If the Shoe Fits...Sing It Trivia Quiz

Answer: walk all over you

Nancy Sinatra, daughter of Frank "Chairman of the Board" Sinatra, released "These Boots are Made For Walking" in February of 1966 and was rewarded with a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic. It was a tough talking tale of female empowerment which seemed to strike a chord all across the pop spectrum.

She performed the song with great success on all the Rock & Roll shows of the day such as "Shindig!" and "Hullabaloo," always clad in her signature high and tight white or black boots. Country songwriter Lee Hazlewood penned the tune, then collaborated with Nancy a year later on a hit duet titled "Jackson," which was also a hit for Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Answer: Robert Parker

Doris Day is not funky! Robert Parker was born in New Orleans in 1930, and cut his teeth musically as a session saxophone player. He recorded with the likes of Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith and legendary boogie woogie pianist Henry Byrd (aka Professor Longhair).

His 1966 recording of "Barefootin'" sold a million copies and earned him a gold record. His solo career stalled in the 1970s, but he continued to play sax and record with other artists, maintaining some popularity, especially in the UK.

He was inducted into the New Orleans Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and played in a tribute concert at the Lincoln Center in New York in 2009.

Answer: Walk With Me Henry

Here are the release dates and highest Billboard Hot 100 chart positions for Fats' "Walking" hits: "I'm Walking" - February 1957, number four, "I Want to Walk You Home" - July 1959, number eight, "Walking to New Orleans" - June 1960, number six.

Try to be grateful I didn't test you on "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" (1962) and "When I'm Walking (Let Me Walk)" (1963), two other Fats Domino singles which didn't crack the top 100.

Answer: Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins

Carl Perkins wrote this Rock & Roll classic in 1955 and saw his original version get to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1956. It is also indelibly connected to Elvis as one of his signature tunes. Can't you just hear him belt out the opening line "Well it's one for the money..." and see him shaking his hips with each dramatic pause? For you R&R trivia experts, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran both did record versions of this song, although neither could be termed a "hit." In the early days of Rock & Roll, artists who shared the same record label, such as Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash did with Sun Records, often had access to the same material.

In this case, even though Elvis knew that as the bigger star he'd have a hit with "Blue Suede Shoes," he insisted the company hold its release until Carl's version ran its course.

Answer: Joe South

All the choices are real people, but Rap musician Kanye (born 1977) and Nine Inch Nails guitarist Aaron North (born 1979) were not alive in 1970. Neither was George Eastman (1854-1932), the inventor of the Kodak photography brand and company. Joe South, on the other hand, was at his peak in 1970, having already won two Grammy awards including song of the year in 1968 for his hard hitting contemporary ballad, "The Games People Play." He was an accomplished singer and guitar player, but earned even more fame when he penned the smash country hit "Rose Garden" in 1972, for Lynn Anderson. That song won her a Grammy and a couple more nominations for him. "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" has a powerful driving rhythm and strong message of tolerance which appealed to many other artists looking for meaningful material. Among those who covered the song was, you guessed it, Elvis Presley. South's version reached number three on the Adult Contemporary Hot 100 in 1972.

He was born Joseph Alford Souter on February 28th, 1940, and he died in 2012.

Answer: tan shoes with pink shoelaces

Geraldine Anne Pasquale was born in Chicago in 1947. An executive of Chrystalette Records saw her on a local talent show, renamed her as Dodie Stevens, and gave her the song, "Pink Shoelaces," a novelty number about a rich guy with eccentric tastes in clothes.

Initially she hated the song, but it soared to number three on the Billboard chart and sold over a million copies, jump starting her career in pop music. Like a number of 1950s rock acts who experienced early success, she never duplicated the sales of her first hit, but after a brief career hiatus when she hit sixteen, she did again tour successfully with rock shows and eventually joined Sergio Mendes and Brazil '77, and also did a stint as one of Frankie Avalon's back-up singers. "Pink Shoelaces" was written by Mickey Grant.

Answer: I've Got Sand in My Shoes

The three wrong answers are Drifters hit songs released before "Under the Boardwalk." "Sand in My Shoes" is a soothing ballad in which the singer reminisces wistfully about the magical summer he just spent making love with his girl in the sand, under the boardwalk. All that remains is some sand in his shoes.

The song features the Drifters' trademark smooth vocal harmonies, flawless production, and the usual stirring string section augmenting the sound. Arthur Resnick and Kenny Young share songwriter credits, and Johnny Moore continued his run as the latest in a line of successful lead singers for the Drifters.

The Drifters were one of the longest tenured hit producers of the rock era, and also one of the hardest to figure out due to numerous personnel changes and disputes about money and group ownership. Chart information can be over-emphasized, but in their case it illuminates their lasting influence and popular appeal. Between 1953 and 1979, records under the name "Drifters" charted 32 times on the Billboard Hot 100, seventeen times in the top 40, and 22 times in the top ten of the US R&B chart. Perhaps the best way to appreciate them is to just listen to the songs and not worry about who is singing.

Answer: Oh, Dem Golden Slippers

This old song has a fascinating history. James Alan Bland (1854-1911), an African American tagged with the sobriquet "World's Greatest Minstrel Man," wrote it and over 700 other tunes. He learned music on an eight dollar banjo purchased for him by his father, a free black man living with family in Flushing, NY.

The song evidently is a parody of a Civil War spiritual associated with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Bland toured Europe with a minstrel show in the 1880s, and remained as a solo act performing with his trademark banjo. Billed as "The Prince of Negro Songwriters," he performed for Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales.

The Mummers Parade is a New Years Day tradition in the city of Philadelphia which draws big crowds of tourists and locals.

It involves many string bands and comedy troupes dressed in elaborate costumes. They march between South Philadelphia and center city, competing for prize money and prestige, carousing, playing, and generally strutting their stuff for crowds often copiously fortified against the cold with plenty of alcohol.

Answer: Mr. Bojangles

Jerry Jeff Walker wrote the song "Mr. Bojangles" and released it on an album of the same name in 1968. His story is that he met a homeless white man while in a New Orleans jail cell for public drunkenness in 1965. The guy was a great dancer and had adopted the pseudonym "Bojangles" in order to keep his identity hidden from the police. His cellmates begged him to do his "soft shoe" routine to break up the monotony.

The real "Mr. Bojangles," Bill Robinson, was an African American who tap danced his way to fame in the late 19th century and first half of the 1900s. He spanned the eras of minstrel shows, vaudeville, radio, film and television, enjoying some of his greatest success on Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s. During this period, he made several films with Shirley Temple and also starred in "Stormy Weather," a film loosely based on his life. In the process he revolutionized tap with his light "up on the toes" style and earned a major following with black and white audiences alike, breaking down racial stereotypes along the way. He was one of the first performers to dance without being in "blackface." He pioneered the stair dance, although his attempts to patent it proved unsuccessful and numerous other performers stole it and made it their own. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson died in 1949.

Answer: diamonds

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" was the fourth single released from Paul Simon's groundbreaking 1986 album. Simon risked criticism and even personal danger by traveling to South Africa during the time of Apartheid, but he connected successfully with local musicians and eventually produced a record which arguably introduced the vibrant musical stylings of the region to much of the rest of the world.

In the process he gave a huge boost to the careers of a number of the musicians who played and sang on his album.

The male chorus who provided the vocal backing for most of the tunes, Lady Blacksmith Mambazo, has toured extensively in the West and won four Grammy awards to date. Check out the video where they perform a line dance in their colorful garb behind Simon in his white shirt.

A classic blend of divergent cultures, but somehow it works.