Q&A: Commander Cody Still Says ‘Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette’

Best known for his biggest hit, “Hot Rod Lincoln,” a familiar rockabilly tune featuring a smoking-hot telecaster riff and a pseudo-country rap like the one Johnny Cash made famous in “A Boy Named Sue,” Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen made a name for themselves in the summer of 1969 when they opened for the Grateful Dead in California.

“That’s when things started to happen,” said Cody, a.k.a George Frayne, during a phone interview from his home-base in Saratoga Springs this week. “We were homeless for a long time but we stuck it out.”

After another hit with a cover of a Tex Williams swing tune, “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette” and a successful live album in 1974, the group dissolved in 1976. But Frayne, 67, still pounds on the honky-tonk piano as well as he ever did, touring with various musicians and playing about 80 shows a year.

A native of Long Island, Frayne — an artist and academic who splits his time between playing music and creating art — said he hasn’t been to the East End since 1989.

North Fork Patch got a chance to chat with Commander Cody before his performance at at this coming Saturday afternoon.

Q: So you’re from Long Island?

A: I graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1952, so yeah, I know a little about Long Island. We used to take the all the time. Back when I was a kid there was nothing on the North Fork — just potato farms. But I think the wineries are great. I heard about the festival last year and I wanted to do it this year to get back there.

Q: You’re also quite the sought-after visual artist — how much time do you give to each craft?

A: I’m always painting, and I’m always going to be painting. My art career is separate yet parallel to music. I started in art and then discovered the steel guitar and moved to California and gave it a shot. We were homeless for a long time, carrying on in the streets but we knew that was the deal back then. Then on August 18, 1969, we opened for the Grateful Dead and things started to happen and we stuck it out.

Q: The popularity of rockabilly and swing seems to ebb and flow in and out of the mainstream but there always seems to be an underground movement — would you say you have anything to do with this?

A: Not a thing. We were a county-and-western swing band for about four years. We never overestimated what we could do.

Q: What can the crowd at NoFo expect from your performance on Saturday?

A: What I do best is play piano, boogie woogie and jump blues. My regular band decided to go on vacation, but I’ve got some players and we’ll get up there and play “Smoke That Cigarette” and the hits. They’re a really good band, they can do these sort of things.

And this is such a great opportunity to get back to Long Island. It’s a big weekend for me, and who knows — maybe I’ll bring the wife and the dog too.

For the full lineup this weekend, go to: www.noforockandfolkfest.com