteous, all at once. These records include their 1971 debut, Lost In The Ozone featuring "Hot Rod Lincoln"; Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers' Favorites (1972); Country Cassanova (1973); and the band's 1974 concert souvenir, Live From Deep In The Heart Of Texas, recorded at the World Armadillo Headquarters in Austin.

Afterwards, the Frayne and the Airmen switched to Warner Brothers, where they recorded three excellent LP's - the best of their career - including their label debut, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen (1975), featuring a bang-up rendition of Little Feat's "Willin'"; Tales From The Ozone (1975), produced by Hoyt Axton; and We've Got A Live One Here (1976), generally considered to be the band's definitive live album (among many). After that, the original Lost Planet Airmen splintered, and the reformed Commander Cody Band (which briefly featured Nicolette Larson) signed to Arista, producing records that, according to Frayne himself "really sucked." Still, the Commander soldiered on, releasing a great number of records on almost as many labels (including Relix and Blind Pig) over the next 20 years.

Too few of the Lost Planet Airmen's albums from their halcyon days are still available, though all have been reissued on CD at some point or another. MCA issued a good collection, Too Much Fun: The Best Of Commander Cody (1990), drawn from the Paramount recordings, and Italian label Akarma Records more recently issued Hot To Trot: The Best Of Commander Cody (2002). The latter disc includes 17 tracks drawn from both the Paramount and Warner Brothers catalogs - highly recommended as an introduction to this alchemic band. Original Airmen guitarist Bill Kirchen, it should be noted, went on to become something of a roots rock elder statesman, acclaimed for his session work and solo recordings in addition to his work with Commander Cody.