Driving music
Dunno about you but I do a lot of my music listening in the car these days during a long commute. Last night I was bombing down the M4 at 7.30ish and the old iPod shuffle popped up "One of these days" off Meddle by the Floyd. At 70 miles an hour the scenery whizzes past exactly in time to the the music - making it feel like you're in your own video - a perfect merging of motion and music. Wow - what was in that machine coffee?
A mate at college always used to set off on a trip in his MGB by playing "The cowboy song" off "Live and dangerous" by Thin Lizzy which starts slowly (turn keys, engage reverse, put roof down), has a slightly speeded up first verse (reverse out - manoeuvre down drive) then in come the harmony lead guitars (brrrrm brrrm) and in bangs the second verse (roar off in cloud of smoke).
Your favourite driving tracks?
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Oh dear we may have steered
Oh dear we may have steered into Clarkson territory here. In fact the top gear best driving songs were increidbly literal they were classic rock songs about driving were as songs that sound good in cars is much more interesting.
Can I offer Perfume by the Paris Angels which is an excellent song and seems to be entirely made out of condensed orange sodium street light.
Also Night swimming by REM always reminds of wonderful evening drive through hills of north wales.
oh and of the old favourite it's got to be V'who.
No no no
Not bloody Clarkson please!
If this post were a coffee
If this post were a coffee it would be a......
It has to be bagpipes
Strangely, there is nothing more thrilling than a rigorous skirling as you wheedle along. I will accept scottish, irish, english or breton, all add to the pleasure.
Evidence will be submitted as 1. The Lock and Rocks Reel/Peatbog Faeries
2. Hiroshima Nagasaki Russian Roulette/Moving Hearts
3. Electric Lassieland/Jimi McCrae
This list changes frequently.
I have actually written an article on this...
http://motortorque.askaprice.com/articles/auto-0703/top-10-driving-tunes...
Agree with you on 'Perfume' - should have included that.
Six Days Upon The Road
Taj Mahal version. Licence shredding a distinct possibility.
Most of the tracks on the first three Steely Dan albums
also do it nicely. I'm listening to the first two discs from the Citizen box at the mo'.
I had East St Louis Toodle-Oo timed nicely for the final half mile home last night. Gong just as I turned off the ignition. Nice.
Too right
...on the Taj - one of my favourites. Recently CDR'd the vinyl actually...good call on the Dan - Kid Charlemagne should probably be illegal to play in the car cos only a dead person wouldn't speed up as Larry Carlton whips out one of the finest guitar solos of all time....
With a couple of mates
I went to see Taj at the Old Vic in Bristol a few (!) years back. The stage was set with a piano and a couple of acoustics on stands; this looks good, thought I.
Taj strolls on, a big solid bloke in the BRIGHTEST Hawaiian shirt you ever did see, and a grin as wide as the stage. Taj says "Hi" and sits at the piano, rolls out a few chords.
"This is an old one," says Taj, and proceeds to belt out "300 Pounds Of Joy", seamlessly followed by "It Ain't The Meat, It's The Motion" and "Built For Comfort", interspersed by a stream of the most outrageously FILTHY jokes I've ever had the pleasure of hearing live on stage. We nearly wet ourselves.
What a performer, what a musician, what a great night.
Speaking of which (Steely Dan that is)
I just love "With a Gun" off Pretzel Logic which never gets played on the radio and is just a great driving song. Especially if you were a seriel killer!
Thats how I like Gong best too.....
....after the power supply to the speakers has gone off.
Pistols at dawn.
Nothing wrong with a pot head pixie from time to time.
But I can't remember whether you survived.....
....the Supertramp shoot-out.
We should be told!
Obvious, but no one else has said it
I'm off to Tennessee for ten days, but I have two words to say on this subject before I go.
Chuck Berry.
Driving Thru' Texas
Going to Texas this summer for a month - doing a road trip to San Antonio and around, along with planning the hotels the ipod is getting some serious looking at to pick the right driving tunes and creating the ultimate playlist - amongst them will have to be Don Henley - Boys of summer - I know its cheezey but it alwaya reminds me of previous trips along Texas highways.
There is quite a good live version.....
....I managed to access via CMT, bit more, unsurprisingly, country than the original. Otherwise let me recommend a trip to e-music.com to access goodies such as Chris Knight/The Trailer Tapes and James McMurtrey/childish Things. Don't know if these guys come from Texas or not, but they should do.
Can't go wrong with the Texas Tornadoes, tex-mex "supergroup" of Freddie Fender and Doug Sahm, both now sadly deceased, Augie Meyers and Flaco Jiminez.
Not driving but running
If you'll pardon the extension into good running music - I've been training for a half marathon recently (never again), and can categorically state that Won't Get Fooled Again is both very effective and bloody dangerous. Each time I play it the final minute coaxes me from a reasonable (knackered) jogging pace to a sprint, after which I have to pick myself up off the ground and limp home.
Andy, when driving thru texas
whatever you do make sure you have mix cd's or an IPOD with you. Just came back from SXSW and Texas radio is bloody awful. I drove 300 miles from Houston to San Antonio, another 140 to Austin and another 120 back to Houston - I found one station of note and lost the signal after about 15 minutes.
some great suggestions on here by the way - would add Spiders by Wilco - its metronomic qualities and angular guitar solos are a perfect accessory for driving fast on a motorway at night.
By the way stopped at Marriott Courtyard downtown which was okay but the best hotel and most historic is The Menger? - right next to the Alamo and it is reasonably priced.