Music in the Car - Paradise By Dashboard

My earliest memory of hearing music is at about age two or three. The record was Patti Page singing "How Much is That Doggie In The Window?" backed with "Tennessee Waltz", or Betty Hutton doing "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief." They were both, as far as I remember, on 78's. I also recall my mother ironing to Dick Clark on American Bandstand in the afternoons. But my first encounter with true musical intimacy came about two years later, at the age of five, on the evenings when my parents would drive to Marine Park to play handball.

With little else to do, my brother and I would run around while our parents played. Then, as we tired out and it grew dim, we would go back to the car. Sometimes it was almost dark when my parents got finished playing and returned. But they seemed to sit there for awhile as it went from twilight to full dark. And the radio was always on, playing big band, pop, and even rock and roll. Between nodding out and waking up I would catch glimpses of my parents "necking" which always made me giggle. But beneath it all I was really listening to the music. The sound and imagery of those songs have stayed with me always. The intimacy of listening to music in the car is still my preferred mode of really hearing music.

What do you listen to in the car? This is a very revealing question. As with books on shelves, you can tell alot about someone from the music they listen to while they drive. Even with the ever present cell phone, the car is still the place where most people get to be alone with their thoughts and music or radio. This where I do most of my listening, in the car, alone.

Listening alone poses little risk of ridicule or embarassment. If I want to listen to "Cabaret", why shouldn't I? And if I want to sing opera off key and out of tune, like Al Pacino in "Serpico", I don't want an audience. Likewise with having to explain or defend my choices in music.

Lately I have been listening to things I download off You Tube. Converted into MP3format they make great companions on the road. I have bits of movie soundtracks-("Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!" from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madres")and the courtroom scenes from "Inherit the Wind" with Spencer Tracy and Frederic March debating, no, make that battling, with one another over Evolution. The fiery words spoken in that film are the actual words spoken by Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryant. I even have the original radio recordings from the trial itself for comparison.

I listen to off beat tracks like Hoagy Carmichaels "Lazybones" and Artie Shaw’s version of “Stardust.” I prefer live recordings, so I comb You Tube looking for things like John Sebastian singing "Rainbows All Over Your Blues" live on TV. I have the Charles Manson interview with Diane Sawyer. That's a hoot to listen to. "I'm an outlaw woman- I takes what I want!" I've got Merv Griffin's version of "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"(following the Charles manson clips) and Pavarotti with James Brown dueting on "It's a Man's World" live in Italy. You just can't tell what's going to come out of my speakers. Sometimes even I get caught off guard!

I have Charles Laughton reciting the Gettysburg Address, Louis Armstrong being "Black and Blue", and Janis Joplin doing "Little Girl Blue" live on Tom Jones. I've even got The Smothers Brothers Show with Donovan from their 1968 show in the round. Also high on the list is the 1987 Austin City Limits "Writer's Night" with Roseanne Cash, Lacey J. Dalton and Emmylou Harris.

Most of my music is on Scanstiks (a 4 GB stick carries something like 60 hours worth of music) but I carry extra CD's with specific tracks on them and give them to people who ask about what I'm listening to. Kay Starr's "Wheel of Fortune" is currently the front runner in this category. So is James Brown's fantastic "Live at The Apollo." I think I have given away about 6 of each at this point.

Paolo Nutini is my current repeat CD- I let it replay several times before reluctantly changing it. These are all live tracks recorded in music stores and book stores like Borders. Incredible sound. Will Kimbrough's latest album "Wings" is also a recent favorite. But the best thing about my CD's are that they are unmarked- so even I don't know what's coming next. After a while, when I get to know the sequence too well, I just hit scramble. But usually by that point I have moved onto something else and have a whole new pile of CD's to play with. All unmarked.

So, I'm curious, what do other people listen to in their cars? I really do want to know.