Wordsmoker Anthropology: Road Trippin’ Tunes

May 7, 2010 in Audiosmoker, Wordsmoker Anthropology

Summer is on our doorstep, and that means travel. Mr. Marshmueller and I are serving the airline industry an Official Notice to Go Fuck Themsleves, and are traveling only by car for our multitude of trips this year. Not only is packing everything we need on the list, but so is coming up with the perfect playlist for being on the road. We have our favorites, but we’re thirsty for some new tunes.

The requirements are a good rhythm, singability, and country is officially ineligible.

What are some of your favorite songs/artists for being on the road?

Tags: country is unallowed, look away dixieland!

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http://wordsmoker.com/ BookishLookish

“Every Kind of Music but Country” by Robbie Fulks, though Little Mo and the Monicats do a better cover, IMHO. Country music for people who don’t like country music. But why the FUCK don’t you like country, girl? Some of it is really guuuuuuuud.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/misspeacock/ MissPeacock

Old-timey, genuine country music is the BOMB! Throw on some Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. If you like bluegrass, go for Flatt & Scruggs and the Louvin Brothers. Toe-tappin’ goodness, chile.
http://wordsmoker.com/ BookishLookish

@Pea: It’s un-Amerikkkun to dislike country!
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/marshmueller/ marshmueller

@Bookish & Miss Peacock: I don’t have a problem with old-time country; in fact, it makes me all nostalgic for being out in BFE at my grandparents’ ranch. It’s the new country I cannot handle, having been raised in a hick town where Wranglers and large belt buckles are de rigeur.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/katekate/ katekate is squared

CCR, especially “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.” Windows down, makes me feel like The Dude.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/chillbearlatrigue/ Chillbear Latrigue

Anything by Sir Tom Jones, but why create a mix? “What’s New Pussycat” on endless loop works just fine.
http://wordsmoker.com/ BookishLookish

You need a lot of Allman Brothers on the road, also a lot of White Stripes and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (“Bellbottoms!”). And for when you are really beatdown tired but have to drive another fifty miles? You need Sly and the Family Stone. “You can make it if you try-yyy!”
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/perverseus/ perverseus

Three words: Bay. City. Rollers.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/mama-penguino-2-2-2/ Mama Penguino

MM: We love listening to the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack in the car.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/irishbreakfast/ irishbreakfast

Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Then, particularly if you’re driving anywhere near Arizona, anything in Spanish by Los Lobos and/or Flaco Jimenez. Crank it up and roll down the windows. And I know she’s considered country, but Sheby Lynne’s eponymous album is great–no Wranglers in sight. And there’s Alison Krause. And for the sorta-punk-rebel that still lives somewhere inside, Green Day’s American Idiot. Oh! Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Indeed.
I’m all excited for you; let us know how this goes. If I drove more than two blocks with Mr. Breakfast he’d be in the hospital and I’d be on the lam.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/nefariousnewt/ NefariousNewt

“Going Moblie”, The Who

“Red Barchetta”, Rush

“The Golden Age of Leather”, Blue Öyster Cult

“The Boys of Summer”, Don Henly
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/bjonston/ BJonston

Atlantic City by the Boss
Your Rocky Spine by the Great Lake Swimmers
Angeles by Elliot Smith
The Dress Looks Nice on You by Sufjan Stevens
Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot
I Feel it All by Feist
Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show
Breakdown by Jack Johnson
Blue Ridge Mountains by Fleet Foxes
Honest by Derek Clegg
Engine Driver by the Decemberists
Rocky Mountain High by John Denver
Girl From the North Country by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
Speed Racer by Vic Chesnutt
Fake Empire by The National
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/harrietspys/ harrietspys

Road trip=Sing along time! Here’s one Harriet and Monkey took on the road.

The Incredibly Unsophisticated Sing-Along Playlist

Tiny Dancer: Ben Folds
Family Tradition: Hank Williams Jr.
Run Around: Blues Traveler
Coconut: Harry Nilsson
Come Monday: Jimmy Buffet
Eight Days a Week: The Beatles
Leaving on a Jet Plane: John Denver
D’yer Mak’er: Led Zeppelin
Maggie May: Rod Stewart
Small Town: John Mellancamp
California Dreamin’: Mamas and the Papas
I Heard it through the Grapevine: Marvin Gaye
Mr. Bojangles: Neil Diamond
Crazy: Patsy Cline
Can’t help falling in Love: Pearl Jam
Honky Tonk Women: Rolling Stones
Everyday People: Sly and the Family Stone
I’m a Believer: Smashmouth
The Tracks of My Tears: Smokey Robinson
Where Did Our Love Go: The Supremes
Beautiful Day: U2
Ain’t to Proud to Beg: Rolling Stones
Island in the Sun: Weezer
King of the Road: Roger Miller
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/lipsticklibrarian/ LipstickLibrarian

Prince: Let’s Go Crazy, Raspberry Beret, U Got the Look, Kiss.

Bowie: Queen Bitch, Diamond Dogs, Rebel Rebel, Suffragette City, Modern Love.

Talking Heads: Life During Wartime, Psycho Killer, Girlfriend is Better, Once in a Lifetime

AC/DC: Highway to Hell (natch!), Back in Black, You Shook Me, Dirty Deeds, TNT, Shoot to Thrill, What Do You Do for Money.

The Police: Synchronicity II, Can’t Stand Losing You, Roxanne.

Common People – Pulp, Head Over Heels – Tears for Fears, Cities in Dust – Siouxsie & The Banshees, Debaser – Pixies,

Albums: Van Halen, Rated R – Queens of the Stone Age, Back to Black – Amy Winehouse, Loaded – Velvet Underground, Nevermind – Nirvana, Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings of Leon, Appetite for Destruction – GNR.

Okay, I’ll stop now.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/voxpopuli/ VoxPopuli

“Life is a Highway” by…nah, just kidding!

Seriously:
Prince. Though you can probably ignore anything that came after “Diamonds and Pearls.”
Stevie Wonder. Anything by him, really. You’ll find yourself singing even to the mushy songs.
Old R.E.M.
Pulp Fiction soundtrack
Led Zeppelin – any album.
Simon and Garfunkel greatest hits – another one that you WILL sing along to, no matter what.
Sweet Home Alabama. Yeah, this is kind of country and it’s very cheesy, but it makes me think of driving for some reason. Road trip!
Beatles – Sgt. Pepper (white album is another option, but Revolution 9 scares me, so I wouldn’t risk it)
Pearl Jam – Vs. (I rediscovered this the other day and it’s not bad driving music)
Kings of Leon – Molly’s Chambers
Sublime – What I Got
Ray Charles – probably has a fantastic greatest hits album
Mary J. Blige – especially No More Drama, though I also like her latest, Stronger with Each Tear (more upbeat than it sounds)
Alicia Keys, but skip the new one. It’s not that good. Songs in A Minor was near perfect.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/irishbreakfast/ irishbreakfast

I must say I am a bit concerned about all the John Denver love. Yes, he had a voice, but lord, those songs! We graduated from the same high school albeit not at the same time. It was as if Jesus had come back and blessed the place, and no one could ever match him. Every time we had to gather in the auditorium Rocky Mountain High was playing in the background. Arg. If you want to go sappy in a good way go Gordon LIghtfoot.
@ Harriet: Blasphemy! Leaving on a Jet Plane is, and always will be, Peter Paul and Mary. I’ll arm wrestle you for that.
OK: I digressed. That was not the point of the post.
ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING BY HEART.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/rosie-cheeks/ Rosie Cheeks

I’m a big fan of some sing out loud, heart stopping, howlin’, baby can you feel it, R&B. Best of Stax is a goodun for all around singing your heart out. Sam & Dave. Just so you can get funky in your seat and feel all sexy like. Parliament. Clinton. Also love me some reggae …. some Jimmy Cliff, Tosh, Marley, and bounce around cause it’s late and there’s no exit for like 60 miles….ska – The Essential Ska Masters disc is awesome for a mix. Nirvana Unplugged for a ride through the desert. I also gotta have me some opera. Puccini. Tosca maybe. La Boheme. I also LOVE the Robert Plant/Alison Kraus collaboration- Raising Sand. As far as the country, after years in Caroline, I have got to agree that some o’ that music is pure magic. Classics cant’ steer you wrong. Woody, Patsy, Flatt n Scruggs. Be sure you have some Dylan. Steely Dan is great too. I like Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Cal Tjader also, but I am big on Latin music. Happy Trails!
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/chillbearlatrigue/ Chillbear Latrigue

@Breakfast: I support your John Denver hatred. However, the support is weak since I’ve recently publicly humiliated myself demonstrating exactly how bad my musical taste is. I would prefer traveling on a bus full of six graders singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” to the accompaniment of nails on a chalk board than listening to that hack. Also the song “Leaving On A Jet Plane” sucks regardless of whether it’s performed John Denver or Peter, Paul and Mary – a trio whose lingering popularity is almost as inexplicable to me as John Denver’s.

90% of these suggestions were really good, but some of them seemed as if she had asked you to give here music by which to dine, and the responses were annoying songs mentioning different types of food, like “All That Meat And No Potatoes” by Fats Waller, or “Shanghai Noodle Factory” by Traffic. Don’t tax yourselves. I found those two here:

http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2007/05/edible_audio_so.html

If I sound a bit angry it may be that for some reason, MarshMueller and Randy failed to invite me on their little romantic getaways. It’s cool. I like staying here in the tip of the nation’s dong. Great.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/chillbearlatrigue/ Chillbear Latrigue

@Breakfast: John Denver does suck, but so does any version of the song, “Leaving On A Jet Plane.” Worrying about whether or not Peter, Paul and Mary get their due and propers is like arguing over who makes the best butterscotch candy. I’m not sure why I’m always so down on butterscotch candies, but they just really piss me off.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/bjonston/ BJonston

Anything by Philip Glass if you’re driving at night through the desert or the mountains.
http://wordsmoker.com pennydanger

Here’s a partial list of my fav’s to make your trip special and to get you from A all the way to B…. Start out with Kid Rock’s All Summer Long The Babys Poison Bad Company Sly & The Family Stone Don Henley Patty Smyth Kiss Pretenders Damn Yankees Foreigner Foghat Stevie Wonder Collective Soul Boston Concrete Blonde The Cars The Clash The Lovin’ Spoonful Emerson Lake & Palmer Coldplay .38 Special Sheila E. Heart 10cc Fergie solo and Black Eyed Peas The Calling Peter Cetera Chicago Eric Clapton John Mayer Four Seasons Jefferson Starship Eddie Money The Allman Brothers Eddie Money Depeche Mode Pat Benetar Warrant Van Halen Lifehouse The Fabulous Thunderbirds David Bowie Pearl Jam April Wine The Hollies Quiet Riot Mike & The Mechanics The Hooters Cinderella Howie Day Earth Wind & Fire Cheryl Crow Tesla Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Eagles Dire Straits Stevie Nicks Duffy Queen The Police Smashmouth Oasis Journey Rolling Stones Jackson Browne Led Zepplin Fleetwood Mac Avril Lavigne The Doors Phil Collins Aerosmith Bee Gees The Cult Peter Frampton Marshall Tucker Band Pink Winger AC DC Electric Light Orchestra The Cure J Geils Band
ZZ Top The Beatles Ringo Starr Motley Crue . Rock out with your ….. out!
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/rosie-cheeks/ Rosie Cheeks

I woke up in the night thinking you needed some Stones…Sticky Fingers is a good one for driving and singing and howlin’ out loud. Also, on the country note: Avett Brothers. Do some youtube searchin’ and you’ll see why. Talented boys and good fun. I like all their records so far.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/chillbearlatrigue/ Chillbear Latrigue

@Rosie: The woman asked for no Country. Why is everyone trying to explain to her that she is wrong. This reminds me of the people who unsuccessfully try to explain to me how much fun I really have at the RoundUp Country Music Club near my house as though I’m incorrectly interpreting my own response to experiences.

@M²: Flight of the Concords. I defy anyone to sing along to “Business Time” and not be instantly in a great mood. I DEFY THEM!
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/militantrubberducky/ MilitantRubberDucky

While Chillbear and I are in disagreement on country music, I do agree with him on “Business Time”. Instant mood-lifter.
http://wordsmoker.com/ Latterday Lenin

The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979
Bob Dylan – Song to Woody, Corinna Corinna, Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, Idiot Wind, House of the Rising Sun
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son, Proud Mary
Ramones – Rockaway Beach
Leonard Cohen – Chelsea Hotel, Hallelujah
http://wordsmoker.com/ Latterday Lenin

I will say, driving through Idaho at night while listening to Gary Numan’s “The Pleasure Principle” was alarmingly satisfying.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/bjonston/ BJonston

Aw yeah. It’s Business Time.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhN93rFZuJs
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/bjonston/ BJonston

Also, the humans are dead.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGoi1MSGu64
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/misspeacock/ MissPeacock

“The Dirty South” by The Drive-By Truckers. The entire album is road-trip worthy.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/bjonston/ BJonston

Also, Led Zeppelin II.
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/marshmueller/ marshmueller

@Chill: I’m not sure if you consider camping romantic, so I refrained from the invite. I’ll have to reconfigure our itineraries next time…

And I have all of FOTC…even “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor.”

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys!
http://wordsmoker.com/help/members-3/militantrubberducky/ MilitantRubberDucky

The Black Rock album by Joe Bonamassa

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