[.ca] Live From Deep In The Heart Of

YEEEEEHAW!! Even the free spirits from up North "Git It!":
Think of this album as an acid test of your stereo. Wick that sucker up to just below the distortion level, find the sweet spot and hog it, and get ready to readjust your definition of "Country Rock"! After I heard it the first time and rallyed enough to drive, I headed straight for the music store and bought 3 copies. I still have have the first one I opened, and the other two got stolen, hopefully by good friends. At that time, I had a stereo that loafed along at 300 watts per channel, and all you had to do was close your eyes, and you were THERE!! The recording is excellent, and along with "Waiting For Columbus" from Little Feat is my test record for any new addition to my system. The musicanship is absolutely first class, and it comes through with plenty of punch. Did you hear the three part whistle harmony in "Sunset on the Sage"? Do you know how hard that is to do live? Can you resist the urge to Two Step when you hear "Oh, Momma Momma"? Do you start looking for a beer to cry in when you hear the worlds saddest song "Down To Seeds And Stems Again Blues"? Can you resist the urge to testify when you hear "Mean Woman Blues"? This is the perfect snapshot of Texas music in 1973. At a casual listen, the album is pure fun. After you listen to it more and more, you will hear new things with each listen. One thing is unmistakable-this album catches the Commander and the Lost Planet Airmen at the top of their game. I personaly prefer the wax version, but they are hard to find. The CD version seems to sell out immediately wherever it hits the retail racks, so my recommendation is buy at least three copies so your friends will have something great to steal from you!

Wish I had been there!:
The Commander and the boys put on a hell of a show.Cody does his "talking songs" just right with the band doing great "effects"--like the car fender clicking the guard rail on "Hot Rod Lincoln".Bill Kirchen is a great guitar player--love the sounds he gets outta that ol' Telly.Billy C. sounds great too.Buffalo Bruce and Lance-- what a rhythm section!John Tichy provides great rhythm guitar (and has a Ph.D. in engineering!).Can't forget Andy Stein on the fiddle and saxophone.Last but not least, Bobby "Blue" Black plays super pedal steel.A great fun album from begining to end!!!

Superb live album of hippie-country-rock-swing:
Following a third album that didn't shine as inventively as their first two, the Airmen returned with an absolutely brilliant document of all that their music meant. Recorded live at Austin, Texas' "World Armadillo Headquarters," the Airmen sound like the Buckaroos in their prime: relaxed, confident, and deadly across a wide variety of inter-related musical genres. They even cover Owens' "Crying Time," much to the crowd's delight. The band swings effortlessly from the opening fiddle-driven instrumental into a rousing take of Elvis' "Good Rockin' Tonight." They cruise along with Johnny Horton's trucker themed "I'm Coming Home" only to plow headlong into the misery of the band's signature "Seeds and Stems (Again)." They harmonize with equal beauty for the cowboy tune, "Sunset on the Sage," and the doo-wop "Git It." The Commander gets his boogie-woogie slot on the band-penned "Oh Momma," and his spoken-vocal leads a guitar-and-sax heavy take of Leiber & Stoller's "Riot in Cell Block #9. The Cajun-influenced "Diggy Liggy Lo" bursts with incredible, manic energy, and the band's "Too Much Fun" shows what a fine dance-combo they were, as does the rousing closer, "Mean Woman Blues." This would be the last record the band would make before jumping to Warner Brothers, and it's a pitch-perfect document of all they created in their time at Paramount. All that's missing from this album is the dancer's sweat and a cold Shiner Bock -- the good times are preserved here for all to hear.

Stale beer and patchouli oil can mix just fine:
Commander Cody And The Lost Planet Airmen were a well known progresive art-rock ensemble notable for their brilliant usage of synthesizers and theremins on such masterpieces as Shostakovich's Concerto in B-flat minor. Ha! Just seein' if you were paying attention. Although, now that I think of it, fiddle player Andy Stein could play any kind of music you put in front of him. The Commander and company were merely the toughest, funniest, countrybilly rockingest band in the Bay Area in the early seventies. No other local country rock group would dare get on the stage after them (with the possible exception of Asleep At The Wheel who wisely kept things on the country side of the equation). Everybody else packed up their dobros and headed for the purple sage from whence they came. Anyway the Commander was best heard live and this is their best live album ergo it is their best album period. Nutty originals go hand in hand with inspired covers in this timeless concert in front of rabid Texas hippies and rednecks. My only complaint ; why oh why in the early seventies, the time of bloated, boring triple and quadruple overdubbed 'live' albums, was this racous masterpiece a single LP? Cody played generous, exciting sets and there must be more live stuff somewhere. But this will do just fine for starters.Crank it up! And I hope your neighbors have a sense of humor!

Man, does this take me back! A great CD of a great time...:
I was living in Dallas and regularly drove down to Armadillo World HQ when good bands came through. I was at this show, as the "Progressive Country" movement was in full swing in Texas, with Commander Cody's rockabilly roots, Willie Nelson, Willis Alan Ramsey, Michael (Martin) Murphey, Jerry Jeff Walker and others leading the way. Although this album (and now CD) by no means captures the entire night's performance, it does manage to capture some of the Lone Star-fueled frenzy of the interaction between the ever-lively Commander Cody and the audience. Unfortunately, due to time constraints there is little between song banter. That, as I dimly recall, was half the fun of this evening in Austin... Still, it's fun to listen to this and tell my son, "Dad was there." He rolls his eyes and cranks up Eminem, but, hey, some day he'll figure out how special it is to boogie. And whew, was boogie the word for this album, and this night, and this great, great lineup! "...and I'm down to stems and seeds, again, too..."

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