Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Greatest Hits Live

AllMusic Rating
8
User Ratings (0)
Your Rating

AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Who would have thought in 1976 after Commander Cody's move to Warner Brothers Records from MCA and one of the worst live records ever released, We've Got a Live One Here? This is a double crime since the other Warner records, Tales From the Ozone and the self-titled disc, remained unissued on CD at the time of Greatest Hits Live's release in May 2003 while the live piece of sh*t was readily available. In any case, this live King Biscuit Flour Hour performance from as late as 1976 proves without a doubt that the original band still had all of its fire in a live setting. Here are Bruce Barlow, the Commander, Billy C. Farlow -- before his failed tryout to play the lead in The Buddy Holly Story -- Billy Kirchen, and the rest tearing it up for close to an hour on some of their most well-known tunes with excellent sound. Among the classics are "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke," "Ubangi Stomp," "Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues," "The House of Blue Lights," "Truck Drivin' Man," "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar," and of course, "Hot Lincoln." And despite that these tunes had been played literally hundreds of times, the inspiration, raw, reckless swing, and hard country boogie remain intact, full of growling, grimacing hedonism with expert musicianship that was unequaled anywhere. For anyone who owns the originals, has picked up the Akarma reissue of demos and alternate takes, and the one or two Relix live issues, Greatest Hits Live cannot -- just cannot -- be beat for its ass-kickin', joyful noise.

Track Listing

	Title/Composer	Performer	Time
1	The Battle of New Orleans Jimmie Driftwood	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	1:56
2	Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:39
3	Ubangi Stomp C. Underwood / Charles Underwood	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:53
4	It Should Have Been Me Curtis	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	2:46
5	Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues George Frayne	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:22
6	Big Mamou Clifton Chenier / Link Davis	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:15
7	Cold Country Blues	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:02
8	San Antonio Rose Bob Wills	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	5:22
9	The House of Blue Lights Don Raye / Freddie Slack	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	4:24
10	Truck Driving Man Terry Fell	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:03
11	Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar Hughie Prince / Don Raye / Eleanore Sheehy	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	5:01
12	There's a Riot Goin' On	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	3:34
13	Hot Rod Lincoln Charlie Ryan / W.S. Stevenson	Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen	4:37

blue highlight denotes track pick

AllMusic

Discography Browser

Release Date

Duration

Genre

Styles

Recording Date

Album Moods

Album Themes

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Greatest Hits Live

AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek

Track Listing