West Virginia Creeper

Joe Goldmark · Post by **Joe Goldmark** » 18 May 2021 12:51 pm

Not sure if it's been mentioned that Dave Zirbel (above) has been Cody's steel man for the last ten(?) years and he's been killing it!

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 18 May 2021 1:27 pm

Not sure if it's been mentioned that Dave Zirbel (above) has been Cody's steel man for the last ten(?) years and he's been killing it!

Actually it ended a few years ago, but for about 4 years he would come to the west coast for a weekend, or sometimes twice in a year. I did manage to get to go to Hawaii with them only because Don Curtis and Tiny Olsen were not able to go..I was basically a sub for those two fine pickers and it was cheaper to pick up a local guy for California dates, possibly cheaper to fly to Hawaii from California as well. Also Bobby was still the main guy for any Lost Planet Airmen reunions......

As far as me killing it...way too kind Joe! I must admit I wasn't never quite sure I was the right choice, but still it was a good gig, and a learning experience.

Olaf van Roggen · Post by **Olaf van Roggen** » 18 May 2021 7:52 pm

Nice to hear the Commander is still making music.
As a teenager I wrote George Frayne (Commander Cody) a letter because of an old fanclub address I found. He answered and sent me a vintage button that I still have. He lived in Stinson beach CA back then, which I actually visited 2 years ago.

I wondered who the West Virginia Creeper was, when I bought" lost in the ozone "years ago as there weren't anymore recordings with him. Except for the double cd that was released a couple of years ago.
I saw he reacted on this topic too.

Ernie Hagar for example recorded with other artists and had 2 solo albums, just like Bobby Black.

Thanks for your reactions to the topic Dave.

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 20 May 2021 7:47 am

Here's something I came across yesterday .
Seeds and Stems by Commander Cody , video from 1971 . That's 50 years ago .

Olaf van Roggen · Post by **Olaf van Roggen** » 20 May 2021 8:04 am

J Fletcher wrote:Here's something I came across yesterday .
Seeds and Stems by Commander Cody , video from 1971 . That's 50 years ago .

The same i posted a couple of days ago?

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 20 May 2021 9:19 am

Oops . hadn't noticed you had already posted that . By the way , you can clearly see that single 8 Sho~Bud being played .

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 20 May 2021 10:24 am

An excerpt from a quote from an old post answering a question from Jim Cohen about how the Creeper name came about which is something I've always been curious about. I read this several times but I'm not sure I made the connection. Maybe I'm just slow.

Steve Davis wrote:...The West Virginia Creeper name came from the basement museum of the Charleston, WV state capitol where I took Billy C one time. There was a green motorcycle there that had belonged to a local guy who showed up and blew everybodies minds. C said - You are the new Creeper. I used to watch Lloyd Green and Curly Chalker and once asked Curly to play bossa nova - he did! I was blown away.
I racked up a lot of stories over the years with CCLPA - I was lucky I guess to be there during a stormy period.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 30 May 2021 12:13 am

When I first moved to the Bay Area in 1973, the Creeper was the first steel player I met. He was playing a ZB down at Mandrakes with a hippie country band called Country Thunder. Nice guy and good picker.