Country Casanova | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 1973 | |||
Recorded | 1973 | |||
Length | 27:36 | |||
Label | Paramount Records (original) MCA (reissue) | |||
Producer | Stephan Jarvis | |||
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [2] |
Country Casanova is the third album by American rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. It was released in 1973 on Paramount Records.
The album was originally available on LP and 8-track, and later cassette. In 1991, it was released on CD.
Country Casanova is highlighted by the band's classic cover version of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)." "Everybody's Doin' It" is a revised cover of "Everybody's Truckin'", a 1937 song by the Texas Western swing band The Modern Mountaineers. It, too included "fuckin'" in the lyric, a trick pulled by pianist-vocalist Smokey Wood. Commander Cody copied the original arrangement at a slightly faster tempo and removed the original's reference to "darkies." The cover reportedly got Commander Cody banned from some country music stations because it includes the word "fuckin'" repeated several times, band leader George Frayne claimed in the liner notes of Too Much Fun: The Best of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.
The album cover shows George Frayne, a.k.a. "The Commander", leaning against a White 1962 or 1963 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors. The car is backed up to a fence, and there is a donkey off to the left of the car. According to The Commander, the Donkey's name was also George. The Lincoln belonged to the famous Rock & Roll photographer Jim Marshall, who took the picture for the album cover.
The back cover of the album features the band standing in front of their tour bus, which was a 1950s Greyhound Scenicruiser (double decker) in its past life. The bus is pulled off to the side of a road...somewhere...and to the right of the bus, in the background, you can see what looks like a blue and white Ford pickup truck cruising down the road. If you notice, Commander Cody can be seen holding a drink of some sort in this picture. Band members are displayed left to right, front to rear, as noted: Andy Stein (fiddle, saxophone) Billy C. Farlow (Lead Vocal) (both sitting on an instrument case) behind them, standing, left to right, we have Bill Kirchen (Lead guitar and banjo, lead vocal on "My Window Faces The South" and "Honeysuckle Honey") (On original the LP release, as well as the MCA CD issue of this album Kirchen's name is spelled "Kircher", which is incorrect.) Lance Dickerson (Drums) Bruce Barlow: (Fender and Stand-up Bass) John Tichy: (Rhythm Guitar and Lead Vocal on "Shall We Meet" and "Sister Sue") Bobby Black: (Pedal Steel guitar and Dobro) Commander Cody: (Piano and Lead Vocal on "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! That Cigarette").
*Indicates songs that the band never performed live.
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Production
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Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an American rock band founded in 1967. The group's leader and co-founder was pianist and vocalist George Frayne IV, alias Commander Cody.
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Lost in the Ozone is an album by American rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Their first album, it was released in 1971. it contains their hit cover version of "Hot Rod Lincoln" as well as the band's live staples "Lost in the Ozone" and "Seeds and Stems (Again)".
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"Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! " is a Western swing novelty song written by Merle Travis and Tex Williams, for Williams and his talking blues style of singing. Travis wrote the bulk of the song. The original Williams version went to number one for 16 non-consecutive weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart and became a #1 hit in August 1947 and remained at the top of the "Best Sellers in Stores" chart for six weeks. It was written in 1947 and recorded on March 27, 1947, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood.
Andy Stein is an American saxophone and violin player. He is a member of The Guys All-Star Shoe Band on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion and the movie. He was a founding member of the country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Stein attended the University of Michigan as a contemporary of George Frayne.
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