Magazine names best road tunes

The folks at American Road magazine have just published their “Rhythm and Cruise” issue, in which they’ve listed the “Best American Road Songs” of the past century.

Here are the Rules of the Road for the song listings:

1) The song must have been written about an American road, street, or destination. That is, songs like “Electric Avenue,” inspired by a London thoroughfare, do not qualify. Neither do songs that have been “retrofitted” like “I’ve Been Everywhere.” (That song was originally written about places in Australia. Only later was an American version recorded that replaced the Australian cities and towns with those in the United States.)

2) Writer(s) and/or performer(s) themselves need not be American as long as the subject of the song is American. Songs like the Kinks’ “Celluloid Heroes” — about a walk down Hollywood Boulevard, California — and Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” — inspired by a parking lot in Hawaii — can be considered.

3) Thought was given to a song’s popularity and musical innovation, but also to its overall influence on history and/or popular culture. For example, in the category called “Best Song About Road Racing,” the contenders were “Maybellene,” “Hot Rod Lincoln,” and “Deadman’s Curve.” All three songs are fun and famous road race tunes. But “Maybellene,” the award winner, is roundly considered a watershed song credited with helping to bridge the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll.

I think the “retrofitting” rule is overly picky. Popular music, by its very nature, is retrofitted from earlier sources. To disqualify an obvious American highway song like Hank Snow’s “I’ve Been Everywhere,” just because it has obscure Australian roots, seems overly restrictive.

Here is the magazine’s top songs by category:

Best Traveling Anthem
– In My Car (The Beach Boys)
– King of the Road (Roger Miller)
– On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)*

Best Song About a US Highway
– (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 (Nat King Cole)*
– Highway 40 Blues (Ricky Skaggs)
– Highway 61 Revisited (Bob Dylan)

Best Song About a Car
– Ol’ 55 (Tom Waits)
– One Piece at a Time (Johnny Cash)
– Rocket 88 (Ike Turner)*

Best Song About Riding a Bus
– America (Simon and Garfunkel)*
– Promised Land (Chuck Berry)
– The Load-Out (Jackson Browne)

Best Song About a City Street
– Celluloid Heroes (The Kinks)
– Lake Shore Drive (Alliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah)
– Mainstreet (Bob Seger)*
– South Street (Orlons)

Best Cruising Song
– Cruisin’ (Smokey Robinson)
– Low Rider (War)
– Pink Cadillac (Bruce Springsteen)*

Best Song About Trucking
– Convoy (C.W. McCall)
– Six Days on the Road (Dave Dudley)*
– Truckin’ (The Grateful Dead)

Best Song About Parking
– Chevy Van (Sammy Johns)
– Little Red Corvette (Prince)
– Paradise by the Dashboard Light (Meat Loaf)*

Best Song About Road Racing
– Deadman’s Curve (Jan and Dean)
– Hot Rod Lincoln (Charlie Ryan)
– Maybellene (Chuck Berry)*

Best Song About Motorcycling
– Born to Be Wild (Steppenwolf)*
– Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen)
– The Motorcycle Song (Arlo Guthrie)

Best Song About Hitchhiking
– Me and Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin)*
– Phantom 309 (Red Sovine)
– Sweet Hitch-Hiker (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Best Song About a Taxi
– Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)*
– Cab (Train)
– Taxi (Harry Chapin)

Songs with asterisks are those that are winners in each category. And I’ll take Prince over Meat Loaf in the parking song category, thank you.
I’m sure American Road’s lists will start a few arguments. It already has here.