Prison and Jailhouse Songs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Give My Love to Rose

"Give My Love to Rose" is a song from the "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" album. Johnny wrote the song that tells of a dying man who has just been released from prison in Frisco asking a stranger to give his love to his girlfriend Rose. The dying man is trying to get to Louisiana but knows he won't make it.

He gives the stranger all of his money and asks him to take it to her. Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood composed the Cash recording "Praise the Lord and Pass the Soup", a song about soup kitchen missions. "Dark as the Dungeon" was also on Johnny's "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" LP, but is actually a Merle Travis composition about working in a coal mine. "I Still Miss Someone" is a tender ballad by Cash but makes no mention of prison life.

It was the flip side of "Don't take Your Guns to Town" and has been covered by several country artists. His daughter Roseanne Cash sang it with him during a Carnegie Hall concert.

Answer: Tijuana

"Tijuana Jail" reached number 12 on the charts in 1959. Denny Thompson composed this Kingston Trio hit about an ill-fated trip to Mexico. The boys get locked up for gambling and write to ask friends to send their bail to the Tijuana jail. The Kingston Trio was formed in 1957 in the Palo Alto, California, area by Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds.

The group's first hit was a version of a traditional folk song called "Tom Dooley", a story of an actual hanging. It garnered a Gold Record in 1958 and launched their career. During the early sixties the group had four albums in the top the Billboard Top Ten.

Despite numerous top selling albums the boys only had ten top-forty singles.

Answer: Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy was formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 1969. The band was originally fronted by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott. Other hits were a rock version of the Irish folk song "Whiskey in the Jar", "The Boys Are Back in Town" and "Bad Reputation". Thin Lizzie was not only a multiracial band but had both Protestant and Catholic members. Phil Lynott was the principal songwriter.

He passed away from kidney failure in 1986. Horslips broke new ground by mixing rock music and Irish music to create a the "Celtic Rock" genre.

The name for Bob Geldof's band, Boomtown Rats, comes from a gang in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, "Bound for Glory". Them was a British Invasion band from Belfast best known for starting singer Van Morrison's career.

Answer: System of a Down

Formed in 1995, System of a Down is often simply referred to as System or abbreviated as SOAD. The group is from Glendale, California. In addition to sharing a penchant for expressing their outspoken views in their lyrics, all four members are grandsons of Armenian genocide survivors.

Their second album, "Toxicity", debuted at number one and has achieved multi-platinum certification. "Prison Song" is the first cut on the CD and deals with the number of people in prison for drug-related offenses. Hadag Nahash is an Israeli hip hop group known for political statements. Alkaline Trio is a band from Chicago. Disturbed is from Chicago and was classified as a "nu metal" band when they formed in 1996.

Answer: Sam Cooke

"Chain Gang" was written and recorded by Sam Cooke. It chronicles the trials of prisoners working in the hot sun on a chain gang. Sam was born Samuel Cook in Mississippi and added the "e" to his name when he began recording. His earliest recordings were done with pseudonyms because he was singing in a Gospel group called The Soul Stirrers. Sam had his first number one when he began recording secular music under his own name with "You Send Me" in 1957.

He went on to chart 29 Top Forty hits between 1957 and 1965.

He started his own record label, SAR Records. Some of the artists signed to his SAR label were The Simms Twins, The Valentinos, Bobby Womack, and Johnnie Taylor. After Cooke's death in December of 1964 his widow, Barbara, married Bobby Womack. Cooke was inducted as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Jackie's string of hits does not include any prison songs.

Answer: Gene Autry

John Wayne was cast as a singing cowboy when he starred as Singin' Sandy Saunders in "Riders of Destiny" in 1933. It was obvious that Wayne's singing needed to be dubbed and the studio decided to use Gene Autry. Disagreements between Autry and Republic Studios caused him to walk out on his contract in 1937. Republic chose Roy Rogers to replace him as their singing cowboy. Ironically, Rogers had appeared opposite Autry while still billed under his real name, Leonard Slye. "Dallas County Jailhouse Blues" was part of a long legacy of cowboy songs recorded by Orvon "Gene" Autry.

He died in 1998, only three months after Roy Rogers passed. His autobiography is titled "Back in the Saddle Again" after one of his biggest hits. Michael Martin Murphy played a major role in the resurrection of the cowboy song genre.

His album "Cowboy Songs" inspired a resurgence of cowboy music. Buck Jones has more than 160 film credits to his name beginning in 1918. Along with Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, and Ken Maynard he was one of the top cowboy actors of the era. Buck was one of the 492 victims of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts.

Answer: Bessie Smith

In the 1927 recording "Send me to the "Lectric Chair", Bessie Smith begs the judge to send her to the chair for cutting her boyfriend's throat when she caught him with another gal because she doesn't want to spend 99 years in jail. Bessie began performing as a young girl singing and dancing on street corners in Chattanooga with her brother playing guitar.

She went on to make over 160 recordings for Columbia with some of the finest musicians of the day including Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith, Charlie Green and Fletcher Henderson.

She appeared in the film "St. Louis Blues" and in 1929 she appeared in a Broadway flop called "Pansy". Although the musical bombed, white critics at the time concurred that Bessie was the only asset in the production. Merline Johnson sang "Crime Doesn't Pay" in 1931. Lucille Bogan is known for her signature song "Shave 'em Dry". Ma Rainey is one of the earliest female blues artists to be recorded.

She took young Bessie Smith into her Rabbit Foot Minstrels ensemble and worked with her until Smith left the group in 1915 to go solo.

Answer: Jimmie Rodgers

Jimmie Rogers was known as "The Singing Brakeman" and left a songbook of over 80 songs recorded between 1927 and his death by tuberculosis at the young age of 35 in 1933. "He's in the Jailhouse Now" was one of his most popular songs and has been covered by several artists including Johnny Cash, Webb Pierce, Memphis Jug Band, Blind Blaked Blake and many others.

The song was featured in the film "O Brother Where Art Thou" by the Soggy Bottom Boys. Jimmie got his nickname from a movie short he appeared in for Columbia Pictures called "The Singing Brakeman".

The song is about a gambler who runs afoul of the law. Jimmie also recorded "Penitentiary Bound" in 1930. Bill Cox recorded "Long Chain Charlie Blues" in 1954. Bunny Berrigan's contribution to prison songs was "The Prison Song" in 1937 and Leroy Carr recorded "Christmas in Jail, Ain't That A Pain" in 1929.

Answer: Mary

The first verse includes the line "Down the road I look and there runs Mary, hair of gold and lips like cherries, it's good to touch the green, green grass of home". "Green Green Grass of Home" was written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr. It was first made popular by Porter Wagoner in 1964 and again by Bobby Bare the following year. Tom Jones did a version of the song in 1966 that reached number one. Jerry Lee Lewis recorded his version of the song earlier the same year without commercial success. "Green Green Grass of Home" has been covered by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash on his 1968 "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" album, Kenny Rogers on his self-titled album, "Kenny Rogers" in 1977 and by Stompin' Tom Connors on his "Stompin' Tom Connors Live at the Horseshoe" LP. Joan Baez also included the song on her 1969 release "David's Album".

Answer: Nine

Originally sang by The Robins in 1954, "Riot in Cell Block 9" has also been done by Wee Willie Harris, Johnny Cash, Dr. Feelgood, Commander Cody and The Blues Brothers to name a few. The Robins changed their name to The Coasters and recorded several other Lieber/Stoller novelty hits including "Young Blood", "Searchin'" and "Yakety Yak". "Riot in Cell Block 9" is about a prisoner in 1953 doing time for armed robbery who is sleeping when he's woken by a riot. Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller had their first success as songwriters with hits like "Hound Dog" and "Kansas City". "Hound Dog" was first recorded by Big Mama Thornton but became a much bigger hit for Elvis when he recorded the song in 1956. Lieber and Stoller formed Spark Records in 1953. Spark was bought by Atlantic and as part of the deal they became in-house composers for Atlantic artists.

They formed Red Bird Records in the mid-sixties. "Smokey Joe's Cafe" is a Broadway musical based on their body of work and was nominated for seven Tony awards.