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May 2, 2008

Commander Cody’s back; ‘Hot Rod Lincoln’ singer in 2nd Lube gig

By Matt Snyder

SHARON — The nationally-known Commander Cody Band of “Hot Rod Lincoln” fame is back at Quaker Steak and Lube at 5 p.m. Saturday, celebrating an open-to-the-public prom and birthday bash.

Two years ago, Cody played at the Lube to celebrate the prom that co-owner and Commander Cody fan Paula Warren never had. Saturday will be her “senior prom.”

Commander Cody, the stage name of singer George Frayne, said he remembers the last “prom.” He called it a lot of fun and a cool setup. “It was our kind of place,” he said.

Manager Sam Perry said last time around there were plenty of tuxedos and a great turnout. Local band Pipedreams will open for Commander Cody at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10. Steve Vuich opens for Pipedreams.

Attendees are invited to dress in tuxedos or to break out their prom gowns and Converse sneakers.

Even though they’re mostly associated with country music, Cody said his band’s music is indie with a country-rock flavor and blues roots.

“We do the blues circuit,” he said. They don’t fit well into the country circuit because he said he and his band “look like a bunch of hippies.”

“You can’t do the country-western circuit unless you got a black hat and boots,” he joked.

The band also plays a lot of boogie woogie. “I’m the best boogie woogie player left alive,” Cody said, excepting maybe Pinetop Perkins.

Commander Cody is best known for the chart-topping “Hot Rod Lincoln,” which he plays at every performance. “If you don’t look too deeply into it there’s some people who think I’m a one hit wonder.” But he said he’s put out six songs in the top 40 and 10 in the top 100.

Their best known song made problems for the original band, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, which split up in the ’80s over the song.

“There were three other guys in the band who were legitimately singers,” Cody said. But after the success of “Hot Rod,” which featured his voice, the others didn’t get as much singing time.

He said one song in their first album got to be the big hit. “That little thing got the band to break up six years later,” he said.

But that was a long time ago, Cody said. He’s been playing for 40 years and still enjoys performing. He said his favorite part of the performance is the temporary nature of the thing — that it’s there for an instant and then gone.

“Once you’ve done your performance it’s gone. It’s something that you create in time and it’s either good or bad and you move on to the next one,” he said.

Cody said he’s played venues great and small. He opened for Led Zeppelin to a crowd of 150,000 and played in a near-empty 400-seat bar with only 12 in the audience.

He said the CDs still sell, though, and it’s got more to do with the music than it does him.

“Doing the gigs, you just learn not to do it unless you enjoy it,” he said. “If you really love what you’re doing, it’s a nice life. You don’t make a ton of dough but you make people happy.”

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