Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen : “Live From Deep in the Heart of Texas” (1974) MCA

Years before the Stray Cats brought rockabilly back to the charts with a trendy roar of hair spray and mascara, the ol’ Commander and his boys were busy tearing up the road and the airwaves with good old-fashioned, good-rockin’, good-timey hillbilly rock ‘n’ roll. “Live From Deep in the Heart of Texas” finds the group in full swing--beered up and butt-stompin’ in front of an appreciative crowd of equally inebriated rednecks. Live, this band was definitely in its element--whether beating out the boogie woogie of “Oh Momma Momma,” raging through the rockabilly of “Too Much Fun” or crying in its beer over the “Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues.” Bill Kirchen was one of the most underrated guitarists of the ‘70s, Bobby Black remains one of the top steel players in the world and the Commander himself is no slouch on the 88’s, but to dissect and analyze this music too much is to defeat its purpose. Crank this sucker up at a lagging social affair, and you’ve got instant party.