NO TAPS ON MY MAPS

In this Theme Time Radio Hour, broadcast the first week of December, Mr. Dylan sets out on a trip he's been on once before. "Street Map" is almost the same theme as "Map" from the first season of TTRH, but heads off on some interesting new sideroads as he broadens the journey to cover not only streets, but roads and highways as well.
I don't like to criticize such a unique and inspired deejay, but, for my taste, he could have left Laura Cantrell's soppy 14th Street in a roadside trashcan. I know what I would have replaced that ditty with, but Bob remains modest and leaves aside maybe the best 'highway' song ever, his own Highway 61.
In spite of that weak start, I can't quarrel with any of his other choices, which are uniformly classic. Roger Miller's King Of The Road was one of the first 'crossover' hits of the modern era and cemented his reputation as not only a great artist, but a fantastic wordsmith. Ray Charles' Lonely Avenue is a reminder of how edgy and wicked his early sound was -Do Not Pass. The surprise turn in the set is provided by an acapella demo rendition of Hit The Road, Jack done by Percy Mayfield. You can hear Brother Ray (and I think, a Raylette or two in the background) road-testing one of his big hits, trading verses with Mayfield.
Remember Green Day? I forgot how good they can be after a quick glance in the rear view mirror at Boulevard Of Broken Dreams tailgaiting me. And we get to hear Willin', the hopped-up, long haul trucker's anthem, first mapped out by Little Feat, a version that is streets ahead of anybody else's. The Nat Cole Trio gets on the map with - what else - (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 and Dylan finishes up the journey with Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry driving home an earthy version of Going Down The Road Feeling Bad that makes The Grateful Dead's concert-staple version sound like The Ray Coniff Singers.
I'm still a little turned around as to why this episode was called "Street Map". Shouldn't it more properly been titled "Highway" or "Road"?. Still, you don't argue with a genius (especially one who gives tacit approval to the bootlegging of his show) and Bob fills in the gaps between songs with stories and pertinent trivia, like the origin of familiar words, such as skid row and hobo. Plus, we get rare treats like a clip of Jack Kerouac reading from On The Road and even a snippet of Kraftwerk's synth-driven Autobahn. And, in his roster of show-biz legends who have died on the highway, we discover that Tom Mix (1930's cowboy star) was killed by his luggage. I did not know that.
Thanks again, Mr. D., for the great directions.