Besides the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage (and, OK, probably Hot Tuna), there wasn’t any band that the founding editors of Relix loved more than Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, and the new Live in San Francisco 1971 shows why. Give or take a few doper anthems—like the immortal “Seeds and Stems Again,” in sparkling form here—the fun of the Airmen was (and is) that they were consummate purveyors of hippie Americana. On this long-circulating June 1971 session recorded for KSAN, the Airmen cook, revealing themselves to be equally comfortable in the roles of lushly harmonizing greasers (Gene Vincent’s “Git It”), swinging cosmic cowboys (“Lost in the Ozone”) and gentle hippie-folkers (the Delmore Brothers’ “Blues Stay Away from Me,” sung by sweet-voiced Billy Farlow). Stoney crosstalk provides the aural haze between songs—a little less than half of the original session is represented on Sundazed’s new vinyl release—but the Airmen’s natural musical charisma could carry the recording even without it. Built around the Commander’s crystal clear honky-tonk piano, the eight-piece, male-fronted band demonstrates more showbiz shtick than psychedelic spontaneity. The effect is still the same: a doorway to a friendly place, lit by twang.