Americans disagree, often fanatically, on the definition of a barbecue. In Texas, where I come from, for example, it means smoking meat — most prominently brisket, sausage and ribs — "low and slow," with indirect heat from hardwood coals; variants on this, often using different meats, are standard operating procedure in Kansas City, Memphis, the Carolinas, and other parts of the South. But to many people, barbecuing still means grilling hot dogs, hamburgers and steaks quickly over intense direct heat from charcoal briquettes. There is one thing about barbecues, however, that we can all agree on: To have a good one, you must have good music. (A swimming pool doesn’t hurt, either.) Barbecue music should be summery, rollicking and upbeat, with a deep groove. It should also be familiar to most of the guests — the better to bind them in a copacetic communal bond — though the host is advised to throw in a few left-fielders just to prove that he definitely knows his stuff. There are many songs about barbecue; to hear some, simply go to the top of this page and select "track" in the search box and the words "barbecue," "bar-b-q" or "BBQ" in the slot next to it. You’ll get a slew of song titles. But this list ignores music about barbecue; this is barbecue music. Willy and the Poor Boys Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival Release Date: 2000 No band from the classic rock era created better barbecue music than John Fogerty and crew. Recasting their hard rockabilly as a kind of jug-band stomp, this represents their most good-timey effort — even "Fortunate Son," one of the most biting topical songs ever, can sound kinda fun. That jug-band feeling permeates "Down on the Corner," "Cotton Fields," "Poor Boy Shuffle," "The Midnight Special" — the ghost of Lead Belly also hovers over these proceedings — and even the Cold-War-paranoia allegory "It Came Out of the Sky" uses gleeful satire to make its point with a laugh. Night Train Artist: King Curtis Release Date: 1995 Dilettantes used to debate whether Curtis was "really" jazz or "just" r&b, as if the two weren’t already joined at the hip. In truth, Curtis is groove, and that’s all you need to know. He yakety-yakked wooly tenor sax solos on hits by everyone from the Coasters to John Lennon to Aretha, but his own records work by cutting a fat, funky night-time-is-the-right-time groove and holding it until the last partier drops. This works just as well outdoors, especially when you’re strutting tunes like "Honky Tonk," "Hot Saxes" and "(Let’s Do) The Hully Gully Twist" with a band that combines r&b blowers like fellow tenorman Sam "The Man" Taylor and jazzmen like organist Brother Jack McDuff. Giant Sand - Backyard Barbecue Broadcast Artist: Giant Sand Release Date: 1996 A drum roll, please, for our sole high-concept selection. This was recorded partly at a backyard-barbecue benefit for WFMU in New Jersey, and audience members definitely like what they’re hearing. So you might say this music has already test-marketed high for our list. And well it should. Giant Sand, the forerunner to Calexico, hails from the desert college town of Tucson, and knows how to make hot-weather music for people in pursuit of the good life. Indeed, the 22:40 "BBQ Suite" moseys haphazardly but purposefully all over the place, like a slacker wandering around town in search of the next opportunity for free beer and food.

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