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(Originally finalized on April 5, 2025)
Preface: For a while now I've considered doing a theme dedicated to driving songs - the kind that make you wanna drive really fast. But that's such a vague notion; and anyway, half of the songs I'd pick for that theme have already been used in other themes by this point. But then I had the novel idea to focus on songs written more from the point of view of people who've been out on the road away from home, with a concentration in songs about the highs and lows of being on tour. What better subject for a rock band to write a song about? Let's hit the road and see where it takes us.
Monday: Ten Years After - Working On The Road [Cricklewood Green, 1970]
Comments: Although A Space In Time from the following year has the distinction of containing the band's only real radio hit (and the album cover has the most beautifully green grass I've ever seen), I tend to favor Cricklewood Green. Believe it or not, the album opens with two songs that reference "the road". Sugar The Road has a more perplexing title, but is a good song in its own right. "I've seen the world and it's seen me. In a strange kind of way, I guess I'm free."
Tuesday: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Travelin' Band [Cosmo's Factory, 1970]
Comments: Nestled in the tracklist to CCR's most successful album, I'm wondering if I should give this song - a tribute to Little Richard (c/o Good Golly Miss Molly, a song the band previously covered on their second album) so flattering that it invited a lawsuit - a technical disqualification, because it mentions flying rather than driving. But I like its inclusion for the way it describes traveling across the land, playing shows in different cities each night. "I'm flyin' 'cross the land, tryin' to get a hand, playin' in a travelin' band."
Wednesday: Grand Funk - We're An American Band [We're An American Band, 1973]
Comments: It's a common refrain, but Grand Funk Railroad is one of those bands whose pop hits don't adequately demonstrate the full intensity of their talent. For what it's worth, this title track is one of the biggest of their hits, from the period during the '70s after they supplemented their power trio format with a keyboard player, and temporarily dropped "Railroad" from their name. "We're comin' to your town. We'll help you party down. We're an American band."
Thursday: Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Turn The Page (Live) [Live Bullet, 1976]
Comments: One of Bob Seger's greatest hits, a live anthem, and - in my opinion - the quintessential song about the road-weary traveler, Turn The Page demonstrates Seger's uncanny ability to write lyrics that evoke tangible emotions, and pick out the relatable moments in a reality - playing in a touring band - that few of us will ever experience. Metallica covered the song in 1998, but if you ask me, Seger's version is the only one that matters. "You don't feel much like ridin', you just wish the trip was through."
Friday: Blackfoot - Highway Song (Live) [Highway Song Live, 1982]
Comments: As promised back during my first week dedicated to train songs, here is Blackfoot's other enduring hit. Originally from the same album (1979's Strikes, as in "Blackfoot strikes"), this is one of those songs that's even better live, as heard on the live album that was quite transparently named for it (I think "Highway Songs" would have been a classier title, while still getting the point across). Comparisons to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird are appropriate, but the song stands pretty well on its own. "Highway song is as lonely as the road I'm on."
Saturday: Jackson Browne - The Load-Out/Stay [Running On Empty, 1977]
Comments: I think Jackson Browne has undeniable talent as a songwriter, but his music is a little soft for my tastes. That's why I'm only just now finding out that his most successful release is actually a concept album, written about (and recorded while) being on tour. It's totally appropriate, then, that I've chosen this song - not the title track, but the album closer - for this week's theme, which effectively conjures that post-show comedown, when everybody's packing up and it's time to go home, but you're still basking in the afterglow. "Stay just a little bit longer. We wanna play just a little bit longer."
Sunday: Neil Young - Roll Another Number (For The Road) [Tonight's The Night, 1975]
Comments: I very nearly picked the harder rocking live version of this song from Weld, recorded during Crazy Horse's early '90s comeback tour, after Neil Young spent a decade experimenting with different genres. With more guitar distortion, it's usually my preferred version, but I thought the original recording from Tonight's The Night - Neil's funeral dirge of an album released in 1975 - with its piano and pedal steel guitar accompaniment, would make a better followup to our last song. "Think I'll roll another number for the road."
Honorable Mention: Boston - Rock & Roll Band [Boston, 1976]
Comments: One of the hazards of doing this music log for so long is that it becomes harder and harder not to repeat songs. Not that I have to follow that rule, but avoiding the stagnation of corporate radio's 100 song rotation is one of the reasons I wanted to become a DJ in the first place. There's just too much good music out there to listen to the same thing over and over again (I'm saying that even as someone who rarely ventures outside of one basic genre family, and still listens to music that is - on average - about fifty years old). Anyway, this song by Boston that was featured on one of my rock 'n' roll themes not that long ago would have been a perfect fit for this week. "On the road and tryin' to make ends meet."