The Top Seven CD Collections to Drive to
(If You Generally Dislike Driving as Much as I Do)

1. Cake
   Motorcade of Generosity, Fashion Nugget, Prolonging the Magic & Comfort Eagle.
   This band combines elements of hip-hop, country, pop, disco & punk with witty, sarcastic, and literate lyrics to create music that’s just plain ol’ fun to listen to. You will find yourself singing along to all their songs simply because they make you feel good. Go, dog, go!

2. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys
   Anything you can find.
   Bob Wills is the undisputed King of Western Swing. This music combines the best elements of big band swing and country (as in, hillbilly) to form some exceptional songs that set your foot to tappin’ and cause you to let out a hoot and a holler every now and then. Fiddle breakdowns merge seamlessly with clarinets, and the songs are punctuated with Wills’ trademark shout of “Ahhhh!” when the mood hits him.

3. RUN-DMC
   RUN-DMC, King of Rock, Raising Hell, Tougher Than Leather, & Back From Hell.
   They were convinced they were cool; therefore, I was convinced too. The music that RUN-DMC and Jam Master Jay made helped move rap music into the mainstream, which may or may not have been a good thing. But either way, this is great perpetual motion music.

4. Buck Owens
   The Buck Owens Collection (1959-1990).
   The “Bakersfield (CA) Sound” came straight out of Buck’s music—a mix of freight train rhythm, plaintive vocals, and just a hint of rock ‘n’ roll. You cannot go wrong with Buck and the Buckaroos, a long stretch of blacktop, and the wind whipping past your ears as the one arm you have hanging out the window gets sunburned. It’s a little known fact that The Beatles were some of Buck’s biggest fans.

5. Dean Martin
   The Capitol Years.
   I highly recommend this 2-CD set for a great sampling of Dino. He’s smooth, he’s cool, and he could have easily beaten the hell out of Sinatra. He sings the standards, but it’s the ways he sings them that hooks you; he wraps his voice around each syllable, coaxing new meaning from words and songs you’ve heard too many times to count. Dig that voice!

6. Old 97’s
   Wreck Your Life, Too Far Too Care, Fight Songs, & Satellite Rides.
   This band is from Texas, and you won’t forget it. They began with an alt-country sound, and have lately shifted more to a poppy-rock feel, but they still crank out the bluegrass from time to time. Their songs are a good sad-happy mix, floating from drinking to cheating to lost & found love, and in the simplest terms, isn’t that what country music is all about?

7. James Brown
   Anything you can find.
   James Brown & the JB’s may not have created funk, but they certainly harnessed the power of it and rode the ensuing mushroom cloud into musical history. Play anything and I guarantee you will begin grunting “Hey!” and screaming “Good God!” while banging on the steering wheel in funk-induced time to the bass and drums that are forcing your foot uncontrollably down onto the gas pedal.