Mississippi Fred McDowell “I Do Not Play No Rock ‘n’ Roll” (EMI Capitol Music)

If you’re leaving early in the morning, you should have a tone-setter. This is a wonderful choice. Fred McDowell played the straight and natchel blues. It doesn’t get much better than this. Like John Hurt, Willie McTell and Muddy Waters, McDowell created a sound all his own. This is the roaring locomotive barreling down the tracks. It’s guitar picking and soulful singing meshing together so seamlessly it’ll bring tears to your eyes while you grin and bob your head. The miles will fly by.

Los Lobos “Colossal Head” (Warner Brothers Records)

In the afternoon, you’ll need something to wake you up, refocus you, get your head back in the game. After three or four hundred miles, you’ll need something to make you like driving again.

This entire album is infected with a backbone funky beat that cruises right along. Wrapped around that beat are a little blues, a little Latin rock and some wacked out jam sessions. 80 miles of guaranteed head bouncing.

Tom Ze’ “Massive Hits” (Luaka Bop)

As the sun sets, you’ll either be contemplating the hotel options on the billboards or preparing to greet your friends and/or family. You’ll need something to bring your brain out of its road cocoon and back into social-interaction mode. Something intriguing, even a little abrasive, can help.

I think it’s safe to say that Tom Ze’ is a visionary, if not a full-on genius. He must detect music in every sound he hears. His sense of rhythm and texture is mind-boggling. I can’t justly describe his music. It is Brazilian in nature, but it’s all over the map. Some might call it an acquired taste, but what’s wrong with acquiring taste?