Music / Visual art
George Frayne
1944–2021 · pianist, singer, bandleader, painter
As Commander Cody, the University of Michigan art student founded the Lost Planet Airmen in Ann Arbor in 1967, pioneering boogie-woogie country rock and the hit “Hot Rod Lincoln.”
- Born
Boise, Idaho- Died
Saratoga Springs, New York
aged 77- Birth name
- George Frayne IV
- Also known as
- Commander Cody
- Detroit years
- 1960s–1969
- Field
- Music, Visual art
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
George Frayne came to the University of Michigan to study art, earning a bachelor's degree in design in 1966 and a master's in sculpture and painting in 1968, and taught briefly at the university. In 1967 he and a crew of Ann Arbor musicians, including guitarist Bill Kirchen, who had grown up there, and Livonia-born drummer Lance Dickerson, formed Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, with Frayne taking the stage name from an old movie serial. The band mixed Western swing, honky-tonk, boogie-woogie and rockabilly, became known for marathon live shows and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area around 1969. Their 1972 version of “Hot Rod Lincoln” reached the national top 10, and the album Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas became a country-rock landmark. Michigan claimed them back: “Hot Rod Lincoln” was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2008, and the band entered the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame the next year.
Highlights
- Founded Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in Ann Arbor (1967)
- “Hot Rod Lincoln” reached the U.S. top 10 (1972)
- B.A. (1966) and M.F.A. (1968) from the University of Michigan
- Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame (2009)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1962–1968
University of Michigan
He earned his design degree and a master's in sculpture and painting here and briefly taught at the university.