After my pathetic little beater of a car bit the dust a few weeks ago I replaced it with a dynamite $5500 20 year old Mercedes-Benz E320— the last of the bombproof Benzes— with an actual CD player, with Bose speakers. The most I’ve ever paid for a car, and the first car I’ve ever owned that was manufactured in this century. This is my second Mercedes, and the key to owning a car like that is finding a mechanic who loves the cars and knows how to find parts, who can get you out of there without completely savaging you financially. You also have to find a solid car to begin with. Fortunately most Benz first owners take good care of them. The pre-purchase inspection on this one was a work of art.
So I’ll be buying CDs again after some years of mostly buying vinyl— and living in internet false-abundance/everything’s free/here’s more music than you could ever digest in a lifetime-land. I have a few choice items in the car right now:
Keith Jarrett – Sleeper
Hal Galper – Live At The Berlin Philharmonic 1977
Don Cherry / Ed Blackwell – El Corazon
Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian
Beta Band – Heroes To Zeroes
Here are a few things on my list to get, again— either I have them on vinyl already, or I was too cool to take care of my CDs in the past and they’re all gakked up. These all befit the dignity of this machine. You want to feel like you’re cruising La Grande Corniche even when you’re inching along I-5 during other people’s rush hour.
Thelonious Monk – Live At The It Club
Bill Evans – Explorations
Bill Frisell – Before We Were Born
John Coltrane – Coltrane
Gil Evans – Out Of The Cool
Azymuth – Before We Forget
Bebel Gilberto (2004)
Old And New Dreams (ECM)
Gateway – II
Curtis Mayfield – Curtis
George Benson – Breezin’
Cal Tjader – Soul Sauce
Milt Jackson – Sunflower
George Duke – Brazilian Love Affair
Stereolab – Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Chick Corea – Trio Music
Glen Moore – Nude Bass Ascending
Ronald Shannon Jackson / Decoding Society – Decode Yourself
Charles Mingus – Presents Charles Mingus
McCoy Tyner – Song of the New World
Elvin Jones – Genesis
The car seems to want live double albums— that are well recorded, where everyone’s in the zone and letting it all hang out:
Miles Davis – Live Evil
Bill Evans – Live in Paris 1972
Lee Morgan – Live at the Lighthouse
George Benson – Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon
Louis Armstrong – Chicago Concert
What’s your driving music, or favorite killer live albums with a vibe? Answer in the comments…
My go to favorite live albums have to be
1. The Ornette Coleman Trio at the Golden Circle Stockholm Volume 1
2. Fela and the Africa 70 with Ginger Baker “live”
I listen (on my small Bluetooth speaker) to these two albums at least once a week on my bike commute to work. I always get to work faster on those days.
Other favorites:
Jerry Lee Lewis and the Nashville Teens – Live at the Star-Club, Hamburg
Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley’s Beach Party
Ray Charles – In Person
Ramones – It’s Alive
Coltrane Live at Birdland
And a more recent favorite has been Roy Brooks – Understanding
these live albums have gotten a lot of play in my car
over the years:
live at winterland – jimi hendrix experience
love, power, peace – james brown
live at leeds – the who
i also enjoy driving to these:
Houdini by the Melvins,
the harder they come soundtrack,
badmotorfinger,
anything by the meters, stax records or chuck berry.
most of my jazz stuff is on vinyl
and doesn’t get heard in the car often.
Funkadelic S/T and Gris Gris by Dr. John are great late nite drive albums. Live albums – The Name of This Band is Talking Heads and and live Masada album recorded after 1999 (Seville, Middleheim, Tonic, 50th B-Day)
Thanks guys! Matthew, for the year I was driving for a messenger service in LA I had four tapes in the car: Coltrane Live at Birdland, Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard, Butthole Surfers Psychic… Powerless, Butthole Surfers Locust Abortion Technician.