"I left my home in Norfolk, VA, California on my mind." -- Chuck Berry - The Promised Land
Me too, Chuck. In 1998 I pulled away from Norfolk, Virginia in my Isuzu Trooper with California on my mind. I spent six nights on the road (mainly Hwy 40) between VA and my aunt and uncle's house in Phoenix, AZ and it was one of the best and most important weeks of my life. I remember it being a hot summer so I would drive only in my shorts--no shirt, no shoes--and I was listening to a lot of Bad Religion at the time. Specifically Suffer and How Could Hell Be Any Worse. I had a case of Mountain Dew and a multiple bags of pretzels and my camera. And that's how I drove 'cross country solo for the first time in my life.
Reading Kerouac's Dharma Bums while drinking wine in my tent next to the French Broad River outside of Asheville, NC on the first night of my trip threw me into the road trip/adventure mentality that would fuel the rest of my voyage. When a slow moving train chugged by on the other side of the river, I could barely hold myself back from hopping aboard and hobo-ing it to wherever the train was heading. I just may have done it if the train wasn't heading East. I was Westbound and down.
On Beale St. in Memphis I felt the need to completely immerse myself in the culture so I ordered some gumbo while I watched a 3-man blues band wail in front of me. Not thinking that gumbo usually is filled with some kind of shellfish (my archnemesis) I spent the rest of the night sucking on ice cubes to make my throat swelling go down.
The next day at Graceland and Sun Studios I saw where many of the most listened-to and important tunes were imagined and laid down to wax. I also saw where many of the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches were made and consumed.
A few days later, I saw the plateaus and buttes of New Mexico for the first time with my own eyes and I knew that I was headed in the right direction. Seeing the sun rise over the Grand Canyon on the last morning of my voyage was the perfect way to ease my way off of the road and to my new home.
Below are some great songs that I played this week on the show and if I'd known about them ten years ago, I may have listened to them on my road trip. Or maybe I would have stuck with Bad Religion.
Of the below tunes, I'm currently most excited about Musikanto. He's a Chicago rocker about whom I don't know much, but I do know that I love the two songs that I played. Search the blogs to find copies for yourself or, better yet, go to CD Baby and buy a copy to help him out.
1. Have Love Will Travel -- The Sonics -- Here Are The Sonics!!
2. Misty Morning -- Musikanto -- Ghost Pain
3. Ain't Your Rock -- Musikanto -- Ghost Pain
4. Old Man Jude -- Red Cortez
5. World At Rest -- Red Cortez
6. Seven Mile Island -- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit -- Seven Mile Island
7. Trouble Weighs A Ton -- Dan Auerbach -- Keep It Hid
8. One More Cup of Coffee -- Roger McGuinn & Calexico -- I'm Not There (Disc 1)
9. I Won't Be Found -- The Tallest Man on Earth -- Shallow Grave
10. The Promised Land -- Chuck Berry -- Reelin' And Rockin'
11. Maybellene -- Chuck Berry -- The Anthology
12. Dear Dad -- Chuck Berry -- Chess 1926
13. Red River Rock -- Johnny And The Hurricanes -- Yesterday's Gold
14. Come On Let's Go -- Ritchie Valens -- Richie Valens
15. Rave On -- Buddy Holly -- Baby Love Vol 2
16. Maybe Baby -- Buddy Holly -- American Graffiti Soundtrack
17. That's All Right -- Elvis -- Platinum: A Life In Music (disc 1)
18. I Met Him On A Sunday -- Shirelles
19. You Send Me -- Sam Cooke -- Greatest Hits
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