Years ago when I was in my teens, a friend won some tickets to a concert and decided he didn't want to go. My brother and I never turned down free tickets to concerts especially if the concert was at the Sports Arena, where all the big names appeared (back when big names like the Stones or Led Zeppelin still played sports arenas). We lived only a couple miles from the venue so you could walk if you had to.
The bands were Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. My brother and I didn't know squat about either brand, other than Cody's "Hot Rod Lincoln which had been an unlikely hit a few years earlier. The concert was an eye opener, our first taste of country-fied rock that wasn't the Eagles or some singer songwriter stuff. Cody had a pedal steel player, Bobby Black, that kicked ass, not to mention Bill Kirchen, one of the most underappreciated pickers that ever picked up a Telecaster. Cody's band did stuff that bordered on rockabilly, some western swing type stuff and cry-in-your-beer bar jukebox type tear-jerkers. We fucking loved it. This was no small deal, particularly when you're talking about two teenagers that lived for hard rock guitar.
Here's a few from their breakthrough LP, Lost In the Ozone, along with a radio broadcast of a in-studio show from 1975. To really get a listen to the show I saw, check We Got A Live One Here, a live album from 1976. The sound is much better than the radio broadcast and you get some good between-song banter. This is like Deke Dickerson or Billy Strings if they were stoners in the seventies.
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - Hot Rod Lincoln mp3 at Internet Archive Eddie Bond cover
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - Lost In the Ozone mp3 at Internet Archive
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - Midnight Shift mp3 at Internet Archive Buddy Holly cover
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - Twenty Flight Rock mp3 at Internet Archive Eddie Cochran cover
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - Back to Tennessee mp3 at Internet Archive
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - Seeds and Stems mp3 at Internet Archive
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - KSAN 1975 Record Plant at Internet Archive 17 songs
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman - We Got A Live One Here (streaming playlist) at YouTube
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