One of my fellow computer consultants is out of town and asked me to help cover any emergencies that her clients might have while she was gone. I was happy to oblige because she’s a good person who has helped me quite a bit over the years professionally. I wound up going out to visit her clients on Thursday and Friday. The only thing is that both of those clients were about as far as they could possibly be from my home, meaning that I spent quite a bit of quality time in my car last week. These are the songs that were running through my head as I crept through traffic.

Katie Melua “On The Road Again” (Canned Heat)
The original is one of the greatest examples of hypnotic boogie music ever recorded. This version is much more sophisticated and upscale. It starts out with some simple acoustic strumming, then the horns, percussion and piano come in. Ms. Melua has a wonderful voice to boot.

Jim White “King Of The Road” (Roger Miller)
Talk about your radical reinventions. This song just cries out to be played at top volume on the highway with the top down. Mr. White takes rhythmic liberties with it that I’m sure would have appalled Roger Miller. The only part I don’t like is when the original version is spliced in at the end. As if you wouldn’t have known otherwise how far this version is from the original.

The W’s “Country Roads” (John Denver)
I’ve never really liked this song, maybe because of where my musical taste was when it came out. Here we have a rockabilly version with a smokin’ horn section and it sounds great to me. For my money it’s way better than the original.

Ghoti Hook “On The Road Again” (Willie Nelson)
Remember the South Park episode where Cartman puts together a Christian rock group because he figures that Christians will buy anything as long as it mentions Jesus and/or God? While there’s plenty of bad Christian rock out there, just like any other musical style, some of those bands would be good playing any kind of music. The good Christians of Ghoti Hook showed that when they did a covers album that had Christian and secular songs on it.

The Bobs “The Golden Road” (Grateful Dead)
My favorite a capella group is from San Francisco, which might probably explains their fondness for the Grateful Dead. In the past I’ve explained my feelings about the Dead, but I like the harmonies on this song. Heck, I like the harmonies on just about any song the Bobs sing.