Billy C. Farlow (Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen)

Billy C. Farlow (b. Greensburg, Indiana, June 9, 1949 - ) – Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. Hoosier-born Billy C. Farlow spent his early years in Indiana, Alabama, and Texas. In the early 1960s, Farlow’s family moved to Detroit, where the young teenager had the opportunity to jam with blues greats like Sippie Wallace, Big Joe Williams, James Cotton, and John Lee Hooker. In 1996, he formed his own Detroit-based band called Billy C. & the Sunshine, which competed for gigs with Mitch Ryder and opened for Cream’s Detroit appearance during their first American tour on 1967. In 1968 and 1969, Farlow played regularly in a band with drummer Sam Lay, who had just left the James Cotton Band. Farlow had replaced harmonica legend Little Walter Jacobs in Lay’s band. At the same time, Farlow spent some time playing with a loosely-arranged Ann Arbor group called Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. In 1969, the Airmen moved to Berkeley, California, where they opened for Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, the Doors, and the Eagles, among others. Playing a mix of blues and rockabilly, the Airmen soon became a featured act and recorded albums on Paramount and Warner Brothers. Functioning as lead vocalist, harpist (harmonica), and guitarist, Farlow wrote some their most successful songs, including “Lost in the Ozone,” “Too Much Fun,” and “Down to Seeds and Stems Again.” The band’s biggest hit was a cover of rockabilly classic “Hot Rod Lincoln,” which shot to #9 on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1972. After the Airmen broke up in 1976, Farlow stayed in California and formed his own Western Swing/Rockabilly band with pianist Billy Philadelphia and guitarist Tommy Thompson. After touring the West with his own band for many years, Billy C. relocated to Nashville and began a long-lived collaboration Fred James, legendary Nashville producer and guitarist. With the help of James, Farlow released five albums of original songs in twelve years. More recently, Farlow teamed up with guitarist Rich Kirch, who played lead with John Lee Hooker for fourteen years. The two of them recorded a blue CD called “Alligator Crawl” on Globe Records.