Today’s the day for posting playlists for Patriside’s music-sharing event, Mixmania. The theme was Driving, and I chose to put into my mix only songs that had some reference, however tenuous, to driving. This mix of singer - songwriter folk, country, pop, rock, funk and blues draws on a number of the genres we listen to regularly chez Music and Cats. Sadly, I could find little in our early music, jazz and British trad. folk collections that I could directly relate to driving. Maybe next time…
This mix is meant to evoke the feeling of a late-night, long-distance drive from one city to another. It begins with songs to match the heady feeling of jumping in the car and leaving town. You’re had your coffee, the night is still (relatively) young, and you’re ready to go. Eventually, the rush of city traffic gives way to a dark, lonely parkway (perhaps, in fact, the Merritt at 2 a.m.). Maybe you’re alone in the car, wishing you were wherever you’re going already, or perhaps there’s someone asleep in the seat next to you. For me, at least, this is the quiet, contemplative part of a night drive. Eventually, morning is approaching, and you’re close to your destination. What you really need is sleep, but in the absence of that you need coffee; you need music to keep you awake. As you reach your destination, the traffic picks up again with a vengeance. Damn!
Here’s the mix. I hope the person to whom I sent it enjoyed it!
- Getaway - Earth Wind & Fire, Spirit
- Keep Your Motor Runnin’ - Dave Hole, Short Fuse Blues
- Mustang Sally - The Commitments, Soundtrack
- Willin’ - Little Feat, Waiting for Columbus
- A Road is Just a Road - Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hometown Girl
- Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
- The Next Best Western - Richard Shindell, Reunion Hill
- Merritt Parkway, 2 a.m. - Richard Shindell, Somewhere Near Paterson
- Ten Year Night - Lucy Kaplansky, Ten Year Night
- Stranger in My Driver’s Seat - John Gorka, Land of the Bottom Line
- In My Hour of Darkness - The Rolling Creekdippers, Return of the Greivous Angel - a tribute to Gram Parsons
- 1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson, Rumor and Sigh
- The Road’s my Middle Name - Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time
- Traffic Jam - James Taylor, Live
- We’re Outta Here - Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, No Looking Back
While the Mixmania! mix that I made filled most of one CD, I received four CD’s from Sterfish; one disc the Driving mix, the other three marked with big question marks. While my mix was intended to evoke an overnight drive on a dark road, Sterling’s mix reminded me of driving with the windows down on a warm spring day in an East Coast city - perhaps Boston or Washington D.C. As Sterling wrote about one song, “you want to turn it up and blast it while riding in your car”… and he’s right. Since I don’t have a working sound system in my car right now, I’d have to rely on the cars around me to share their music. If only every car that rode by was playing this mix on its Boomin’ System.
The other three discs that Sterfish sent are apparently a musical puzzle of some sort. I’m listening to the first one as I write this, and it’s wonderful stuff. There’s music reminiscent of a Cirque de Soleil show, an avant garde string ensemble, moody vocals, symphonic and world music. While there’s one commonality that I’ve noticed in most - perhaps all? - of the tracks that I’ve listened to so far, I won’t have a chance to get to all three of the discs until this weekend, so I don’t know that I’ve figured it out yet… but I can’t wait to hear the rest!
Thanks, Sterfish, and thanks to Jim for organizing Mixmania!
Tags: 7 Comments
7 responses so far ↓
Nice mix!
Hi! I’ve got to make this quick - somebody’s having a meltdown - but I wanted to let you know I got the disc today. THANK YOU! Lovely stuff- I can’t wait to try it out when we go to NM next month. Thanks again!
Nice, but I would add:
Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page”
On a long and lonesome highway, east of omaha.
You can listen to the engine moaning out it’s one lone song
You can think about woman, or the girl you knew the night before,
But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do.
When your riding sixteen hours and there’s nothing much to do
And you don’t feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through.
Say, here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.
Well you walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road,
You can feel the eyes upon you as your shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode.
Most times you can’t hear em talk, other times you can.
Oh the same old cliche, as that woman on her a man
You always see my number, you don’t dare make a stand.
Here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.
Out there in the spotlight your a million miles away,
Every ounce of energy, you try and give away,
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play.
Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed,
With the echo from the amplifiers ringing in your head,
You smoke the days last cigarette, remembering what she said.
Now here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.
Here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Ah here I go, playing star again.
There I go, there I go.
Kman once burned me a CD that had songs about Texas towns - it’s cool beans!
Wow, nice list. I really like Richard Thompson a lot, and James Taylor even more.
Great mix, Kimberly! And it was great to hear from you. Guess it’s been a while…
I also suppose you heard that Clarence (Gatemouth Brown) lost his life shortly after Katrina washed his home away. He had evacuated to Texas but due to medical issues did not live but for a few days after he came here. It was cancer, not the storm…
Hey Kimberly!
Glad you enjoyed the discs! The description of my mix is an interesting perspective I didn’t think about. It’s especially interesting given that I live south of Chicago.
Looking at your song list, I think your mix is probably a very good listen. There are a couple of songs I know, but the rest are new to me.
Ahhh, Kimberly, what a great list. I got all wistful when I saw that Gatemouth got the final track.
I was always a fan of “Play that Fast Thing (One More Time)” by Rockpile, which is about a band on the road. That used to keep me awake like nothing else.