Road Trip Tunes

[AprilTwister]

The next stop on our 2010 Rock'n Roll tour takes us to Moutain Jam. Instead of flying, we'll be spending 9 hrs in the car. I'm starting to mentally compile the "travelling tunes" and it got me wondering.. what do YOU throw in your cd case when embarking on a road trip?

[FlounderinDC]

When I moved back from DC to Oklahoma I spent a good portion of the ride listening to Whiskeytown's "Faithless Street". I also find live albums are good for road trips.

[yessaidyes]

Some people say you don't listen to the band you're going to see, but I think if you are going to be in the car for 9+ hours you totally can get away with that.

I really like the last two Cracker albums, Greenland and Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey--- they've both got a mix of good background and rocking out tunes.

I usually try to take advantage of full album listening on long car rides because you feel like you've achieved something (and passed time) with each album you get through! Good luck and safe travels!

['Scratch]

Just about every year I drive solo to Iowa, a solid 20 hour ride. I put the iPod on shuffle for a lot of it, the variety helps keep from being lulled into a trance. But one song always gets played at one point on the trip. Uncle Tupelo's instrumental "Sandusky" comes out the minute I see the exit sign on Rte 80. I know it's corny but I guess it helps me feel a sense of cameraderie with those guys who spent so much of their lives hurtling across the country in a van.

And after dark, Son Volt's "Windfall" comes out.

Now and then it keeps you running
It never seems to die
The trail's spent with fear
Not enough living on the outside
Never seem to get far enough
Staying in between the lines
Hold on to what you can
Waiting for the end
Not knowing when
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away
Trying to make it far enough, to the next time zone
Few and far between past the midnight hour
Never feel alone, you're really not alone...
Switching it over to AM
Searching for a truer sound
Can't recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down
Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away.

[Tequila Cowboy]

.

I usually try to take advantage of full album listening on long car rides because you feel like you've achieved something (and passed time) with each album you get through! Good luck and safe travels!

I completely agree with this. It also can permanently associate an album with a place that otherwise would never make sense. For this reason I will always associate The Neville Brothers with South Dakota.

[beantownbubba]

.

I usually try to take advantage of full album listening on long car rides because you feel like you've achieved something (and passed time) with each album you get through! Good luck and safe travels!

I completely agree with this. It also can permanently associate an album with a place that otherwise would never make sense. For this reason I will always associate The Neville Brothers with South Dakota.

I'm savoring this one, TC. I understand what u mean, but is any band in the world more associated w/ their home town (or any place) than the Nevilles & New Orleans? And is there anyplace in the world less like the big easy than S. Dakota? I'm lovin' it!

Long drives almost always mean upbeat music for me. I've got my "car radio songs" ipod mix mentioned in that other thread, but other than that I agree, it's a great chance to listen to entire albums, especially ones i've been meaning to get around to (either new and unfamiliar or old and forgotten). Old favorites that almost always get some "airtime" include various r&b/soul collections, Born to Run, The Allman Bros Live at Fillmore East, Let it Bleed and Get Your Ya Ya's Out. The rule in my car is that the driver gets to pick, but the passengers will affect my choices.

[Clams]

I like to stretch out with complete albums too. I alos do a lot of XM while on road trips. And local radio. Nothing beats finding some little honky tonk country station or a cool rock station in the middle of nowhere (preferably on AM) and listening in for 30 minutes until your out of range.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I'm savoring this one, TC. I understand what u mean, but is any band in the world more associated w/ their home town (or any place) than the Nevilles & New Orleans? And is there anyplace in the world less like the big easy than S. Dakota? I'm lovin' it!

I know, that's the best part. Irony be thy name.

[Fool No Where]

Some people say you don't listen to the band you're going to see, but I think if you are going to be in the car for 9+ hours you totally can get away with that.

I did it. Well pretty much. Last summer I drove 9+ hours to a see a band play a two-night stand in their home-town. With the exception of one song, I listened to none of their music. The only reason I listened to the one song I did is because the road I was on was in the title of the song.

Gawd, I love stealth bragging. Thanks Zip.

Agreed with entire albums on roadtrips, although I haven't associated a band with a geo/topography. I also like to listen to old party playlists to see how, if at all, my music tastes have changed.

[Smitty]

.

I usually try to take advantage of full album listening on long car rides because you feel like you've achieved something (and passed time) with each album you get through! Good luck and safe travels!

I completely agree with this. It also can permanently associate an album with a place that otherwise would never make sense. For this reason I will always associate The Neville Brothers with South Dakota.

Same here - I've listened to alot of "classic" albums in their entirety for the first time on roadtrips - Nebraska takes on a whole new layer listening to it at 3 AM lost on the bad side of Montgomery.

[Smitty]

By the way, I remember getting paranoid and I think it was the first time I had listened to State Trooper, in the wee wee hours riding around industrial part of town/ghetto, I was by myself, and that first fucking yell Bruce lets out of nowhere scared the living shit out of me.

[yessaidyes]

I like to stretch out with complete albums too. I alos do a lot of XM while on road trips. And local radio. Nothing beats finding some little honky tonk country station or a cool rock station in the middle of nowhere (preferably on AM) and listening in for 30 minutes until your out of range.

I really like this idea too. Except it can be pretty creepy when you're in the middle of a cornfield and all you hear is evangelical preachers on every station. Then it gets a little too Children of the Corn for me.