United States of America Packing List Tips by sambarnett

Essential listening 2: Dig the new breed

Luggage and bags: No, good music did not die when the Beatles broke up.

Miscellaneous: The Ramones saved rock'n'roll.
   Behind all the booze and drugs, The Replacements show the brilliance of Paul Westerberg's song writing skills. Husker Du flat out rocks. There must be something in the Twin Cities water.
   Wilco and The Roots set the standards for musical art while Steve Earle sets the standards for protest, honesty and compassion. Rave on, Stevie Ray Vaughan, glad I got to see you once.
   A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy took street suss and made it appeal to the brain, just like their revolutionary brothers, The Last Poets and the MC5 did over thirty years ago. Kick out the jams!

Essential listening

Luggage and bags: When I travel around the USA I take half the clothes, twice the money and just about every CD I own.

Miscellaneous: 'The West End Blues' by Louis Armstrong signify the Roaring Twenties so well you can almost smell the bootleg hootch. We've all felt loneliness, through Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith we can HEAR it.
   Duke Ellington was the REAL king of swing. Billie Holiday and her voice were beautiful and distinctive. Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf took the Delta Blues sound, brought it to Chicago and amplified it, setting the ground work for rock'n'roll.
   The field recordings made by Alan Lomax are essential to understanding America, where we came from and the traditions and beliefs that pass through the generations.
   Those cliches you hear in country music? Hank Williams came up with all of 'em! Johnny Cash walked the line between the spiritual and the profane while Woody Guthrie road the rails, bound for glory with a quest to document the life of Everyman. "The Boss," Bruce Springsteen continues their legacy. Simon and Garfunkel found America in themselves.