Road Tunes
Our suggestions for road-trip music
Martim Guerra Silva
We all have memories from the road of the perfect song coming on at the perfect time―an old favorite picking up your spirits on a lonely highway, a goofy, gotta-sing-along pop song that gets all your buddies making some noise.
When a road trip just cries out for a great lineup of songs, we’re going to pass along our humble suggestions. And we’ve partnered with Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store to allow you to easily purchase and download our song lists. A portion of the proceeds from any song purchased from these iMixes will go to the National Parks Conservation Association.
This dozen-tune songlist was inspired by our road trip tour of Montana and Wyoming.
“Don’t Change Horses” Tower of Power
“River Deep, Mountain High” Ike & Tina Turner “Skoal Ring” Gretchen Wilson “Rodeo Trails” Chris LeDoux “Free Ride” Edgar Winter“Western Stars” k.d. lang
“Steam” Peter Gabriel “Across the Great Divide” Nanci Griffith “Buffalo River Home” John Hiatt “Refuge of the Roads” Joni Mitchell We asked San Francisco jazz singer Mark Robinson ( www.markrobinson.org) for suggestions on what standards to listen to on this classic desert road trip. After first relating a “religious experience” he had the other evening listening to Mel Tormé’s “Too Close for Comfort,” he provided a list of greats. Here are some of them. Click here to buy this song list at the iTunes Music Store. “Come Fly with Me” Frank Sinatra “Let’s Get Away from It All” Della Reese “Too Close for Comfort” Mel Tormé “Mambo Italiano” Dean Martin “With a Song” Sammy Davis Jr. “Close Your Eyes” Ella Fitzgerald “Too Darn Hot” Mel Tormé “Fly Me to the Moon” Frank Sinatra “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” Nat King Cole “The Birth of the Blues” Sammy Davis Jr. “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” Dean Martin “I’ve Got the World on a String” Frank Sinatra Waves and wine Road Tunes Click here to buy this song list at the iTunes Music Store. California Dreamin'” The Mamas & the Papas“Going to California” Hezekiah & The House Rockers
“California Sun” The Dictators “Estimated Prophet” Grateful Dead “A Thousand Songs About California” Milton Mapes “Bottle of Red Wine” Eric Clapton “The Late Great Golden State” Dwight Yoakam “California” Gina Villalobos “Monterey” Eric Burdon and the Animals “Big Sur” The Thrills “King of California” Dave Alvin “California Stars” Billy Bragg & Wilco Colorado Grand Tour Road Tunes. Click here to buy this song list at the iTunes Music Store. Boulder Canyon “Leave My Woman Alone” Ray Charles Independence Pass near Aspen “Hey Ya!” Outkast Castle Peak “The Moon Is Mine” Fairground Attraction Kebler Pass, near Crested Butte “Lonesome Road” Madeleine Peyroux Crested Butte “Hell on Wheels” Cher Million Dollar Highway “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” Greg Brown Durango “Barstool Boogie” Dan Hicks & the Acoustic Warriors Great Sand Dunes National Park “Gasoline” Nathan Arkansas River “Down to the River to Pray” Alison Krauss