Telecaster twang-master Bill Kirchen’s life template was stamped early when as a key member in the original Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen outfit. For nearly a decade starting in 1967, Kirchen, Cody and an expansive, wildly talented lineup brought deep country, rockabilly, Western swing, and trucking songs, along with retro rock and roll to the young masses who might never have experienced this frantic music live. An early titled Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favorites, describes their sound with typically wry humor.
The San Francisco-based group opened for many huge acts of the day including the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead, exposing their audiences to good time, bar band, retro-spirited rocking. “Hot Rod Lincoln,” their…