Today's sonic treat is a release from the ongoing series of recordings made by Owsley Stanley (aka Bear), the legendary sound engineer for the Grateful Dead. Found in the Ozone features the country-rock band, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Although they were founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and were very popular in Detroit before they moved to California, I never got to see them live, much to my regret.
From Wikipedia:
Jeff Tamarkin said in Relix, "The group was still finding its way, and the sound quality, while crisp and quite listenable, feels homemade. But don’t let any of that keep you away: This is the most significant Cody release in dozens of years, and its early vintage makes it an essential piece in charting the development of this ever-exciting outfit that tossed together rockabilly, blues, country, boogie-woogie, Western swing and whatever else came their way."[1]
In Tinnitist, Darryl Sterdan wrote, "Singer-pianist George (Commander Cody) Frayne and his crew were one of the more interesting bands of the hippie era, fusing country, rockabilly, western swing, jump blues and more into an infectious amalgam that set the table for outfits like NRBQ.... Admittedly, live Cody albums aren't hard to come by – there are probably at least a dozen on the market. But you won’t find one that sounds better than this."[2]
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