|
1 February 2005
And
the
winner for best travel song Is...
The Grammys put right
By Terry Riley
The Grammy® Awards are scheduled this month in
Los Angeles. As in recent years,
the Recording Academy is holding this big shindig to honor recording artists and
technical professionals for their achievements.
With over 100 categories in
which an honoree can be recognized, you'd think that a nod would be given
to every possible cranny of the music business, but that's not the case.
In what can only be described as an amazing oversight, there is no category for "Travel Songs."
Can you believe it? Well, to correct this longstanding omission by the
Academy, I offer here my nominees for the Best Travel Tunes in the
following sub-categories:
 Best Travel Song by a Folk Group
Leaving on a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul and Mary
Who
among us hasn't had this melody rumble through our heads at least one time
as we picked up a boarding pass at an airline ticket counter or walked
through an airport concourse or ambled down a jetway onto an airplane?
 Best Surfing Travel Song
Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys
Dude,
this golden oldie is still on the charts here in Santa Cruz. It seems to
be especially popular among my contemporaries—you know, the geezers
wearing the "Old Guys Rule" T-shirts and asking for AARP
discounts at the surf shops.
 Best Country and Western Travel Song
I've Been Everywhere by Hank Snow
This
is one of those songs you have to pay attention to. You may not want to,
but you have to. The first time you hear it, you listen in wonder;
the second time, you listen for your city. From then on you just try to
shadow it, never quite able to keep up the pace.
 Best Re-Make of a Country and Western Travel Song
I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash
Johnny
Cash recorded this now-classic C&W tune. Recently it has been used in a television advertising campaign for Choice Hotels
International. If you haven't heard the original—and you should—you've
certainly heard this version.
 Best Be-Bop Travel Song
Travelin' Man by Rick Nelson
Rick
Nelson (I still remember him as Ricky) sang of a less hurried time when we looked forward to traveling because we were
going to find romance at our destination—unlike travel today where we
are more likely to find some irritated customer.
 Best Travel Song for the Trip Home
Come Monday by Jimmy Buffett
Sometimes—okay,
lots of times—the best part of traveling is going home. Jimmy Buffett
longs to get off the road. [Listening note: I've found this ballad is best appreciated
when heard over the roar of a blender full of margaritas.]
 Best Hummable Travel Song
On the Road Again by Willie Nelson
Willie
Nelson has created the quintessential travel song. Is there anyone here who
hasn't sung the title refrain from this ditty while packing for yet
another trip or while driving to the local airport? Hands? I
thought so.
Best Local Travel Song
 (Special Category)
Highway 17 Blues
by Jim Fowler
Just
about the only way for me to get to a major airport close to my home is by
driving over the mountains on California State Highway 17. So although
Fowler sings about commuting, to me his tune reminds me of out-of-town
travel.
© 2005 Applied Psychology
|
|
