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"Mr. Bojangles", the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's biggest hit, is the second track on side two of this album. What is the album's title?

Uncle Charlie and his Dog Teddy. "Uncle Charlie and his Dog Teddy" is a great album, period. Released in 1970, this is the album that really established the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as an important band. In addition to "Bojangles", the album contains covers of Kenny Loggins "House at Pooh Corner", Randy Newman's "Living Without You" and Mike Nesmith's lovely "Propinquity". Add to that some brilliant instrumentals and a really cool album cover and you have one of the great country rock albums of all time.

George Martin produced two albums for this roots-rock band in the early 70's. The first of the two albums contains a dynamite cover of Lowell George's "I'm Willin'" distinguished by Richard Greene's spectacular fiddle playing. What is the band's name (and also the title of this album)?

Seatrain. Apparently, Martin was assigned to produce "Seatrain"; he went on to produce another album for them, "Marblehead Messenger", but it is inferior to their first effort together. After a few personnel changes, the band split up having never really achieved commercial success. But the group's first collaboration with Martin has some great moments, especially "Thirteen Questions", which was released as a single but didn't get the airplay it deserved.

This singer-songwriter's third album, "Over the Rainbow" did indeed contain a cover of the beloved title song, as well as a cover of George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone". What is this performer's name?

Livingston Taylor. James Taylor's younger brother Livingston is still making music. While his career has largely been overshadowed by his brother's, he has consistently turned out well crafted folk rock. "Over the Rainbow" is, for me, the highwater mark of his career. Livingston has contributed to his brother James' career; for JT's "Hourglass" in 1997, Livingston wrote "Boatman", one of the album's best tracks. Two other Taylor siblings, Kate and Alex, had brief recording careers as well.

Singer Harry Nillson recorded an album devoted to one songwriter. The songwriter also accompanied Harry on every song. The album opened with "Vine Street" and closed with "So Long, Dad." Who was the songwriter?

Randy Newman. I found "Nilsson Sings Newman" in the cut-out bin at a record store in Ithaca, New York. It cost me two dollars. What a deal. This is a beautiful album, with Harry's vocals at their most supple and expressive. Particularly nice is his version of "Dayton, Ohio 1903", Newman's nostalgic ode to the simplicity of an earlier time. Newman plays piano on all of the songs and, oddly enough, seems to be cuing Harry on when to come in and feeding him lyrics. It's all part of the album's unique charm.

"Tapestry" was not Carole King's first solo album. Her first album included a nice remake of the classic 1962 Drifters hit "Up on the Roof", which she had written with Gerry Goffin. What was the name of the album?

Writer. James Taylor and David Crosby are two of the prominent musicians who played on "Writer." Taylor's trademark acoustic guitar shines through on a few numbers, most notably "Goin' Back", a Goffin-King song that was also a hit for the Byrds. "Child of Mine" and "No Easy Way Down" are two other highlights from this gem of an album.

This American singer-songwriter's first album was released by a British record company. Songs on the album include "Something's Wrong" and "Brighten Your Night With My Day". What was the name of this singer and his self-titled first album?

James Taylor. Produced by Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon, James Taylor gives credit for this album's very existence to the Beatles. An early--and rare--non-Beatles release on Apple, the album contained some great songs. "Something in the Way She Moves" was the inspiration for George Harrison's "Something", not the other way around. The album's best song was the classic "Carolina in my Mind" on which Paul McCartney played bass. Despite the quality of the songs, the album can get a bit tedious due to the excessive and over-produced filler that is designed to tie all the songs together in a "Side Two of Abbey Road" sort of way. James has since re-recorded three of the songs for later U.S. albums--the above two and "Rainy Day Man"--and ex-wife Carly Simon covered "Night Owl" on her insanely successful "No Secrets" album.

On the cover of this 1964 Supremes "theme" album, the girls looked positively fab in their smartly tailored outfits with ties, double breasted jackets, bowler hats and umbrellas. What was the name of this album?

A Bit of Liverpool. All of the songs on this album had been written or previously performed by acts from the British Invasion. Thus, you had the girls putting their own spin on "Can't Buy Me Love", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Bits and Pieces" and "How Do You Do It?". The Supremes also cover a couple of Motown hits that had been covered by British acts--"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Do You Love Me?" They sound much more at home with the Motown numbers than they do with, say, "House of the Rising Sun".

In 1970, Motown Records brought the now Diana Ross-less Supremes together with the legendary Four Tops. The two Motor City supergroups ended up recording three albums together, the first of which contained covers of "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Everyday People". What was the name of their first album together?

The Magnificent Seven. "The Magnificent Seven" is a surprisingly good album, containing some spirited performances--particularly on their cover of the Tina Turner classic, "River Deep, Mountain High".

Before they hit it big in America, Elton John and Bernie Taupin scored a film. The soundtrack, released in 1970, contained a curious collection of tracks with titles like "Michelle's Song" and "Variations on Michelle's Song (A Day in the Country)" and "Theme (The First Kiss)". What was the name of the film?

Friends. I have not seen "Friends" so I cannot comment on it. Roger Ebert saw it though; he gave it one star and used words such as "sickening" and "corrupt" and "horrible" to describe it. (Don't sugarcoat it, Roger. Give it to us straight!) Elton and Bernie's soundtrack has some nice moments though, particularly the title song.

VeeJay records re-packaged and re-released "Introducing the Beatles" under which of the following titles?

Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles. How can there be such a thing as an "obscure" Beatles album? Well, their first album to be released in America was, of course, "Introducing the Beatles" on VeeJay Records. Why VeeJay? Because Capitol Records, EMI's American subsidiary, passed on the boys, convinced that no British rock and roll act would ever make it in the US. They were wrong, of course, soon came to realize this and agreed to release all of the Beatles albums from here on in. So VeeJay had this one shot at making millions off of the Beatles and they were going to milk it for all it was worth. Thus, they repackaged the album in a nifty gatefold cover, added more pictures of the boys, miniature bios and, on the back, individual pictures of each Beatle; under each Beatle was the word "LOVES" and under that, the outline of a heart where you could paste your very own picture, thus becoming the envy of your friends and co-workers. One more note--VeeJay also released the same set of songs in a double album entitled "The Beatles vs The Four Seasons". Included in the set were scorecards, more pictures, more bios and a "free bonus 8"x15" Beatles color picture suitable for framing." VeeJay billed this set as "The International Battle of the Century"--a bit of an overstatement in light of that whole World War II thing. Both of these albums are rare finds for Beatles collectors.