#bill kirchen

[qupritsuvwix]

[serpentinesheldonserpentine]

Once I got the Tele, that was the last day job I had that wasn’t about music.

[krispyweiss]

Commander Cody Dead at 77

- “He had a heart just as big as his bluster,” Bill Kirchen says

George Frayne IV, the musician and bandleader known as Commander Cody, died Sept. 26, his wife said.

Cody was 77 and had been undergoing treatment for cancer.

“Early this morning, as I lay my head upon his shoulder, George’s soul took to flight,” Sue Casanova wrote on her husband’s Facebook page. “I am heartbroken and weary and I know your hearts break, too. Thank you so much for all the love you gave and the stories you shared.”

“RIP, Commander,” the David Nelson Band posted on Facebook.

Frayne, as Cody, launched the Lost Planet Airmen in 1967. The band created a cosmic stew of country-rock filtered through improvisational ensemble playing. They released seven live and studio recordings through their initial run, which ended in 1976.

Guitarist Bill Kirchen was 19 when he joined the “bigger-than-life, … force-of-nature” Cody and his Airmen. The pair remained friends for nearly six decades and Kirchen said on Facebook Cody “had a heart just as big as his bluster.”

“Rest in peace, Commander,” Kirchen said. “Or, if you’d rather, go on, raise a ruckus.”

Kinky Friedman and Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson both tweeted about how Cody - whom the former eulogized as “country-rock maverick” - helped launch their careers.

“The Commander, Commander Cody, has left spaceship Earth, but he left a treasure chest of music art and a (point of view) that changed the face of music for sure,” Benson said. “He made AATW possible in so many ways, and I/we owe him a debt of gratitude for all the love and inspiration he gave us.”

After the original Airmen dissolved, Cody continued playing songs like “Hot Rod Lincoln,” “Seeds and Stems (Again)” and “Lost in the Ozone” with musicians variously known as the Commander Cody Band, Commander Cody and His Modern Day Airmen and Commander Cody and His Western Airmen.

Jefferson Starship shared bills with some of those groups over the years and Pete Sears remembered his fellow keyboardist as a “wonderful guy, piano player, singer and entertainer with a massive presence.”

Casanova said the family is planning bi-coastal gatherings “to celebrate the Old Commander’s phenomenal life” and assist musicians in need.

9/27/21

[milesbutterball]

Watch "Bill Kirchen - Tell Me the Reason" on YouTube

[tfc2211]

Visit Original Link

[somestinkydude]

Where there's a guitar, there's a way (to make this quarantine bearable). And Bill Kirchen has some nice tunes for ya, my rockin' fellas.

[americanahighways]

REVIEW: Bill Kirchen “Cat Out of the Bag” @bill_kirchen @americanahighways @johnjenkinsliverpool #billkirchen #musicreviews #albumreviews #catoutofthebag #americanamusic #americanahighways @lastmusiccompany

REVIEW: Bill Kirchen “Cat Out of the Bag”

[americanahighways]

Interview: Bill Kirchen On Connecting, Collaborating, and "Cat Out of the Bag" @bill_kirchen @americanahighways @hannah_meansshannon #billkirchen #musicianinterview #catoutofthebag #americanamusic #americanahighways @lastmusiccompany

Interview: Bill Kirchen On Connecting, Collaborating, and "Cat Out of the Bag"