<p>Another Townes tune that will rip your heart out is Marie. Nanci Griffith’s cover of Tecumseh Valley will leave you a blubbering fool too.</p>
<p>Some other sweet Phish tunes: Harry Hood, Farmhouse,
Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime
Steely Dan: The Royal Scam
Isley Brothers: Summer Breeze
Toots and the Maytals: Country Roads, Pressure Drop, Pomp and Pride
Mick Jagger and Peter Tosh: Don’t Look Back
Grateful Dead: Peggy-O
Jerry Garcia Band: Mission in the Rain
Old and In the Way: Midnight Moonlight
Marshall Crenshaw: Someday Someway; Cynical Girl
Squeeze: Mussels From a Shell
Dire Straits: Romeo and Juliet
Earth, Wind, and Fire: That’s the Way of the World</p>
<p>wharfrat2, I like Nancy Griffith’s stuff on Rounder. She’s so much better with a sparse production. </p>
<p>I have one for you in the rip your heart out category- Warren Zevon’s -Carmelita . The Ronstadt cover is one of her best pieces of work. Heck . Let’s add “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” by Warren Zevon. </p>
<p>And let’s add Brother’s in Arms, Dire Straits - (Great guitar work.)</p>
<p>LOL! Me too, but while I’m at it you can’t forget these:</p>
<p>Allman Brothers Band: Jessica
The Rolling Stones: Tumbling Dice
Van Morrison: Caravan; St. Dominic’s Preview; Tupelo Honey
Neil Young: Unknown Legend
Gov’t Mule: Hunger Strike>Dear Mr. Fantasy>Hunger Strike</p>
<p>I have over 600 Live Concert Recordings, well over 2,000 discs individually, I could go on forever and ever with must have live shows.</p>
<p>Yes: I’ve Seen All Good People
Cat Stevens: Oh Very Young
Procol Harem: A Whiter Shade of Pale (Did somebody mention this one already?)
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer: Lucky Man; Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Never Ends
U2: Bad
Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit
Cowboy Junkies: Sweet Jane; Misguided Angel
Queen: Radio Ga-Ga
John Prine: Paradise, Hello In There, Illegal Smile</p>
<p>O.K. You can add it but
only if you bring enough Nacho Cheese Doritos for all of us.</p>
<p>Edit: God. When that plane (? spacecraft? giant metal warthog?) crashed into the stage at their stadium show at Fulton County Coliseum , I was toast.</p>
<p>Just a few more suggestions cause other folks so got there first.</p>
<p>Miles Davis Kind of Blue
Joanie Mitchell Blue
Donovan Sunshine Superman
Stones Beggar’s Banquet
Blind Faith
Crosby Stills and Nash Deja Vu
Jefferson Airplane Volunteers
Benny Goodman wordless Boogie Woogie Bugler Boy
Billie Holliday anything Lady sang
Robert Johnson
Mark O’Connor Orange Blossom Special
Mozart End of Marriage of Figaro, Clarinet Concerto
Bach Casals Cello Suites
Bach Hilary Hahn Partitas and Sonatas
Mothers of Invention</p>
<p>The Lonely Bull – Herb Alpert
Raised on Robbery – Joni Mitchell
Crazy – Joni Mitchell
Midnight at the Oasis – Maria Muldaur
Let the River Run – Carly Simon
You’re So Vain – Carly Simon
The Elements – Tom Lehrer
Touch – John Klemmer
Classical Gas – Mason Williams
Alice’s Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie
Camp Grenada – Alan Sherman
I’m a Believer – The Monkees
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – The Beatles
Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
Little Old Lady from Pasadena – Jan and Dean
Baby Love – Diana Ross and the Supremes
I Heard it Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight and the Pips
Gimme Three Steps – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd</p>
<p>Mythmom, oh my oh my. Did you and I go to college together? My Ds almost prefer my music to theirs. I think musicians of our generation cheated: they used melodies.
I now listen to more classical music because of what I call the boredom factor. There are only so many times I can listen to a collection of music before I have to pull the car over and change the CDs. Mozart’s Requiem has a boredom factor of about 50. Most rock music has a factor of only about 3-4. If the CD changer were inside the car rather than in the trunk, I might listen to more of the golden oldies.
Another suggestion for the OP would be CDs from the teaching company. When we listened to the history of Egypt my Ds would make us stop the player if they had to get out of the car for any reason. They didn’t want to miss a word.</p>
<p>You have to include Fantasy by Earth Wind & Fire, as well as As by Stevie Wonder. Also Baby I Need Your Loving (4 Tops NOT Johnny Rivers).</p>
<p>When I met my husband, he got me listening to opera, especially Verdi. Try La Traviata (“Sempre Libera” or The Drinking Song–my Italian is leaving me now). His father’s favorite was Nabucco, but Aida has some very stirring music, particularly the Triumphal March. If you bring in Bizet (Carmen) and Puccini (Madama Butterfly), you can come up with stirring music.<br>
We’ve already mentioned Beethoven’s 5th & 9th, but I prefer the 7th and my husband loves the 6th.
If you have dancers, then you must play the Tchaikowsky threesome of Nutcracker/Sleeping Beauty/Swan Lake.</p>
<p>Darn. I knew I was spelling Joni Mitchell wrong. Had brain freeze.</p>
<p>mardad: Howdy. Welcome to my (our) world.</p>
<p>I drive 100 miles a day. Have had the darndest time finding appropriate music to listen to. I adore classical, (and sing it), but it puts me to sleep (literally) driving, so not a good idea. Rock get too irritating after a while, so I listen to jazz. Perfect for driving for me.</p>
<p>D prefers her music except for the Stones. I think it’s a point of pride, though she does like a lot of my stuff. She particularly loves the Kinks.</p>
<p>S loves Dylan most, then Beatles, then others. Nothing written now. He drives D crazy. He drives me crazy because he has learned so many words and is always correcting me. Just got a harmonica and takes lines from “Desolation Row” as his away messages, or so I’m told (forbidden to go on facebook.) He went to a Dylan concert with H for a birthday present. (I was invited, but I thought he would just look too dorky going with mom and dad; H is bearded, jeans wearing type, so I thought S would be more comfortable in just his company. However, he did sing the entire concert for me.)</p>
<p>Someone, I think maybe mathmom, mention Ravel’s Bolero. In his latest book Oliver Sacks opined that the nonprogressive repetition of the theme may be a musical symptom of Ravel’s developing dementia.</p>
<p>much of these songs while certainly American top40 of a certain era- just aren’t driving the car music.
For that see my earlier suggestion of Aretha
Who’s Zoomin’ who? is good energetic music
I also like KOL- but they aren’t classic yet.</p>
<p>I like the suggestion of books on tape though-</p>
<p>Adding to the mix:
I like to follow threads through time in a genre, for example:</p>
<p>Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday (Harlem Renaissance) followed by some Louis Armstrong, Rae Charles and Stevie Wonder</p>
<p>Or American themed music: Aaron Copeland followed by Leonard Bernstein</p>
<p>We also sing a lot in cars, so a “best of Rodgers and Hammerstein” suits us great. To me, the American musical is our opera. Oooh: Porgy and Bess, but it’s very sad.</p>
<p>In terms of actual experience, I’ve probably put on more miles with Simon and Garfunkle and the Beatles than anything else, because they make me so happy.
The Band and Creedance Clearwater Revival are very drive-able, too.</p>
<p>Fact is, I love most everybody else’s suggestions. WashDad, I can sing your whole list except the last two. There’s just SO MUCH GREAT MUSIC!!! If your family can really sing, try some with great harmonies: Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkle, Ian and Sylvia (oh that’s obscure but I love those parallel fifths…)</p>
<p>Gotta put a word in for Grateful Dead’s American Beauty. The Dead are perfect for the car IMO.</p>
<p>How could I have forgotten?</p>
<p>Once picked up DS from sleep over that he got spooked at (he was little, but he was an hour away). He begged me to pick him up at 11. H refused; thought I was overprotective and nuts. It was family with a son S’s age, and we knew them well, so H had no fears of inappropriate things happening. I had no idea about what was bothering S so much, but he said he was so upset that he wanted to throw up. Wasn’t he dramatic?</p>
<p>So I went. Had to do something at midnight to counter the mood of the sleeping car (H and D did come), but all three were sleeping. Yay! The radio played the Dead. I sang every song at the top of my lungs. No one woke up, but I was elated.</p>
<p>I’d add Peter, Paul and Mary to the list of essentials. Their treatments of songs by themselves and other folk writers are timeless. Their songs can invite both tears and laughter.</p>
<p>Our family is very into book on tape, and the most successful for road trips are those that you can tune into or out of, allowing for naps, conversations, etc. Humor works well. Or, if you can agree on a topic, try one of the Teaching Company lectures which are just about universally excellent.</p>
